Parrot Care for Mango and ALL parrots
I'm joining this group because I'd like to educate Mango's young owner on care of her parrot to ensure that Mango lives his full 25 year or more potential. I was alarmed both by his owner's age (I sure hope her parents are taking responsibility for ensuring Mango is cared for properly daily because 11 is very young to have a parrot) and by the fact that the young owner said she takes Mango to pet stores to let Mango see the other birds -- That's a risk for the possibility of Mango catching a disease that could be deadly. Disease can be spread via air contact (just by the birds being in the same room together) and parrots try to hide their illnesses so a very sick bird may look perfectly fine until it suddenly dies. Another thing I feel alarmed about is that Mango's owner sleeps with him. That's very dangerous. If she rolled over on top of him in her sleep, she could smother and kill him.
I have a lot of experience with birds, having grown up in a household with a Minah bird and a falcon, and having been involved in bird rescue organizations. I own ten parrots myself, nine of them are conures (including a sun conure) and one is a mini-macaw, and most of them are rescues, birds that have suffered in the hands of pet owners who were either really ignorant, sadistic, or just didn't care. I don't think Mango's owner will be any of that, she seems to care very much about Mango, so I am sending this list of Parrot Care that I wrote several years ago when I gave a baby greencheek conure, "Buggy," to a good home. I hope Mango's owner and all who really love parrots and other birds will read this.
Poison/Accidents
Avocado & chocolate are poisonous to birds! Do not feed them to yours. Also, asparteme (Nutrasweet) and caffeine can be poisonous, so it's best to avoid these, also.
Many houseplants are poisonous to birds. I only keep the plants around that I know are non-toxic to my pets. Birds like to nibble on plants, given half a chance to get near enough to the plants to do so. There are a lot of websites on-line with lists of plants poisonous to birds.
Never spray air freshener (or other aerosols. I don't even use Windex or other cleaning products close to my birds) anywhere near Buggy (we only use it in the bathroom, with the door closed, and lightly at that!) It's one of the top killers of birds! I also quit using Carpet Fresh and Febreze. I DO use Glade stick-ups around my house -- those seem to be okay. (Just don't put it where Buggy could get into it and be poisoned.) Birds are very sensitive to any kind of fumes because their lungs are so different from our own. That's why miners used to carry a canary into the mine with them: the bird would die first, warning them something poisonous was in the air so they could get out in time. Even too much perfume, or perfume sprayed close to your bird, can kill it.
Avoid using Teflon (I threw all mine out, because if the Teflon gets too hot, it will release fumes that are poisonous to your bird, and many birds have died because of this.) Also, be very careful about having your bird anywhere around cooking food just because it might suddenly dive into the pan/pot and be badly burned.
Wash fruits and vegetables carefully to remove any possible toxins/dirt. Apple seeds are toxic, as are certain other seeds. Some seeds, such as watermelon and cucumber, are safe, though.
Always be certain you know where your bird is (to avoid stepping or sitting on it).
Never sleep with Buggy (you could roll over on him and crush him).
Be careful with him near the toilet. You should keep the lid closed on the toilet if your bird is going to be unsupervised anywhere near it, and never flush the toilet while you have him on your shoulder (lest he fall in and drown!)
Be very careful about taking Buggy outside. Hawks have been known to swoop down and actually pluck a pet parrot right off its owner's shoulder!!! Also, even with clipped wings, some birds can manage to fly off! (Just the barest amount of flight feather growth can sometimes give your bird that extra bit of lift he/she needs to be gone!) Be aware that birds are flighty, prone to panic, and can dive out of your hand or off your shoulder into the path of an oncoming car or into other dangerous situations. Never take Buggy outside uncaged if the weather is windy out! Birds are prey animals and frighten/startle easily -- Always be prepared for the unexpected. I'm going to give you a harness you can put on him if you want to take him outside (good luck getting it on him, though! It will take lots of patience, kindness, trust and love, and skill! Wait until you've had him a few weeks to try it, okay?)
