Help!!! i suddenly got 4 parrots...

Prinsessen

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Jan 9, 2011
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3 days ago now i walked into a petshop to buy some food for my dogs then i see this sad sight... 4 parrots in really small cages, a pair of Red Ara parrots in one tiny cage and two amazon in seperate cages. I could not let them stay and i bought them all... hehe i have now after a bissy weekend buildt them a cage inn the garage attic its ca 2.5x2x1,8 meter and i have put the ara pair inn here... from the petshop i got some sunflowerseeds and 2 large sticks to have in the cage for them to sit on... i thought i could just have the parrots all together here and the petshop employe told me so too but from what i read its not that easy... how can i make sure i can keep them in the same cage?

what food do they need? i cant possible imagione any animal survive on sunflower seeds`? :S

can i use branches from the apple or pear tree in the garden as furniture in the cage?

what else do they need for furniture?

Should they be able to take baths just like the kanaries?

their feathers look really awefull what can i do to make them look better?

i have an apointment at the vet wednesday to look at all the birds...

is there anything else i could keep in mind?
 

JPBirdie

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Jan 9, 2011
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Southern Massachusetts
Parrots
Still researching..some might say obsessing :)
whoa...well I applaud your efforts to better the birds predicament but I'm concerned you may have bitten off more than you can chew for someone who sounds like they have no experience with birds. I'm afraid Parrots of all things are the worst pets to purchase on any impulse no matter how well intentioned. Please I implore you to do as much research as possible on each of these species of Parrots as they have individual needs and requirements.

The vet appointment is a great first step.

MOST IMPORTANTLY- Research their diets!! Besides lots of patience love and attention a varied and nutrient rich diet including Vegetables, Fruits, and dietary supplements and/or all natural bird pellets are essential for a happy birds. Sunflower seeds should only be used on a treat basis since they are high in fat. A diet consisting of only sunflower seeds is UNACCEPTABLE. Yes baths are good but its up to each individual bird and what they prefer..some love full on showers others just a spray bottle. Again PLEASE research any and everything to do with these beautiful birds for their sake and yours.
 
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Prinsessen

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Jan 9, 2011
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yes, i do have the vet apointment and i have mailed a breeder to ask him to helå me with this, i am sort off just looking for the most inportant ''to do'' things right now sinse its weekend and i live quite far from any town... i have given them some fruits now... i am conserned that they cant fly properbly sinse spesialy the ara cage was so tiny all the tail feathers are broken in half... wil these come back out? i gave them all some apple and they already seem alot better... :)
 

Printer bird

New member
Jan 4, 2011
268
1
Calgary, AB
Parrots
Dipper, 8 year old WC Pionus
RIP Charlie, Green Cheek Conure,
Lelu, parrotlet and
Poe the budgie.
Woah! That sounds totally crazy and I hope you are ready. Please read up online all the various pages there are for the birds. Your vet will be a great resource as well, be sure to make a list of things to ask him/her. Probably most importantly you need to deal with (and this is by no means comprehensive and not species specific- you will need a lot more info very quickly):

1. Housing: The biggest cage for each that you can find. SOmetimes parrots can live together, sometimes they can't. Often, unless they are a breeding pair, they can hang out together but must sleep and live unsupervised in their own cages. They can seem OK one day and then the next, one tries to eat the other's toe off. SO keep them separate for now (except maybe the two birds who were housed together at the petstore if that is what they are used to).

2. Diet. They need to be fed pellets appropriate for their size/species as a staple. Lots of vegetables and some fruits. They can also eat a lot of other grain products (porridge, breads, pastas etc). If its good for you, they can probably eat it. A notable exception is avocado and please don't let them eat the pits/seeds of any fruits (apple, orange etc) except for berries (and a few others but research them before you do). They also can't eat chocolate (but hopefully you know that already from having dogs), lots of sugar, fat or salt. They don't do well with lots of dairy either but some can have a little bit here and there depending. Oh and don't forget the fresh water!

3. Stimulation. They need lots of toys and things to chew/climb on. Paper can be given for now (either plain paper or newspaper) tied up and wraped in the cage. Its cheap and easy and they'll destroy it in seconds. You can look up sites on appropriate bird toys for each species and how to make some of your own. They need lots of stuff to do or they'll get bored and develop problems. You can also try to set up foraging sites where you put the food in different sites around their cage so they have to move around.

4. Lots of love and attention from you. They need to be around you as much as you're able so set up their cage in a busy part of the house. If they are above the garage, they might get bored/lonely without enough stimulation from you. Just make sure they aren't in the kitchen (fire hazards and fume hazards - heated Teflon/self-cleaning oven fumes can kill your birds). Make sure that they are also warm enough where they are - they should be at a normal room temperature so if your garage isn't heated, and its cool where you are, that could be a problem.

5. 10 -12 hours of sleep.

