Allowing my parrots to enjoy living in my house

[Calorious]

I'm here to ask questions on how new parrots would be able to enjoy living in my house. I've realised that most parrots are taking my house as a rest area and after they have grown up with wings and are fully fed (usually in a month), they have a desire to leave the house and fly freely.

I've seen this in my parrot where it just wants to get out of its cage and fly away from my house. Letting it out of it's cage during this time allowed it to attempt flying out of my house at a very quick speed.

I would introduce some toys to it but as a 1 year old, my parrot didn't seem to feel that much attracted to any toy.
It also only wanted to gently nibble me instead of biting the toy it wants to.

I'm wondering how I would allow my parrot to enjoy living in my place and not treat my house as it's rest area?

 

[Flboy]

A very interesting question! What part of the world is home for you? ]

 

[Calorious]

A very interesting question! What part of the world is home for you? ]

If you are asking me, I would say it's my house of course.
The parrot I was talking about had escaped, and it showed signs before that it didn't really enjoy my house (such as signs that it wants to leave the house through the window etc.)
But I couldn't bring it outside to the open due to the current situation.

 

[Flboy]

A very interesting question! What part of the world is home for you? ]

If you are asking me, I would say it's my house of course.
The parrot I was talking about had escaped, and it showed signs before that it didn't really enjoy my house (such as signs that it wants to leave the house through the window etc.)
But I couldn't bring it outside to the open due to the current situation.

Ok! Good luck!

 

[fiddlejen]

Are you saying that your parrot Did fly away? (Did it come back or is it gone?) Or do you only mean that it Tried to fly away?

 

[Calorious]

Are you saying that your parrot Did fly away? (Did it come back or is it gone?) Or do you only mean that it Tried to fly away?

It did try to fly away multiple times before. It eventually did fly away about 2 days ago. Haven't been able to find it since. I asked my neighbours and everything but they did not see my parrot.

I'm planning to get new parrots by the end of next month, I've started growing a love for them ever since my parrot flew away.

The parrot that flew away was my first ever parrot and therefore I'm still unsure of many of their behaviors.
That's why I'm here trying to get ideas from this community to see if anyone has any idea regarding why they wouldn't like my house and ways for me to fix this.

 

[T00tsyd]

Which country do you live in? Your post sounds as if you have been trying to tame wild parrots.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Unfortunately, Calorious, you've not given much context about the living situation, so it's hard for anyone to guess what's going on. We are trying our best to answer your question, but we need more context to your situation.

Some basic questions the members above have been trying to get at:

• Are these wild caught birds? Or are they hatched from breeder birds?
• Where do they sleep at night? Where do they eat and drink?
• What species of birds are these?
• What does their living situation look like in your home? E.g....
• Do they have a cage? If so, what size of cage?
• What is inside the cage? Are there toys, food, water? What kind of toys, how many?
• How often do they get time outside of the cage?
• What do they do outside their cage? Are they supervised outside of their cages? Are there toys, what kind? Is there are perch or playstand for them to claim as their own outside of their cage?
• What do you do with them outside the cage?
• What sort of training do you do with them if any? Target training, recall training, trick training, etc?
• If they eat at your house, what is their diet like?
• Do you keep your doors and windows closed?
• If you raised these birds, did you teach them that windows are solid?
• Did you recall train these birds?
• Did you free-flight train them with the guidance of professionals?

If these birds aren't wild caught, then they don't have the knowledge on how to survive in the wild. Wild birds depends on their parents to teach them how to find what is edible to eat, where to go when it thunderstorms, what to do to avoid a predator, etc. If you release a 'domesticated' bird, he can and will die without human intervention.

Until we understand their living situation, we cannot say why birds are flying in and out of your house.... It all seems very confusing without any further information from your side unfortunately.

 

[Ira7]

Sounds like wild macaws in Venezuela.

 

[Calorious]

Which country do you live in? Your post sounds as if you have been trying to tame wild parrots.

Singapore, these parrots aren't actually wild but they are baby parrots who have never survived in the wild before. I would want to get an adult parrot but it may not be easy to tame it as it won't recognise me since young.

Unfortunately, Calorious, you've not given much context about the living situation, so it's hard for anyone to guess what's going on. We are trying our best to answer your question, but we need more context to your situation.

