Feeding Your Bird Is Important - Pet Birds Need a Balanced Diet Just Like Humans

Feeding your bird is important. Pet birds need a balanced diet just like humans. There is a large variety of freshly packed seeds available to feed your bird.

As well as normal seed, your bird needs specialised seed or pellets. These seeds or pellets are similar to the food that they would get in their natural environment. There is a large variety available in all pet stores, just wander around the pet bird supplies and read the packaging, then decide which is best for your breed of bird. If you choose a high quality seed, this will help considerable to reduce wastage. Seed is only a part of a bird's diet, so for a bird to have a balanced diet, it must be given a vitamin and mineral supplement for the essential dietary ingredients it would find if it was living in the wild. Once or twice a week, you may feed your bird either fresh fruit or vegetables as an additional food source.

Charlie our Quaker Parrot loves his fruit and vegetables. He also likes pasta. You will soon be aware of what your pet bird likes to eat and which food is his favourite. They are just like little kids, they will spit our what they don't want. That is why we put a birdbib on while Charlie is on our shoulders and having a nibble, as he is very messy and it doesn't worry him where he spits his unwanted food.

Whilst we like to give Charlie a wide variety of foods, I have read that feeding your bird the wrong food can be highly dangerous and even fatal. You must not let your bird eat any of them. They are, avocado, chocolate, apple seeds including cherries, peaches, apricots and pears contain trace amounts of cyanide within their seeds. The fruit of the apple and pear is fine but the seeds are poisonous and there may be pesticides present on the fruit's skin so it is important to wash all food, onions, mushrooms, tomato leaves including the green coloured part, stems and vines and the same for potatoes, salt, caffeine including soda, coffee, and tea, dried beans are all not to be fed to your pet bird, cooked beans are considered OK as long as they are thoroughly cooked. Boiled eggs and the shell are a good source of nutrition as well.

After purchasing a Quaker Parrot and getting tired of all the washing that goes with sitting him on our shoulders, I designed and made a bird bib to protect our clothing.

http://www.tweetyenterprises.com

8 Simple Tips For Keeping Your Pet Birds in Good Health

1. In order for birds to live a long life, you should feed them with a nutritional diet. Feed your birds the right food from the start. Feeding the wrong diet can result in diseases and malnutrition, ultimately leading to a short life span.

2. Bird seed doesn't contain all the nutrition your pet bird needs. Bird seeds are high on fat and quite low on vitamins and protein. Some birds, like parrots can eat other foods and not just seeds.

3. Most birds can usually eat the same food that we eat. Pasta, pretzels, bread contain whole grains are good for birds. Avoid giving them food that's high on fat. Under no circumstances should you feed a bird avocado. They're highly toxic to birds.

4. Introduce a variety of foods to your birds. Beans and legumes and other vegetables are good sources of vitamins and nutrition. While some birds aren't open to eating new food, others are open to new varieties.

5. Don't rush introducing new foods to your birds. Slowly introduce and change the foods twice a day, with an hour separating each change. Clean up any food that's been left so that it won't be a breeding ground for bacteria and affect the bird's health.

6. Feed the bird twice a day. It will make the bird hungrier, which in turn makes it become more active. This will then result in the bird being open to eating new foods. It will also tell you how much the bird is eating per day and if they are eating at all. If the bird doesn't eat, it could be a telltale sign that it has health issues.

7. Experiment a little on the food you give to the bird. Try cooking or heating vegetables first before serving it to the bird and only serve seeds during meal time. Do this until your bird learns to eat vegetables on a regular basis.

8. Provide fresh and lean water all the time. Make sure that the water dish and food bowl are cleaned regularly. Use soap or bleach to eliminate germs that may contaminate the bowl. Make sure to mix some water soluble vitamins to add to your bird's water intake.

Like all pets, the key to maintaining their health is up to their owners. Make sure that you take care of their needs so they can live a long, healthy life.

Pat has been a writer for many years on the subjects of diet, fitness, making money online, career moves, sports, cooking and pet care. You can visit his most recent efforts at Reverse Osmosis Bottled Water, including information on the Poland Springs Bottled Water.

So You Want To Know All About Pet Birds?

Finches - are they any good as having as pet birds?

A finch is a perfect pet bird.It's one of the most amazing creatures on earth. When bred in groups, they are easy going; simple oriented and does not pose any difficulty to their owner. Their life expectancy has also made them very suitable for families where there are kids, who can watch them grow from young to adults. Finches survive pretty much everywhere but perfect for any apartment and environment.

If you have been collecting, you must have understood that some kind of pet bird is perfect because of hardy nature. Society finches and Zebra finch are perfect examples of this. Finches like being reared together, they like growing in the mist of other species. They are good mannered but most times they might show some bullying character.

Normally you must avoid housing finches with any other bird species that are rough or too loud to co-exist with, like lovebirds, parakeets, hook bills or any other large breeds. On the same vein, if you allow them to live in a crowded environment, they might result to learning feather plucking at the end.

