1. Good hygiene – regularly clean the bird cage and the appliances in it. The cleaning must be accomplished minimum twice a week.
2. We mustn’t let our birds have contact with wild or free – living birds, who are the main carriers of diseases and infections.
3. Do not put the bird cage exposed to draughts – the birds can catch a cold, and they should be exposed to the sun no more than 1 – 2 hours, because they can get overheated and can suffer from hypothermia.
4. If you have other pet animals – a dog, a cat, first make sure that they are not aggressive towards the birds and only then can you leave them in the same room together.
5. Examine the bird cage for protruding parts and objects that can hurt the birds.

6. A very important factor for the good health of the birds is the proper and balanced feeding. Except for grain mixture, they should get enough quantity of fruit and vegetables, from which they will supply themselves with necessary vitamins.
7. Also, with great importance for the health of birds is the proper supply with minerals. You can buy them from the pet shop in combined form.
8. It is also necessary that your birds get small stones and sand in a separate container, which contributes to the good digestion and food – assimilation.
9. Overfeeding the birds with proteins of animal origin is very dangerous for them and it can cause podagra and lead to abnormal appetite.

1. Birds need to eat a nutritionally sound diet in order to live a long life. Improper feeding can lead to malnutrition and disease resulting in a shorter lifespan. Start off by feeding your bird right from the beginning.

2. Parrots and birds of the parrot family can eat a variety of different kinds of foods. Seeds should not be a parrot’s only food. This is a mistake many new bird owners make. Seeds contain mostly fat and not enough protein and very few vitamins.

3. Birds can eat most table foods but it is best to stick to healthy items including items containing whole grains, pretzels, and whole wheat pastas and bread. Foods high in fat should be avoided. Never feed them avocados as they are toxic to birds.

4. Good sources of nutrition for your bird include beans and legumes as well as various vegetables and fruits. Some birds resist new foods at first while others are open to trying many new things. Although it may take some time keep trying to introduce your bird to a variety of healthy foods.

5. Changes to a bird’s diet should be done slowly and progressively over time. Provide fresh foods twice per day for approximately an hour each time. Be careful not to leave fresh food in the bird’s cage too long as it will develop bacteria which can make your bird sick.

6. Your bird should be fed two times per day. This will result in your bird getting hungry which will make it more active. Also, a good appetite can make it more likely that your bird will try new foods. Feeding at set times twice per day will also allow you to be able to monitor how much your bird is eating. If your bird is not eating well this can tell you that it is not feeling well or has a health problem.

7. If your bird is a picky eater and you cannot get it to eat a varied diet you can try warming or cooking the vegetables. Take away seeds except at meal time until your bird starts eating healthy foods on a regular basis.

8. Just as water is necessary for people it is also necessary for healthy birds. Keep your bird’s water dish filled with fresh, clean water at all times. Bird bowls can become very dirty and should therefore be cleaned each day with hot soapy water. Also make it a point to pick up some water soluble bird vitamins at the local pet store and add vitamins to your birds water daily.

Birds make wonderful pets for the whole family and they can live a long time if taken care of properly. Proper care of birds includes maintaining a healthy diet of seeds, vegetables and fruit.

Before buying a budgie think about the following questions:

One or two budgies?

Budgies in natural conditions live in flights and it will be boring for one budgie to live in a cage. His friend, who can replace the company of the other bird, could be a person, but only in the case that he spends lots of time with his feathery friend, speaks to it and lets it fly. If the bird is alone most of the time it becomes sad and very often gets sick. If you are unable to spare enough time for the budgie or if the family is absent for a long time, it is better to start breeding a couple of birds. Many people think that when living in a couple budgies do not become domestic because they do not need a human presence anymore. But if you are patient enough and if you have enough time you may breed budgies separately while they grow up until they become domestic and start perching on your arm and only then bring them together into one cage.

Will anybody help you?

It can happen that on some days you will be very busy and unable to care about the birds, it is very important some member of the family take care of them.

Will it be possible for the bird to move around your home?

Home budgies do not need to look for food alone and to fly kilometers away but they also have to “exercise” their wings. These feathery ones will not be vital and healthy if they do not fly daily around the room at least for an hour. But it is very difficult to keep the cage in one room with a cat – it instinctively chases birds and there could be trouble catching the flying budgie. But an obedient dog very soon realizes that the bird is a member of the family and that it must not be disturbed.

