5 Features of a Practical Parrot Cage

hanlo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:14:47 CST

Pet Parrots see their cage as home and hate any disruption of their home territory. Yet we need to clean their cages regularly. The daily cleaning of a badly designed cage can,however, lead to much frustration. Frustration is detrimental to ones health as well as to the relationship with your pet. Getting the most suitable cage for your pet parrot is therefore not only essential for the birds health, but also for your own.

Here are 5 features that make up a practical parrot cage.

1. Cage Size, stability and material

It must be large and sturdy enough for the type of parrot you want to have. Cleaning a too small cage doesn’t leave enough space for the bird to escape the commotion caused by this action. It may hurt itself trying to escape from the disruption or topple the cage.
The easiest to clean cages are stainless steel cages. Here you can get more info regarding cage material.

2. Cage Door/s

The door/s must be large enough for easy and safe entry or exit of the bird involved. They should also be placed nearer to the middle of the cage rather than at the bottom of it to comfortably reach all corners of the cage with your hand when cleaning. And of course they should have safety latches to prevent escapes.

3. Feeder openings

Feeder openings should have slide-up doors that can be fastened from outside, so the parrot can’t open them from inside. The bended steel wire on some cages, specifically certain African Grey cages, is not parrot-proof. Given time, the parrot learns to unclasp those and throw out the feeder buckets.

4. Refuse trays

The bottom of the cage should have a grid above a slide-out refuse tray, so refuse can fall through and easily be removed. The grid also serves to keep the inside of the cage free from debris. A slide-out refuse tray can be removed from the cage without much disturbance.

5. Stands

Ideally a medium to large birdcage should be on a stand fitted with casters, so it can be moved around easily. These are too heavy to be moved around by one person. Also look for a comfortable height of the stands, so you don’t always have to bend down for cleaning. Stands with storage shelves underneath normally are higher than those without storage shelves. Although one may not really need a storage shelve, the additional height is worth the extra cost when it comes to cleaning the cage.

Keeping these five features in mind when buying a parrot cage will prevent many a frustration later on. Giving your parrot a safe and easy to maintain home is the first step to building a strong bond with your pet.

Pet Parrots Talk Training Home

hanlo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:23:28 CDT

A common question: can all parrots learn to talk?

There are various views about this. Some say only certain parrot species can talk. Others reckon only male birds can be trained to talk. Other think that some parrots won’t ever learn to talk.
What is the truth?

Training parrots to talk is not as difficult as some may think it to be. Yet you have to know which species have the ability to imitate speech.

Generally the smaller versions of hook bills, like love birds, do not really learn to talk. There may be exceptions, but even then their talking is not very clear. They can be trained to do various tricks, though, since they are natural clowns.

Cockatiels again can be trained to whistle a variety of tunes. They love to learn that and will show off easily. If they learn a word or two, it’s not very clear and only the owners will be able to recognize what they say.

Indian ringneck parrots can be trained to talk. They’ll mostly start talking in their second year. First they’ll make different sounds when resting. After a while you’ll be able to recognize a word, then another and another. They will also imitate doorbells, telephone rings or coughing. The more you talk to them, the more words they’ll learn.
The same applies to Ruppels parrots.

Concerning the larger parrots, I believe that all of them can be trained to talk, whether male or female. It just depends on how much attention and training they get.

Parrots are social creatures, which like to communicate. So if they are healthy, happy and treated like children of the family, with enough communication, they will start talking, given the time. They all have the same ability to talk and imitate sounds. Yet, just like young children, some may take longer than others to start talking

One thing is certain, however. As soon as a talking female parrot gets a mate, she will normally leave the talking to her mate and stop talking herself. I have seen this happen with African Grey parrots and Eclectus. Amazon parrot females may be exceptions. My Orange winged Amazon female learned to talk from her talking male and keeps talking, when in the mood for it.

All parrots can be trained, either to talk, or sing or do tricks.
With the help of this tried and tested parrot training course training your parrot becomes a fun activity, for you as well as your parrot.

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5 Features of a Practical Parrot Cage

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