Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / November 2003

The cage should be large enough for them to stand on a perch and open both
wings to flap without touching sides, or toys.Both birds should be able to
do this. Do you allow them time out of the cage also? What size *is* the
cage?It is hard to say whether it is large enough, if you don't tell  us
what size it  is? Bent feathers are not normal.

Beth,

  I haven't been here in some time -- own two 'tiels myself,
a ten-year-old and one half that age (boy and girl, though we
only found out for sure that the older lutino was a boy fairly
recently!)

  No need to put yourself down for asking a question! I assume
your birds are still fairly young? My own female which I got as
a young bird (probably about 6 months old) tended to be quite
"scraggly" when she was that young, and for quite a while, actu-
ally! It seemed as if she needed quite a bit of time to learn
how to preen herself! Occasionally, a feather on one of the birds
gets bent or broken, usually when flapping in the cage (which the
older one, cagebound for the most part before I got him, prefers
over coming out to fly around!) or coming in for a crash landing!
Generally, though, if you're concerned, a visit to an experienced
avian vet for a checkup would not be remiss!

  In addition to a mixture of fresh seeds (and many, including
my avian vet, say pellets), there are powdered meals that you can
sprinkle on your 'tiels' food (such as Harrison's Adult Lifetime
Mash). I'm not sure where you live, but here in Canada, we get a
prescription vitamin (only available from an avian vet) called
Vivi 13+ as well -- just a pinch on each bowl of food. If your
'tiels will eat fresh greens and fruits, that's all to the good,
and the vitamins probably less necessary! (Only my younger one will,
and then only tiny broccoli flowerets, pinches of lettuce leaf and
parsley, and when I think to get them, small alfalfa sprouts,
and nibbles of citrus fruits. I think that they have to have the
chance to develop the taste when they are still quite young.)

  Only recently did I find out about the new "rope perches", which
have a wire inside. You can bend and shape the perch inside the cage.
There are other interesting types, too -- the cacti perches, certain
natural branches like arbutus (it must be from a tree that has not
been sprayed, of course), and there's one made of an artifical mater-
ial that's supposed to be good -- I think we have one or two now,
but will have to check out what the material is called.

  When the birds are young, wooden and harder perches are okay, but
apparently, it's good to vary the sizes. You can add a swing or ladder
-- again, there are wooden ladders in different sizes, and rope lad-
ders, and plastic ladders, often with toys on them! Once your bird(s)
get older, like my ten-year-old, it's better to use soft perches, esp.
the rope ones, our avian vet says, because the birds' feet become more
sensitive -- my older bird actually developed a sore! Well, it's not
that surprising -- as I've aged, like my own mother, I'm developing
more and more sensitive feet, too, only the solution for humans is that
we have to have our feet treated/pampered, and wear better shoes and
soft insoles, eh?!

  You can have fun, choosing perches, ladders, and toys for your
bird(s)!
I have a hard time resisting buying toys when I go into a pet store!
Some-
times, though, as with little kids, the simplest may be the best, what
they most prefer -- my younger 'tiel has preferred a toy with one of
those chains like the ones for sink and bathtub plugs above all other
playthings (it's her "comfort toy"), and the older one prefers his two
bells, one of which (his "comfort toy") has pieces of leather and wood
strung above the bell!

  Enjoy setting up their cage, taking it slowly, trying out what
appeals
to you (and may appeal to them) and is affordable. You can even get
spec-
ials treated wooden beads that you can string yourself, with a mirror,
bells, whatever -- and try creating your own bird toys! ;-)

"Big Mama Bird"
Canada

P. S.    My partner and I have as well an aging budgie who's still pretty
    feisty, and two wonderful little conures! The latter pair are a
    South American bird that loves to play, is unendingly curious,
    chews up a lot of toys, ladders, and so on, and likes best of all
    all kinds of household and personal things that YOU, the human
    owner, are involved with!

    I've discovered my younger 'tiel has a preference for covered spaces,
    like closets, or a "tent" made from her blanket across a couple of
    cages, which she can explore! Mirrors leave both 'tiels cold, but
    apparently, some 'tiels like having a "mirror friend" as much as all
    budgies (in my experience) inevitably do! ;-)