Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
I hate cleaning cages. I'd much rather be spending my time training or hanging out with the birds. I don't actually mind the "ick" of cleaning poop so much as taking the time to do it. But it's a fact of life when it comes to bird ownership and something that must be done. This is why I am keen on good cleaning products that reduce the amount of time/effort I need to spend cleaning.
Recall my Must Have Cleaning Devices for the Parrot Owner article reviewing cleaning gadgets. Well in addition to good gadgets, you also need good cleaning supplies. Paper towels do just fine, but on a tight budget washable rags are a good idea. I find that dish soap and bleach work very well for a thorough cage cleaning, however, it smells awful and takes a long time to prepare. Worse yet bleach stains and requires gloves for use. I'm so worried about the fumes that I have to lock my parrots out in the stairway. There has to be a better way.
Since I got Truman's Cage from Kings Cages I was already familiar with the brand. I've been using a bunch of their products for a while now and one of them is the Royal Cage Cleaner spray. This spray makes cleaning a whole lot easier. I just spray it on and wait 5 minutes, come back before it dries, and wipe off with a wet paper towel.
Frankly, I prefer my steam cleaner because it is an entirely chemical free way to clean and sterilize the cage. The trouble is that it has a very narrow stream so it takes forever, especially when it's a wide spread mess. For hard to reach crevices like in the grooves of a perch, I'd definitely go with steam cleaner. But on cage bars, grates, and particularly seed catchers, the spray is awesome.
I tried a different cleaner before, don't remember the name, but it was a citrus based cleaner. It smelled good and is supposedly very safe but it would leave a lot of residue after cleaning. I like the Royal Cage Cleaner better because it has very little residue. Wiping with a wet paper towel once gets most of it and a little more effort and it's all gone.
For the absolute worst messes I use a combination of my steam cleaner and spray. First I spray the area to dissolve the poop. Then I wipe what I can and blast the rest out with the steam cleaner. Works like a charm. For spot cleaning, $10 for the spray is well worth it. One bottle lasts me about a year because I combine with the steam cleaner.
I have one bottle of free Royal Cage Cleaner to give away. The contest is very simple. Just leave a comment below or on the Trained Parrot Facebook page telling me about what you currently use for cleaning your parrot's cage. Contest ends midnight Tuesday November 26th and a winner will be chosen at random and announced Wednesday. The only restriction I have here is that free shipping is in the US only. International winner must pay international shipping or decline the prize and another winner will be selected. Winner to be selected from either comments section or facebook comments at random. Thanks for reading and participating.
I got this nice big juicy pumpkin the other day. I was thinking to myself how much my parrots will enjoy the stuff I could make them out of it. I open the pumpkin and look what I find inside!
Kili & Truman love Halloween. It's the time of year when food is bountiful and there's a lot going on. They like being involved in things so the holiday events keep them in the spotlight. And of course there's tasty pumpkin and pumkin seeds to be enjoyed. I'm sure they still remember the last time they had Pumpkin a few years ago when we were trying to carve it. Leave comments about what you do with your parrots on Halloween and if they like Pumpkin.
Come and see Kili & Truman live in Connecticut or North Carolina:
Hartford, CT - Saturday November 9, 10AM-4PM
The Parrot Club Veterans Memorial Clubhouse 100 Sunset Ridge Drive East Hartford, CT.
Durham, NC - Saturday November 16, 12PM-5PM
Avian Veterinary Services Clinic / The Birdie Boutique Hope Valley Elementary School Auditorium 3005 Dixon Rd Durham, NC 27707
Kili, Truman, and I had an awesome time traveling around Texas for our recent book signing tour. It all started with an 11 hour non-stop flight from Linden, NJ to San Marcos, TX. The flight was initially supposed to take 10 hours but due to headwinds and barely sufficient fuel, I had to slow down to stretch things a little. The reason for going to San Marcos was to take advantage of a special $1/gallon fuel promotion they were running that month.
While in San Marcos, the birds and I took advantage of the time and car rental to go see downtown San Antonio. The parrots remembered the Alamo and strolled down canal ways of San Antonio.
We met the Vintage Mooney Pilots group at San Marcos airport for lunch. The birds showed off some tricks and flying. The more fascinating aspect of this encounter was that I had the birds flying around a conference room enclosed by glass windows on all sides. Despite the amount of potentially crashable surfaces, the birds never hit anything and new exactly what they were doing. I wish I had a picture to share because for a bird that does not grasp the concept of glass, this room could have been a death trap. Kili & Truman understand perfectly.
After gassing up for $88 in San Marcos, we flew onward to Phoenix. We went on a Sunday morning group parrot outing at Joe's and then visited the Arizona Exotic Bird Rescue for a book signing event. I stayed the week with Ginger and worked on a secret project (that you'll have to wait a bit to find out about) and helped out at the rescue. I took care of the morning routine with the parrots by changing food, water, and papers. It's not hard but when there are that many birds, it can take quite a while. Luckily, there's always a bird around who's willing to come along and help out.
