Rules of keeping parrot lovebirds

Lovebirds are sociable pets that do not require strict care. If the rules and peculiarities of the birds are observed, diseases can be avoided and their health maintained for 10-15 years. Parrots are quite active, so for lovebirds you need to properly equip the cage and pick up the appropriate toys. Thanks to this approach, the birds will feel more comfortable and will not be bored.

With proper care, parrots tolerate captive existence well. In order for a bird to live a long life, it is necessary to constantly monitor its state of health, maintain hygiene rules and not overfeed. Pets should feel comfortable in their cage, because it will serve as their protection. It is important to remember that a parrot perceives a cage as its own home: a place for nest and overnight stay.

Before arranging and buying a cage, it is necessary to decide in advance on its size and place in the apartment. The future bird house should be located in a warm room, isolated from noise and drafts. In this case, you need to put the cell so that it can be freely approached. Parrots need attention. Communicate and play with lovebirds better around the cage so that the pet can get used to the owner.

Thanks to this practice, after adaptation, the bird will calmly respond to finding a person near its feeders and nest. In addition, every day to change the feed in the cage filled with things is difficult.

Despite the small body size, birds need a lot of free space. Therefore, for the house should get a spacious cage, so that the parrot could fully spread its wings and make small flights. Movement helps them get rid of excess energy.

In narrow spaces, feathers break on iron rods. If a lovebird hits a trellis while traveling, he could be seriously injured. The bones of the birds are hollow and fragile, so they easily break and crack. To avoid bruises and fractures, you need to take care of the safety of your pet.

The best option for lovebirds is a cell size of 0.5x1 m. If you plan to buy a pair of birds and breed parrots, the house will need more spacious. In small cages, birds do not breed. Often, small cells can lead to a struggle for territory. The choice of the shape and size of the cell should affect the ease of care. It is more profitable to buy a house for a parrot with a retractable bottom, so that it is more comfortable to clean up excrement, change paper.

Veterinarians recommend buying a rectangular cell. The corners should not be rounded. During the adaptation period, the bird will treat people incredulously, and with each approach they will often rush about. As a result, the parrot is hammered back into a corner. In this position, he feels more secure, especially during the period of egg laying.

You can buy a cage made of metal without sputtering, organic glass or plastic. The exceptions are lead, copper and zinc products.Before purchasing a wooden cage, you should remember that the bird likes to sharpen its beak, and the natural material will quickly collapse.

In the cage should be 2 feeders: for water and food separately. It is recommended to buy products from ceramics or organic glass. Such materials facilitate cleaning of feeders and serve for a long time. Products must be open so that the bird can comfortably drink and get food. If the cell size allows, you can put a bath for swimming.

It is necessary to install at least 2 perches on which birds will balance and sleep. It is allowed to purchase a wooden or plastic support. It is preferable to buy products from natural material so that the bird can sharpen the beak if desired. You can make poles yourself: from birch, willow or apple branches.

In addition to the basic products for feeding and spending pets, you need to put in a cage and toys:

• swing;
• bells;
• stairs;
• the ropes.

Wash the cage, toys and items in it every 3 days. Drinkers are recommended to be cleaned every day. Hard to reach places, such as corners or feeders with a narrow opening, should be cleaned with a toothbrush. But, despite the careful care of the pet's home, pathogenic bacteria accumulate on the surface of objects and on the bars of the cage.

To avoid the development of an infectious disease in poultry, you should pour boiling water over all items. If the cage is cleaned with soap and water, it is necessary to thoroughly flush the chemical. Wet inventory should dry.

For good nutrition, lovebirds need a mixture of cereal grains with ready-made feed for birds. For cooking at home, you need to mix the following ingredients:

• oatmeal and grains:
• canary seeds;
• corn kernels;
• sunflower seeds;
• millet.

