ForumParrots - Research & Information
This page is devoted to articles about health, behaviour, breeding and general information sent in to Parrot-Link by aviculturalists and vets - click heading on the right to access the article.
This product could help cure your parrot's problems
Earlier this year I heard of a product called Deeside Spring Water.
Tests had been done at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with patients suffering from
arthritis and the water was found to be anti-inflammatory.
I had an Amazon parrot who was very old and had had a stroke a few months
earlier, also I had been given a badly plucked African Grey. The Amazon had
badly deformed toes when I purchased him - the result of small plastic perches!
Within five months of taking this water daily the results were amazing in both birds. Jake the Amazon had very poor feathers after his stroke and could not keep his balance for very long. Now he is so active it is incredible; his feathers are coming through with lovely bright colours and he no longer loses his balance when sleeping as he used to do in the past.
Sparky the African grey has stopped plucking - he is now in an outside aviary with a hen and he flies small distances. He thinks his birthday and Christmas have come together!
Deeside Water comes from a spring near Ballater in Scotland and flows into
the River Dee. It is said to have a unique blend of health-giving properties
- for humans and animals it seems. The water is only available from Asda stores
in England at the moment but you can contact the Deeside Water Company helpline
on 01339 755000 or visit their web site at www.deesidespringwater.co.uk.
If you do not have an Asda store near you they will send a case by post.
S Rush 2000
CARE & FEEDING OF YOUR HAND-REARED PARROT
So you've just bought a new young parrot? Here are some pointers to help you along the way and, hopefully, is the beginning of a long and happy relationship with your bird.
FEEDING
Many parrot breeders encourage a weaned baby parrot to eat a complete diet
such as Pretty Bird or Kaytee. If this is the case it is important that vitamin/mineral
supplements are NOT added to this specially formulated diet. It contains everything
your bird needs to lead a healthy life.
All he/she requires in addition is fresh water every day, and a wide variety of well washed fruit and vegetables. DO NOT FEED Avocado to parrots - it is believed to be poisonous. Chocolate also is very bad for parrots and can make them ill.
THE CAGE
Get the largest cage that you can afford and put it in the room where your
parrot is going to get company most of the time, but in a corner where it
will not be disturbed too much when it needs to rest. Make sure that your
parrot will not be in direct sunlight - although they like to be warm, and
may occasionally sit in the sun to dry after spraying, they generally do not
like to be in direct sunshine, particularly if they are caged and cannot move
out of the way. Take care also that the cage is not in a draft, nor directly
in the line of a constantly opening door etc. It is also important to make
sure that kitchen fumes do not drift into the room where your parrot is kept.
TEFLON-coated pans give off poisonous fumes when overheated.
PERCHES
It is very important that your parrot has natural non-poisonous branches for
perching, not the normal dowelling or plastic type as supplied with parrot
cages. A parrot needs to have perches of different sizes so that the feet
do not become sore. All fruit tree branches are OK, as are willow, hawthorn,
oak, ash, beech & eucalyptus. Poisonous trees include Laburnum, Yew, Rhododendron,
Laurel. If in doubt, do not use for your parrot.
Parrots also very much enjoy having smaller twigs of the above, complete with leaves and flowers or fruits/berries to chew on. Please be sure to thoroughly wash all materials collected from your garden - they may be contaminated by wild birds!
AT TIMES OF STRESS
If at any time you feel that your parrot is going to be stressed - for instance
if there is great upheaval in the family; if you are going on holiday and
your parrot is to be boarded elsewhere; if your parrot changes homes etc,
make sure that you give a probiotic* in the drinking water before and after
the upheaval.
TOYS
Parrots are extremely intelligent and playful creatures and must have toys
to keep them amused. There are now available, in certain specialist pet stores,
and by mail order, a wide range of very good quality parrot toys imported
from USA. See specialist magazines (Just Parrots, Birdkeeper etc) for advertisements.
Natural hemp rope also makes swings, perches etc but make sure you replace
it when it becomes frayed because a parrot can get its foot, claw or beak
caught in it; also do be careful to avoid rope with any synthetic fibres.
