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Macaws As Pets-4 Tips For A Healthy Pet Macaw

27 11:40:28
Macaws are wonderfully intelligent and beautiful birds that, with proper care, can live 30, 40 and sometimes 50 years or longer. Here are 4 tips for care that will help them enjoy high quality of life and live for a very long time.

Feed a Well Balanced Diet-A variety of fresh fruits and vegetables should be made available daily as well as sprouted seeds, cuttlebone and a mineral block for those who reject the cuttlebone. Fresh foods should be removed after several hours to prevent spoilage. Organic everything is best because it eliminates the possibility of your bird ingesting pesticides that may have been used in the growing process and additives used in the manufacturing process. A high quality pellet diet can serve as the base of nutrition because each morsel contains all the daily nutritional requirements-except some parrots refuse to it. Ask your avian vet about the best combination for your pet as you want to avoid having your bird develop toxicity because of an excessive amount of vitamins, particularly if they are being fed a pellet diet. Keep water fresh by changing it as often as necessary. This prevents your bird from drinking water that has mold, and bacteria growth. You might also want to consider encouraging drinking from a bottle, but that water should still be changed at least daily.

Daily Human Interaction-These birds can be pretty demanding in terms of the amount of human interaction they need to be happy, to the point that those that receive little human contact often decline, develop infection and disease, and die. With that said, plan to spend at least several hours daily interacting and be sure to place the cage in a common area so that it can feel a part of the activity and see all that goes on. They are an excellent choice for those who work from home, can carry the bird to work, or are retired and have time to dedicate. Be sure to keep the cage far away from the kitchen because many odors (burning pots and specifically Teflon) are toxic.

Provide Regular Opportunity to Exercise-Many of the larger Macaws have wings spans of approximately 3 to 3 1/2 feet. This means the cage needs to be large enough for your bird to fully extend their wings without touching the sides of the cage, and they need to be able to exercise outside the cage frequently. Providing a variety of toys such as foot perches, foraging toys, edible treats, and swings not only helps to keep your pet physically fit, but engaged, entertained, stimulated, and happy. A happy parrot is less likely to engage in destructive and disruptive behaviors such as feather plucking, screaming, and aggression.

Use a HEPA Purifier to Filter their Air-Small air passages in birds means that they can become easily clogged with dander, dust, and feathers that they create, which in turn clogs the air if not removed. A high efficiency particle arresting (abbreviated as HEPA) air purifier that is allowed to run 24 hours a day can filter not only the bird-related pollutants but normal household pollutants that they are exposed to in much greater concentration in your home than in the wild-- pollutants such as household dust, mold and mildew spores, pollen, dander from other pets, as well as bacteria and viruses that are often responsible for the spread of avian disease and infections that can be deadly.