On the day you need to measure the grain mixture up to 1 tbsp. l with a slide. In addition to cereals, the feeding of birds should include a variety of fruits, herbal, in the amount of 2 tsp. per day. You can mix finely chopped apples, currants and blueberries with fresh nettles, parsley and clover. If fruits are rubbed, the fibers obtained from them can be hung with the help of clothespins in the upper part of the cage. In this form, it will be easier for parrots to eat food.

Once a week it is necessary to give lovebirds protein food: cottage cheese mixed with chopped chicken egg. Veterinarians recommend cooking for pets fresh porridge from rice or buckwheat with the addition of pureed fruit. Proteins of birds can be obtained from legumes, which must be 3-4 times soaked in water and boil for at least 60 minutes. In the diet of pets you can include greens containing vitamins, plant fiber and mineral components:

• spinach;
• cabbage;
• lettuce leaves;
• nettles

It is strictly forbidden to include in the diet persimmon, avocado and mango. Feed must be free from dust and dirt. No need to buy grain with impurities.

Proper care for feathered pet provides regular bathing birds at home. Lovebirds love to clean feathers from dirt, food debris and excrement on their own. They will definitely visit pre-installed baths in a cage. By caring for themselves, parrots maintain their health and improve appearance. Regular bathing helps the birds maintain spinal flexibility. For the proper maintenance of lovebirds in the house should be aware of the features of their washing:

• in the cold season it is necessary to bathe parrots 2 times a week, and each bird needs its own bath;
• water temperature should be at least + 27 ° C;
• before bathing the bird, close the windows and doors in the room to prevent drafts;
• no need to add detergents, shampoos and balms to water;
• should be poured into the bath water so that the depth of the pool was less than 2 cm;
• do not disturb the structure of feathers or try to wash off the wax layer on their surface;
• in summer, you must bathe the bird daily.

Rosy-cheeked, Fisher lovebirds, masked parrots, when properly maintained, quickly adapt to life in the house. In order for pets to adapt more quickly to new conditions, it is necessary to place the cage in a place limited by noise and drafts. The temperature in the room should be + 20-25 ° C. In winter, you can turn on the heater, but the cage house needs to be moved to a place distant from it. The same goes for batteries. A distance of 1.5-2 meters is required.

In addition to proper maintenance, you should constantly pay attention to the birds:

• communicate and play;
• uncage;
• carefully monitor pets during a walk around the apartment.

Thanks to the positive attitude of the birds to the host, they can be trained. Pets are easy to learn and perform various tricks.

At the initial stage of education, the parrot must get used to the hands of a person. For training should use sweet fruits or grains. A young lovebird learns to interact with a host faster than an adult. When taming birds, do not touch paws and wings. Such touches are perceived by pets aggressively, therefore they can bite, scratch or fly away for a long distance.

Talking with birds is necessary constantly, without making sudden movements and without raising his voice. At the same time, the parrot should communicate with both people and other birds. For this reason, it is difficult to keep one lovebird. Such a bird will suffer from loneliness due to the lack of communication with relatives. If the parrot is alone, do not hang a mirror in the cage. It is better to buy lovebirds in pairs. Parrots of this type can learn from 10 to 15 words.

It is necessary to diversify leisure pet. In addition to communication with other parrots, the pet should play with the person. The most popular ways of spending time:

• rock the parrot on a swing, occasionally giving it fruit;
• tame a parrot to pass a small ball;
• hide delicacies and make a lovebird look for them;
• teach the bird to put coins into a piggy bank, build a pyramid from small rings;
• use puzzles;
• play in the water with toys.

In such conditions the birds will not be frightened and alarmed by the sudden inclusion of the lamp. If your pet woke up, started tossing around the cage, tweeting and showing anxiety, turn on the lights and open the cage. As soon as the bird feels completely safe, normal conditions for its sleep should be restored. Lovebirds usually sleep 10 hours a day, in winter the duration of sleep increases to 12 hours.