Lengths of plastic 'chain' as sold in garden centres can also be
utilised to provide amusement for your parrot. Being intelligent, parrots
& macaws particularly enjoy puzzle type toys - and you will have many
hours of enjoyment watching them solve the puzzles. BEWARE - One of the puzzles
they particularly enjoy and soon manage to work out, is how to open the cage!
It is always advisable to padlock the cage when you are not around to supervise.
PLAYTIME
It is important for your parrot to be allowed out of the cage as much as possible
to play & explore. However do be careful and very watchful all the time.
If you make various perching areas throughout the room or rooms these will
be used and chewed instead of your furniture. Also, parrots can be toilet-trained,
just the same way as with a puppy.
- flying out of an open window or door
- chewing electrical wires
- falling into the toilet
- landing on hot cooker/hob
- tipping over hot liquids in cups, saucepans, dishes etc
If you already have or have had young children, most of the above precautions will be second nature to you anyway!! Don't forget though that a parrot even with wing or wings clipped can still climb and get where young children cannot!! A parrot not confined to its cage must be supervised at all times.
REST
Young parrots, like young children, also need time to themselves to eat, drink
and rest. Do be firm with a young hand-reared parrot - remember he/she regards
himself as equivalent to a person, and has no fear of man (unlike his wild-caught
counterpart), and may try to 'take liberties'. Be firm, but kind
- particularly when it is time to go into the cage for rest, or when you have
to go out. At present your baby parrot may sleep on the bottom of the cage,
rather than on the perch - this is nothing to worry about, providing he is
otherwise fit & healthy, eating well and perching during the day. Routine
is important to a young parrot in a new home - try to establish a loose routine
from the start - this will help to give your new family member some security
while settling in. Be careful however - a very strict routine can be as bad
as no routine at all - if the same thing always happens at the same time each
day - one day something will upset this very strict routine and the parrot
may be quite distressed. If things happen at roughly the same time and in
roughly the same order each day, the parrot is unlikely to be stressed by
a change in routine.
BATHTIME
Parrots, who come from the humid atmosphere of rainforests, will soon begin
to suffer when kept in our dry centrally-heated homes. In order to keep the
plumage in good condition your parrot will need to be mist-sprayed or showered
at least twice a week, preferably daily. Do however make sure that this is
done early in the day, it is done with tepid water, and the parrot is allowed
to dry in a warm room.
VETERINARY TREATMENT
It is important to locate a veterinary surgeon in your area who is knowledgeable
about parrots. 'Just Parrots' has a list of avian vets - make sure
you keep the name and telephone number handy so that it is ready if ever you
should need it. If your parrot is off-colour at all, firstly provide heat
(heat lamp suspended over the cage and to one side, so parrot can move away
if too hot) and give probiotic* in the drinking water. Then contact your avian
vet. (Avian vets list)
INSURANCE
Exotic Direct, Clock Tower House, Lewes Road, Lindfield, Haywards Heath, West
Sussex RH16 2LQ, TEL: 01444 482946 are specialists in bird insurance and I
have always found them to be very helpful.
SEXING
If your bird has not been sexed and you would like to have this done it is
a very simple procedure. You will need either a drop of blood from a newly
clipped claw or a couple of freshly pulled chest feathers. (To find out more
please see business online on this site).
© S. Thompson 1999
*Avipro by Vetgen, Enterodex by Vydex and Spark from Vetafarm are three suitable products
SEX AND THE SINGLE BIRD
Some suggestions from Greg Glendell of The Pet Parrot Consultancy on how to reduce the natural urges of your pet parrot.
Many people who keep pet parrots end up with their bird being bonded to them as though it was a sexual partner. This is the main cause of the over-amorous bird. How your bird bonds to you depends on the messages you send out to it.
You should be aware that touching a tame parrot anywhere near its wings, back or tail may encourage it to think that you intend to mate with it!. Touching these areas of the bird may cause it to become highly aroused and it will follow its instincts. Many people stroke their birds as though they were mammals; they are not, and should not be treated like this. To show your bird affection or approval, it is best to confine your attention to its head and give this a gentle scratch occasionally. If the bird regurgitates to you, you can try turning your back on the bird for a few seconds, to show you do not wish to encourage mutual feeding.
