34
Whatever your general opinions on free-roaming cats may be, allowing your cat to hunt in a bird sanctuary definitely sounds like a highly irresponsible thing to do.
If you'd rather not lock your cat entirely indoors, one option to consider would be to build a secure outdoor enclosure for your cat. Unlike Allison C, I wouldn't rely on just a fence, no ...
18
The other answer is good but there are some important things to note about when, how and why should be done if you decide to clip your birds wings.
Why
Clipping of the wings is usually done to either as a safety precaution to prevent the bird from hurting themselves while indoors, or it may be done as an attempt to pacify a difficult or aggressive bird and ...
18
The best situation for any domestic cat is to live indoors; it would have been an easier transition when he was younger, but it can still be done, if you're willing to endure a period of "misery" for both yourselves and for him as you retrain him. A new location may very well aid in this reconditioning.
If you're neither willing nor able to retrain him as ...
16
Short answer: NO
Long answer:
Delivering anything to a remote place is an extremely difficult task for any animal.
Mammals
I could find evidence of messenger dogs and the occasional horse used in several wars to autonomously deliver messages and provisions to and from the front lines. What they actually did was return to a trainer they were very closely ...
14
Most locations have leash laws that apply to all domestic animals, in most areas they are only enforced on dogs. In an area with a bird sanctuary, it may very well be applied to cats as well.
The risks of moving you cat near a bird sanctuary, may not be just to the local birds.
Check the local laws and their enforcement, fines and loss of your cat are ...
12
It depends on the species of parrot you plan to buy. E.g. African grey parrots are the most intelligent ones and quick learners. They have the most clear voice. Similarly the macaws, alexandrine can also mimic human voices well. Indian ringnecks, budgies etc will not mimic human voices but can only produce different kinds of whistles.
It would be best to ...
12
To be honest I don't think any type of paint applied to a bird cage after the fact is a good idea.
The paint that is applied to a bird cage is the negatively charged powder type that is typical in industrial processes where you want to ensure a strong long term bond to a smooth metal surface. The metal cage pieces are positively charged while the paint is ...
12
According to CNN, pardoned turkeys go to a farm to live the rest of their time. "George Washington's Mount Vernon estate [has] a sizable wooden pen built specifically to house the [...] turkeys".
ABC News reports President George W. Bush's turkeys went to Kidwell Farm. The turkeys are put on display for the public, but generally die within months.
...
12
Get a collar with a bell.
I'm going to say that the best and easiest way to solve this problem is to get a collar and put a small bell on it. The bell will provide enough warning that the vast majority of birds will have enough warning to escape.
Yes, you say that you have difficulty keeping a collar on your cat. I admit I don't quite understand this -- ...
11
Frankly she sounds like she has you trained pretty well.
Here are some tips that I used to teach this to a number of different birds. Your conure is still very young so this shouldn't be terribly difficult.
Don't attempt training when they are near their cage
A bird sees its cage as its territory and it gives the bird comfort as well as makes the bird ...
10
The parrot family appears to be quite trainable, likely a function of being highly intelligent. However, any bird species that you're likely to allow to fly freely can be trained with appropriate patience. Several articles out there also describe the basics of it:
How to potty train birds
Potty training your bird
Essentially, the idea is to watch for signs ...
10
I can't speak specifically for the cat and the bird, but based on my limited knowledge, they should be ok as long as they have sufficient food and water, and access to their respective toilet facilities.
The dog however, needs to be managed separately.
Food - you should not leave food out all the time for a dog. They need designated feeding times, ...
10
(Here is what the animal rescue service explained, asked them when they picked him up).
The bird is scared and nervous now. If you give him food or water, he may eat or drink too excitedly, and he can choke on that.
You can give him a little water, but be sure that it is just a little, not enough for him to choke on.
9
Most birds like being pet; however, first they must trust you. If you just got a bird and want to start bonding with, it my suggestion is to start petting it on the beak.
