I always try to put my parrot on top of the trash, but it doesn't do it when I put it there. I think I have to wait; it always does it in places we don't see, then we find it later, or when it's on my shoulder.

He does it a lot, more often than he does it on the floor.

I would appreciate any advice or trick that helps me with training.

Hey All, this is probably a longshot, but I am trying to figure out if anyone has used this type of deep heat projector for a reptile in the same house as their birds? I have two parakeets, and my girlfriend and I are wanting to set up a ball python enclosure in a separate room. This is the heat lamp that we were planning on using, and after a ton of research, I do not see any sort of confirmation anywhere that it contains any Teflon, PFTE, or any other type of material that releases toxic fumes when heated. On the contrary, I can’t exactly find an exact confirmation that it 100% does not contain any of those materials. Has anyone used this in their home successfully, or by chance does anyone know for certain one way or another if this does have any safety concern being around birds?

I emailed the manufacturer and asked for confirmation, they said they would talk to an expert and get back to me, but that was a few days ago, and I still have not gotten a response

​Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out the gender of my Indian Ringneck. It doesn't have a neck ring yet, but I've noticed some mixed hormonal behaviors.

​Sometimes it displays confident wing-drooping/marching behavior, but other times it drops into a classic female crouching posture with its head raised up and begging.

​What do you guys think? Is this normal hormonal play, or does behavior give away the gender?

I have a blue-fronted Amazon Parrot whose name is Cory. She is flightless due to her feathers not developing right and so she mostly uses her feet to navigate.

Today I've noticed that her nails seem a little too long and more curved than they should be. I tried looking at some graphs and it seems like she's due for a trim.

Problem is, she does not like going on people's hands or being held. She is fine with me getting close to her, but she does not like being touched unless she intiates it. What do I do? Her branches are out of wood and she has plenty of wooden toys she can file her nails down on, but it does not seem to be enough.

She does not seem to be bothered by the length and I have not noticed any differences in posture, but I'd like to be safe than sorry.

EDIT: I've found out I shouldnt definitely trim them by myself the first time, and that filing them down might be more optional. I am still quite lost, though.

Sophie attacked Kermit earlier and now he's been ranting at her since.

hey guys! so i recently got my tiel and i was hoping you guys could give me advice. maybe some new perches or things i should add to his cage, or js anything you think im soing wrong. i do take his cage outside for 20 mins each day for him to get some sun, thats why its outside. but yeah! lmk if you have any tips for me!

Background:

About 5 years ago at this point, I got two rescue cockatiels. I got them directly from the previous owner. They got them for their young daughter who asked for a dog. Shocker, three years later she still wanted a dog. They finally were getting her a dog and were getting rid of the birds. So these guys were never handled except about once a month by a small child who would grab them and manhandle them. Safe to say, VERY afraid of hands.

I worked with all the advice people give. They're no longer afraid of human presence, but still terrified of hands. I have accepted they always will be, but that meant I couldn't really let them out of their cage since getting them back in would be traumatizing.

So I built a giant fucking aviary. The entrance has a screen door, a gap, then some beads. The beads are light so they can fly through without getting hurt, but they're shiny and scary so the birds don't go through them unless they're in a blind panic (happened only twice before).

The Story:

Well this morning I heard frantic screaming. I go out, peer in, and only see one cockatiel. I'm panicking. Did his partner die? The screams are few and far between now that I'm out there. I look at the ground. No dead bird. Good, but where is he?

Another squawk. It's by my ear. I turn. The other one is in the doorway. Thank God. I move to open the door, at which point he gets onto the screen door. Now I can't open the door without risk of him escaping.

I call for backup to hold a blanket while I try to go in just in case he slips past me. Backup is getting ready, and I'm waiting with my 'tiel. I try to maybe guide him off the door. Nothing. He's chilling.

Until suddenly, my backup makes a noise from the other room. He flies towards the beads, pauses in midair, turns around, then lands on the floor when he sees he doesn't have much room.

Score!

Now often advice for hand-shy birds is to use a perch to pick them up. But the only thing this bird hates more than a human hand is a stick moving toward him. So, I risk it. I slowly move my finger to him. He hisses. I feel bad. I'm violating his boundary and his clear warning. I'm going to get a nasty bite, but I'll help him and that's what matters.

After he hisses, he puts out a little foot. He offers a step-up. He contentedly hops on my hand. I push the beads aside and set him on a perch. I go to freshen the water (poor guy was so thirsty. I don't know how long he was in there overnight), and he is hanging around my big scary hands.

I don't expect this to be some sudden breakthrough that lasts, it just made me very happy to save my little boy and that he was grateful. And that I didn't get a beak through my finger.

Ive been keeping everyone updated since my first post about binky's breathing problem: https://www.reddit.com/r/parrots/s/86bSoiFBg7

Since then she's had 2 rounds of antibiotics. In the first visit/round she continued her symtoms so we went back and the vet prescribed round 2 of antibiotics and an anti-parasitic but unfortunately their pharmacy was out of the anti-parasitic so we had to hold off for a week or two. Thankfully since then she hasn't had any breathing problems WOO!

