New Bird Care Guide
Congratulations on your new family member! This guide is designed to give you a basic idea of how to prepare for and care for your bird.
Diet
For most species, I feed about 50% pellets, 40% fresh foods, and the rest is seeds and nuts. (YES, SEEDS.) I also include my birdie bread in portions appropriate to a bird’s size.
Pellets: I wean my babies onto Psittacus maintenance pellets (with Omega for macaws). However, you can easily transition a baby to something else; older birds may be a bit more challenging unless they’ve been introduced to a good variety of foods. Feed a measured amount of food and replace it each day so you can monitor whether your bird is eating enough; I shoot to have just a few pellets left in the morning. Other good brands of pellets include Roudybush and Tops.
Fresh food (chop) composition: I lean heavily on vegetables in my chop. Bell pepper, broccoli, lightly steamed carrots/sweet potatoes, and seasonal squash are staples, but I try to find other options as well. I also add bird safe herbs and spices, and always include grains of some kind. I use red lentil pasta, oats, or cooked quinoa to keep it from turning into a soggy, unappetizing mess.
Fruit: Parrots benefit from fruit in their diet, and conures especially. However, the fruit we get in the grocery store is cultivated for human tastes, high in sugar compared to wild varieties. For your companion parrot, pick underripe tropical fruits, or fruits intended for cooking like granny smith apples, plantains, tart berries, pomegranate, or cranberries. Essentially, the things you wouldn’t eat without sweetening them.
Seeds: Pet groups on Facebook will yell at you for daring to put seeds near your parrot. Most parrots do not need a high percentage of seeds in their diet, and certainly no parrot needs to live exclusively on seeds (no, not even budgies). However, seeds are a natural part of almost any wild parrot’s diet, and they should have some, if for no other reason than to provide appropriate species enrichment. Even a tiny pinch sprinkled on top of their fresh food is fine. I highly recommend Higgins Safflower Gold seed mix for conures. Their parrot mix is also great for larger birds like macaws and eclectus, but be sure to remove and discard any peanuts. Sprouting these seeds can even improve the nutrition and absorption!
Nuts: Smaller birds should have very limited access to nuts. In my opinion, if the bird can’t crack it open on its own, it shouldn’t get a large helping of it (example: don’t pump your greencheek full of almonds). However, larger species, especially palm feeders like macaws, REQUIRE the protein and fats found in whole nuts like almonds, pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, and (if you can afford them) macadamias. Without them, they will not achieve their fullest potential.
Eclectus parrots need ONLY 20-30% pelleted diet. Some would argue even less or none. The rest should be fresh food, heavy on greens like broccoli, kale, spinach. Very limited fruit. 5% or less seed. In the wild, they live in a very austere environment with scarce food. Their systems are designed to absorb nutrients very efficiently, and pellets are very rich for them. I see a great many plucked eclectus out there, and I personally believe that this is due to their diets being treated like those of other parrots.
Free flight diet: Regular free fliers are going to need more fats and calories in general. Some people put them on breeder pellets. I prefer to offer more nuts/seeds. Weight AND body condition monitoring is crucial to ensure a bird is not becoming obese or emaciated. I say both methods of monitoring are necessary because a free flyer can exceed “average” weight by building muscle that the average captive parrot will not have and easily develop an outlier level of weight without being obese.
Enrichment
There are so many ways to enrich a bird! Foraging, recall and target training, toys, tricks, games, going places together, food… Limitless options. Any novel experience especially is great enrichment. Giving your bird attention should be more than just “cuddle time” lest you end up with a very hormonal bird.
For starters, definitely get yourself a clicker (or several). Use this to teach target training, husbandry behaviors (going into the crate, extending wings for inspection, allowing you to touch and hold feet and file nails, towel training, just to name a few), tricks, and anything else you’d like to work on!
Next, toys are a fantastic way to engage! 2-3 inside the cage at a time is sufficient; just rotate all those extras you got excited to buy every week or two. Here are just a few to start with:
Forage wheel! The medium works well for most birds, but I recommend the Large or XL for macaws.
Planet Pleasures makes excellent woven toys that you can hide small treats like safflower seeds and dried fruit in. I love their pineapple as well as their flowers!
Foraging buckets are great for all those toy parts to get a second life. Scoop them up and toss them in here along with a few treats, and hang with some nice double clips. The 2 quart works well for conures and similar sized birds. I recommend the 6 quart for larger birds.
More mechanical species such as macaws might enjoy some of these bigger brain teasers from Busy Bird!