Some basic questions the members above have been trying to get at:

• Are these wild caught birds? Or are they hatched from breeder birds?
• Where do they sleep at night? Where do they eat and drink?
• What species of birds are these?
• What does their living situation look like in your home? E.g....
• Do they have a cage? If so, what size of cage?
• What is inside the cage? Are there toys, food, water? What kind of toys, how many?
• How often do they get time outside of the cage?
• What do they do outside their cage? Are they supervised outside of their cages? Are there toys, what kind? Is there are perch or playstand for them to claim as their own outside of their cage?
• What do you do with them outside the cage?
• What sort of training do you do with them if any? Target training, recall training, trick training, etc?
• If they eat at your house, what is their diet like?
• Do you keep your doors and windows closed?
• If you raised these birds, did you teach them that windows are solid?
• Did you recall train these birds?
• Did you free-flight train them with the guidance of professionals?

If these birds aren't wild caught, then they don't have the knowledge on how to survive in the wild. Wild birds depends on their parents to teach them how to find what is edible to eat, where to go when it thunderstorms, what to do to avoid a predator, etc. If you release a 'domesticated' bird, he can and will die without human intervention.

Until we understand their living situation, we cannot say why birds are flying in and out of your house.... It all seems very confusing without any further information from your side unfortunately.

The parrot I used to own before it flew away was an indian ringneck, and I'm planning to get another one of these too. They are all hatched and have never survived in the wild.

Their main living space where they sleep at night is at a corner of my house on the floor, thus there are 2 faces of the cage that are blocked. When the sun rises, the cage is brought away from the area where 2 faces of the cage are blocked and instead, none
are brought either out of their cages by me for a while to play with it and by 10am, I would put the parrot back in it's cage and bring the cage out of the house at the window where the sun usually is.

The parrot's living situation isn't very interesting. The parrot almost never has any sleep as my family usually sleeps extremely late (3am+). However, it wakes up at about 6am, makes a bunch of noise in it's metal cage and quietens down after a while if it doesn't get any response.
When I wake up, I would pick it up from it's cage and bring it to my room to play with it and feed it. However, the food it eats in my room is different from what it's being fed in it's cage.
The cage I got is meant for medium birds (I think).


There isn't anything inside the cage other than food or water, I didn't know what kind of toys to get it.

I usually allow my parrot to stay outside of it's cage most of the time or until it shows signs of it being tired. However, I would play with it and feed it for a while. And I have a small handmade wood perch in my room that I would let it perch on if it's tired or if I have other things to do.

They have no toys, I really didn't know what to get it and my parrot just seemed scared of everything. I feed it outside it's cage and pet it or play with it, they are supervised most of the time. It perches on the handmade wood perch in my room. The parrot actually flew away when it was on my shoulder.

I taught my parrot target training quite long ago and haven't been doing so ever since it warmed up more to me and I could get it to do things without the need for it to use the stick. It would usually fly or walk up my hands on it's own when it's trying to go back to it's "home" (the wood perch or it's cage), so I use that to get it to walk/fly. It also flies on it's own when it knows it's heading towards my room.

My parrot eats a mix of sunflower seeds and other types of seeds while in it's cage and it takes in some kind of Fruitblend while in my room (I attached a picture of the fruitblend).

Doors are usually closed but not my windows, my family member has a constant habit of opening windows very largely as there are other birds outside the house sunbathing. 1 - 2 /4 of my house windows (in my living room alone) is usually open. But I would close it when I bring my parrot to my living room or when it's expected to fly (under my supervision).

I don't really understand what you mean by "Windows are solid" and how I would teach them about this.

I didn't teach it recall training.

I did not teach it to free-flight as I only got it in April 2020 and it was during the COVID situation, so I didn't bring it out of my house. Sometimes I would bring it for short walks and it would be tied to a leash when I'm doing this.

 

[Calorious]

Attached are the photos of the Fruitblend, and the cage in which I'm talking about the 2 blocked faces of the cage and no blocked faces of the cage.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

oh no, let me answer -the page just deleted my entire Singapore text. Rabak sia...... I got lobang for you ah

 

[Calorious]

oh no, let me answer -the page just deleted my entire Singapore text. Rabak sia...... I got lobang for you ah

??? what lobang lol

 

[charmedbyekkie]

The parrot I used to own before it flew away was an indian ringneck, and I'm planning to get another one of these too. They are all hatched and have never survived in the wild.