Avoid exposing Buggy to wild birds or other peoples pet birds due to risk of contracting diseases. Birds will hide the fact that they are sick, and an apparently healthy bird may be very ill. And some birds are carriers of disease, without any symptoms themselves, but shedding virus or bacteria. Ask other people to wash their hands before allowing them to handle Buggy. He is 100% disease free, coming from what is called a "closed aviary" (everyone has been tested here, all the birds, and are free of any contagious bird diseases, at least to the very best of our possible knowledge and I don't allow other people to bring their birds into my home). But you never know where someone's hands have been, they could even have unknowingly come into contact with a bird virus and inadvertantly infect your bird. So have them wash their hands first. (This is especially important now with the possibility of the coming bird flu, which if it hits the U.S. will cause a pandemic among birds here -- I'm not even worried about if it hits people, not yet, because I worry so much about my birds that's my main concern if and until it mutates to become contagious person to person. Right now just the bird to bird transmission seems scary enough! And be careful of mosquitos getting to him, because birds are extremely susceptible to West Nile.
You shouldn't share food from your mouth with Buggy, because the bacteria that resides normally in your mouth can be toxic to him. Also, dog and cat saliva are toxic to birds. Even if there are no marks on your bird's body, if you ever catch your four-legged pet with its mouth on your bird, you need to take the bird to a vet and have it examined.
I feed my birds a mixture of Sweet Harvest cockatiel seed mix (yes, cockatiel -- the other mixes are too big for the greencheeks) mixed with cockatiel/conure sized Exact Rainbow pellets (the birds seem to like the colorful variously shaped kind the best). My birds LOVE to eat "Beak Appetit's Ceam of Tweet" (formulated just for them -- you cook it up on the stove for them, then freeze it in an ice cube tray and just take out and microwave one cube at a time when you want to give them a special treat! Petco usually carries it) and other cooked bird foods. And they LOVE millet spray!!! Feed Buggy a little fresh fruit daily (but remember that too much of a good thing will give him diarrhea). All of our birds especially love chopped apple, and Buggy is no exception! Another big hit is pomegranite, but it makes a terrific mess!!! Also, banana (Buggy LOVES banana, just give him a little piece of the one you're having), oranges, grapes, cherries, berries, watermelon, and strawberries, they love it all! Also be sure to feed him a bit of fresh greens each day (broccoli, dark green leafy lettuce, and/or other veggies (carrots, peas, et) Parrots need and enjoy a lot of variety in their diet. Just be sure it's all washed well. All of our birds love baby food! Especially Gerber Papaya! People food, baby food, and cooked bird foods like Cream of Tweet need to be removed from his cage within about 3-4 hours after his getting it (to avoid food poisoning). I give my birds rice, mac & cheese (in very small amounts!), Cheerios, Chex, Grapenuts, cooked oatmeal, et. Almost anything you eat, parrots can have a small amount of, unless it's chocolate, avacado, any alcoholic beverage or if it's too high in fat, salt or sugar. I don't allow my birds to taste my coffee at all, although they LOVE a tiny taste of my iced tea in the summer (coffee is too high in caffeine for their health). They love a bite of my bean burrito if I'm having one! Plain cheese pizza. Mashed potato is a BIG hit! (That's one of Buggy's favorite things, instant or the real homemade ones!) Our parrots also all love tortilla chips and potato chips, but give these very sparingly! There's too much salt in those! Raw onions are a no-no -- some people claim they are poisonous to birds, and I haven't tried to test that out, and I'd feed anything with onions in it to him sparingly. And in the summer particularly, a very special treat I like to give my parrots is to take some lemonade or orange juice or grape juice, if it's too sweet you can water it down, and freeze it in ice cube trays so they can enjoy their very own homemade birdie Popsicles to lick at -- Oh, they LOVE those!!! Some people actually even feed their birds a little meat (chicken or fish), but I never have. Greencheeks aren't supposed to have any Coke/Pepsi, but mine are NUTS for the stuff, and if I have one, I always give them a tiny taste, but it's extremely rare, far and few between. Always feed carbonated drinks very sparingly, nothing more than a tiny taste.
