CARING FOR YOUR PET BIRD
WING CLIPPING
- Better to be safe than sorry! Wing Clipping - to clip or not to clip - not a decision to be taken lightly. Our advice to you would be to keep the wings clipped. If a bird is to be allowed out of its cage, and one would hope that for a hand reared pet bird this would be the norm, its advisable to have the wings clipped at least once every six months. However, during those six months its always advisable to keep checking that non of the clipped primary feathers have grown back. The wings should be clipped in such a way that if the bird should fly it glides gracefully to the floor. Flighted birds no matter how tame, if they get a fright they will fly off, get lost and more often than not never seen or heard of again. When birds with unclipped wings are inside they run the risk of flying into fans, mirrors, windows onto hot stove plates etc. If a bird fly's and slams into for example a window, it could sustain potentially deadly injuries such as bleeding on the brain, broken ribs, ruptured air sacs and many other serious and deadly injuries. Therefore, don't think you are being kind by not clipping your birds wing.
- Don't be complacent just because your bird's wing is clipped -
WATER
- Water is by far the most important part of a birds daily diet. Deprivation of water can cause long term damage to the bird and eventually prove fatal. Always make sure they have sufficient clean water in their cage that is changed daily, and make sure the water dishes are rinsed clean before adding fresh water. Often, as soon as fresh water is put into the cage, the bird will have a bath, again make sure there is a second dish of clean water for drinking. For small birds such as finches, canaries and budgies etc they are often given a water bottle which is clipped to the side of the cage, personally I don't like this as it tends to be overlooked because its full and the birds end up drinking stale water, it could also malfunction by becoming blocked, so it must be checked daily.
DIET