Home
Mission Statement
    No-Kill Policy
History
    Staff & Volunteers
Affiliations
Foster Parrots News
    Press Releases
    FPM In The News
    Newsletters
Conservation
Eco-Tourism
    Project Guyana
    Brazil
    Ecuador
Our Birds
    Lola's Story
    Special Birds
    Sanctuary Birds
    Success Stories
Surrendering Your Parrot
    Adoption Placement
    Sanctuary Placement
Adoption Overview
    Requirements
    Adoption Process
    Application
    Virtual Adoption
Parrot Keeping
    The Cost
    DIY Ideas
    Pesticides
    Recovering an Escapee
What You Can Do
    Volunteer at FPM
    Make A Donation
    Veterinary Petition
New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary
Free Stuff
    Wallpapers
    Screen Saver
    Posters
    Cards
Online Store
Links
Contact Us

Foster Parrots, Ltd.
Parrot Keeping

As long as parrots are being bred in captivity for the pet trade we must do the best we can to not only make sure they are physically healthy, but mentally healthy as well. These are both complex subjects and for far too long the pet trade and the breeding industry have made both issues seem simple in order to continue to reap the huge profits from the sale of exotic birds. Both the pet trade and the breeding community claim that these profits are low to nonexistent, but the fact that millions of pet birds are being pumped into our homes suggest that this is not the case. If one's motive for raising birds for the pet trade is "because we love birds," there certainly is no reason for flooding the market unless those doing the breeding believe that the time is right for making a killing. Unfortunately, when someone buys a pet parrot without knowing a great deal about the their social and dietary needs, it is the bird who gets killed; a process that can take many years and lead to a life of suffering and loneliness.
The internet is the best place to find out more on the social needs of parrots and by reading the information available at sites like: http//www.avianwelfare.org/ and http:www.forthebirdsdvm.com/index.html you will learn how best to care for parrots. As animals whose metabolism, respiratory, cardiovascular and muscular structures were engineered to fly, the inability to do so has a devastating effect on the health of most birds over the course of their long lives.
Many parrots are brought to Foster Parrots in cages that they have spent their entire lives in. Atrophied muscles, shortness of breath and suppressed immune systems are just some of the more serious problems facing these "perch potatoes."
Imagine spending your life on the couch eating nothing but potato chips. You only have to look around you to see the evidence of a poor diet and lack of exercise on our culture. In the wild the diets of these magnificent, free-flying creatures consists of a wide variety of vegetation, fruits, nuts and many other things that we are just now learning about. It has only recently been revealed that clay plays an important role in a healthy diet.
What new things wait undiscovered in our attempt to replicate this intricate dietary puzzle? Snails? Fish? Insects?
Both in the housing and feeding of parrots the pet trade would like the potential purchaser to believe that not only are parrots simple pets, the ideal apartment pet indeed, but that the diets that they offer are complete and well-balanced. This may be true, to the extent that we understand parrot physiology, with some top quality pelleted diets like Harrison's brand, but it most certainly is not true of the vast number of seed-based diets now sold in most pet stores and pet supply chains as nutritionally complete (they may be, but only if your adopted bird eats every morsel, including the pellets).
Even if the pelleted diets are complete, what kind of life would it be if all you had to eat was the same thing over and over and over again? Additionally, a large part of a parrot's day in the wild is spent looking for and manipulating food in order to consume it. This provides them mental and physical stimulation. You should consult with your certified avian veterinarian as to what they recommend, but we like to keep things varied and offer a wide range of fruits and vegetables along with a good manufactured diet like Higgins Sunburst mixed in equal portions with Higgins Fruit to Nut. Many birds will not eat the higher quality pellets or they choose to just throw them to the floor, so we give many of our birds a choice of either Roudybush or Zoopreem pellets, depending on what they seem to prefer. Many new birds who have been fed on poor seed-based (mostly sunflower) diets will give Zupreem a try. Some of the birds that arrive here have been fed nothing but wild bird seed mixes
consisting of nothing but black oil sunflower seeds. Many of the dishes we cook for our birds are sweet potato based with rice or pasta, pasta sauce and a variety of chopped fresh (when available, frozen if not) vegetables and fruits. We also use a vitamin supplement in small doses added to the soft foods.
As for cages...No cage is big enough. Most people would recognize the cruelty of trying to keep a dolphin in their backyard pool or an eagle in even the most generous of cages available in the pet trade today. For some reason the keeping of a parrot, indeed a wild animal just as the dolphin or eagle, does not seem to bother many who buy them and certainly not those who sell them into a life of bondage and captivity. That being said, there is little else you can do to make your adopted bird comfortable other than to buy the largest cage available and to allow your bird as much freedom as possible including the building of an outdoor aviary/flight where free flight can take place. If possible, a room dedicated to your adopted birds where they can enjoy an open door policy is the ideal situation, and often birds kept in this type of situation will use their cages as a comfy roosting spot, a safe and familiar place.
Companionship is another very important issue and one that ensures a mentally healthy parrot. We try to pair up birds with compatible partners (not necessarily of the same sex) so that when adopted they will always have the company of a familiar face. With so many families busy at work and at play 7 days a week, the thought of a single, lonely, bored parrot is one that is far removed from the natural flock life these complex and intelligent animals would have lived in the wild. No wonder so many of the birds brought to us exhibit signs of psychological distress like plucking, screaming incessantly or aggression. Duplicating a parrot's life in the wild is impossible. Doing the best you can will be difficult and it will take a lot of effort and dedication, but if you take on this
responsibility, you should think carefully about whether or not you can do it well enough to keep your adopted bird as happy as he or she could be in captivity. To help with the cost of this continuing upkeep, we have included some simple, economical and safe projects for toys, perches and non-toxic household cleaner recipes that you can make yourself.

Donate to           
Support Avian Welfare 

[Home] [Mission Statement] [History] [Affiliations] [Foster Parrots News] [The Birds] [Adoption] [Parrot Keeping] [What You Can Do]
[The Lola Project] [Free Stuff] [Online Store] [Links] [Contact Us] [Site Map]