Do’s and Don’ts of Parrot Ownership

Do’s of Parrot Ownership
  1. Do concentrate on the good behavior
  2. Do mist every day w/2 days a week being bath days especially when running your heater or air conditioner.
  3. Do feed fruits and veggies, broccoli is the very best!
  4. Do rotate toys and provide at least 10 toys in her cage
  5. Do play directly with your bird.
  6. Do training sessions at least 15 minutes a day.
  7. Do make at least 10 hours of sleep in a quiet dark room w/the cage covered.
  8. Do be VERY enthusiastic, sometimes loudly enthusiastic with good behavior and training results.
  9. Do give protein, in the form of cooked meat or scrambled eggs at least once a week but no more than 3 times a week.
  10. Do treat your bird like she is an intelligent 3 to 4 year old human, you’ll get better results
  11. Do be consistent with rules and boundaries
  12. Do be persistent.
  13. Do walk away, turn your back and act insulted with bad behavior. With good behavior be even more enthusiastic than usual during this training period to help develop your own habits. Your voice should be higher and a bit louder when praising and low and snarly when noting bad behavior.
  14. Do feed a clean seed/pellet mix, you can mix Zupreem with Volkman’s. Pellets should consist of at least 30% of her diet mixed w/the seed.
  15. Do be patient, training takes time and there are no quick fixes for long term results.
  16. Do ask questions. The most stupid question is one that is never asked.
  17. Do research online, with other bird owners, your vet, and behaviorists but do it with an open mind and think completely over what you are going to try to do before doing it.
  18. Do teach your bird to be handled by others.
  19. Do teach your bird to step up on a stick or towel.
  20. Do travel with your bird in a safe carrier if you must travel with your bird at all.
  21. Do make sure that your bird sees an avian vet and gets a fecal slide at least once a year.
  22. Do give your bird play time away from his cage every day.
  23. Do sanitize all new toys, cages, bowls and perches before giving them to your bird!
Don’ts of Parrot Ownership
  1. Don’t concentrate on bad behavior. If you cannot address bad behavior immediately then don’t address it at all.
  2. Don’t allow shoulder time to be mandatory in your bird’s mind, make shoulder time a privilege and treat.
  3. Don’t reward bad behavior with treats, no treats should be given at least 20 minutes after bad behavior.
  4. Don’t allow any wandering on the floor or on the outside of the cage
  5. Don’t use water or physical hitting as punishment.
  6. Don’t feed peanuts or sunflower seeds as a main staple of her diet, use those as treats only
  7. During the winter, Don’t skip misting, humidity is very important to tropical birds and when you run your heater in your home it dries out the air. (same with an air conditioner)
  8. Don’t place toys in the middle or in front of the door opening.
  9. Don’t feed food with msg, caffeine, alcohol or high amounts of salt. Chinese food is a definite no, no.
  10. Don’t feed avocado, water chestnuts, spinach.
  11. Don’t take your bird everywhere you go.
  12. Don’t take your bird outside unprotected or leave your bird outside unobserved.