Hope that is a helpful start. Please just search around on the internet there is lots of information out there to help you out and you need to get a lot of it and fast! Please continue to reach out with questions to vets, local people, internet etc to make sure you are able to take care of them. Parrots are not easy pets!
 

apatrimo94

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Jun 15, 2010
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2
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Hudson Valley, New York
Parrots
Bartleby-Pearl Cockatiel
S'mores-Albino Parakeet
3 days ago now i walked into a petshop to buy some food for my dogs then i see this sad sight... 4 parrots in really small cages, a pair of Red Ara parrots in one tiny cage and two amazon in seperate cages. I could not let them stay and i bought them all... hehe i have now after a bissy weekend buildt them a cage inn the garage attic its ca 2.5x2x1,8 meter and i have put the ara pair inn here... from the petshop i got some sunflowerseeds and 2 large sticks to have in the cage for them to sit on... i thought i could just have the parrots all together here and the petshop employe told me so too but from what i read its not that easy... how can i make sure i can keep them in the same cage?

what food do they need? i cant possible imagione any animal survive on sunflower seeds`? :S

can i use branches from the apple or pear tree in the garden as furniture in the cage?

what else do they need for furniture?

Should they be able to take baths just like the kanaries?

their feathers look really awefull what can i do to make them look better?

i have an apointment at the vet wednesday to look at all the birds...

is there anything else i could keep in mind?

Wow, ok. You have a huge task set ahead of you. As for caging, I'm
not to sure about having all four of them in the same cage. You can keep the two macaws in one cage, and as for the two amazons, keep them separated, because they're probably not bonded, so that's three cages right there. Rule of thumb is that their cages should be double their wingspan in length so they can have room to stretch and move around. The bigger the better. If they all need to share, make sure it's big enough for them all to have their own space, and that means, separate food dishes, water bowls, and toys for each of them. No sharing or they'll most likely fight.

First thing's first, get all four of them checked by a vet ASAP!!!!!

Then they need a varied diet of pellets, fruits & veggies, and vitamins/minerals. Since you have two macaws and two amazons, you need to look into their specific dietary needs and then you need to convert them from seeds to a healthier diet. The vet could tell you more about that.

You can use your apple/pear tree branches as long as it hasn't been treated with any pesticides and it's thoroughly washed.

As for "Furniture," you're going to need different types of perches (rope, sand, concrete, wood, plastic, etc), you need toys (lots of toys), and enrichment toys.

As them being big birds, I'm not sure how they bathe, but most bird owners I know put them in the shower and gently hose them down.

As for their feathers, it's probably from plucking and unhealthy diets. But get them to the vet first just to be sure they're not sick, because some bird disease cause feather problems. So get them all checked and tested for diseases. He'll be able to tell you what to do.

Good luck. Hope my information helps you out! And, please, try to post pictures of them as well!!! I'd like to see how they look. :)
 
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Prinsessen

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Jan 9, 2011
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Thanx alot printer bird and apatrimo94 :D

i have spendt even more time making apropiate homes for the two amazone birds not as large as the one for the aras thow but i figure everything is better than where they were, the cages are the size of the cages a first used for my 4 kanaries not very big, i made the cages from the old fence pieces from the exercise pen for my rottweilers... i have cleaned it off very well and put it up the same way as the one for the aras i used a wooden plate with many layers of chicken wire to split in half to separate the amazones... i hope eventually they can live together too... problem is i only have that one stick from the old cage for them to sit on...

then im headed out before the birds are up to saw down branches from my tree :p
guess the neighbour wil think ive finaly gone mad haha

The upper part of the garage is conected to the house and is used for an entertainment room/tv room so i am passing there quite often and i try to talk to them alot. Th aras seem to get along fine and is sort of 'brushing' each others feather...


this is what i have to feed them with right now: apples, oranges, strawberrys, cashewnuts, the sunflowerseads and some bread wil this do until thuesday?

all the cages is now so big i can go inside and stand there but simply put together with wire think i have to improve it but that have to wait.

The room the parrots are in is about 20 celcius so a bit colder than the livingroom but just 2-3 degres colder than normal livingroom but i can turn up heat if nessesary...

the one amazon is very nice actually it wil sit on my shoulder now when i was inside its cage earlier to put in a small bowl of water for it to bath in and made alot of what i supose is talking noises and when i put my arm up it wil sit on it and let me put it back on the stick, the other amazon dont seem agressive but it pulled away and into a corner almost hiding when i try to pet it is this common now in the start or could it be traumatised?

the aras is mostly bissy with each others but dont seem scared or agressive just not very interested...

we have these metall playgames for dogs where they should lift up the boxes and find candy and other activitys.. is this acseptebel entertainment for the parrots?

a large problem here is getting them anywere cause my husbond have the car and we liv a 3 hour car trip from the town and my car broke down and is at the car repair right now :(

thanx for all help so far an hope for more answers i just want them to have a good life...
 
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