This baffle cage is a lifesaver. Cram it with extra toy parts, large whole/halved fruits and veg, or even walnuts for the big birds (easy on the walnuts though; supplement with wood blocks or vegetables). Line the outside with cardboard for even more challenge!
Finally, you can always make your own toys! Untreated pine cut into blocks for macaws, bird safe branches from outside. Or, if you’d like some ready-to-go toy parts, check out makeyourownbirdtoys.com and twinleatherbird.com!
Housing
There are varying opinions on appropriate housing sizes for birds. King’s Cages provides info on what I would consider the absolute minimum acceptable size. I would generally agree with the philosophy of “the biggest you can afford and fit” is what you should get, but also caveat with “biggest you can and WILL take care of.” If you get your bird a fabulous walk-in aviary or build them a bird room, but it’s more than you’re able to clean because of time or disability or whatever else, you might have been better off giving them a cage half that size.
It also depends on how much time your bird will spend in their enclosure. If it’s a place that your bird only sleeps and eats, and they spend the rest of their time out on a play stand or hanging out and going everywhere with you? There’s really no sense in having a monster cage taking up space and making you work yourself to death caring for it. Spend the time and money on your bird in other ways.
For small and medium conures and smaller birds, I highly recommend the A&E flight cage line. They’re a good size for the money, easy to clean, and come on wheels with a little underneath storage too. For larger birds, a King’s double macaw cage or an A&E walk-in aviary are good bets. These cages aren’t the cheapest acceptable option out there, but in my opinion give you the best quality, durability, and serviceability for the price. Other good options for smaller birds include the SmileMart 52” cage and the YaheeTech flight cage.
For larger species, A&E and King’s Cages make good options. While there are large bird cages on Amazon, they can be a crap shoot if they’re not a known brand. You may even find a good used option on Facebook or Craigslist. Just be sure to disinfect anything used. I also advise caution around large bird cages found on Wayfair and similar discount sites, as they often do not last more than a year.
Make sure you also get some nice quality perches in varying sizes, textures, and complexity. Manzanita makes a great option for small and medium birds. A&E also offers some nice twisting lima root branches. Some reptile sites will also have nice options if you don’t mind attaching the hanger bolts and getting the hardware to mount them. I find that places like PetCo and PetSmart no longer offer very good quality in perches (the hardware tends to give out quickly or the materials aren’t the best). And if you’d like to see how your new friend feels about showers, a quality shower perch is the way to go!
Coming Home
Most importantly, make sure your cage is all set up before you go get your bird!
When you bird first arrives, it may be a bit stressed or frightened, especially if it arrived by plane. If your bird is bright and active (moving, eyes open, not panting or showing signs of injury), consider providing some fresh food and water and giving them an hour to rest in the crate in a quiet part of the house without removing them. While it is exciting to meet your new friend, they need time to adjust after a big trip and transition! However, if your baby comes right out, don’t argue. Just go with the flow of what your new friend wants.
Offering fresh fruits and vegetables along with pellets and water at this time is an excellent idea.
Once your bird has had some time to calm down (if needed), gently ask for a step up and spend a little time with them before letting them settle into their new cage. The next day, start introducing them to your routine and interacting with the family. Baby birds adapt quickly, so there is no need to embrace the pet forum logic of leaving them in their cage for a week or whatever to let them “acclimate”! A bird may even show that it is happy to interact and play from the moment it comes home. If so, go for it! Just be sure to watch for signs of them becoming overwhelmed and let them rest in their cage for a bit if they need it.
Behavior and Training
I do my absolute best to get your bird started on the path to being well behaved, socialized, and trained. I will take them out (once old enough) and introduce to a variety of situations and people. I can even start them on harness training for an extra fee! However, it will be up to you to keep the momentum up.
If your bird is harness trained, keep putting the harness on daily, even just for a few minutes, and reward your bird for wearing it, either by going outside for a short walk or offering a treat if they are interested. Younger birds may be willing to work just for cuddles and attention. If you stop putting the harness on your bird, you may find the bird becomes unwilling to accept it! Don’t lose this progress, as it’s very difficult to retrieve it afterwards!
I am always happy to answer questions. Your Rain Blossom baby comes with a lifetime of support!
Please note that this blog entry contains Amazon Affiliate program links to products I really truly use and recommend. Commissions generated from your sales don’t add to your expenses at all, and help me maintain and upgrade my facilities and improve enrichment and housing for my birds.
