Having birds as pets

All these days, we've been telling you about taking care of gold fish, and maintaining a clean and hygienic tank of fish. How about having birds for pets? When you are choosing a bird as a pet, you must think about the cost, the commitment you can afford, the noise level you can bear, the space you can provide them and their diet.

Carefully considering such things will help you make a good decision and also find a bird that will be a good match for your lifestyle. Finding the right bird will help you enjoy the time you share with your pet!

Cost

How much can you afford; not only to buy the bird, the cage and other things you will need, but also ongoing costs for things such as food, toys and veterinary care? The larger the bird, the more it will cost. You must buy a healthy hand-raised bird, which is well worth the cost, in the long run.

Commitment

How much time can you spend with a bird? If you don't have a lot of time, you better think twice about getting a parrot, cockatoo or budgerigar. You must have time to communicate and play with them because some birds love to play.

Larger parrots have long lifespans and some bond so closely with their owners. Adapting to a new home can be difficult for such birds.

Noise level

Parrots often screech. So, if you are living in an apartment or in a house with close neighbourhoods, a large parrot may not make you or your parents popular with your neighbours, especially very loud parrots such as cockatoos and mackaws. If you don't handle the noise well, some birds may not be a good choice for you. Budgerigars, cockatoos and lovebirds can be fairly noisy in their own way, but not as loud as larger parrots. Finches, doves and canaries are better choices if noise is a concern.

Space

Do you have space for a cage? You shouldn't use small cages even for smaller birds like finches and canaries.

They need space to fly, because that is how they get their exercise. The larger the bird, the larger the cage needed. Parrots, budgerigars and cockatoos also need time outside the cage for extra exercise. It's better if you can give them a special space of their own outside the cage, like a gym or a stand.

Mess and destruction

Birds can be really messy especially when eating, and the mess is not always contained in the cage. Some birds also produce lots of feather dust. Parrots are also fond of chewing, so you will need to thoroughly bird-proof your home for their times spent outside of the cage, not only to protect your belongings from the destruction they can cause, but also to prevent the bird from getting injured.

Diet

Most species of pet parrots require a diet made up of pre-formulated food such as pellets, a variety of fresh foods such as greens, sprouted seeds, grains and fruits, along with some seeds (generally, the larger the bird, the fewer seeds should be fed). Some birds such as lorikeets require very specialised diets, but birds like finches, canaries and doves have less complicated diets. Find out what your selected species of bird requires and whether you can provide it, before buying the bird.

Socialisation

Some birds do not really take to being handled, while others bond very tightly with their owners and can be quite cuddly (cockatoos and some other large parrots). If you do want a bird that you can interact with, you need to be able to commit the time for them. The more social birds can be very demanding of attention and resort to neurotic behaviour if denied the attention they need.

Talking and training

Many people go for parrots, because of their ability to talk. There are other varieties who are renowned for their talking and mimicry (imitating) ability, so think twice if that is your motivation to get a parrot. Most parrot species are intelligent and can be trained to do various tricks. Even some of the smaller parrots can be trained to whistle tunes and can be quite entertaining.

So, which bird will you choose?

- Janani Amarasekara