Pet parrots should also be trained in basic obedience. Many people think their bird is obedient just because its steps onto their hand. This is not obedience, it's just a habit the bird gets into. Obedience means stepping on and off the hand in response to a verbal command (whether the bird wants to step on/off or not). To reinforce obedience, parrots should not be let out of their cage on their own. Instead, you should again get the bird out by telling it to step onto your hand while it is in the cage. It is also important to ensure the bird does not use your shoulder as a normal perch. Whenever the bird lands on your shoulder, take it onto your hand by giving it the step on command. If the bird is persistently disobedient (once trained) you can improve its behaviour by putting it down and leaving it on its own the room for a few minutes. Returning a 'bad' bird to its cage is often useless.
If the bird can let off steam by flying around a room for daily exercise this should be encouraged. Flying birds should also be taught further commands. These should include "No" (Don't land on me) "Go" (Leave me by flying) and "Off there" (Leave your present perch by flying to another). Most tame birds will learn these commands within 10 days of commencing the lessons. If you need advice on how to train your bird in basic obedience, contact me by email on: greg@petparrot.freeserve.co.uk
Providing toys which the bird can destroy is a great benefit as well. Try providing pieces of cardboard, pine cones, clothes pegs (with the spring removed) pieces of untreated leather strips and short lengths of fine cotton rope.
Many parrots in breeding condition have an urge to find some dark corner where they wish to chew things up. This is quite normal and reflects the behaviour of hollowing out a nest hole in a tree. Provided your bird is tame, you can consider giving it a dummy 'nestbox' outside of the cage. This should have a very large entrance hole (large enough so that you can put the bird in or take it out easily). With lots of pieces of wood and cardboard in the box to chew, the bird will be kept busy. This remedy can also reduce feather plucking in some birds.
You may not be able to control your bird's natural urges entirely, but these suggestions should help reduce such problems.
Greg Glendell (1999)
Why does my parrot pluck itself?
We are looking for readers who have had any form of plucking problems with
their parrots. We here at Parrot Line are in the second year of probably the
largest research of plucking parrots seen in the United Kingdom.
In the last two years we have collated data on over 270 parrots that have
plucked, either totally or localised, and working alongside veterinary practices
throughout the UK, have an excellent success rate. Every bird that has gone
into the Parrot Line sanctuary has recovered 100%. However this is not good
enough as we need to help as many birds as possible and as far afield as possible.
Steve Nichols who has studied parrot behaviour for over 15 years and is heading
the research, says "Plucking or picking in parrots has numerous triggers.
We along with a number of leading avian vets in the UK are trying to isolate
some of these triggers, so as to enable some form of drug free therapy (unless
it is a medical problem), the more information we obtain the wider the picture
becomes and therefore the more pieces to this huge jigsaw puzzle". There
is not enough room here to go into it in fine detail, but putting it into
categories, parrots pluck for three reasons: Medical, Breeding or Psychological.
We would like to know as much information on your particular case as possible.
What species?
Age?
Sex (if known)?
Is it hand reared or parent reared?
English or imported
When did it start and what age was it?
Where exactly is it plucking?
Has it visited the vets?
What was the outcome?
What drugs if any were used?
Did it have a collar?
What is its diet?
Has it had it's wings clipped?
Can it talk and if so how good?
Does it have regular showers?
How long is it left on it's own each day?
As you can see there is quite a lot of information needed and if you can think
of any more to add please do send your emails to
pluckstop@parrotline.demon.co.uk
or Tel: 0114 2747985 Fax: 08700 549813
Thank you very much for your assistance in fighting this cruel infliction.
John Prior, Chairman, Parrot Line
Amazona aestiva (blue-fronted Amazon) identification
March 1999
Dear Parrot-Link
I would like you to publish the attached
differentiation chart to help anyone who is trying to identify a Blue-fronted
Amazon. I know it looks complicated at first glance, but if you work your
way through it systematically with photographs (or even better the parrot)
in front of you, it becomes much clearer!