Give him fresh food (a good seed & pellet mix kept in an airtight container) and fresh water daily. Please never leave him without water or food. He needs access at all times to both food and water. I give my birds filtered water only. I don't like chlorine/chemicals in my water, and I know they don't either! I keep their dry food separate (different dishes) from the human food I give them and from the greens, veggies, fruit, et. I wash the water and wet food dishes daily, the seed/pellet mix dishes every other day, unless I need to do it sooner.) I check the water dishes during the day at least once (I change everything in the evening) to be sure they haven't bathed in their bowl and are out of water! They love to splash it all, every last drop, out!) Buggy will really appreciate a shallow bowl filled with water placed on the counter by your kitchen sink or in the bottom of his cage for him to bathe in. (Start with the bowl in the cage until he becomes used to you.) Give him a few days to adjust and then you can take him into the shower with you if you buy one of those shower perches made from plastic pipe and attached to the shower wall with suction cups -- We just have a second shower curtain rod that our birds sit on when they go into the shower with any of us. NEVER use soap on him -- If you inadvertantly get some suds on him, just rinse him off well.
Cover him at night. Make sure the material you cover him with is something he can still breathe under, nothing too airtight. I'll give you one of our pieces of fleece we use that will cover his cage.
Protect him from drafts (NEVER place him in front of an airconditioning vent!) Also, don't overheat him in the sun! Never leave him in a car alone.
I know it sounds like a LOT of DON'Ts and a lot of work, and it IS, yet Buggy will thank you for it, and will reward you with many, many years of entertainment & love. Greencheek conures are very affectionate, intelligent and sensitive creatures. Never underestimate their intelligence -- Mine are like little naughty green-feathered monkeys! They are as smart and have the range of emotions of a three year-old child!
Other information:
Buggy wants to chew, so make sure he always has something good to chew on! I give all of our parrots plenty of parrot chew toys, and also, I give them the cardboard rolls from paper towels and toilet paper (they enjoy chewing those up!) and phone books (the ink in phone books is safe, it has to be due to federal safety laws regarding children), cardboard boxes, cardboard to chew on, as well as plastic toys (I not only get mine the pet store parrot toys, sometimes I get mine baby toys from the human baby toy department!). Be careful for anything he could strangle on, though! (Long string, anything he could get his head through & stuck or things he could choke on.) Just always make sure that whatever you give him has no toxins (toxic ink, paint, et.) I change the paper daily for my birds so that they don't have to walk through/play in birdie poop -- Most people don't place paper on the grate like I do, but I've found it works well, keeps the mess down, and if it's changed daily, is more sanitary than just allowing the poop to fall on the grill bars to the papered tray below.
I clean my birds cages, perches, bowls, with warm soapy water which I then rinse off thoroughly. Another option is to use Poop Off which (if you wait awhile) dissolves the poop and is non-toxic to your birds. I especially like Poop Off wipes -- they work GREAT! But they are meant for daily clean-up, not for the really stuck on messes.
Buggy will throw his food in a seven foot radius -- Parrots love to take a tiny bite then toss the piece of food they hold and grab a new one. It's wasteful and messy, but that's what parrots do. He'll enjoy a mirror to play with (the square kind that are bird proof, the ones with a bell on the bottom, I'll show you the one we have for our Hahn's macaw) are excellent and I know he'd love to have one of those! I'm including his favorite toys and the house/tent he's shared with his siblings, and I know having the cage he's shared with them will be comforting to him until he bonds with you. It will be rough at first for him, very frightening, but he should adjust within the week and by the end of the month, you'll be his new "flock"!
Don't take bites personally if he ever bites any of you. Just use the earthquake technique, which I will show you before you leave with him -- you just joggle your hand up and down to throw him a bit off balance -- Parrots don't like that feeling, and will stop biting (you might have to increase the intensity of the quake at times to get him to stop!) Another thing is to be sure not to jerk your finger away, but rather, go towards, into, his mouth -- That will surprise him and cause him to let go of your finger. But NEVER punish him. He won't understand it and it won't help, it will just make everything worse. All parrots bite at one time or another. I don't know that he'll bite any of you, I just want you to be prepared for any possibility and be sure that all of your kids know not to panic, that they know what to do if he does bite.
Until you know him well, don't put him to your face, okay? Wait and get acquainted with him first (if he's scared, he might bite you on the face!)
