The Right Environment For Your Parrot

Parrots, like most birds, need stimulation. In their natural habitat birds spend much of their time stripping bark off trees, scavenging for food and communicating with other birds. Unfortunately when a bird is placed in a cage, a limit is placed on the parrot's ability to really express him or herself. While many people purchase a parrot hoping to teach it to speak - or even sing - very little attention is paid to the rest of the bird's natural behavior and abilities.

In order to give your parrot a greater quality of life and to restrict the limits of its learning and enjoyment, it's important to do whatever possible to provide your bird with a stimulated environment.

Unsurprisingly, the activity your bird craves most is to be able to fly. Unfortunately this is difficult for those keeping a pet at home, and even in an aviary, as most parrot owners do not have sufficient space to allow their bird to get the exercise it needs.

It's important to then allow your bird to fly around the house as much as possible. Be sure to lock all windows and doors when doing so, as a quick glimpse of the outside world could set your parrot into adventurous mode. Unfortunately, parrots - particularly those who have lived a domesticated life - just aren't ready for the great outdoors, and it usually isn't long before you're putting in a call to your vet and parrot insurance company.

Of course, flying isn't the only kind of exercise your bird needs. Mental exercise is also important and one of the easiest ways to do this is to try and teach your bird how to speak. The parrot is one of the few animals which can mimic human speech, and teaching your parrot to speak is not so much a game of teaching it what to say, but also what not to say.
Parrots like to mimic what they hear being said, so avoid swearing and insults when around the bird, unless you want to hear these repeated at your later on. Start off with simple words, and eventually move onto phrases.

Parrots are great pets to keep but do require constant stimulation and company. If you are thinking about getting a parrot as a pet, be sure to decide whether this is something you can not only afford financially, but also afford to give the time to, ensuring your pet parrot is in an environment where he (or she) is happily stimulated.