Parrot Cages

Home, casa, hut, shack, pad, nest whatever you call it, everyone and everything has one. Your parrot is no different whether you keep it in a cage or let it live cageless your parrot needs a place called home. Now not all parrots are into the whole mi casa es su casa thing and they will let it you know but its better that they trash their own place than yours, right? So think about what your parrots lives in as strongly as the type of parrot you are looking forward to buy, adopt or already own.

If you choose to keep your parrot uncaged you must consider all the possible household hazards that your parrot could potentially face and how much destruction to your home your parrot is capable of causing. If you decide to keep your parrot in a cage you can't let it stay there forever because it needs time out of its cage, just picture yourself living at home bored and alone for the rest of your life that is probably how your parrot would feel. Parrots are not all the same so choose a cage that best meets your parrot's individual needs. Also different species of parrots require cages that best suite them.

Some few things to consider when purchasing a cage for your parrot are price, size, material, ease of cleaning, bar spacing, shape, door size, food dishes, how escape proof the cage is, and design. The price for parrot cages can range from $20 dollars to well passed $1000. Obviously the price depends on the species of bird that the cage is going to house. Parrot cages are usually expensive at pet shops, but you can find cheap cages at the flea market or on the Internet on eBay, Craigslist, and other Internet sites. Although beware that not all cheap cages you might find are not safe.

As with previous posts I will break up this post into a series so I don't create an overwhelming monster. Also I will specifically describe the cage requirements of different species when I post what I know about them. So if this sea of text has bored you here are some videos I've posted from YouTube below.




Strangely while I was watching this video Kiki escaped out of her own cage.

Quaker Parrots Overview

While I am novice in many aspects of the parrot world, I can safely say that I am much more knowledgeable when it comes to Quaker Parrots. Primarily because I have one living with me and that I have handled more than one. Since there is a seemingly endless amount of information about parrots and Quakers I will break up the posts relating to various species of parrots into a series of posts relating to the individual species.

I have read in many articles and books that Quaker Parrots are clowns and I can honestly say that is completely true. Just the other day Kiki pierced my neck with her beak and I fell to the ground, after laying their in shock because I had no idea why she bit me, she waddled over and kissed my nose (sound effects and all) and I started laughing so hard I didn't care that she bit me. Aside from their crude sense of humor Quakers are intelligent, silly, clever, capable of being very vocal, and extremely affectionate. Not all Quakers are the same and each and every Quaker's disposition varies from one to the other. Please understand that Quakers, or any living thing for that matter, will vary in personality and they are not all the same, so just because your friend has a sweet and affectionate pet don't go buy one on impulse and expect the same type of love from that pet.

Quaker parrots can grow to about nine to eleven inches long, and are comparable in size to a Cockatiel. They can live for maybe twenty five plus years depending on how well their taken care of, and I have heard of some dieing at eighteen while others past thirty. Since Quakers are very hardy birds and prolific breeders they are illegal in some states where they are considered agricultural pest. Quakers have established feral colonies in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Texas, etc. but haven't really moved out of where they established. Here's a link to a website that shows which states allow or ban Quakers http://www.quakerville.com/qic/statelaw.asp. I've posted some videos I found on YouTube with Quakers in them because I haven't made any recent videos of Kiki.

Should Parrots be Kept as Pets?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh9X--j_gGw

Viewer discretion is advised, the following clip contains dead parrot images.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps-yl1ETOaM

This is kind of like part two of "Do Parrots make Good Pets". Honestly I think this question could be part of a broader question like should humans keep pets. Their are those who see nothing wrong in keeping pets and those who believe pets shouldn't be kept. Parrots are animals that fly an extensive number of miles a day in the wild which is cut down drastically when they are kept in our homes. For this reason many people view keeping parrots in a cage at home is a form of cruelty and they should be free flying and foraging in their forests. If this is the case then all animals should be free from being kept as pets.

One could associate pet keeping as a form of servitude for animals in which humans limit their freedoms. However most view the pet keeping relationship as mutualistic in which the pet/ companion provides entertainment and pleasure and the human provides and cares for the animal. It is when the human fails to provide a safe and adequate environment for the pet that we have abused our pet keeping privileges

However while not as many people are against keeping parrots as pets their are controversies surrounding wing clipping. Wing clipping is a simple procedure in which the primary flight feathers are trimmed in order to prevent flight. Some people firmly believe that parrots should be allowed to fly and that is what nature intended and others believe wing clipping is necessary for the parrot's safety from household hazards such as stoves, ovens, toilets, fans, mirrors, etc. and to prevent escape.

When my aunt was young, she lived in our village in Bangladesh and had a pet parrot. I am not certain what type of parrot it was but I am sure it was native to that region. Her parrot would play with them for a while and eat and later it would fly away to go spend time with the wild parrots and would return in the evening to sleep. So I believe wing clipping can be avoided with proper care but I wouldn't recommend allowing your parrot to fly away since they aren't native to the USA which doesn't grant them protection from being killed in the wild. ALWAYS DO RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING A PET.

Trip to Kookaburra Bird Shop

Recently I visited nice little bird shop in Carrollton, Texas. I went to go pick up some pellets for Kiki at Kookaburra Bird Shop because Kiki's used to eating the Tropican Lifetime Granules their and I can't find them in any stores close to where I live and I haven't bothered to convert her to another type of pellet. It's a clean professional looking place and a little expensive but then again most parrot things are. They have a sanitary environment for their birds and if your looking to buy a parrot or things for you parrot you might want to go their or a parrot shop resembling their enviornment.
The staff their is very informative and helped me switch Kiki from seeds to pellets which was my intention anyway. According to their website they are the first Bird Shop in the DFW area founded in 1979 by Terrie Beckley. I think she still runs the place along with her daughter. They are a full line bird shop and also board pet birds for those who need travel away from home. Here's the link to their website http://kookshop.com/Site/Welcome.html.
Besides the technical information they have a wide variety of pellets, birds, cages, carriers, and other things. When you walk in their is an enormous play area with a Scarlet Macaw named Miranda that sits on the top perch, a goofy Major Mitchell's Cockatoo whose name I can't recall, and a Sulfur Crested Cockatoo named Mel. Mel is 18 years old and Miranda is 20 and their in the video I posted below. Thankfully they were kind enough to let me take pictures and videos of their parrots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTBKKTgKb64