Parrots As Pets
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by: Guest
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When hearing the word “pet”, most people instantly think of a dog or a cat, since they’re the most popular choices for house animals. Parrots are more exotic and less demanding than a cat or a dog and they will probably be less involved in their owner’s life. Nevertheless, parrots make excellent pets for a number of reasons: they give your home an exotic touch, just like having an exotic fish tank for example; they are fun to watch and play with; they don’t require the same amount of attention and training as other pets; they’re not as expensive to maintain and their ability to reproduce sounds can be extremely entertaining, given the right training.
There are approximately 360 species of parrots but not all of them are commonly adapted to being pets. Some of the most popular subspecies in this sense are macaws, amazons, conures, lovebirds, cockatiels, cockatoos, budgerigars and parakeets. These species are the most appealing to be kept as pets because of their varied coloration, high trainability and the relative ease with which they can be taken care of in a closed environment.
One of the biggest problems of having a pet is that you can get extremely attached to them, sometimes even considering them close to a family member, their short life span (around 12-15 years with cats and dogs) being an extremely painful subject.
That’s not the problem with parrots thought, since most parrots have very long life spans, similar to those of humans. Statistics show that larger parrots such as macaws, cockatoos, or Amazon parrots can live up to an age of 75-80.
One of the oldest pet parrots in the world, Charlie the Curser is a blue and gold female macaw born in 1899. Charlie was the pet of Winston Churchill during his mandate as Prime Minister through the Second World War, the parrot gaining her nickname because she reportedly learnt how to curse Nazis, cheering up Churchill and his guests.
Although there are still doubts to whether or not this story is true (since Charlie’s old age hinders her from making any sounds whatsoever), the parrot’s old age remains undisputed. At present, Charlie the Curser is being taken care of at the Heathfield Nurseries in Surrey, United Kingdom.
When it comes to their nutrition, parrots are far from demanding and expensive. The “main course” in any parrot’s diet is usually comprised of grains and seeds, but recently, more and more commercial parrot food companies tend to have products that include vegetables, fruits, cereals as well as nutritional supplements. These fortify your parrot’s health, making them more playful and lively.
Take note however that parrots, as other pets, don’t take lightly to constant diet changes. Once they get used to a specific type of food, they’ll have a harder time adapting to a new diet so if you want to change it, try taking it slowly, one step at a time, constantly mixing the two diets until he gets used to the new one.
(c) Chris Bloor
Related: Parrots As Pets
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Essentially, the alkaline diet is opposite the high protein, high fat, low carb diets that are currently in vogue. Most people have never heard of.
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