Matt Davies Harmony Communities Provides Tips for Caring for Your African Gray Parrot
Introduction
According to Matt Davies Harmony Communities, unlike most other exotic bird pets, the African gray parrot can live for around 60 to 80 years and become a lifelong companion. However, that’s only possible when you house and feed it properly. Let’s check out a few tips for caring for your African gray parrot.
Tips & Tricks
- Housing – Most African gray parrots at the pet store are usually hand-raised by human breeders since they are just 3 weeks old. That’s why these birds are very accustomed to human handling, loud noises, cages, and other elements of modern urban life. For their cage, you can buy or make one from medium gauge wire with dimensions of at least 40 inches in width, 30 inches in depth, and 65 inches in height.
This kind of fairly large enclosure would give even the biggest full-grown African gray parrot the ability to move around and get plenty of exercise without injuring themselves from the wires. It’s best to have open-top cages with perching areas for domesticated and hand-raised birds since it gives them more freedom and allows them to interact more actively with you and your family members.
- Diet – African gray parrots should be fed fresh fruits and vegetables regularly along with quality South American pellets. This may include ingredients like broccoli, spinach, corn, carrots, beans, apples, and more. However, you shouldn’t leave the food inside the cage for too long since the bacteria and yeasts formed in spoiled food can make your bird sick.
It’s also important to avoid items like avocado and lettuce. You may also provide your bird with small portions of seed mix. You’re also free to add vitamin supplements to your bird’s pellet. You can add iodine or cuttlebone bells to fulfill their calcium and iodine requirements. When it comes to water, it should always be available in the cage and should be replenished every day. For worming, choose a broad-spectrum bird wormer every three months.
- General care – It’s very important to enhance the quality of life for your African gray parrot. That can be achieved by introducing activities that these birds usually do in the wild. Foraging plays a major role in enriching any bird’s life since searching for food and materials for their nest is a natural instinct to them.
You can get a vast range of foraging toys fit for your bird from the pet store to mentally stimulate your parrot. Get different types of foraging toys and cycle them every few weeks to maintain variety. You should also include natural branches of various shapes, sizes, and thicknesses in the birdcage. It’s best if you can get branches from trees in their native environment.
Conclusion
Matt Davies Harmony Communities suggests that you use the above-mentioned tips for caring for your African gray parrot and keep it in the best possible condition. These birds require advanced maintenance and care and are usually not recommended for first-time pet owners.