Birds are one of the most favored pets in the world. The bird lovers irrespective of the bird species they choose, the place they keep them, would no doubt like to choose a sturdy and comfortable cage for their pets. There are plenty of bird cages available in the market in various sizes and shapes, the selection of a suitable cage for your pet is a challenge. One has to be aware about the uses and abuses of the house of their pets to make a wise decision.

Needless to say birds like more space to move around and as such one should not strictly be confined to the size prescribed for the pet. It is always advisable to go for the largest size available in the market to see that your pet has always the luxury of freedom of maximum space.

While considering the shape of the birdcage one needs to remember that most commonly found cylindrical cages are not the best suited for these small flying creatures. Lengthy cages facilitate horizontal flying often preferred by the small birds and as such are more important than the height. Birds seldom fly up and down. Large birds like parrots need to be provided with cages taller in size to suit their habit of climbing up as a routine exercise. The large birds always deserve spacious and bigger cages. Although the cage manufacturers are aware about the danger of incorrect wire spacing of cages, and take adequate care in this aspect one has to ensure that they are uniformly and adequately spaced so as to avoid any danger to the birds by getting caught by their heads, wings or beaks inside the wire or bar.

Some of the larger birds like parrots would be best housed in cages with horizontal bars enabling it to climb up with help of their beaks. No such specification need be considered for smaller birds like doves, finches and canaries.

Though price of the cage is always a factor to consider when buying a cage one should not go for the bird cages made of cheaper materials as it may turn to be hazardous for the pets. One has to ensure that the cages need be made of non toxic materials like stainless steel, or powder coated iron that are harmless for these species. Cages that are made of galvanized wires containing zinc have to be avoided. The design of the cage should be such that it allows easy cleaning and maintenance. Certain peculiar shaped cages, though gives a different look, causes problems for easy regular cleaning of the cages that is of paramount importance to keep the birds healthy and hygienic.

The spacing of the bars or the material used for the cage is not the only factors that matter. The doors, latches and similar parts of the cage should have a fine finish not to endanger these lovely pets.

In short, choosing a right birdcage takes time and it is worthy spending some time and thinking, that would lead to a healthy life, security and comfort for your dear pet bird.

What to start with?

First we have to consider the following:

What can I afford?

The price of on parrot varies in large bounds in dependence with the species. You can buy for example a budgie for less than $10. The price of the cockatiel varies between $25 and $35. An Amazonian parrot and grey parrot can be purchased for about $300 – $400, cockatoo for 1,000 …… and the price of some parrots reaches $15,000! This is one of the initial questions which you have to answer.

How much space will the bird need?

Larger birds and even some of the small ones are very active physically and need big cages and space in which to play.

Is there any free time for the bird?

Probably this is the most important question. Birds are intelligent, playful and mostly “social ” creatures. Will you have time to play with your bird? To care properly of it? Will it have the chance to be a part of your family? Consider the fact that birds live fairly long. A small parrot cockatiel lives for 20 years and more! Amazona or African grey parrot can live for 50, 60 and there are documented cases for birds that lived up to the respectable age of 100 years! Can you devote to this? It is not unusual to inherit birds for previous generations. Don’t buy a bird if you think that you will soon get bored of it.

How noisy is the bird? Will the neighbors murmur?

Budgies and cockatiel are comparatively quiet. They are suitable to look after in a flat. Moluxco cockatoo could live in flat only if you have neighbors around you and six floors above / below you that like listening to screams cracking their ear – drums. The African grey parrot tends to be one of the comparatively non-noisy parrots. Certainly, there are individual differences between birds. Somewhere there could be cockatoo, that does not make a lot of noise. If really there could be found such, an enterprising person could make a fortune out of it. Remember that noise is a subjective and relative sensation. A bird can be considered as “ non-noisy ” only at the background of another one, considered as noisy.

How “destructive” could a bird be?

Do you possess peerless old furniture? Rare books? Remember that these birds have strong beaks. Some of them are less inclined to “nibbling” than others, but nibbling is completely natural behavior for them.

Does the parrot need special food?

Lory parrots, for example, need a specialized diet. Do you have an opportunity and means to provide it? Once you have made a preliminary investigation and have decided what kind of parrot you want, you can go looking for it and buy it. NEVER, NEVER BUY A PARROT IMPULSIVELY!