Advice from fellow parrot owners! 🦜

[jellyfish798]

Hi everyone, am going to be inheriting a parrot, he's a blue fronted amazon. He's 24. I've got a good relationship with him having spent lots of time with him over the years when visiting, he trusts me and I have decent knowledge of general care & enrichment. Just looking for any tips and thoughts on giving him the best life possible - love him to bits and want to do everything I can to give him a happy, healthy life x

Embrace the inevitability of being bitten regularly and painfully.

Yep, I hear that, he definitely lets it be known when he's pissed off! Hates anyone to have their shirt sleeves down when he's on their arm unfortunately 🙈

There is an instagram/lfacebook page called The Green Bird Brigade, the lady who runs it is amazing like some kind of bird whisperer. Practically, you will need a sizeable cage for the bird to comfortably move around in.

lots of freedom to fly around. Find your nearest avian vet, one that specialises in exotic birds.

no avocados or onions. NO candles, scents, perfumes, deodorants, incense or anything that birdy could inhale.

nutriberries! Swings ladders bells and foraging toys. No mirrors as they frustrate the bird when they fall in love with what they think is another bird.

don’t stroke him anywhere except on his head, because that will stimulate him and make him think you’re his mate.

Thank you! This is great advice 👍

You’re welcome. Owning a parrot is lovely but the noise, the screams, the biting and the pop are the main cons. Puppy training pads are a must for lining the cage and make the cleaning process easier. They should have an iodine block in the cage and a cuttlebone to sharpen their beaks, essentially giving them the ability to injure you more easily 😆

don’t try to cut their nails yourself, get a trained professional to do it because they can bleed out if you cut too short and close to their blood vessels.

I have a very mean and nippy conure who loves my DH and only tolerates me, they tend to bond with one person and it seems nothing will influence who they choose.

I'm not a parrot owner but I am a parrot watcher on fb. Apart from the wonderful Green Bird Brigade lady there are many wonderful parrot owners sharing tips. Mikey and Mia -whose owners have now given them to a sanctury as they emigrated - have hours of YouTube/FB content about caring for them. They were free flying birds- there is a large community of free flyers - if you think your bird may be able to be trained for that. (I went to Mikeys birthday party public event and watched so many birds being flown it was amazing).

I have a conure so slightly different scale.

Twelve hours sleep is essential.

Non-stick pans give off toxic fumes when heated. Our lungs dont care (much) but bird lungs are much more efficient so the fumes can kill them. Keep parrot away from kitchen and open kitchen window when using non-stick.

Put the toilet lid down. Parrots can drown in toilets. They are clumsy, fall in, cant climb out cos the sides are slippery, cant fly out cos too narrow to open their wings.

Youll need lots of toys and cardboard. Parrots are destructive (goodbye wooden blinds...). Northern Parrot are good for parrot supplies.

If you need professional advice these two are fab:
https://bestbehavedbirds.com/
They also have free videos on YouTube - look for birdnerdsophie.

Research a proper diet. Also research a specialist avian vet. Consider holidays and who will look after the parrot (I get a pet sitter as mine likes lots of company).

I love mine to bits (also 'inherited') but she's a HUGE commitment. And only 5...

Thanks everyone, much appreciated ☺️