To prevent rickets birds need to sunbathe. Under the action of ultraviolet rays, vitamin D is synthesized in the skin of a pet.To do this, put the cage in a well-lit place and cover half of the house with a cloth so that the bird can rest in the shade if necessary. If the cage is carried out to the open air, it will be necessary to protect the lovebird from attack and other interaction with street birds. This is necessary to avoid infection by parasites, viruses and bacteria.

Full care for lovebirds includes periodic nail clipping and sharpening the beak. In the absence of control, bone tissue quickly acquires the stratum corneum, due to which the bird will feel discomfort. With sharp claws a parrot can hurt itself. In addition to the risk of injury, the bird has difficulty eating. In order for the birds to grind off their beaks and claws themselves, in a cage you need to put pebbles of chalk, wooden sticks.

If the parrot ignores the care items, you can use a nail file or scissors for manicure to sew the beak. Objects must be sanitized before use. To prevent the bird from biting, you can wrap the parrot in a towel. If blood is cut while trimming, this indicates damage to the blood vessel in the claw. To eliminate the risk of infection, the wound should be treated with hydrogen peroxide and streptocide in powder form. With the rapid keratinization of the beak or with the accelerated growth of claws, the pet must be examined by a veterinarian. Such symptoms may be a sign of metabolic disturbances.

With frequent walks around the apartment birds can cut the wings. Shortened feathers will not allow the parrot to fly out the window or break from a great height. In this case, ornithologists recommend doing it only in exceptional cases. For example, if the room is a fan or hot stove.

Low flights will not slow down the development of bird skeletal muscles. To trim the wings, you also need to wrap the bird in a soft towel so that you can pull out one of the wings. It is necessary to choose 6-7 longest feathers and cut them with scissors, leaving 1 cm from the root. To stop the bleeding that has occurred, you should use streptocide or hydrogen peroxide. A similar procedure must be repeated with the second wing.

Before walking a parrot, you must make the room safer:

• remove the wires;
• move poisonous plants to another room;
• throw out toxic substances;
• close doors, windows;
• close small items in a closet or closet that a parrot can choke on.

During the walk, you must always be close to the pet and monitor its movements. The presence of the owner is necessary not only for communication, but also for the safety of your pet.

If the pet contains more than one, long-term communication is not required for the couple. While walking, they will spend time with each other, playing and twisting. It is difficult to catch a couple of pets, so it is recommended not to feed the birds for 2 hours before a walk. In addition, birds should be released in the evening, when their activity is reduced. During the flight, the cage door must always be open. If the parrots should return to the cage, you need to put food with slices of your favorite fruit on the bottom of the house. At the sight of the grains and the sound of the food being poured, hungry birds will quickly return to the cage.

If the breeding of birds is planned, they need to build a nest box or dumb house. Birds should feel the comfort and complete safety inside the product. The nest does not need to do big.

Immunocompromised pets can get sick quickly. The most common birds are subject to the following diseases:

• obesity;
• parasitic diseases: worms, aspergillosis, cnemidocoptosis, roundworm;
• metabolic disorders: rickets, hypovitaminosis, lack of growth of feathers, French molt;
• ornithosis;
• infectious lesions: coccidiosis, rhinitis, salmonellosis, pneumonia, escherichiosis, bird plague, trichomoniasis, gout;
• paralysis;
• goiter inflammation;
• indigestion, impaired stool;
• hyperkeratosis.

To prevent the development of diseases, it is recommended to adhere to the following rules.

• Constantly disinfect the cage, toys and poles with boiling water, formalin solution. After the death of a pet, it is necessary to wipe the cage with a solution of creolin and sodium. Inspect the inventory for damage so that the bird does not hurt.
• Correctly adjust the diet: the bird must receive enough vitamins and minerals to maintain the immune systems.
• Physical activity and regular flights will help your pet avoid obesity, rickets and gout.
• Help the bird to grind off its beak and cut its claws in time.

In addition, you can not lay on the floor cell magazines and newspapers with color pictures. Ink can poison the bird. To avoid intoxication, you should use blank paper sheets.

All about lovebirds, see below.