I note that a short description has been given in the current TASUK News,
however I think that many important details have been sacrificed for the sake
of simplicity and I am sure this could lead to cases of mis-identification.
Correct identification of the NOMINATE Blue Front (Amazona aestiva aestiva),
a bird quite rare in captivity, is particularly important, in order to avoid
hybridisation with the subspecies A a xanthopteryx.
Yours sincerely, Theresa Greene
Genetics-Made-Easy by Deon Smith
In my experience, most Ringneck breeders suffer from a major lack of knowledge of the basic genetic rules as applicable to color breeding in Ringnecks. This can result in utter confusion when one wants to put up available stock for breeding, with generally very little knowledge of the possible offspring of the relevant pair. Often breeders' stock is split birds, bought in forced preference over full-colored specimens due to financial realities. Sometimes the seller of these birds is not sure about the bird's genetic composition (genotype), and because the buyer may also be ignorant about genetics, he also cannot deduce from the parents' and the other offspring's appearance or coloring (their phenotype) that particular bird's genotype.
Now he must decide how to form a pair that will utilize each parent's genetic potential to the fullest, and he must start discussions with experienced breeders to help him. He also depends on other breeders to suggest to him what new stock is to be bought for a specific bird to form a sensible pairing. It is preferable also to limit "possibles" in one's offspring.
If everything goes well and according to plan, he now will start producing young from his pairs, and a variety of phenotypes appears in nest boxes and, if the breeder has little knowledge of the genotype of each and he doesn't know, or he is not confident in his knowledge, whether this particular bird splits for a color or colors, he does not know what phenotype he has actually bred. When prospective buyers of the offspring turn up and want to know how they should utilize the young bird/s, the breeder's knowledge, or lack of it, is tested to the limit, and often a bird is sold unintentionally as something that it is not, to the detriment of both seller and buyer. I have heard many times of breeders who have sold valuable split birds for next-to-nothing, because they didn't know. Even worse, a bird may be sold as a split when it's not.
All the exciting and beautiful new primary and combination colors that have appeared with exotic and awe-inspiring names add to the confusion and one often has no idea how to get there oneself, or where to start. This deficient knowledge pool and unsure footing can, unfortunately, take a big part of the fun out of color breeding, with the pangs of doubt that often strikes, not only for the love and enjoyment of it, but also for the financial implications of a wrong pairing.
Because I have encountered these scenarios so often here in South Africa, I determined that there is a definite need and desire for the genetic know-how, true to the applicable genetic laws, without too much detail.
I have therefore compiled a manual that will answer these needs, called Genetics-Made-Easy; a practical approach to the complete understanding of the whole concept of color breeding in Indian Ringneck parakeets. All primary mutations are classified according to their mode of inheritance; each group is then discussed with many examples; then the concept of combination colors are tackled very easily, systematically and orderly. Many exercises are given with the worked out models at the end.
After working through the manual, the reader will be in possession of the genetic know-how; being able to work out, with confidence, each planned pairing's offspring and the feasibility of such a pairing; answering all the mentioned questions and uncertainties, mastering the technique in full. These exercises will fill many of your hours and are great fun!
My email address is: deon@douglas.co.za
De-coding Parrot Language
Parrots, like all birds, have their own 'language'. This is based on calls, postures and the various actions that they perform to other members of their own species. While each species has its own 'vocabulary', many sounds and gestures are understood by other, generally related species. Contact calls and alarm calls are thus commonly intra specific. The process of de-coding a species' language results in an ethnogram for that species. This ethnogram allows us to understand what birds are saying to each other when they communicate. While many people are fascinated by a parrot's ability to mimic human speech, to understand these intelligent creatures better, it would be a great improvement if we could reverse this interest on occasion. To be able to do this we need to be able to translate parrot 'phrases' into our language.
I would be interested to hear from people who (a) are already involved in this kind of work, or (b) would like to take part in it.
