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 get often asked about leaving parrots home while going on vacation. Well this article is about how going away on vacation ends up being a vacation for the parrots as well! There are many reasons we can't bring our feathered friends with us whether its safety, accommodations, going abroad, or just needing to get away from the squawking and cleaning for a little bit. So this article is about making your absence tolerable for your parrots.
The first and definitely most important thing for preparing your parrots for your absence is getting them used to being without you beforehand. When we hear of stories of an owner leaving a parrot home a week to come back and find it plucked naked, often this is a result of the parrot being completely spoiled with attention and then suddenly deserted. But just like taming, independence also takes some getting used to for our feathered pals. Even if you don't see yourself going on vacation any time soon, it is still important to maintain a controlled relationship. What if someone in your family becomes ill and needs care? What if you get sent some place for work? There are many unexpected scenarios besides just taking a vacation that may require our parrots to cope without our presence. The only way to prepare them for this is by letting them experience this beforehand.
Your parrot needs to be just as capable of spending time alone as with you. Surely many of us are more concerned with taming and getting them to behave with us, but we must not take this too far and make them entirely dependent on us either. This is why (both for training and vacation purposes) I recommend limited out of cage and interaction time daily. There are minimums and they are much discussed, but I also believe there should be maximums. It's impossible to put exact numbers on it but the point is that your parrot needs to spend enough time in its cage on its own every day that it won't entirely freak out when suddenly you aren't around a day.
It is important to provide good cage enrichment and activities. Of course this is much discussed elsewhere and is a good practice all the time. While maintaining routine is convenient and reassuring, it's important to be spontaneous from time to time. Yes, I try to be home to see my parrots on time, feed them at the normal time, etc. But once in a while if I need to be out late or decide to put them to sleep late than usual, it just prepares them for dealing with out of the ordinary scenarios. If I actually end up going a very long time without a natural break in the routine, I may opt to not take them out a certain day despite being home just to simulate this. But normally there are real reasons for this to happen so I generally save it for these occasions.
Don't be scared to leave the parrots home for an entire day or weekend (preferably with someone to keep an eye on them). If you've never done it before, be sure to see how they do a weekend without your presence prior to leaving them for an entire week or more. Try progressively longer durations. If you are leaving the birds alone for 12-48 hours without anyone to check up on them, consider leaving multiple sources of food and water in case any are spoiled or contaminated. A water bottle is preferable. Never leave parrots completely unattended for more than 2 days at a time though because if anything does happen to their food/water supply, they won't be able to make it much longer than this without intervention.
A question that frequently comes up is if it is better to leave parrots at home and have someone come to take care or to bring them along with their cages to someone else's home. Unless it cannot be arranged, I think it is much better and safer for the parrots to stay home. Not only are they familiar at home but they will also feel safer. To take both their favorite person away and the familiarity of their surroundings is more stressful. People worry that they'll get bored without people around, but I think if you make the above mentioned preparations they will be equipped to deal with it. Another thing is that the parrots are significantly safer remaining in your own home. As a parrot owner, you've probably spent years making your home bird safe. It is easy to begin to take this for granted and forget dangers they could face in someone else's home such as teflon fumes, other pets, children, ceiling fans, windows, etc. For all these reasons, it is best to have a sitter come briefly to your home to care for the parrots each day rather than take the birds to their own home.
When having someone birdsit for you, one of the most important considerations is whether or not they will handle the parrots. In most cases, unless the person is both familiar with parrots and specifically familiar with handling yours, it is safer not to have them let the parrots out. As much as it sucks to stay in the cage for two weeks straight, it is safer than being let loose in your home by someone who can't put them back away. Still, discuss a contingency plan with the birdsitter about what to do if they get out and cannot be returned to their cage. The sitter should leave the cage doors open and cage loaded with food so that the parrot can eventually go back inside to feed.
