Night fright
The birds had a night fright a couple of nights ago! I always hate it when it happens because it can so easily cause damage when the birds hit the bars or toys/perches positioned in their cage!
Luckily no blood feathers of injuries were aquired this time, I am sort of lucky when it comes to night frights because my birds have never broken a blood feather or injured themselves before.
Night frights can be preventable though. There are two things I can think of at the top of my head that can lower the risk of a bird having a night fright and that is.
* Leave a small opening in the cages cover or leave the cage uncovered so then they have more light then they would have covered up and this will allow them to see most of their surroundings at night which can lower the risk of a night fright as they are able to see their is no danger in their surroundings.
* Leave a night light on in the bird room. This is of similar pricable. It just allows the bird to see it's surroundings at night so it will lower the risk of a night fright.
Although most books and people tell you NOT to let your bird out of the cage when it is having a night fright I seem to always ignore that rule as I am so scared my birds are hurt and just want to check them before I leave them again to make sure they are not hurt. It is so nerve tickling! However the books are right, if you let your bird out into the light when it is having a night fright can cause them shock and because they are ajusted to the dark, the light scares them and they bash into things so wait until the night fright is over before handling your birds!
Charlie, my cockatiel did pick up a minor injuury which chipped a small bit of his cere away so it bleed but only minor. The picture below shows a small bit of blood on his cere although he is fine now :)
A birds diet
A birds diet should consist of about 40% vegtables and fruit, 30% pellets and 30% seeds approximatly.
A good brand of pellets to buy out their would be harrisons bird pellets which comes in: super fine, fine, medium, large and extra large depending on what size bird you have.
Fine - Budgies
Medium - Cockatiels
Large - African greys
Harrisons is good because it is natural and uses natural flavourings and no preservatives like some brands which can harm your bird or it can be very unhealthy for the bird.
An all seed diet can cause complications in a bird because seed is very unhealthy and can lead to things such a liver faliure. So pellets do need to be offered to. It is hard to get a bird to eat pellets so weaning them onto this diet is the only option.
Seed is needed, however, to make sure a birds diet it still healthy so feeding you bird seed is great to. I would recommend tidy mix for the bigger birds as it contains dried fruit and a variety of helahty seeds as well (avaliable only in the UK). If not, cheap seed is ok as it is still natural but just does not contain the extra vitamins!
Vegtable and fruit for your birds is vital to keep them healthy when going through molts or to keep them alive longer! Although a bird with a bad diet can still lead a happy life, a bird with a better diet is much healthier and it can lower complications in the future.
I suggest things such as:
- Sweetcorn
- Broccoli
- Curly kale
- Apple
-Carrots
- Banana
- Rasberries
Please make sure, to lower the risks of illness, that the produce you buy is organic as pesticides pose a big threat to birds and is very toxic.
Avoid foods high in fat, sugar and salt like
-Sunflower seeds (to many can make a bird fat)
-Millet (again to much can make a bird fat)
- Honey/honey sticks (can make a bird fat)
- Chocolate, crisps, chips (toxic and fattening to birds!)
- Avacardos (toxic to birds)
- Green vegtables such as Lettuce can cause watery and green poo in birds so it is best to avoid it.
Hope this helps
Safe branches and food
Safe foods:
- Radishes
- Turnips
- Carrots
- Kale
- Parsley
- Tomato
- Green beans
- Beet (red beet must be peeled)
- Broccoli
- Corn
- Cucumber
- Apples
- Kiwi
- Mango
- Apples
- Banana
- Pears
- Cherries
- Pineapple
- Cranberries
- Grapes
- Apricots
Safe branches:
- Apple tree
- Ash tree
- Birch tree
- Beech tree
- Bamboo tree
- Aspen tree
- Almond tree
- Elm tree
- Fig tree
- Fir tree
- Grape vine tree
- Grape palm tree
Branches to avoid:
- Avacado tree
- Baneberry tree
- Elderberry tree
- Foxglove tree
- Flame tree
- Cherry tree
- Plum tree
Hope this helps.
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