Learning that Ginger never gets out for a vacation, I dragged her out and made her forget about the birds for a day. I took her up to Las Vegas which was just a two hour flight in my plane. We walked around the strip and joked about how many parrot themed things we could spot. After gambling away the rescue's veterinary fund (just kidding), we flew back to Phoenix.
As close as Ginger has ever been to New York, New York. But in Las Vegas.
When the week ended I bid Ginger goodbye and returned to Texas with the trained parrot duo for some more weekend book signings. We did a performance for the Tree Top Bird Center in Dallas and then another event for the Fort Worth Bird Club the following day. The birds performed very well and in fact I had to fly them for more treats after each to satisfy their desire to show off, exercise, and get treats. Many books were sold and signed and the events were not only a success but a pleasure as well. Kili & Truman are big showoffs and love a crowd.
Between events, the birds went all over Dallas and Fort Worth with me. They visited Downtown Dallas and paid homage to JFK (this is the place where Kennedy was assassinated), they paid a lot of attention to frequently passing trains, they saw fish at an aquarium, and they showed off to restaurant patrons at the west end. In Fort Worth, they visited the downtown area and the Stock Yards. The birds had lunch with me outside and watched the famous cow drive. Truman was really intrigued and said he wanted to be a cowbird or at least a cowparrot.
Truman playing dead by the book repository building
Here's the trip summary video with Kili & Truman touring San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth:
Kili & Truman and I are heading out around the country to give talks and sign books. The birds love to travel and meet people so it's going to be a lot of fun. Get your copy of The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrotsonline or on location and come by to have your copy personally signed by the Parrot Wizard. Meet the world famous trained parrot duo and see some presentations about applying taming and training for your parrots.
NU Perches, trick training props, and other Parrot Wizard supplies will be available for purchase.
Scheduled Appearances
San Marcos, TX - Saturday October 5, 11AM
Vintage Mooney Group Redbird Skyport San Marcos Airport - KHYI 2080 Airport Dr San Marcos, TX 78666
Tempe, AZ - Sunday, October 6, 2PM
AZ Exotic Bird Rescue 1290 N. Scottsdale Rd Suite 104 Tempe, AZ 85281
Dallas, TX - Saturday October 12, 1PM
Tree Top Bird Center Pavilion North Shopping Center 7615 Campbell Rd, Suite 112 Dallas TX 75248
Fort Worth, TX - Sunday October 13, 2PM
Fort Worth Bird Club Fort Worth Botanic Garden 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76107
Hartford, CT - Saturday November 9, 10AM-4PM
The Parrot Club Veterans Memorial Clubhouse 100 Sunset Ridge Drive East Hartford, CT.
Durham, NC - Saturday November 16, 12PM-5PM
Avian Veterinary Services Clinic / The Birdie Boutique Hope Valley Elementary School Auditorium 3005 Dixon Rd Durham, NC 27707
More dates and locations coming soon. Be sure to follow this page and the Trained Parrot Facebook page for updates. Talk to your local parrot club, bird store, rescue, or avian vet office to schedule a Parrot Wizard Book Signing and Show in your area. Have them contact me to make arrangements.
Lastly, I will be offering private in person parrot training consultations in and near the cities I will be visiting. If you've always wanted one and I will happen to be in your area, be sure to reserve a consultation soon.
I don't know! This is one of the most common questions I come across but it's difficult to answer. It is kind of the same as asking "what kind of car should I get?" Except the outcome of making a poor choice for the parrot will be far more grave than picking the wrong car. I cannot tell you what parrot to get. What I can tell you is what questions to ask and what kind of information to look for to help you come to the right decision yourself.
This is a difficult decision for a beginner to make. Someone who has little experience with birds does not know what to look for and does not know what to avoid. It is very hard to realize these things until you live with a bird but it's not fair to get a parrot for a bit and then get it rid of it if it does not work out. I hope the advice here opens the doorway for a much greater research about what kind of parrot to get before ever getting one.
The first and perhaps the most important question when choosing a parrot is whether or not you even want a bird, a creature of the class Aves. A bird is nothing like a cat, dog, or other pet you might commonly come to think of. The distinguishing features of birds are that they have feathers, fly (yes, a few don't but we're not considering a penguin as a pet here), and make vocal noises. To many people, the idea of a flying creature in their house is unacceptable and this is perfectly reasonable. However, it is not reasonable to acquire a bird as a pet if this aspect cannot be accommodated as it is part of what being a bird naturally is.
Next comes the question, why a parrot? There are other kinds of birds that can be kept as pets as well. What about the hookbilled birds called parrots attracts you? If the answer is only that "they can talk," you are setting yourself up for disappointment when you realize that not all parrots talk and that they may choose to make noise instead of talking. The unique distinguishing features of parrots over other birds is that they are highly intelligent, social, complex birds. In other words you have to want a smart and challenging pet and not a talking hamster.
If you've determined that you like the features of parrots in general and want to continue narrowing down your search you have to stop a moment and consider the downsides of having any parrot. To different extents, all parrots are noisy, messy, costly, and can bite. Are these (and many other unmentioned issues) acceptable to you? Would you still want to keep a parrot if it never talked and only did these undesirable things? This is a very important question because that's what the majority of pet parrots do. If you aren't ready for a lot of trouble with little reward, a parrot is not going to be the pet for you.
