Keeping Your Pet Birds in Indoor Cages
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If you keep a single bird in a cage inside your house, you will probably buy the cage from a pet store. You should have ‘no difficulty finding a cage of the right size for your bird, but always buy as large a cage as possible. Make sure that the mesh is the appropriate size. For example, the mesh in a cage for finches should be no wider than 1 cm(0.4in) across, otherwise the bird may escape.
If you intend to keep a parrot, be sure to put a secure catch on the door, preferably a padlock. Parrots are one of the more intelligent species of birds and after playing with a catch for many hours, they will learn how to undo it.
For many types of bird, it is best to keep the cage in a spot where there is very little, if any, disturbance, such as a spare bedroom or a dining room that is only used occasionally. Birds thrive in stable conditions and a noisy party can upset your livestock. It is especially important to provide a quite place for small seedeaters that are breeding. The living room is fine for budgerigars and other parrotsthat relish human company, but avoid keeping birds in the kitchen, where cooking and fuel fumes can be a health hazard.
Heat and light are also key factors to consider when keeping a bird indoors. Here again, it is advisable to avoid the kitchen, because the changing temperatures will imbalance the bird’s biological time clock and it may moult at the wrong times.
Keeping your bird in a dark room will also discourage it from breeding, as the lack of light will make the bird think it is winter. If you have no alternative but to keep the cage in a room with little natural light is available, make sure that the bird receives 12-14 hours of artificial light every day.
Place the bird in a corner or at the side of a room where it can see what is happening and also has the security of at least one wall behind it. Never place the cage on a stand in the middle of the room, as the bird will feel vulnerable from all sides and become stressed. The correct height for the cage is just below your eye level. The bird will feel more secure if it is at the same level as you are and you will find that its reactions improve when you are teaching it to speak. If the cage is on the floor, people approaching it can prove to be an extremely daunting experience for the bird inside.
Remember that your bird will make a mess in, and possibly around, its cage. You can help to prevent this by screening the back and/or sides of the cage. Mynah birds are probably the messiest birds to keep in the home, as they not only throw their food around, but also have the unpleasant habit of spraying their waste matter in all directions. In cages designed for mynahs the back, sides and half of the roof are covered in an easily cleanable painted metal.
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Tags: Biological Time Clock, Bird In A Cage, Birds In The Kitchen, Dining Room, Finches, Health Hazard, Heat And Light, indoor bird cages, Indoor Cages, Intelligent Species, Livestock, Living Room, Mesh, Padlock, Parrots, pet birds, Pet Store, Relish, Spare Bedroom, Species Of Birds, Stable Conditions