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.
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.
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.
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.
Pet bird features
makes caged bird keeping the most challenging of traditional pet husbandry.
Your science lesson for today is a brief refresher on how birds breathe. When you and I breathe, air flows in AND out of our lungs. Air sacs in a bird’s chest allow air to flow one way through the lungs.
It was interesting to see one of more than a thousand entries from around the country – thank you for the great response. We’ll be launching sweepstakes on a regular basis – Just to perk up those of you who didn’t win, how about a crack at a $100 Amazon gift card. (more…)