#bird tips

[juice-wings]

I’m a physical Turkey vulture therian and have been struggling with species dysphoria do you have any tips on how to feel a bit more like a happy birb and less stressed and stuff to do to have species uforia

I don’t have all the answers by any means, but here’s what I do.

Preen feathers: even if you haven’t grown any, just taking care of your body can be super affirming as well as being good for you!

Nesting: I have always been a fan of encircling myself with pillows and blankets. I also like to spray my favorite scents around the area. I personally have a nest set up permanently in my bed. I have lots of foliage, flags, taxidermy and posters to make my nest reflect me more, I highly recommend setting up a safe place like that.

Gear: obviously there is gear like masks and wings, but those aren’t accessible to everyone as well as cannot be worn everywhere. I personally like bracelets, socks, shirts and other day to day clothing items that remind me of my type in some way.

Always remember, you are a bird, always have and always will. The humans can take our flight and our feathers, but they cannot take your bird heart.

Fly free, live fast, love hard.

[linesofmercury]

This is my family's bird, Romeo. He's an asshole, but it isn't his fault. Let me provide a little backstory. My grandpa got him probably close to 20 years ago. Romeo bonded very quickly with my grandpa, but unfortunately close to 2 years ago my grandpa passed away. Now, my grandparents never did the best job taking care of him. I believe his cage is too small, but I don't know enough about birds to be sure. But he bites people, screams all the time, and is just overall a really mean bird. I wanted to reach out and see if there's anything that I can do to better socialize him and get him to be friendlier and ultimately happier. Feel free to reply to this post or dm me if you know anything!

[mysdrymmumbles]

Th Budgie Weight Champions

So, I got my gram scale working and measured all 5 of my babies.

Kiwi  - Nov 27 - 31g -Mar 02 - 31g

Cloudberry -Nov 27 - 42ish g -Mar 02 - 37.7g

Juniper -Nov 27 - 49g -Mar 02 - 44.2g

Avacado -Mar 02 - 31.7g

Lemon -Nov 27 - either 33 or 35g -Mar 02 - 44g

So.

Most of them are doing well, some of them lost a bit of weight.

And then Lemon gained a third of her weight in the last 3 months.

The vet said that most budgies shouldn’t be above 45g, though Juniper was an exception because she’s just a big budgie.

So I have to figure out something to do with Lemon because Lemon is gaining weight and the two in with her are losing.

Budgies are supposed to stop eating when they’re full though, so...?

[poisparrots]

How do you make your birds get along so easily? Your new bird being friends with the Ringnecked parakeet so quickly and all your pictures of your birds preening eachother for instance. It seems like most people have a really hard time introducing birds together, have you had that happen to you, and how to fix it?