If you like IRNs, please check out these two links - they are unique parrots and have unique needs.

WHAT'S SO DIFFERENT ABOUT INDIAN RINGNECKS - Silver Sage Aviaries
TAMING YOUR RINGNECK - Silver Sage Aviaries

When the sun rises, the cage is brought away from the area where 2 faces of the cage are blocked and instead, none
are brought either out of their cages by me for a while to play with it and by 10am, I would put the parrot back in it's cage and bring the cage out of the house at the window where the sun usually is.

The parrot's living situation isn't very interesting. The parrot almost never has any sleep as my family usually sleeps extremely late (3am+). However, it wakes up at about 6am, makes a bunch of noise in it's metal cage and quietens down after a while if it doesn't get any response.

Abang…. Your bird cannot tahan anymore…. They need 12 hours of sleep. Like worse than NS for him….

Please at least get him a cage cover. Can get from Parrot Funhouse [https://parrotfunhouse.com/collecti...cts/made-to-measure-bird-cage-sleeping-cover], custom size one. Even better if you can put him in a quiet room (perhaps yours) for the night.

The cage I got is meant for medium birds (I think).

This cage for lovebird one. Not IRN. Like putting him in HDB closet, not even condo walk-in closet.

This is an ang moh site[https://naturalinspirationsparrotcages.com/p/wingspan-info], but gives you an idea of how big you need (even though in inches).

Even AVA[https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...imal-welfare-5-things-pet-owners-should-know] got regulations: “If you keep birds in cages, the cages should be large enough so the bird's tail and outspread wings do not touch the sides of the cage. The cages should be made of materials that are safe and non-toxic as some birds like parrots tend to chew the cage wiring. A cloth should also be draped over the cage in the evening to allow the bird to rest and feel secure.”

You can get a cage from here: Let’s Flock[https://shopee.sg/shop/152361950/search?originalCategoryId=24395]. I got ours from TaoBao via EZBuy if your taobao-fu is powderful.


If you were in a tiny room with only a chair, no phone, no computer, no nothing, you confirm go crazy. Your bird will also go crazy.

You can find parrot-safe toys here: Parrot Funhouse [https://parrotfunhouse.com/] only sells safe toys. If urgent, can go KS Pets Hub[https://www.facebook.com/KSPetsHub] - delivery fees during CB quite reasonable and very fast. But not everything safe. I buy from EZBuy, but again not everything safe there, but less ex.

My parrot eats a mix of sunflower seeds and other types of seeds while in it's cage and it takes in some kind of Fruitblend while in my room (I attached a picture of the fruitblend).

Sunflowers seeds are not healthy - too much wrong fat. Better you feed Fruitblend than seeds. You should also feed veggies and fruits. I’ll write a separate post what local veggies/fruits you can feed.

Doors are usually closed but not my windows, my family member has a constant habit of opening windows very largely as there are other birds outside the house sunbathing. 1 - 2 /4 of my house windows (in my living room alone) is usually open. But I would close it when I bring my parrot to my living room or when it's expected to fly (under my supervision).

Pls mesh your windows can? The cat welfare societies got lobang, can ping them.

The other birds outside - they wild, songbirds, or parrots?

I don't really understand what you mean by "Windows are solid" and how I would teach them about this.

Because glass mah, cannot see sometimes. So must bring your bird and tap tap window, then they know. Can also put Post-It or sticker on window, so they know not to fly into the window.

I did not teach it to free-flight as I only got it in April 2020 and it was during the COVID situation, so I didn't bring it out of my house. Sometimes I would bring it for short walks and it would be tied to a leash when I'm doing this.

FYI, if you bought during CB…. That was illegal. No sale of animals allowed during CB.

Also, we’re in Singapore, bro. Please take the time to harness train your bird. You can look in the local groups - got very graphic images of birds with broken legs from leg chains, even though most people don’t want to admit it. BirdSprees[]Aviator Harness sells the Aviator harness (it is the best for flying).

