Parrot Care – Emotional Development

We’ve already discussed many of the superficial aspects of parrot care including diets, grooming, and cage safety.  Now we’re going to touch on one of the little known factors of parrot care, parrot emotional development.  Believe it or not this can decide whether one has a contented and happy bird or a squawking nightmare.

Parrot Care – Why is Emotional Development Important

To understand why emotional development is important let’s look at the basics of these birds.  Parrots are a species that normally live in flocks.  This creates a social environment in which the birds live and thrive.  When you take a bird out of this environment you must replace this social aspect of their lives, or quite honestly the bird becomes a bit unbalanced.  It is extremely important for proper parrot care that the parent of a parrot spend a fair amount of time with the bird to provide social interaction.  In addition, the birds should be included in the normal family environment by locating their cages where the family gathers and not shut away by themselves.

Parrot owners when providing parrot care should always remember that they are dealing with a creature that has a native intelligence similar to that of a 2-3 year old child.  Therefore, you must provide the attention and caring just like a child would need.  This can also include providing toys that stimulate the bird and will occupy their time and attention.

Parrot Care – What can cause behavior problems.

There are essentially two things that can upset a bird to the point where they will start misbehaving.  We’ve already discussed the first one, socialization and keeping them mentally engaged in something.  If they become bored, they will start making a fuss and the noise level will climb.

The second factor that will upset the parrot is fear.  This can be triggered by any number of things.  It can be something as simple as just moving the cage to a new location.  However, there are some things you should make note of to keep your parrot comfortable.

Generally speaking parrots do not like children.  So every effort should be made to keep children away from the cage.

It is best if strangers be introduced to the parrot by the parent.  This helps keep the parrot relaxed and accepting of the new person.  Don’t leave a new person around the parrots cage unattended until the bird is comfortable with the new person being there.

Never try to pet a parrot without getting the parrots permission.  Just because you want to pet the bird doesn’t mean the parrot wants to be touched.

Don’t make sudden moves or talk too loudly as this my startle and frighten the bird.

Mainly, you just need to behave as you would around a child and the bird will be all right most of the time.

So that winds up the parrot care instructions for developing and maintaining an emotionally stable parrot.  Caring for a parrot is a relatively simple and enjoyable thing if you just keep in mind a few basics.

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