Oh, this is actually something I’ve been meaning to talk about on here! So I’ve always been a strong supporter of birbs having birb friends. Parrots are super social animals and always naturally live in flocks or monogamous pairs, never alone, and I don’t necessarily think that a human person can replicate that sort of bond, enrichment and mental stimulus.. BUT! I do get that having multiple birds is hard and that a lot of birds won’t accept another bird even being around, much less share a living space with one - so I want to state that I for sure don’t judge anyone who doesn’t successfully keep multiple birds! Hell, I myself even have only one bird of each species currently, even though my ideal would be two of each! (I mean.. I guess we can count Meg and Leia as conspecifics..) I might actually make a longer post about this topic later tonight, but to sum it up: Parrot owners here in Sweden always seem to me to have an easier time pairing up multiple birds than parrot owners in, say, the US. I’m thinking that may be due to the fact that most Swedish breeders don’t actually hand raise their babies anymore. Like, instead of having a breeder pair in an aviary and taking out the babies to feed and raise them on their own, if someone wants to produce tamed, social bird babies who likes people, they rather tend to have a tamed and social pair of birds breed, let the birds do the feeding and the raising, but still interact with the babies when they’re ready and the parents are ready. So they get to grow up learning how to be a bird, and then they also get to learn, mostly from their tamed and social parents, to interact with humans and that humans are pretty great. I feel like this makes for a really good foundation when it comes to birds interacting with birds. They already know how to. Of course, that’s not to say that a hand raised bird won’t get along with another bird! Miley and Alaska, my Senegals, were both hand raised and had both been only birds for their entire lives before Miley came to me - and they ended up bonding with eachother really strongly. (Miley more so than Alaska, who liked everyone, haha) I introduced them slowly and made sure they always had enough space and resources to get away from eachother should they want to (oh and also!! if you clip your birds’ wings they will for SURE be more likely to start fighting with eachother because they can’t actually get away from the situation - and if they DO start fighting, they might get a bad impression of The Other Bird and not want to try again), that they had their own lil’ spots to go to where I wouldn’t allow the other one, and.. That was pretty much it? It took a couple of weeks of Alaska being more interested than Miley, and then they just kind of.. Found eachother. And never looked back. :P Nicko and Meg were introduced before I got them (I got them together), but I’m pretty sure their previous owner just kind of got another Ringneck and put her in the cage with Nicko and it happened to work out, lol. …I guess that’s pretty much what I did with Meg and Leia too (but I of course made sure to have a back-up plan). Both were parent raised and spent most of their lives with other birds, and they are in the same genus, so they understand eachothers’ body language. It’s often a lot easier to introduce two birds of the same species (or at least genus) to eachother! Drogon was parent raised too and really really likes other birds. I’ve brought him to parrot-meetups to hang out with other amazons too, and he REALLY loves it (he’s way more intense than all of my other birds, so he doesn’t quite have as much fun when hanging out with them, haha), and I’ve always planned on getting him an Amazon friend when I’ve got the resources to do so, and to… uh.. put together a back-up plan in case they happen to not get along.. Haha. But I’m totally excited for him to get a friend even though it will probably be at least a year or so until then. :’) I hope that answered your question haha, but feel free to hit me with another ask if you’re wondering about something more specific!

[avacado-and-louie]

The 5 ingredients for a happy parrot.

When owning a bird, we must remember they aren’t domesticated over thousands of years the way cats and dogs are. They can however adapt to living in a human environment if given a balanced daily routine, filled with things to help bring out behaviours they are naturally created for. These include;

1. Exercise:

Giving your bird a range of options through participating in daily activities such as flight, foraging, training, playtime. Out of cage time is simply the single most important thing you can do for your bird.

Teaching them how to navigate flight around a secure home with lots of encouraging landing opportunities is the best, most natural form of exercise for your parrot. It also introduces them to reaching certain boundaries and feeling confident moving above them. Foraging is another natural and stimulating way to keep your birds active. Keep in mind your parrot will have to learn how to use certain foraging items from you teaching them through encouragement and simple step by step routines. Training your bird to step up onto your hand, a perch, recall (come to you when called) can assist with flight training as well as everyday activities. Playtime with certain toys is a fun part of your birds physical development and should be an active part of training, recall and everyday routines.

2. Diet:

A healthy, balanced diet filled with variety can be exciting to your bird. It’s giving the options of extra nutrients with fruits, veggies, grains, sprouts, nuts and various treatsalong with pellets and/or seeds.

Not only can textures, flavours or shapes be a fun way to introduce birds to new foods but it is a stimulating way to conduct environmental enrichment.

3. Tricks:

Are simply fun and entertaining. They help create a mutual trust and offer various problem solving and brain developing tasks to give to your bird.

Clicker Training offers a fun, quick way to help your parrot problem solve and use their brain to learn a trick in a shorter amount of time.

4. Socialisation:

Socialising can vary between individual birds. It is important to note what appropriate limits are for your parrot and, how best to work on those limitations through training and positive experiences. Exposing your safely bird to different environments, people and various items can help with confidence and problem behaviours in your parrot.

5. Appropriate housing:

Should always give your bird opportunity to gain some lift or room to move freely, stretch and flap their wings, especially if caged for long periods in a day. You should offer activities within their cage to prevent boredom, such as foraging, shredding activity, toys and levels withing perches.

Remember, birds aren’t easy pets to look after but if provided with these appropriate Ingredients, your bird will live a happy and fulfilled life.