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Ok! Local veggie and fruits time:

Veggies:

• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Capsicum (red, yellow, green)
• Chye Sim
• Chye Sim Miow
• Xiao Bai Cai
• Shanghai Greens
• Kai Lan
• Kai Lan Miow
• Curry Leaves
• Laksa Leaves
• Chili Padi
• French Beans
• Snow Peas
• Butternut Squash
• Cauliflower
• Zucchini
• Basil
• Ladyfinger

Fruits:

• Jambu
• Durian (in moderation)
• Dragonfruit
• Apple
• Pomegranate
• Mango
• Papaya
• Guava
• Passionfruit
• Mangosteen (open for them easier)
• Rambutan
• Buah Long Long
• Starfruit
• Coconut
• Kiwi
• Banana
• I'll add when I think of more

 

[chris-md]

Charmed, slight restate: sunflower seeds are NOT bad for birds, that’s a myth. unto themselves are actually quite nutritious.

They are just bad in large quantities because of the fat, when fed as the sole source of food. That’s where this “bad for you” Myth comes from. A few added to a meal for any bird is actually a good thing.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Charmed, slight restate: sunflower seeds are NOT bad for birds, that’s a myth. unto themselves are actually quite nutritious.

They are just bad in large quantities because of the fat, when fed as the sole source of food. That’s where this “bad for you” Myth comes from. A few added to a meal for any bird is actually a good thing.

Yep yep, but I know many people here who feed only sunflower seeds. The bird is lucky if they get a variety of seeds. Then they wonder why their bird got a lump (lipoma). And then their bird gets ill - they do some ignorant home remedy advised by everyone around them. Then the bird dies and they dunno why (don't bother to bring to an avian vet to check for fatty liver disease). People will see it as a 'defect'.

I feel safer taking a harder line than giving leeway for people to continue keeping their blinders on.

 

[Flboy]

Thank you, Charmed!
Only add, please move the cage up off the floor to a table height!

 

[Calorious]

The parrot I used to own before it flew away was an indian ringneck, and I'm planning to get another one of these too. They are all hatched and have never survived in the wild.

If you like IRNs, please check out these two links - they are unique parrots and have unique needs.

WHAT'S SO DIFFERENT ABOUT INDIAN RINGNECKS - Silver Sage Aviaries
TAMING YOUR RINGNECK - Silver Sage Aviaries

When the sun rises, the cage is brought away from the area where 2 faces of the cage are blocked and instead, none
are brought either out of their cages by me for a while to play with it and by 10am, I would put the parrot back in it's cage and bring the cage out of the house at the window where the sun usually is.

The parrot's living situation isn't very interesting. The parrot almost never has any sleep as my family usually sleeps extremely late (3am+). However, it wakes up at about 6am, makes a bunch of noise in it's metal cage and quietens down after a while if it doesn't get any response.

Abang…. Your bird cannot tahan anymore…. They need 12 hours of sleep. Like worse than NS for him….

Please at least get him a cage cover. Can get from Parrot Funhouse [https://parrotfunhouse.com/collecti...cts/made-to-measure-bird-cage-sleeping-cover], custom size one. Even better if you can put him in a quiet room (perhaps yours) for the night.



This cage for lovebird one. Not IRN. Like putting him in HDB closet, not even condo walk-in closet.

This is an ang moh site[https://naturalinspirationsparrotcages.com/p/wingspan-info], but gives you an idea of how big you need (even though in inches).

Even AVA[https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...imal-welfare-5-things-pet-owners-should-know] got regulations: “If you keep birds in cages, the cages should be large enough so the bird's tail and outspread wings do not touch the sides of the cage. The cages should be made of materials that are safe and non-toxic as some birds like parrots tend to chew the cage wiring. A cloth should also be draped over the cage in the evening to allow the bird to rest and feel secure.”

You can get a cage from here: Let’s Flock[https://shopee.sg/shop/152361950/search?originalCategoryId=24395]. I got ours from TaoBao via EZBuy if your taobao-fu is powderful.



If you were in a tiny room with only a chair, no phone, no computer, no nothing, you confirm go crazy. Your bird will also go crazy.

You can find parrot-safe toys here: Parrot Funhouse [https://parrotfunhouse.com/] only sells safe toys. If urgent, can go KS Pets Hub[https://www.facebook.com/KSPetsHub] - delivery fees during CB quite reasonable and very fast. But not everything safe. I buy from EZBuy, but again not everything safe there, but less ex.



Sunflowers seeds are not healthy - too much wrong fat. Better you feed Fruitblend than seeds. You should also feed veggies and fruits. I’ll write a separate post what local veggies/fruits you can feed.