When I am away, I like to leave my parrots more toys than usual to keep them busy. I put in several new toys to provide with more activity and material for the parrots to play with. However, I also like to leave a few old favorite toys for familiarity as well. I make sure not to rearrange the perches just before leaving instead favoring a tried and true cage layout. This is not the time to experiment with new kinds of toys though, so any new toys that are provided should be similar to safe/successful toys in the past.
I usually end up writing a basic manual covering all things that need to be taken care of and possible contingencies for my bird sitter. So not only do I tell about the basic things that need to be done but also what to do in case there are problems and I cannot be reached. This includes biting, escape, illness, vet care, etc. At the same time, I try to reduce unnecessary activities by as much as possible not to burden the sitter too much.
The birds are fed exclusively pellets while I'm gone. Why? This is safest, simplest, and most nutritious. This is the least burden but also least responsibility for the care taker. The parrots are guaranteed to get all the nutrition they require, the food won't spoil, and it's very easy to guarantee that they don't run out of food in any way. Although I normally follow strict food management, I have my birds overfed while I'm gone. A normal pellet meal won't even line the entire bottom of their food bowls but when I'm gone I have the bowls nearly topped off. I make sure the birds are left with enough food to last several days despite the sitter coming daily. This is to ensure that if for any reason the sitter skips a day, the birds have enough food and water to get by. While we are concerned about long term diet and variety in their meals, a 100% unlimited pellet diet for a few weeks won't do any harm for a parrot that is accustomed to eating pellets.
Aritos, Latin American Onion Ring Parrot Chips (Ara + Fritos = Aritos?)
Finally, the reason I called this parrot vacation is because if done right, this can be as much of a relaxing vacation for your parrots as it is for you. Recently I spent a week traveling in Central America while my brother came once a day to take care of Kili and Truman. He is fully qualified to handle them so he would let them out for as much as an hour every day to fly around. They couldn't be more thrilled! I came back to find they had assumed full control of the situation! My computer mouse was destroyed, poop all over the carpets, and the birds helping themselves to places I would never allow them to go. Not only this, but they stuffed their crops to the brink for every day nonstop. No discipline, no food management, no responsibility. It truly was a vacation for them as well. But this is ok. Let them have it easy while you're gone and then work the taming, training, and order back in once you return.
So with all the preparations that were made over time, it was no trouble at all to leave the parrots home for a week. I got to take a vacation and do some traveling. Meanwhile Kili & Truman also got to take a vacation from training and just enjoy being wild for a little bit.
While I still believe that trick training is both the best mental exercise and relationship building for parrot and owner, good foraging toys are a must for when the owner is away. Just an hour or two of trick training and interaction per day simply isn't enough to meet a parrot's intellectual needs. I would argue that a good training session (especially involving flight and complex behaviors) can make up for hours of down time, but still not a complete substitute. This is why stimulating toys are a must.
Parrot toys come in three categories: chewing, playing, and foraging. Ideally a parrot should have at least one of each category in its cage at all times. Chewing toys are usually comprised of a lot of wooden parts that are appropriate for the parrot's size and beak strength. These are the toys that you come home to see bare not long after hanging them. These are important to keep your parrot busy and beak trimmed. Better that they be chewing on that then your furniture when they are out. The play toys are often made of tougher materials and involve the parrot interacting with them in non-destructive ways such as pushing, pulling, swinging, ringing, etc.
Finally, foraging toys are the third category of parrot toys. In a way these are the ultimate toy because they involve both play and destruction. Foraging toys can best be described as toys with goodies inside. In the simplest sense they are toys with food treats inside but I'd like to talk about going beyond just treats. Since I do a lot of formal parrot training, I don't approve of food oriented toys because then the parrot won't be hungry when I get home and want to do training. So instead, I try to focus on non food based foraging toys.
Truman can spend hours trying to get a hold of the toys inside this coconut foraging toy
For a parrot that doesn't know how to play with toys but is treat oriented, hiding food in toys is a great way to get them started. However, for a naturally inquisitive/playful bird like Truman, just having more toys inside is enough. When toy shopping for my parrots, I especially look out for sophisticated toys like this.