How much time do you have available to spend both now and many many years from now? Parrots require a lot of time commitment both in terms of interaction time but also care time such as cleaning. Even if you have the time available now, are you sure you'll be able to spend just as much twenty years from now when your life situation is entirely different?
As you see, choosing the exact species of parrot is only a small factor in the bigger question of whether or not any parrot is the right pet for you from the start. Let's talk about additional resources for learning about parrots before narrowing down a species. You'll want to check out general parrot ownership books, books about parrot species, talk with other parrot owners on forums, and visit some rescues or stores to see how parrots are. There's nothing like getting a big bloody bite from a parrot to give a dose of reality over the dreamy talking shoulder bird people imagine parrots to be.
Now what about the question of "should I get a beginner parrot" or "what kinds of parrots are good for beginners?" Truth is there is no such thing as a beginner parrot. All kinds from parakeets to macaws are complex and difficult to care for. However, that said, there are some kinds that definitely are not suitable with people without any experience. Cockatoos, Amazons, Macaws, African Greys, and Eclectus are virtually never advisable for beginners. Not only are these types of parrots extremely difficult to care for but also beginner mistakes in the early stages can lead to substantial problems for the birds down the line (such as incurable biting, plucking, and screaming). Does this mean that all other kinds of parrots are beginner birds? No way. Conures, Poicephalus, Caiques, Parakeets, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, Parrotlets, etc are all great birds that could satisfy any expert owner. Just these parrots are smaller and less prone to extreme problems as some of the previously mentioned kinds.
I am by no means saying that if you want a Cockatoo that you should first get a Cockatiel to learn on and then get the Cockatoo. What I am saying is that if you've never owned a parrot before, you will not have the experience to even be able to evaluate whether or not such a challenging bird is even remotely within your grasp. Just seeing a baby Cockatoo at a store and being able to pet it is absolutely no indication that you will be able to handle that kind of bird when it goes through maturity. All the research on the internet will never come close to handling real bites, noise, mess, etc. If you are really set on getting any of the larger species outright, the best thing you can do to evaluate if one is right for you is visiting a rescue. Don't kid yourself that the birds you see there are the worst ones. Most of them are really like that. If you can't see yourself wanting one from a rescue, almost certainly you won't like what the baby of that species turns out like as an adult.
People getting their first parrot often fixate on the price of the bird. But in reality this is the cheapest part of getting one and should play much less of a role than it does. The cost of keeping the parrot will be far more than the initial purchase price. You can often expect to spend what the parrot cost (or would cost in a store) yearly on supplies/food/vet alone.
But when it comes to choosing between a lovebird and a parrotlet or a budige and a cockatiel, how do you know what to get? This is still a question that only you can answer. But it is far more important to look at the typical undesirable traits of that species rather than desirable ones. Sure it's easy to say that the nice thing about Conures is that they are colorful and playful. But can you handle the noise and biting? Or Senegal Parrots are desired for their relative quietness but can you handle the aggression and one-person bonding? Many species may seem nice on the pros side but the cons may be entirely unbearable and bar you from ever owning it. A Cockatoo may seem playful and friendly but in an apartment the noise level will just be impossible.
More considerations when determining what kinds of species you can even consider include:
Size: do you have adequate room for a huge cage for a bird of this size? Do you have adequate space for a bird of this size to fly for exercise?
Noise: will everyone in your household be able to tolerate endless noise of the volume this bird is capable of? But not just immediate household, what about neighbors?
Bite: take a look at that beak. Will you be able to take a bite without flinching? What if this bird always wants to bite you, will you still take good care of it?
Cost: will you be able to afford to keep the parrot, not just buy it up front? Do you realize that you will probably have to spend about what the bird costs every year on upkeep?
Mess: how much of a mess can you tolerate? How much time do you have for cleaning? Can you deal with favorite possessions getting destroyed?
I realize that I raise more questions than I provide answers. Beginners want a straightforward answer to the age old question what parrot should I get? But it's really not something anyone can answer but yourself. But in order not to disappoint those reading this that insist on me choosing a parrot for them, I will leave you with one solid answer. If in doubt and unable to choose, get a Cockatiel. They embody many of the best features of parrots and fewer of the bad ones. Cockatiels are pretty looking, not too noisy, less messy, less costly to keep, less aggressive, can make do with any size household, and yet they can still be cuddly, loving, and exciting to have. Cockatiels are easy to read because of their expressive crest and tend to get along well in a flock environment. With some taming and training even the wildest of Cockatiels can become hand tame. These birds are also less likely to hold grudges and will with time forgive beginner mistakes.
So in your search for the right parrot for you, remember to do lots of research, talk to parrot owners, see parrots in person, identify the pros and cons of various species, estimate your long term budget, and figure out the best parrot for you and your household. For even more information about choosing a parrot, bringing it home, and a complete approach to parrot keeping, get a copy of my book: The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots.
Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
Trained Parrot site content Copyright 2010-2020 Michael Sazhin. Reproduction of text, images, or videos without prior permission prohibited. All rights reserved.
Truman playing dead by the book repository building
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