Every pet bird needs to be properly groomed. Mostly, this simply involves trimming their toenails, wings and giving it an occasional misting.
To clip your pet bird, you will need a pair of animal clippers, a towel, styptic powder and a helper. If there is no styptic powder available, you will have to use household flour because this is a good blood clotting agent.
Before you begin, put the towel over your bird’s head because if they get scared by what you are doing, there is a very good chance that they bird will bite you. It must be ensured while putting towel over the head, that they do not feel difficulty in breathing. It will also be a good idea to speak to the bird in a soothing tone and hold them securely.
The part of the toenail that will be clipped is the little hook that is found at the end of each toenail. If you cut any further, this will make your bird begin to bleed.
If the bird begins to bleed, apply the styptic powder immediately over the affected area and make sure the bleeding stops. Once you are done, return the bird back into the cage so it can calm done rather than being beaten by the bird.
As you can see, clipping a bird’s wing is very easy. But if you don’t have anyone around to assist or you are not that confident yet to do it yourself, bring this over instead to the vet for proper care and handling.
The next thing you have to do when grooming your pet bird is clipping their wings. The reason why you have to clip your bird’s wings is to prevent it from flying into mirrors or windows which could them a concussion. To do this, you will need again a towel, styptic powder and a pair of scissors.
To clip the wings, you will have to restrain the bird using the towel while leaving one wing exposed. Once the bird is secure, expose the wing gently until it is extended.
You will soon notice that there are two rows of feathers. The long row of feathers on the bottom half is what is used by bird to fly. From here, you will now have to decide whether to do a severe wing clip or a moderate clip.
The severe wing clip is done by removing all the ten long feathers at the end of each wing. The moderate clip leaves the first 2 weathers intact while removing the last 8 feathers.
There is another method of clipping the wings known as pinioning that happens to be a permanent method of wing clipping and this should only be done by a veterinarian.
Clip carefully so the bird does not bleed. If it does, pull it out so you remove the feather and the shaft then apply styptic powder. The time you have completed the first wing, you got to do the same for the other because failure to do so makes the bird feel off balanced.
Lastly, mist your bird with water as this helps them stay sleek and smooth. This is a faster way of cleaning them if they don’t like taking a bath regularly.
Clipping the toenails and wings as well as misting are the proper ways of grooming your bird. These are chores you have to learn how do so you don’t always have to drive over the clinic.
Filed under Articles by on Sep 4th, 2009. Comment. 
When I first began looking for a large bird cage for my two parakeets, I wasn’t sure how big it should be or whether Charlie and Sweetie really needed a larger cage. So I started to ask people I knew in a chat room about what they thought. One of them suggested that I look for “flight bird cages”. I really didn’t know what that was, but he told me that it was for my birds so that they could actually fly in the cage.This is the reason that it has that name. I felt foolish, but hey, who knew! When I looked online, I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted right away. So I decided to dedicate a site just to flight bird cages.
I have tons of information about why birds really should be able to fly inside of a cage, rather than all the time just out of their cage in the house. my birds have loved their new cage and really do seem much happier. Some of my points of why this type of cage is the greatest for them are below.
Why I think Flight Bird Cages are necessary for birds:
My birds are much happier when they can fly around in their cage.The large cage lets them be very healthy since they can do their flying anytime they get the urge to. It keeps their little bodies strong!
They are a lot safer in their cage if there are other pets in your home, such as a cat or dog.When you are absent from the house a lot, you can be assured your birds will still be flying and happy. One word of caution that I read somewhere, so use your own idea on this, don’t put your birds in a round cage because it doesn’t give them any points of reference and they will be confused. That’s why a lot of bird cages probably are hexagon or at least have corners.
The right bird houses are perfect for breeding birds.After finding out that birds that could fly would breed, I did observe Charlie and Sweetie doing just that.Just to make sure you understand that if you have had no luck with your birds mating, it might be because the birdcage they are in is not large enough.Allowing birds access to flight will enhance their ability to mate!
It makes your pet bird feel free. During the spring and summer months, I sometimes put their cage outside on my patio. I think when they whistle at the people that go by is a very funny and cute thing.Everyone seems to chuckle when they hear it, and my next-door friends actually adore it.
Cleaning is much easier, giving you more room to maneuver. I found that the easier cages are to clean, they get changed and cleaned a lot more often. Even my husband doesn’t mind cleaning it, and it takes less time than it used to with the smaller cage.
The flight bird cage I got for Charlie and Sweetie is on a pedestal, so they are at eye level with us. They love being able to be right there with us and talk to us a lot more often. That way they can join the family more often and still be very safe.I was able to move the cage to wherever we were, so the birds got in the habit of being with us. Even with this bigger cage for them, it still makes it so manageable.Just so you are aware, your bird wants to be in the mix with everyone, too.
So you will have a point of reference for the bird cage size, my birds are parakeets. Their cage is 32” width by 22” depth.At the 59 inch mark, it is a good elevation. The flight cages are a bit more expensive than just the small little bird cages that you probably had when you first got your birds. But believe me, Charlie and Sweetie are such happy, healthy and breeding birds now that they have their new place of residence. I hope you will visit often, as I am going to be adding more posts to this website.While you are still here, if you would like to leave a message about some of your tricks, please do so.Please come back lots and thanks for your visit.
