Are Parrots, the God-feathers of Social Media?
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Are Parrots, the God-feathers of Social Media?

“THERE’S YOUR SIGN,” Bill Engvall

“My parrot is smarter than your Facebook developer,” mitchr

First of all I want to say that I’m proud that we went social media silent over the 2014 Christmas and Hanukkah holidays.

It’s time to celebrate the holidays with family and friends not stare into electronic boxes with glass windows to the universe. We all put our devices down for the holidays, right?

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Questions Just Over the Bird Cage Wire week of 12/14/14
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Questions Just Over the Bird Cage Wire week of 12/14/14

Hi,
I’m looking for an old toy – I know this is a tricky one, it’s a wooden cube it came in a couple of different sizes. Unfortunately, I do not remember what co. made it. It was dowelled which connected to 4 different color square wood pieces with a colored large rope knot in the middle. 

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Serving Powdered Supplements to Your Bird Made Easy
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Serving Powdered Supplements to Your Bird Made Easy

An oft-asked question by caged bird keepers is “how do I give my bird powdered supplements”? Pet bird supplement manufacturers are very good at letting us know what is in the supplements and providing us with precise dosages based upon the size of the bird.

What they never tell us is how to get the supplements IN the bird. Most of them are water-soluble but we’ve all watched our birds drink, they don’t drink a lot in terms of volume so we end up throwing a dish of water out two to three times a day along with any diluted vitamins that would be in the water. This is wasteful. 

Recently our cockatiel Popcorn was diagnosed with a compromised immune system by our board-certified avian vet Byron de la Navarre, DVM — Chief of Staff @ Animal House here in Chicago This was a result of stress from the seasonal changing light cycles, a recent molt and some reproductive activity. Dr. Byron administered a highly potent antibiotic and prescribed an oral antibiotic that we administered to Popcorn orally twice a day for about 10 days.

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Improve the Relationship with Your Bird in a Snap
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Improve the Relationship with Your Bird in a Snap

Find Bird Clicker Training Kits Here

 I recently saw an ad on the Internet for bird training treats. What was interesting to me was in recommending bird treats similar to NutriBerries. Don’t get me wrong we love NutriBerries and think it’s a great treat, just not for training.

 

Before I get ahead of myself when I speak of training when it comes to birds (horses and dogs do well with this) I talk about clicker training.

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The Pet Bird Keepers Myths – Myth
Cheerful couple of customers buying cage for bird in shop

The Pet Bird Keepers Myths – Myth

Imagine a world where you spend every day looking at, reading about, or having conversations with other pet bird keepers. File this under “be careful what you wish for.” That said I will tell anyone upfront, I’m not an expert on caged bird keeping. I don’t have a degree – in anything. I haven’t written a book – yet.

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How Nail Trimming Can Cause a Broken Wing
How Nail Trimming Can Cause a Broken Wing

How Nail Trimming Can Cause a Broken Wing

How many times have you watched in awe as a flighted bird hops off the top of it’s cage – flap flap flap then lands on an inch wide piece of ceiling crown molding or a computer monitor and in bird speak says “What’s up?”

Never giving a thought to that gravity thing that keeps the rest of us tethered to Mother Earth. These are special creatures indeed.

 

It’s been my observation that most caged bird keepers fail (sell, re-home or give to a rescue) because the birds are unable to adapt to the keepers expectations.

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The International Bird Carrier Caper and Paperwork Avalanche
The International Bird Carrier Caper and Paperwork Avalanche

The International Bird Carrier Caper and Paperwork Avalanche

A couple of months ago we talked about the how to’s of traveling with your bird. the physical portion of terrestrial travel doesn’t change whether you’re traveling in town or across the country.

You can travel with your bird by air or by car. We talked about Disaster preparation with your bird. Here’s a great page that outlines what you need to do and lists a whole bunch of pet friendly hotels and motels which dovetails with our talk about travel today.

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Your Bird is Bleeding or Oil Soaked – Now What?
Your Bird is Bleeding or Oil Soaked - Now What?

Your Bird is Bleeding or Oil Soaked – Now What?

Let’s circle back to first aid. Now that you’ve taken the time to build your own bird first aid kit, (you did right?) it’s important to remember the basics.

Once you’ve assembled all the tools for your bird first aid kit you should wash them with antibacterial soap or clean them with a steam cleaner and then wrap them in washcloths prior to storage.

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DYK – Your Bird Keeps Better Time than a Swiss Watch?
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DYK – Your Bird Keeps Better Time than a Swiss Watch?

Quick, say “diurnal, circadian, or photoperiodic clock” five times fast. And that my friend explains how your bird can tell time. Although your bird cannot tell what day it is it does know what the month is of each year using its circannual (calendar) clock. It actually knows the precise time of day (just not what day it is).
 
iPhone might have Siri but with no Internet connection whatsoever your bird gets “messaged” on a regular basis, indicating the proper times to change feathers (molt), when to breed, and with migrating birds, when to migrate.

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