Animals Unfolded

Having lots of hands-on experience with exotic birds, I can tell you they're not only a lot of fun to spend time with, but require a lot of your time and diligence, just like any other pet. Whether you're talking about parrots, cockatoos, macaws – even parakeets – being able to keep track of how they're feeling and cleaning up after them easily is a must. (Yes, they're all messier than you'd think!) As a caregiver, this is especially important. Having that well in hand enables me to spend more time with them doing equally important things, like creating foraging toys for them, preparing fresh meals and interacting. Enclosures vary from bird to bird, and that has a lot to do with affordability, and the size of the animal. One thing that they all have in common is that there is some sort of tray on the bottom to catch droppings and of course the food that invariably makes its way down, which is covered with some sort of substrate.  There are many cho...

Exotic birds are interesting, intelligent creatures and are no different than other species of captive pets in that they gain pleasure from eating. It's not hard to get them to eat by and large, though some birds not exposed to a varied diet from a tender age can be quite fussy. Much like their exotic mammalian counterparts, they have preferences when it comes to food, and care needs the taken with their diet to ensure that it's balanced. Too much of one thing and not enough of another (including exercise) can lead to dietary deficiencies and obesity, which in turn can lead to illnesses like heart disease . Fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts and some seeds are beneficial to maintain not only physical health, but when they are offered in ways that enable birds to forage, they gain the benefits derived from that activity. ( Click here for more on creating edible foraging toys for birds.) Omelets are a great way to include a bird's favorite grains, legumes, seeds, fruit...