Filed under Articles by on Jul 20th, 2009. Comment.
From the very earliest of times man has had a fascination with birds and has been putting bird houses up to attract and feed different species of birds. With the help of say a hummingbird house it is possible to attract this exciting species of bird and engage in some serious bird watching experience. The Hummingbird is without a shadow of doubt one of the most captivating as well as intriguing of all bird species and so erecting a hummingbird house makes perfect sense.
South American Style Of Hummingbird House
The Hummingbird is native to South America and is also the tiniest sized of all bird species and it has the unique ability to fly in the backward direction. These attributes make this bird species much sought after and so if you are truly interested in viewing the Hummingbird it will pay to erect a hummingbird house in your garden or backyard.
Of course, an ordinary bird house will not suffice because the hummingbird house is unique and is also especially suited for this particular bird species. However, erecting a hummingbird house is not very time consuming or difficult and in fact such bird houses are small in size and so it is possible to create it out of a small sized box or even use tin cans for the purpose. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that the box should be large enough for a normal sized human had to fit into it.
It is essential that the hummingbird house be only as large as is required to accommodate the Hummingbird because otherwise other birds would gatecrash and drive the Hummingbirds away. Typically, the small size of the hummingbird house makes it difficult to view them from a distance and often these houses need to be placed on trees or on the tree trunk. Of course, there is no hard and fast rule as to where you should place the hummingbird house and it is up to you to choose a suitable location. The only real concern is that these houses should not be within reach of your house pet or stray cats.
The plain truth is that a hummingbird house is best suited for being located close to flowering plants from which the Hummingbird can get its nectar and the colors of different flowers too will help attract more of this bird species.
It is also necessary to build the Hummingbird house using appropriate Hummingbird house plans because this will then ensure that the house suits the Hummingbird and is made from the right materials and from the plans you will also get to know which tools you need in order to create the ideal house. What’s more, you will also learn about the exact specifications for a home for the Hummingbird.
Filed under Articles by on Jul 8th, 2009. Comment.
Whether or not to clip your parrot’s wings will be debated forever. Both sides have its arguments and that makes the decision toughter. You won’t avoid to have to make that decision yourself. So, before deciding, it’s a good advice to get well informed.
For many people, a bird’s wings clipping is just a haircut. The only problem is that we don’t depend on our hair to get around or to avoid danger. Birds do. Now, maybe you should also take into account that feathers will grow back. So, it’s not an irreversible decision. After a while, your parrot should be able to fly normally again.
One positive aspect of clipping a bird is that it’s less likely to fly away. So, it helps prevent that it could get to toxic chemicals around the house or fly near a hot stove. But even clipped birds have been known to fly away. For this reason some people {advocate|argue that you should be} clipping both the primary and secondary flight feathers.
On the other side, opponents argue that a bird is meant to fly. A bird that is allowed to fly will have a stronger respiratory system. They argue a clipped bird has its best defense taken away from it; he is no longer able to get away from cats and dogs or other dangers. A bad wing clip can lead to plucking and sometimes in extreme cases to injury.
Maybe the way to take the better decision is take into account the environment where he lives. Just be sure to consider the decision carefully. Maybe it’s to only keep your bird clipped for part of the year when the weather is warm and the windows are open. Please consider well all the options and then, decide.
Filed under Articles by on Jun 6th, 2009. Comment.
A passion for birds has been a past time for many and as a result have been building bird houses to draw a diverse range of birds into their gardens. A number of bird houses are made to draw a particular species of bird into your yard. By placing a hummingbird house in your yard you can draw this beautiful bird to your yard. It can’t be denied that the hummingbird is one of the most captivating and enchanting of nearly all the bird varieties. Therefore making a hummingbird house can be the perfect addition to your grounds.
South American Bird
The hummingbird is indigenous to South America and is one of the tiniest of all birds. It has the amazing capacity to fly backwards. It is because of this that bird watchers consider the hummingbird to be a favorite. Building a house for this bird in your garden will give you the opportunity to watch this amazing bird .
A hummingbird house is specifically designed to be a magnet for this type of bird. Hummingbird houses, however, are quite easy to construct and due to the fact that hummingbirds are so small a hummingbird house is generally small in size as well.
It is a good idea to make the hummingbird house to be as small a dimension as is possible for the birds. This is in an effort to prevent other larger birds attempting to take possession of the hummingbird house and driving the hummingbirds away. Because the house can be quite small it is sometimes not easy to view from a distance. Wherever you place the house you should ensure it is not easily accessible by predators, such as cats and snakes.
Placing the hummingbird house in close proximity to blossoming plants is usually an ideal location. Hummingbirds will favor this as it lets them to be near to the nectar the flowers provide. Hummingbirds are also drawn to colorful flowers so having many of these will be an selling point for them to use the bird house.
It is essential to select a type that is specifically designed to be a hummingbird house. With this approach you can make sure you are constructing a house in the right design and making use of the correct supplies to attract the hummingbirds. Hummingbird house plans should also provide you additional information on location and after care.
For more useful tips on hummingbird houses visit www.birdingadvice.com
Filed under Birding Essentials, Hummingbird Feeders, wild bird by on Apr 3rd, 2009. Comment.