[juice-wings]

hi juice, i saw you made a post about new pinfeathers coming in and im just curious on how you preen them,

one of the main features of my wing shifts is feeling my itchy pinfeathers on my back and i still havent figured out how to preen them so they stop bothering me

anyway sorry if that seems odd for me to ask😓🪽

You are totally good bro, I don’t mind!

Since I no longer have a beak, I have to use my grubby hands. I tend to keep my nails a tad long so I can scratch and pinch the pin feathers. It may be difficult to reach them at first so it’s important to stretch your arms and shoulders to keep them flexible.

Hope this helps! Happy preening!

[avacado-and-louie]

I'm looking at getting a much larger cage a second tiel, give my little guy some company. Any tips for introducing a new bird? Never had more than one but I think I have an addiction.

Ideally giving the new bird a week in a separate room quarantined from your bird is advisable. This is to prevent any contagious disease from spreading until you get the all clear by an avian vet. It may seem a little excess but being extra cautious with new birds is wise. 

Wait to get the larger cage, keep them in two separate cages, in the same room, but placed far apart for an introductory period - generally 1 week.

To prevent any jealousy or aggression greet your first bird like normal - before you greet your new bird.

Then move along to the new bird and say hi. 

While you’re over with the new bird, go back and reward your first tiel with treats or praise when you can see his body language shows he’s comfortable when you give attention to your new one.This can be signals - such as: - not looking at you constantly when with new bird- not making noises to get your attention- eating- resting- playing These are all signs that he’s not bothered by the presence of your new bird and what you should be rewarding and bringing attention to.I suggest not taking either bird out of the cage in the same room until you know they are comfortable with each other when inside the cages.Once you know they are both comfortable with each other inside seperate cages, take your first bird out of the cage and see his reaction toward new bird when he’s out.If he’s simply not bothered by this then it is a good sign but make sure to also provide activity to ensure he’s not focused on the new bird like different toys, food, play gyms etc.Repeat what i explained above, just with the new bird by itself out and exploring.Then introduce them both out at once; again still providing enrichment items etcALWAYS supervise them when out together. -  Must reward POSITIVE interactions together- Don’t let them too close without opportunity to fly away if they have a disagreement- Give them PLENTY of fun things to do so they’re not bored when together and basically can’t have any excuse to disagree- If they don’t end up getting along with you introducing them properly then perhaps separate out of cage time will be the best option for them.Not all birds will get along. And generally that can be dependent on how bonded one bird is to you. However, if they do get along and you want to cage them together in a larger cage, do so gradually.Let them play together in their larger cage and get used to close proximity of one another, eating together, sleeping, interacting etc.Sorry this is such a long post.Generally tiels get along with each other just fine. But do take precautionary measure with behavioural cues and reward good behaviour to make the new guys home pleasant and your original guy not too jealous a new bird is getting his attention from you.

[avacado-and-louie]

How can I get my budgie to play? I've tried putting millet in toys and moving them around and acting excited but he hasn't touched any of them at all. I've had him for about 4 weeks and he's 4 months old.

The first thing I’ll say is be consistent and persistant. He’s not going to learn how to use a toy if he doesn’t know what to do with it in the first place. So, you have to encourage him with excitement and rewards (food and vocal) for slow progressions. I.e first - he goes near the toy = treat,He touches the toy = treatRings the bell = treat.So just keep doing things in small steps.

In terms of type of toys you just have to trial and error a few things.Does your bird prefer something noisy? Something practical it can chew or shred?A foraging toy?I’d suggest you start off with something that is sort of mixed materials like a grass/palm shredder with wood blocks and a bell so it’s intriguing to them. Encourage playfulness with treats. When your bird goes near the toy and looks fixated on it give it a treat.  Then huge encouragment high pitched voices with excitement when they use their toy. Just keep trialling toys and see what is most interesting to them! And with him being a young bird he is very curious so work with that curiosity and learning.

The basis of a toy is to combat bordem and keep them happy - and anything that they get excited over is a worthwhile distraction if they need to be home alone for a period of time.