Pls mesh your windows can? The cat welfare societies got lobang, can ping them.

The other birds outside - they wild, songbirds, or parrots?

I don't really understand what you mean by "Windows are solid" and how I would teach them about this.

Because glass mah, cannot see sometimes. So must bring your bird and tap tap window, then they know. Can also put Post-It or sticker on window, so they know not to fly into the window.

I did not teach it to free-flight as I only got it in April 2020 and it was during the COVID situation, so I didn't bring it out of my house. Sometimes I would bring it for short walks and it would be tied to a leash when I'm doing this.

FYI, if you bought during CB…. That was illegal. No sale of animals allowed during CB.

Also, we’re in Singapore, bro. Please take the time to harness train your bird. You can look in the local groups - got very graphic images of birds with broken legs from leg chains, even though most people don’t want to admit it. BirdSprees[]Aviator Harness sells the Aviator harness (it is the best for flying).

Thank you for the links, I'll check them out.

I would of course want adequate sleep for my parrot, I could put it in my room, but it's airconditioned at a freezing 23 degrees. I'm scared to bring my parrot in there previously as it may not be able to survive in there. I'm planning on getting sound barriers for my parrot as there can be a few sounds that may be quite loud at night (such as loud door opening etc.). I'll get a cloth to put over the bird cage for my future birds.

Regarding the toys, they are parrot-safe but are they meant for all types of parrots?

My parrot is usually being fed fruitblend, seeds and fresh fruits like grapes. Sunflower seeds are not very common in my parrot's diet, there are less than 1/4 of sunflower seeds in my parrot's food bowl.

Only the window in my room is meshed, that's why it's open extremely large. As for the rest, I'll just try to refrain from opening the windows too much.
There are usually alot of birds in my house because my parents keep a lot of birds too, they are mainly doves (Columbidae).

Ohh tap window ah, can next time I will get my parrots to tap the windows in my house lol.

The bird wasn't bought during CB period, I bought it at the start of April, on 2nd April.
I would want to use the harness to train it, but it seems extremely difficult to get a ringneck to trust you with it's wings. My previous parrot seemed to be panicking for it's life after 3 weeks together and I was just slowly stroking the top part of one of its wings. Much less a harness.
I know the possible dangers of having the parrot's legs cuffed to a leash, I'll try to be gentle with the parrot.
I've also went around my neighbourhood quite alot and don't feel that many things are lethal to the parrot. I will purposely avoid areas where I feel is dangerous for my parrot.

Thank you for the list of veggies and fruits too!


Flboy, thank you. I will move the cage up next time.

 

[wrench13]

I understand completely about living space in Singapore - one of the most expensive cities in the world. So the apartments are small and minimum # of rooms, and everyone is active quite late. The obvious choice is to have a parrots wings clipped so they can glide to the floor, but not get any height. Be careful of who clips your parrots wings too much and it can damge them and also psychologically damage your birds mind.

You teach the parrot that windows are solid by bringing them up close to a window or mirror and letting them tap against the glass several times, and repeat this often.

An all seed diet or seed and pellet diet is not great - try including some fruits and veggie ( safe ones - soo the lists in our nutrition sub form).

Toys - you might have to try several types - wood, fiber, plastic, paper, and different sizes too. And you might need to show the parrot HOW to play with them - lots of parrots need this. You hold the toy up to your mouth and manipulate it with your hands, all the time exclaiming how much fun you are having. SOunds silly, but it works. It also works for introducing new foods.

A minimum size for ringnecks would be a 2 foot deep by 4 foot wide by 4 foot tall, and have several natural branches in it - no round dowels - they are terrible for their feet. Parrots should be able to easily spread their wings fully open in their cage.

Sleep - have the cage in your room, and allow for 12 hours of quiet undisturbed sleep - this is very important for parrots.

TO teach recall flight - go to our free flight sub forum and read the top ten threads - its a gradual process and really, in Singapore I can;t think of an open enough space where you might do this - you need a huge open field, like the size of 6 or more soccer fields to do it. And no hawks or other predator birds, or your parrot is going to get killed or chased away by them.

Good luck. You obviously love birds, but really, if your current living situation can not give them what they need you might wait until you are out on your own before getting another parrot.