What Is The Best Thing To Do With Your Pet Bird?

Select their environment carefully - Your finches can only survive and live healthy when you have put in place the necessary facilities for their survival. You must keep their environment very clean. They like toys and other features to enable them fly a bit and perch, and you have to make all this available. However, ensure that whatsoever thing you are bringing, does not interfere with the normal life of your finches

How to handle finches - A pet bird is not a dog and don't normally enjoy being held or petted. You can hang around with them often and with any luck they might become patient enough and allow you those privileges. Yes, most times you may need to trim their nails, do that gently and don't irritate them.

Grooming - Most finches like dew-wash and you have to create same scenario in your cage. You can provide them with water in a shallow container for their bath and put moisture-grass at the bottom of their cage in the morning to remove them when they are done grooming.

Feeding - You must ensure that you feed your finches properly. A lot about their health and happiness depends on how they are feed and what they are feed with. You have to provide just their diet every time; providing seeds, greens, sprouts, vegetables and fruits. You must remove any food remnant from the cage after each feeding section to ensure that they don't decay and start causing abnormalities.

A finch is a great pet bird to have in your family. Unlike many other species of pets, they are easy to care for, hardy and survives pretty much fine. Finches are not expensive and appear gloriously entertaining with cheerful personalities. You will only have to keep them around in your apartment for a while to understand how wonderful and unique they are.

John K. is a great co-writer at FinchTips.com

Check out The Perfect Pet Bird [http://www.finchtips.com/so-you-want-to-know-all-about-pet-birds/]

Things You Need to Know About Pet Birds

Birds are becoming more and more popular as pets. There are a variety of bird species and sizes to choose from. The smaller birds are the Parakeet, Canary, Finch, Budgies, Lovebird...the larger birds are the Cockatiel, African Grey, Cockatoo, Amazon, Quaker, among others. Birds are highly intelligent animals. They are extremely social creatures... fairly inexpensive to feed... relatively easy to care for... and display amazing colors and behavior patterns that are interesting to watch and have even proven to improve peoples health i.e lower blood pressure and stress levels. The smaller birds... canaries, budgies, love birds...are ideal for apartment dwellers. Cages: Stainless steel or aluminum cages are more fitting for housing bird(s) than are painted cages. Not only will they give longer service, but the older painted cages may contain lead based paint which is toxic to birds. Cages should be wide enough for the bird to stretch its wings.

Cages should be placed near family activities in the home. Lining the bottom of the cage with newspapers or paper towels will make for easier clean up. Food and water bowls should be cleaned daily and once a week thorough cleaning of the cage should be done. Cages should also include toys, perches, mirrors and chewable items. Diet: Dietary needs among bird species are not all the same. Some have very specific dietary needs and need special diets. Feeding pet birds the right foods is one of the most important considerations of its overall care. Balancing a pet birds diet will prevent many health problems later.

Diet for most seed-eating birds should consist of pelleted foods, fresh fruits (apples, grapes, cantaloupe, pineapple, figs, and kiwi) and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates, but shouldn't be left in the cage at room temperature for long periods of time as they can spoil causing bacteria that is harmful to the bird. It's important to research what types of foods are best for your species of bird. Offering the bird a food item at dinner time is OK as long as you make sure that the foods you share aren't toxic to birds. The best time for feeding is in the morning and have fruits and vegetables available during the day. Health and Care: Health should be a primary consideration when choosing a pet bird. For routine health examinations you should schedule a yearly checkup with a avian veterinarian in order to detect potential problems early.

A healthy bird can tolerate temperatures that are comfortable to its owner. A pet bird should never be let out of its cage unattended. Some common dangers for birds are ceiling fans, heaters, open windows and doors, other pets, water filled tubs, sinks, etc. Some do's: Do close the blinds or pull the drapes over the windows if you let the bird out of it's cage to keep it from injuring himself flying into the glass. Do make sure a fireplace screen is covering the fireplace. Do cover aquariums. Do keep toilet lids down to keep the bird from falling in.

Do keep other pets (cats, dogs) away from the pet bird. Do keep clean water in it's cage. Do clean food bowl. Do keep the cage clean. Some don't's: Don't feed the bird certain foods (i.e chocolate, avocado) because they are toxic. Don't leave any doors and windows open in case the bird gets out of his cage. Don't hold a bird tight because their bones are fragile and can easily be fractured. Don't let a pet bird loose in the kitchen around boiling water or stove burners. Don't turn on ceiling fans if the bird is out of its cage. Don't smoke around the bird. Don't over heat non-stick-coated (Teflon) pots or pans for the fumes are toxic to birds. Don't let the bird eat toxic plants (daffodils, juniper, azaleas, oleanders,etc). Don't feed the bird pits from fruit as in cherries, plums or peaches because these contain cyanide which is toxic to birds. Pet birds can be purchased from a variety of sources,such as pet shops, breeders, private dealers, or individuals.

Lamar Deane offers free tips and information How to Choose The Right Pet For You [http://pets4usite.info/popular-pets.html]