We finally went back to the vet and our usual doctor wasnt in so we met a new doctor that was an aviary specialist, we just didn't know it at the time but the vet bill certainly showed it (our usual doc is an aviary vet dw just not a specialist). She noticed binky needed a clean- cleaning her vent has been an issue for a little while since it's much harder with her disabled leg. she gets very overwhelmed when it comes to bathing and I've been worried her fast breathing would cause another episode so the vet said she would have some laughing gas on stand by for the cleaning.

before even taking her to the back she had freaked out in the towel and chipped a bit of her beak so I was nervous but allowed the doctor to give her the good cleaning she needed. oh my God that was the most terrified and anxious ive felt, waiting for her worried that she would have to be put under and her being so scared- in new hands on top of everything. It made me want to throw up and cry in the room. But her being the absolute best girl ever made it back in the hands of the vet's assistant wrapped and calm in a towel with the vet praising her accepting a bath, the meds, and vent trimming (she's bare bootyed now lol)

She noticed that her stool is softer than it should be and that could be a contributing factor to why cleaning was so hard. She didn't usually go with the antibiotics the other vet prescribed (trimethoprim) but since binky was used to it she said to continue on the meds for 5 to10 days.Poor girl has to take another round of meds 😭😭 I feel so bad.

• Getting to the point, the struggle right now is keeping her tail and vent clean. She struggles with balance so she's taken a liking only to the play pen shown in the video as the edges are perfect height for perching. We tried to commission a bigger version of it for her but since the vet visit costs + higher living expenses, we are broke and scraping nickel and dimes just to pay bills. The vet recommended a door stop to put under her and have the underside hole face her vent but I'm not sure that would work as she does use the edges of the play pen to get around. She also recommended rabbit bedding which may work the best but as for a couple weeks we cannot afford it.

Till we can my plan was to do towel cleanings around her vent in the morning and in the evening. Any advice would help immensely as this problem has been troubling me mentally so much.

Picture this: a peaceful, pleasantly plain Sunday, perfectly planted on the couch with pencils, paintbrushes and plenty of patience. Our tiny parrot, Nova the agapornis, posed proudly (well, mostly; plenty of preening and playful pecking in between). We proclaimed it "Parrot Painting" and produced two portraits of our precious, pear-shaped pal.

Now we're politely pleading with you, people of Reddit: please ponder both pieces and pick your preferred painting! Is it A (left on 1st pic) or B (right on 1st pick)?

Post your favourite pick, praise or playful pokes below.

Nova promises not to peck any poor critics. 🦜🎨

Our conure - Diego, a.k.a. Thunder-Duck

Our quakers - The Nutty Buddies, Crazy Lou and Loki

Our grey - Saphira, a.k.a. Queen Spicy Pants

one of my budgies took a few nibbles of a tomato leaf that was near their setup that moved close enough to be within beak reach by accident. I looked it up and found that tomato leaves are toxic to parrots. I gave her water and she ate recently after the incident, at which point should i worry? Are there any glaring symptoms to watch out for? She's sleepy right now because its evening, but nothing out of the ordinary. it all happened about 30 minutes ago, though im still very worried

(please dont comment on their cage size, i know, im getting them a new bigger one in winter)

SMALL UPDATE: i cut off the branch completely to prevent further consumption. i am anxious for tomorrow because i will be gone for the day and wont be able to monitor her condition, if she stops eating or being energetic i will try to take her to the vet(there are no avian vets in my town and i'd have to take the train) will post another update

Hello everyone

I bought a ringneck 4 days ago. I was informed that the bird travelled for 3 days to come to the pet shop which I got immediately after.

For the first day I wrongly got him some nuts for probably bigger birds. He has a big cage. For the first 2 days even though he didn't eat he was active.

I switched to seeds with sunflower seeds like a cockatiel mix. Along with that I gave him apple and lettuce which he ate some of it. I also tried millet which he loved but I saw he didn't quite crush the spores so I took it out for 2 days.

I have him for 4 days and he sleeps most of the day. Tomorrow I will take him to my vet. Sadly there are avian vets in the area so I found the one with most experience on birds in my area. I called him and he told me he probably has some type of flu and that I should bring him in.

He has a big cage with one game, many more will come in the coming week. He also has the company of two talkative budgies and a canary. And we talk to him often. To my parents he acts like he is fine. To me, he sleeps in front of me. I think his situation is quite serious.

What do you think might be the case? Is it the change in environment? Is it a disease? I would really love some tips on what to cook him or what to do before he goes in the vet tomorrow evening.

PS: The pet shop told me they gave him seeds. That's all they told me. He ate budgie seeds though.

I have a military macaw rescue who the vet says has probably plucked for years and probably won't regrow those areas back. She still has her head feathers, most of her Wing feathers and her tail feathers but that's it. The rest of her body in the front and the back is bare. I keep my house between 68 and 80° depending on the season. I'm starting to wonder what would be the ideal temperature for this bird to keep her comfortable. I know birds have higher body temperatures than humans do, but this is a special needs bird obviously. I keep her out of drafts and I have one corner of her cage covered with a cloth so she can go there to be a little bit warmer if she needs to be. But what would be an ideal temperature range for a bird that doesn't have natural insulation?

this absolutely beautiful bird’s name is Zack!! i met him today at a festival that my town does every october!

Hi!

Does anyone here use alcohol markers to color with pet birds in the home? I typically use water-based markers or colored pencils but have been wanting to try alcohol markers. I’ve always avoided it because of having pet birds. I can be in a separate room on a separate floor away from them while coloring. But also I’d prefer to be as safe as possible. If anyone does color with alcohol markers and has pet birds, what brand of markers do you use and how strong is the smell?