I have a Red Macaw and it loves the attention; however, I started by petting it on the beak and now after a couple of months, it asks for its petting time. Birds mostly enjoy if you pet ...
9
I am hoping that someone with more experience with cats and birds will provide a better answer to this question, with "how to" direction. But here is part of the answer.
Cats are naturally drawn to the types of movements that birds (and prey animals in general) make, there is nothing you can do to to stop them from having an interest in birds. Regardless of ...
9
Put the bird's cage outside, as close as possible to the tree where the bird is, and put some food and water in it, preferably the kind of food that the bird enjoys the most. Leave the cage door open, and wait. The bird will probably be hungry after some time outside, especially if it doesn't know how to forage for itself, and it may also be scared from ...
9
Probably not
Good pet might not be the word for it. While very smart, crows need a lot of space, probably more then you can provide. And smart means they need mental stimulation. Think flying border collie.
As for fit as a pet, there are quite a number of stories around of people who made it work. Most of them have the crow outdoors with a good relation to ...
9
I would encourage you to keep trying things, even if they don't seem to work or have not worked in the past.
As others have suggested, try various things to make indoors more appealing, so he has less of an urge to venture outdoors.
Play with him. A lot. No, even more than that. Give him an outlet for all that energy.
If he's really food motivated, it ...
8
On traditionally-colored cockatiels, once they've been through 1 or 2 molts at most (maybe too early for yours), striped tail feathers are clear marks of a female bird.
With color mutations, there is a lot more uncertainty, but this page has a lot of hints and pictures.
8
The wikipedia article on wing clipping is quite extensive.
Not to be confused with pinioning - the removal of a joint on the birds wing.
Advocates note that a properly done clip only trims the feathers and not the wings themselves, and is painless and temporary, lasting only until the next molt.
The article also notes that you should clip feathers on ...
7
Well, since there are answers for dogs and birds, I'll tackle cats. This answer is based on personal experience, as advised by vets in the past.
Healthy adult cats can generally be left alone for a day or even two. Some specific issues:
Water: Make sure they have plenty of water available. Putting out an extra bowl is a good idea, just in case one gets ...
7
Breeding animals is all about genetics. So, let me give you a quick, as simple as I can make it, lesson in genetics. (Disclaimer: It will be so grossly simplified that anyone who's studied genetics will probably yell at me).
You've probably heard of genes before; they're blueprints that contain the DNA passed down to children from their parents. There are ...
7
The leg band is used to identify the bird and contains some pretty useful information (usually, though not always) about the bird including birth year, location, etc. At any rate, removing the band requires a special tool and you risk injury to your bird, such as a broken leg, if you try to remove it yourself. Remember, bird bones are hollow so they're ...
7
It is easy to catch it in the dark, as many birds are completely blind at night; it doesn't need to be totally dark. Humans have better night vision than many types of birds, so at night one can simply grab the bird.
My sister has had several types of birds, and when they escaped from their cages it was often enough just to turn off the lights, take them ...
7
(After calling an avian vet to double check)
Yes, the bird should be removed from the premises for at least 24 hours if possible. Upon returning, all surfaces that the bird regularly comes in contact with should be wiped down.
If it is not possible to remove the bird from the apartment, keep it as far away from the treatment area as possible in a well-...
7
Budgerigars are common enough as pets that even a vet that isn't specialized in birds should have rudimentary knowledge. You should call any vet or pet clinic you find around you, describe the symptoms and ask if they would treat your pet. There's a chance they have an idea what's going on and you don't need to go to a specialist. And the initial phone call ...
6
As far as I'm aware there's no easy treatment of egg binding. What I've heard suggested is simply giving the bird a light massage to coax the egg out. Taking it to a warmer room or giving it a warm bath is supposed to help too. It's all about relaxing the muscles to help the egg pass.
If you can't coax it out on your own, then the only "treatment" is to ...
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