Another thing I like to do is to hang toys near swinging perches rather than solid ones. If the parrot is perched on a solid perch, it is all too easy to shred a toy to smithereens in no time. However, if the parrot is standing on an already swinging perch and the toy moves, it really provides a challenge. Not only is it mentally challenging to move the swing and toy to reach, it is also great exercise. The parrot has to use all of its muscles to balance, hold, and play. In the video below you can see how Truman is holding onto his swinging atom with one foot and the coconut foraging toy with the other. It's both an exercise and a challenge to keep him busy while I am away.
This article tells you how you can teach your parrot the turn around trick on cue. The turn around trick, also called spin by others, is where the trainer shows a cue and the parrot does a 360 degree turn around on its perch. This is a very easy trick to teach and can be considered a beginner trick. Any parrot from a budgie to a macaw can learn this trick. The only requisites are that the parrot be tame and already target trained. If this is not the case or if you simply need a refresher, check the target training and taming article before continuing with turn around.
The turn around trick is taught by targeting the parrot in a circle. So the first thing to do is to refresh your parrot's memory by doing some targeting. Make sure your parrot is willing to turn its head toward the target stick and to follow the stick. Hold the target stick behind the parrot so that it makes a 180 degree turn to touch the target. If it is not doing this, you can try holding it at 90 degrees and then move back to 180 when the parrot begins to turn toward the stick. Of course promptly click and reward the parrot whenever it touches the target stick.
Next work on getting the parrot to turn 270 and then 360 degrees to touch the target stick. Get it started by holding the target stick just ahead of where it is reaching and continuing to turn the stick around the parrot so that it can follow. Keep the pace such that the parrot can keep up with the motion of the stick but does not have the chance to touch it before completing the 360 degree turn. Continue practicing the turn around target method until the parrot reliably turns around to follow the stick. However tempting it may be, don't lure the parrot around with a treat instead. The targeting method is more effective because it learns the behavior rather than just going where food is. At this point you can start saying "turn around" or whatever the cue will be. Also you can stop letting it touch the stick upon completion and just click/reward when it completes the turn. It is important that the click is when 360 degrees have been turned rather than too soon or the bird may not learn to turn all the way.
It is convenient to have the parrot on a perch and below you so that you can target it around in a circle from above. This later helps transition the cue as well. I do not recommend teaching this trick on a flat surface because it is harder to get a precise 360 degree turn. On a perch, turns have to be a half or full circle in order for the parrot to perch. For these reasons an adjustable height Parrot Training Perch is the ideal tool for training this trick.
The next stage is to switch the parrot from following the target stick around to following your finger around. Hold your index finger along the target stick to accomplish this. Start by holding it high on the stick but progressively hold it lower and lower so that less of the target stick is visible and your finger is more obvious. Eventually don't hold the stick at all and see if the parrot will follow your finger around instead. Once you can get your parrot to turn around by following your finger rather than using the target stick you are ready for the final step.
Now all that is left is to recede the finger turn and it will become the cue. Start by targeting the parrot around less and less with your finger so that it still completes the 360 turn. Move your finger 3/4 way around, then 1/2, 1/4, etc. From the inertia of previous training, the parrot should continue completing the 360 turn with less and less targeting with your finger. Eventually you should get to a point where just showing your finger in a vertical orientation. At this point it's just a matter of switching this motion into the cue which can be a twist or flick of the finger. Just keep practicing and gradually switching the finger target to the finger cue that will become the permanent cue.
