If you haven’t heard of it yet, you will. I’m talking about the book: A Parrot’s Fine Cuisine Cookbook: and Nutritional Guide, by Karmen Budai and Sean Pao. This book was designed to help enrich your parrot’s life through interesting foods, presentation, textures, etc. Emphasis on parrot. Turns out that doesn’t really matter — the book works just…
A lot of first-time Gouldian parents are disconcerted when they see the mouth markings, or nodules besides their babies’ mouths. “should I scrape them off?” “What are they??” “Do they hurt?” Mouth markings are simply nature’s way of taking care of the flock. If you look at other Estrildids’ mouth markings, theirs look weird too, although each…
I often write about Gouldian finches, but the information is applicable to any pet bird including other finches, canaries, and parrots. My New Bird Has Mites! As I wrote in Could my Gouldian finch Have Mites?, many new Gouldians will come to you loaded with a mite infestation. Mites are not uncommon, at least here in Florida,…
A long time ago, a few bird food manufacturers noticed that birds eating seed all the time was sort of like children eating candy constantly. Yes, they love it, yes it’s a favorite, and yes it’s an unhealthy way to eat. So these companies developed pellet food, blended from grains, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and proteins. The recipe…
Not everything on your plate is safe for your bird’s dish. Here’s a list of common foods that can cause illness—or worse—in pet birds, even in small amounts.
Most people seem shocked when someone suggests their birds could have mites. The truth is that lots of birds have mites or lice. If yours are in an outdoor aviary, or were before you got them, it is possible that they have some due to exposure to outdoor birds. If they came from a pet store, it…
But Making Chop is Haaaard… I keep hearing that feeding finches is complicated because chop is “hard” and “time consuming”. I want to show you that simply isn’t true! Chop can be as hard as you want it to be, but it can also be easy. If your finches have never eaten chop before, and you…
I answer this question at least once a week, so I thought I would post a little information. My answer is mainly for finches, specifically the Lady Gouldian finch, as I don’t have (many) bigger birds. There are several components to baldness, and they aren’t all readily apparent. So we have to do a bit…
Feather and quill mites Feather mites take up residence in the feathers and remain there, living between the feather barbs and eating the skin dander, fungal spores, and feather bits. Usually, a certain mite will tend to choose a certain feather, e.g. primaries or tailfeathers. Thus it is easy for one bird to carry several species…
I just typed this out for the billionth time on a forum, so I thought I’d post it here. The bird in question was a canary, but egg bound canaries and finches can be treated exactly the same way. Here you go. You’ve just found an egg bound hen. In other words, you found her…