Environmental Considerations
When you get your pet bird home for the first time, it can seem overwhelming. After all, you have hopefully brought a healthy and happy bird into your house so the next consideration is naturally making sure it stays that way.
Firstly, you will no doubt be concerned about the temperature of your home. It would seem reasonable to assume that as most pet birds are from the tropics (certainly countries far warmer and more humid than the UK) that the climate in your house should reflect this? Thankfully, this is not so. Otherwise all us bird owners would be spending thousands of pounds on heating bills and spending our evenings in the equivalent of a greenhouse.
Birds can actually live comfortably providing the temperature of the room is somewhere between the mid fifties and mid eighties Fahrenheit.
What you do need to watch for is draughts. If you are placing your bird near a window, then check it thoroughly for any air coming in – you can do this simply by running a lit candle along the side of the window and watching for a flicker. Any draught can no doubt be simply fixed with some decorator’s caulk or similar. It’s also worthwhile checking anywhere else that looks likely to attract draughts, and similarly you can cover the back and sides of the birdcage both at night or on particularly chilly winter days – this can help your pet avoid chills caused by draughts coming from doors etc.
Something else which you need to consider is the water you will be giving your bird to drink. Although very few folk nowadays use a well, if you are one of them you should have it tested first. There are different schools of thought on whether tap water is safe, but for our money it’s probably not worth the risk given the chemicals that are present in today’s water systems. The two main options are either to give your bird bottled water (although this is not necessarily altogether bacteria free) or to filter your tap water.
Obviously, you must also be aware of environmental stressors. If you own a cat or dog, you must always make sure that they are watched very carefully around your bird. Some might argue that having a cat and a bird in the same household is just asking for disaster, however if you do you must not allow your cat to put it’s paws anywhere near the birdcage. You must also be very, very wary of letting your bird out of it’s cage if the cat is in the vicinity. Bare in mind that birds can easily die of stress, and naturally having a natural predator of birds in the same property can cause extreme stress to your new pet. Similarly, cat scratches or bites are a serious problem from the point of view that either could be fatal to your bird due to the amount of bacteria carried by cats both in their mouths and on their claws – even a minor scratch could prove fatal to your bird.
Finally, watch out for mice and rats, both of which can carry diseases and bacteria potentially fatal to your bird. Watch out also, even if your bird is safely in his cage if you leave the front door open – there is always a danger of a stray cat wandering in having been attracted by your birds tweeting.
