3 Important Safety Precautions before Adopting Birds for Pets

Having birds for pets comes with quite a large sense of responsibility. Indeed, caring for any animal is a huge responsibility and should never be taken lightly. If you are considering adopting a bird as your pet of choice, or adding a bird to an already growing family of pets, you should think carefully about ramifications and safety before committing. There are quite a few safety issues when considering bringing any new pet into your home.

1 - Disease

Pets carry diseases and can also be dangerous. Having small children can also pose a risk if you have pets which are not particularly child friendly. Birds can pass on various illnesses to humans of any age. One of the most common is psittacosis, otherwise known as parrot’s disease or parrot flu.

It is caused by inhaling the dust from dried bird droppings. The symptoms of psittacosis are very similar to those of human influenza. They consist of a fever, cough, possible shaking, headaches and appetite loss. If left untreated the symptoms can be rather severe and if a person has these symptoms they are not usually likely to consider the possibility that they caught it from a pet bird. They are more likely to pass it off for flu and just soldier through it. If you show symptoms of influenza and you own a pet bird which is a member of the parrot family (this includes budgies) you would be well advised to seek advice from your doctor.

2 – Keep your Bird's Area Clean

Keeping the bird cage clean is vital. From the point of view that the droppings can spread disease it is important to make sure they do not end up on your floor. It is also important from cleanliness point of view. No matter how clean you try to be, the bird will inevitably kick some debris from its cage. Even larger cages are prone.

The best thing you can do from a safety perspective it to purchase a very deep cage bloomer. These skirts’ resemble old fashioned baggy bloomers and they have elastic tops. They slip under the bottom of the cage and catch much of the debris that can cause dirt and health hazards. The deeper the bloomer you are able to buy (or make) the more debris it will catch. Most bloomers only fit about 1/4 of the way up cage, but some opinions suggest that it should stretch up at least 1/3 of way.

3 - Personality

Choosing a cute little puppy or darling little kitten is usually quite simple. People bond instantly with their pets, but birds are not well suited to being domesticated. Indeed they are highly intelligent which makes them less easy to manage in some respects, but many birds are trainable. Personality can play a huge part in whether your bird will fit into your home and family life.

Some birds are mild-mannered and far less temperamental than other birds. Some birds will be a complete nightmare and make you wish you could open the window and forget to lock the cage. It is not possible to choose the personality of a bird but an adult bird will be easier to spot any flaws in its character. If it has been mistreated by a previous owner and you're considering adopting the bird, spend some time with it first to see how it responds to you and how well it behaves around you. If it is vicious, give it a wide berth.