Birds are tiny lovely creatures that can be a good substitute for a growling dog or a mewing cat. Birds if properly taken care and trained can become quite attached to you and may interact with you as much as a dog can. While purchasing the little feathery pet you should make sure that the bird is healthy and fit. The following are some bird care tips that would help you to purchase a healthy bird.
Tips to Recognize a Sick Bird
You are advised not to make any consideration while selecting your pet on the basis of health of the bird even if you find it to be attractive.
- A sick bird would look tired, droopy with ruffled features and would always have the tendency to hide its head under its wings.
- Frequently you would be finding your bird to be sneezing and also with the presence of discharge along its nostrils.
- An ill bird would also have its droppings stuck to the feather of the tail.
- A bird suffering from a terrible breathing disorder would show up symptoms like making a clicking sound while breathing or the tail often moving up and down.
A healthy bird would always seem to be energetic and with intermittent eating sessions. With respect to their physical appearance you will find that the bird possesses shiny feathers, bright eyes and highly energetic in nature. In order to insure a healthy bird you are recommended to purchase it from a reputed pet shop where you will get medical insurance facilities for pets. The following are some bird care tips that would help you to keep your pet bird healthy and active.
General Bird Care Tips
- Like dogs and cats birds also require affection and companionship from its caregiver. So, you should devote a considerable time for your little pet or else, you would find drastic behavioral changes if abandoned by you for long hours.
- Always try to keep the cage of the bird clean. Whenever the bird tosses or turns up its bowl of seeds or makes a mess with its droppings, make sure of cleaning the place as soon as possible. You should in fact are expected to clean the cage on a regular basis.
- Birds need sun’s ultra violet rays as the rays on getting inside the skin help in absorption of calcium from the food they eat. Calcium makes the muscles of the bird well toned and also makes the bones of the bird very strong and tough. Caged birds are often denied of sunlight as most of the time they remain indoors. To ensure optimal exposure to sun rays you are recommended to keep the cage near a window through which UV rays are coming in or place the cage outside on a sunny day. You may also cover a part of the cage with a cloth so that if the bird feels to cool itself it can get under the cloth.
- The cage should be washed with disinfectants regularly. Even the left over food of the bird should be discarded in every morning. In case the perch of the bird is of wood clean it with sand paper. Cover the bottom part of the cage with a news paper so that you can remove it every day and replace it with a fresh new one.
- The diet of the bird should also contain proper amounts of vitamins and minerals. You may give food items that are rich in vitamin A like sweet potato, squash, carrot, spinach, corn and such. Nuts can turn out be a food variation for your bird.
Grooming is one of the important bird care tips. Pet birds must be bathed and cleaned at regular intervals. Grooming activities like feather preening and feather molting are quite useful in making your bird look attractive and healthy.