As soon as the parrot has caught on to the trick, I recommend mixing it back with previously known tricks so that it does not forget those in favor of the newer one. Once the parrot has completely learned this trick on a perch, you can practice it on a flat surface as well. Here is a video of how I taught Truman the turn around trick in just two training sessions:
Here is another video about teaching a Blue and Gold Macaw to turn around. You'll see that the technique is exactly the same and very suitable for any sized parrot:
Sometimes I buy baby (human) toys and supplies for my parrots to play with. Often these can be cheaper than the ones made for parrots as they are mass produced. If you look for baby toys on clearance or at bargain stores, you may be surprised how much stuff you can get for your parrots to play with for the same money you spend on parrot specific toys. Human grade baby toys go through higher standards and will generally be safe for parrots. However, it is the owner's responsibility to make sure that the toy is safe. Our parrots can find ways to destroy these toys in ways never conceived by the original designers.
For about $5, I got a whole bag full of baby toys for Kili and Truman at a dollar store. Truman really took to the plastic fork and proceeded to chew it up. Kili took up a greater fascination with the rubber duckies which came in a pack of three for a dollar. I wouldn't leave these toys in the birds' cages but they make for some great foot toys to keep them busy when they are out. This way they can have something different to play with than the usual wood and plastic bird toys and it doesn't cost me too much.
I try to keep my parrots outside in the aviary nearly every day from April till November. I found an acceptable temperature range to be from about 45F as the low till about 100F as the high. Anywhere from 60F-80F requires little concern. But the lower and higher temperatures require some special considerations. Here I will talk about some of the summer time things I apply to outdoor parrots.
First of all, my parrots sleep indoors at night. So they are not fully acclimatized aviary parrots. If they spent 24/7 outdoors, they would have been able to grow accustomed to the heat more gradually. The two key things to worry about in the summer are extreme heat (mainly over 90F) and shock changes in temperature (bringing parrots inside from 90F-70F). Since I don't want to make drastic changes in temperature for my parrots, I try to keep them outside all day rather than take them back inside when it gets too hot. This way it may be in the 70-80s when I take them outside and about the same when I bring them inside. This way when they switch from the hot outdoor temperatures to the cool indoor air conditioned temperatures, the change in temperature is less sudden. If I do take my parrots outside for a short time, I generally do it in the late afternoon when the temperature difference between inside and outside is less severe.
A few signs I look for overheating in my parrots are open beaks, drooped wings, and panting. It seems that this is the approximate order of severity of overheating as well. When the parrot sits with just open beak, it tells me that it is hot but nothing severe is going on. However, if the wings are drooped, overheating is imminent. And during panting overheating is already occurring. I don't let my parrots get to the panting stage when caged outdoors. However, I have seen them start panting after flying them outside in the summer which tells me to slow down a bit and give them time to cool off.
I take several precautions to keep Kili and Truman from overheating in their aviary. First of all the aviary came with a roof built into it. This keeps the sun off the birds and is a huge help. Second of all, I leave a bowl of cold water in the aviary whenever the birds are in there. If they get too hot, they always have the chance to go and drink or take a bath. Finally, on the hottest days I spray them down with a hose every few hours. This really helps them stay cool. I just continue monitoring them to make sure they are not getting too hot and when they are I just spray them down again.
The heat makes the birds more mellow so it is easier to trust them to spend all day in there together without fighting. Kili seems too hot to even bother trying to instigate Truman. And likewise Truman is too hot to go and get himself in Kili's way. I have not had a single bird fight on the very hot days but on subsequent cooler days I saw more signs that could lead to fighting (like one bird venturing into the other one's space but not yet starting to fight). So in a way I like these hot summer days for keeping the birds outside because it helps maintain the peace. They just sit there and enjoy some fresh air and sprinkle of water from time to time.
Please take extreme care not to overheat your bird outside in the summer and use suitable safety precautions. The temperature ranges I presented are what work for my parrots and may not work in other circumstances or species. Learn your parrots own tolerances by starting them outside on less hot days and continue observing them progressively as days get hotter and hotter. Here's a video of Kili and Truman in the aviary on a hot summer day:
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.
Aritos, Latin American Onion Ring Parrot Chips (Ara + Fritos = Aritos?)
Truman can spend hours trying to get a hold of the toys inside this coconut foraging toy
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