To get the most useful information on this subject, communications should be observed between birds of the same species (rather than between birds and humans, or between birds of different species). If you have access to several individual birds of the same parrot species, which are able to communicate amongst themselves, you may be able to help. Species of parrots commonly kept as pets (African greys, various species of Amazons, macaws and cockatoos) would be good subjects.
July 1998 Greg Glendell, UK
The Genetics of Colour in the Budgerigar and other Parrots
"I believe this would make an appropriate addition to your very useful
and extensive page of links, particularly as the subject of Avian Genetics
is not at present very well served on the World Wide Web. This site is intended
as a resource for aviculturalists, birdkeepers, and others with an interest
in the genetics and biology of colour in the budgerigar and other parrots;
together with the role played by taxonomic status in these issues.
My intention is to continually develop the site from these small beginnings
into a comprehensive and authoritative source of information and opinion in
response to the comments and wishes of visitors and other resources found
on the Internet. If you have any comments or suggestions I should be pleased
to hear from you. For instance, just published on-site, is an article by Australian
breeder Peter Bergman on the genetic status of the Yellowface budgerigars.
This original and challenging article throws fresh light onto a subject which
has always been something of a puzzle to budgerigar enthusiasts.
Clive Hesford, Cheltenham, UK." Mail: CliveHesford@aol.com
or visit
website
Feather Plucking - A Brief Review
Feather plucking has become the commonest problem seen at the surgery over the last few years and it is also apparent that many parrot owners simply put up with a mutilated bird thinking that there is no cure. This is unfortunate because it should be realised that any plucking bird is either unwell or unhappy or both! There are many different causes of feather plucking and this article attempts to show how we deal with it.
Is it an ill plucker or a psychological plucker? This is the most important question to answer when dealing with a plucked bird. The majority of birds that we see are plucking because they are ill rather than they have a psychosis (eg boredom). The illness can be obvious (eg skin tumour) or hidden (liver inflammation) with feather mutilation being one of the symptoms.
At the practice we routinely blood test all feather plucking birds to indicate whether they have an existing illness even if the birds appear fit and well. This has transformed our treatment of avian cases. The commonest cause of plucking due to disease we see on blood test is still malnutrition usually due to dietary lack of calcium or protein (even if birds are fed on apparently good diets) which can be sorted out by simple dietary alteration. We also see a large number of metabolic problems such as lack of thyroid hormone (especially African Grey parrots) or hepatitis due to chlamydiosis (psittacosis). PBFD (Psittacine beak and feather disease) should always be eliminated if the clinical signs are present.
I normally check the skin and feather condition during my routine examination looking for mites or signs of poor follicular activity (ie poor feather growth). Fitting a collar to the bird will often help as this prevents them from plucking most areas giving you a chance to make sure that the bird does have the ability to grow the feathers back in the first place!
If the blood test is completely normal I would assume that the bird is fit and is plucking due to a psychological problem. This is a much greyer area to define. Boredom is the most well known reason for plucking but this is becoming much less of a problem in my experience as the majority of pet birds are having a lot of time spent with them these days, presumably due to the increasing numbers of nice captive bred birds being kept rather than the snappy imports! I am certainly seeing the opposite problem of too much time being spent with the birds as more than 12 hours light a day leads to plucking so it is advisable to cover the bird up at night if it is in the living room. Clipping birds' wings (especially cockatoos) will often lead to self-mutilation so I do not recommend it unless absolutely necessary.
The commonest reason for a healthy bird plucking appears to be sexual frustration, as they become sexually mature especially in females. If a bird starts plucking at around four years of age I normally sex the bird and try and find it a mate (often a plucking one of the opposite sex). I have started using a hormone commonly used in dogs and cats to suppress their seasons, which I have had a lot of success with (Ovarid GLAXO). This drug is useful because it also has an "anti-itch" effect in birds.
There are many old and new drugs that we use with feather pluckers to make them feel better. Many act as behavioural modifers "telling" the brain not to pluck artifically whilst we are awaiting a better diagnosis or treatment (eg Haloperidol or Valium).
Due to many recent improvements in laboratory work there should with proper diagnosis be no reason why a bird should have to pluck.
October 1998 M D Stanford BVSc MRCVS