NOTE: What works for us might not work for everyone. Don’t take our word as gospel. We read all the time, and are constantly adding new books to our library. Take the time to talk to many different people, especially a veterinarian familiar with avian care.

VETERINARY CARE: Almost all of the birds have an initial checkup from our veterinarian within a few days of arriving. Everyone is quarantined for at least 30 days —more if the vet recommends it. This protects the health of our other birds. They all go in at least once a year for an “annual”, unless of course they show any signs of health problems.

DIET: What is a healthful diet? Healthful diets contain the amounts of essential nutrients and calories needed to prevent nutritional deficiencies and excesses. Healthful diets also provide the right balance of carbohydrate, fat, and protein to reduce risks for chronic diseases, and are a part of a full and productive lifestyle.

Everyone here gets a wide variety of foods. In the wild, parrots spend a good portion of their day hunting for tasty foodstuffs. In captivity, everything is handed to them in a bowl, so we try to make it as interesting as possible. There is a fresh dish of pellets (either Scenic, Zupreem, Exact or Roudybush of appropriate size) in each cage at all times. In the morning they all get a tummy full of warm “glop”. In the early evening, everyone gets a combination of pasta/bean/rice mix, vegetables, some fruits, and whatever healthy people food seems to be hanging about. The Macaws require more fats in their diet, so they get a handful of a good-quality nut/seed mix in addition to everything else. The lovebirds and conures get a small portion of safflower-based seed mix as well. The lories’ diet is based on nectar we make ourselves. He also gets a variety of fruits and vegetables. Almost all of the birds also get Nutriberries or Avicakes periodically throughout the day.

GROOMING FOR GOOD HEALTH: Showers are given every other day (whether they want it or not) to everyone who doesn’t help themselves to a daily bath. (you know —when you change out their water in the morning and it is 45 degrees and they dive right in.) We use one of those jogger’s misters and it works great for the 20 bucks it cost. We fill it with hot water, pump it up, and we can get usually give everyone (well... except Rocky) a thorough, warm mist before it needs to be pumped up again. Rocky uses the entire mister with his own shower.

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING: Every cage gets a light cleaning nightly. Poop and food is washed off cage surfaces with water, and a mild soap is used if needed. (Highly-scented cleaners can be dangerous to birds, so we don’t use them.) The paper under the cage grates is changed. Any food is scraped off of perches, and the floor around each cage is swept up. A couple of times a month, the cages are taken outside to get a thorough cleaning.

TOYS: Toys are not luxury items for parrots —they are necessities. These creatures are too intelligent to be left all day with nothing to do. (Just imagine a 2 1/2 year old human with no toys and nothing to do.) There are several categories of toys and each has their own importance. Parrots chew and chew. That’s their job. They yell and they chew. And they throw food. It is very important that they have toys they can destroy. They are just as happy with chunks of 2x4’s (or window sills, or door jambs...) as they are with the $50 toys at the stores. We make many of our own toys. Click here for more information on toys.

HOW LONG DOES ALL THAT TAKE? Actually, not that long. If you let the poop sit around for days and dry, then it takes a long time. Cage cleaning and food preparation take about an hour and a half every evening. The morning meal also takes about an hour and a half. Preparing the bean mix takes about a half hour (not including cooking time) twice a week. Lori nectar takes about an hour to make every two weeks. Also, there is birdie bread to be made, and other treats. These generally take about an hour each —as the urge strikes. It really helps if you aren’t a couch potato. How long does the normal person spend planted in front of the TV? Without it, it leaves a lot of time to play with birds. (Frankly... I haven’t watched TV in months at this point.) Don’t forget that while you’re watching TV, you have an empty lap which is just perfect for a bird.

This does not count time playing with the birds —but that is not a chore. We took these birds in to be part of our family, not to sit in cages staring at each other. All of the birds spend a considerable amount of time out of their cages and with us every day. We eat our meals with them, they “help” us clean cages, and pretty much everything we do has a bird tagging along.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: We are currently working on a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan. Events requiring a relocation or disturbance to the routine can range from inconvenient: power outages or no water for a few days, to devastating: wildland or house fires, floods, storms, etc. We would like to make those “disturbances” as minimal as possible for these lives we have been intrusted with.

Note: On Saturday, October 16, 1999, we had a wildland fire that came dangerously close to us. Although we were not ourselves evacuated, both ends of the roads leading in here were closed off. We could not have had friends (about 3 were waiting... just in case) come in and help us evacuate if we had needed it —at the time we needed it. In lining up our carriers, we realized that we simply did not have enough. And without help, our vehicle would not hold all of the birds here. These are serious points to consider.