I may be new But....

[Frankie’sMommy]

To start, thank you all for being nice and helpful.
Okay now, I may be new to the bird world but I am not dumb by
anymeans. If there is some thing that I do not know look it up or aske my
vet or come here and ask (now that I know about this forum).
I would NEVER jeprodize my Frankie’s health at all! I have gone above and
Beyond at times, I check his pooh every day and every night when he goes
to bed. The living area is always at 80 now that it has gotten very cold at night!
His health and comfort will always come before mine.
He gets 1 1/2 cup of Lafeber’s pellets that is for parrots diet that has Omeg 3 and 6
with MissingLink Ultimate Avian Formula powder but now that his pellets of the Omega in it I am going to stop that After I talk to my Vet. He has cage time in the AM and PM. Ever time
In between he is out of his cage with me! He gets Plenty of Sunlight because we go for a walk
around the trailer park my mother lives in. Gotta love seniors lol! So he does Not
Eat ALL DAY! He gets 1 Nutri Berry once in awhile. I was told not to potty train him
Which is fine. I was told he wasn’t a dog. DUH. Wasn’t going to train him like one.
I was going to train him to pooh on a towel when he’s on my bed. I could careless
about bird pooh on my skin LOL! I treat my out side wild bird the same as I treat him (all but the heat that is) I do have houses for them tho.
Thank you for letting me rant and Explain.

[Pajarita]

Let me tell you something that I have learned from my over 25 years of caring for parrots: when it comes to their needs, we are all in the dark - even the scientists and even the avian vets! Why? Because keeping parrots as pets is a VERY new fad and science has not been very interested in learning about them in the past but also because they are so long-lived that short-term studies are useless and because there are so many different species. We know a lot about domesticated animals, especially mammals, but, with the exception of chickens, very little about birds. Consider just this: we do not know what their nutritional needs are! Nobody does! Not for a single species we keep as pets! Not me, not the vets, not the 'experts', not the breeders, not the rescues, not even the avian nutritionists that prepare the formulas for the pellets [which were all based on chicken feed]. So you are on the same boat we all are... looking for answers that, in a lot of cases, are not even there.

Just as an FYI, it would be better if you don't keep such a high temperature in the house - two reasons: one is that it dries up the air too much [not good for parrots and why we all run humidifiers that destroy our furniture all winter long] and keeping it at a summer temperature all year round doesn't help the bird's endocrine system to follow the seasons. I keep the birdrooms at 65 and the rest of the house at 67 [because my husband, the baby, complains 65 is too cold].

I would also recommend you reconsider taking the baby out. It's very stressful for a little bird to be in an unfamiliar territory and completely unnatural as baby parrots stay very close to the nest and surrounded by their family [pets don't have that benefit]. I don't agree with taking any parrot out because it doesn't really benefit the bird at all... it's just added stress to the already too high level of stress that captivity causes.

[Frankie’sMommy]

Thank you for the heads up on the temp. My vet has a African gray. She did recommend some sunshine
At times. I don’t have him out side all day, just out of his cage is all. Thank very much for the information, it will help a lot.

[liz]

I have avian lights on a timer to give my cockatiels sunshine between 10am and 3pm. I feed them at 9am and 3:30pm, so they can eat at dawn and dusk. I have too many to bring outside and the window does not get sunshine all day.

[Pajarita]

Liz, avian lights do not have the same properties as sunlight, no artificial light does, and that's why D3 needs to be supplemented.

[liz]

I supplement now.

They get the evening sun through their window. There are too many for me to take them outside for sunshine.

Any suggestions on how I can improve on their care?

[Pajarita]

Well, I would be happier if you fed them a real gloop but, aside from that, I can't think of anything you are not already doing.