By Umer Hayat

Whenever we think of going to our comfortable home during the holiday season, we never fail to get that misty, warm feeling. This holds especially true for those who have birds as pets and wish to give them the similar comfort feeling. Thus, this is the ideal time to prepare for a cage that will make them feel more comfortable during the winter as well as bring more presents to go along with their brand new home.

How to Build a Comfortable Cage

Since Psittacines are naturally tropical, your living area is not required to keep a 90 degrees Fahrenheit as most birds can adapt to a cooler surroundings. However, they don’t have the ability to adapt to the sudden change of temperature. As you reduce your home temperature, it is important to keep any cold drafts near their cage.

Furthermore, it is also not necessary to wrap their cage with blankets which, apparently, is not advisable, especially if you use the dark covers. A cage that is covered with dark sheets will immediately make your pet bird feel that it is inside a box. If a draft needs to be reduced, a translucent plastic sheeting is good for a cover, but make sure that the bird won’t be able to chew it. Never use any plastic covering that brings chemical smell because birds are said to be very sensitive to different airborne toxins.

Using Candle Lights

Scented candles always give us that wonderful smell, but the respiratory tract of birds is not capable to deal with the scent. Parrots are very sensitive to toxins. Although the scented ones give more of a special touch to candle lights that can bring the spirit of the Holidays in your home, use the unscented ones instead for the welfare of your pet bird.

A whole night with lighted candles can be an ideal for you. But the recommended hours of sleep for birds are 12 hours in daylight and another 12 hours at night. This means that longer periods of lights on is not good for their health. Try getting a smaller size of sleep cage placed in a dark and quiet area for them if you wish to have your light for longer.

The Food Should Always be Considered

Whenever we talk about the holiday season, the food will always go along with it. Although it is part of our priority list to provide our pet birds with the best type of foods, we also need to remember to consider their health, as it is very important especially when the weather is cold and they are more vulnerable to illness. Their immune system must be kept strong by giving them food with nutritional value. Nuts are the best examples of this. If you have a small parrot, you may crack the nut into smaller pieces for ease. Walnuts and Brazil nuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids that are known to be essential in building a healthy immune system as well as the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health. As for peanuts, if not stored properly, these will be contaminated with fungus which will eventually allow them to give off aflatoxins that will cause liver failure.

Pomegranates, on the other hand, are known to be rich in bioflavonoids and antioxidants, including the sweet potatoes, yams and also the pie pumpkins that are full of beta carotene. The mango from South America is also recommended for your bird pets and this has been observed as the main food source for parrots in Brazil. Based on this observation, the birds appear to eat mangoes both when the fruit is unripe and when it is also ripe. There has been no explanation for this, although the same happened with wild parrots . Meanwhile, other foods that are also rich in simple sugars and are advised to be avoided giving to the birds are peas, corn, bananas and grapes.

The Ideal Presents for your Pet Parrot

The holiday season is all about giving presents, and part of this gift giving are our pets. We are always in the perfect mood and always have time to buy anything – from toys to just about any new item that we see. However, it is also important for every buyer to pay attention to safety. We certainly don’t want our pets to play with any unsafe toys that might put its life in danger. Part of the precautionary measure is to determine the perfect size of toy for your bird and something that they could interact with. Some toys can be very scary sometimes when first introduced to your pet. To avoid this, try hanging a new toy just outside the cage, then later play with it like you are really into playing with it. This may help deal with the issue and will eventually spark some interest in your pet parrot.

Be aware of any metal that may come from bells and to the wire parts on some toys. Most of these are created with zinc or lead base, except if they are created from stainless steel. Because of your pet’s interest, it can break off and ingest the solder where the couple of pieces of the metal come together, and this could be fatal. Therefore, make sure that the toys you buy do not have metal except if it is stainless steel. This is also the ideal time to check the cage for exposed and wear solder joints where the metal actually comes together. Take a good look inside a cage from the bird’s perspective – place your head inside and then give it the well comb look! Never use the toothbrush as a toy because the metal holding the bristles together could be very toxic as well.

The holidays can be safe, healthy and fun, especially if spent with our pets, while the sun sets in the sky and the unscented candles have been lit.

This article was provided by Umer Hayat of CuteParrots.com.

✔ You may also be interested in reading:
15 Natural Feed Supplements for Birds (Exotic, Poultry, Pigeons, Waterfowl, Etc.)
Bird Treat Recipe: Corny Nut Squares
Add Naturally Festive Color to Homemade Pet Cookie Recipes

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