Best Practices For Heating Outdoor Bird Aviaries
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Best Practices For Heating Outdoor Bird Aviaries

Hi. We’re installing an outdoor aviary on our screened & covered porch.
The size is 8x8x9 and it will house 2 blue and gold macaws.
I found the perfect rope perches at windy city parrot.
 
Now I hope you can help me select the right heat source.
We live in north Mississippi so extreme cold isn’t a problem; winter temps are 30s-40s most nights.
Do you recommend infrared heat lamps?
If so, how many for the space?
Thanks
Anne 

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How Does This Budgie Not Know He Is Handicapped?
handicapped-budgie

How Does This Budgie Not Know He Is Handicapped?

Hi I have a 7 month old handicapped english budgie

that was born with a one splayed leg that sticks straight out. His wings were over clipped when I got him at 2 months of age.

 

I have waited un-patiently for his wings to grow out as my other parakeets are flighted.

 

I see from the way he perches like a kick stand mostly on a ladder. That he has close access to his one wing with a bad leg and over preens and chews on just this one which makes him flutter lopsided.

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How Do Amazon Parrots Use Light to Synthesize Vitamin D Having No Preening Gland? And Other Captive Amazon Care Questions
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How Do Amazon Parrots Use Light to Synthesize Vitamin D Having No Preening Gland? And Other Captive Amazon Care Questions

How do Amazon parrots use light to synthesize Vitamin D having no preening gland?

As I was curating this post on Amazon parrot questions it got me thinking about one of my favorite subjects, full spectrum lighting and the synthesis of vitamin D in birds.

Amazon parrots are relatively unique having no preening gland (along with doves, pigeons and Hyacinth macaws).

The uropygial aka preening gland oozes a slippery goo which a bird rubs its head and beak against. Then spreads this oil over its feathered body.

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Why Do Parrots Enjoy Mimicking?
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Why Do Parrots Enjoy Mimicking?

How do we know parrots enjoy anything? Another question recently asked on Quora was “what do parrots do for fun”?

We know parrots prefer “working” for food versus simply eating from overflowing bowls of parrot food.

We know correlation does not necessarily imply causation but can we infer that work & play are one and the same for a parrot?

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Cockatiels Are More Similar to Cockatoos Than You Might Think
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Cockatiels Are More Similar to Cockatoos Than You Might Think


In this post we have grouped together information requests specifically about cockatoo parrots.

For a more granular discussion about some of the many species of cockatoo parrots – click here         

This post about cockatoos (we found 44 cockatoo species listed at the bottom of this post)  and serves as a counterpoint to the 43 species of macaw parrots we discussed last week.

We found a mere 12 cockatiel mutations.

At what age will a cockatoo stop laying eggs?

Name: Margaret G, Filled out from page: Egg Laying cockatoo
Colorado (United States)

(when you reach out to us using the green button at the bottom of this site, the button knows what page you are on to help us better understand your query)

Margaret

 

Unfortunately, if a birds egg laying goes uninterrupted, that bird will die.

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How Do I Encourage a Galah, to Eat Pellets Veggies, and Fruit?
How Do I Encourage a Galah, to Eat Pellets Veggies, and Fruit?

How Do I Encourage a Galah, to Eat Pellets Veggies, and Fruit?

Hi Didi

We rescued an 8 1/2-year-old female Senegal parrot about 13 months ago. She’s not our first rodeo.

We operate an avian-only pet supply business. We get bird food delivered five days a week. It’s inevitable that bags break and that’s what Peaches gets as I explain in the video below.
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Problematic budgies (budgies weigh the same as 2 Reese’s peanut butter cups – btw) Help!
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Problematic budgies (budgies weigh the same as 2 Reese’s peanut butter cups – btw) Help!

to Kathryn

Question about Male parakeet.

Every time I put my arm in the cage he attacks it, or he flies at me when I look in the cage.

My female looks depressed like she would rather he move out. She use to be so happy. I got her first, then him a couple months after.

She would sing, and play with her toys. Now all she does is sit on the same perch, and doesn’t hardly move. He doesn’t seem to fight with her.

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The Truth About Seeds For Pet Birds – Marion Zoological
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The Truth About Seeds For Pet Birds – Marion Zoological

The Truth About Seeds White Paper | March 25, 2004

Over the years many have misunderstood the role of seeds in a quality psittacine food. Bird handlers, bird breeders, magazine editors, chat rooms, store owners, avian veterinarians, and manufacturers, have at times made misleading, and probably unknowingly naive, and harmful statements in regards to this subject.

One should consider that lay knowledge of complex nutritional and metabolic systems in animals usually leads to the loudest voice in the din being heard the most.

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