| If
you own a parrot, you will be spending a considerable amount of your time
cleaning up after it. Everything about a parrot is messy. Their waste habits
(which we will cover in the next section), eatting habits, chewing habits, play
habits, the molting, the dust, baths, you name it. It's all messy! If you
can't stand a mess or don't have the time or desire for cleaning, then you
are definately not a "parrot person". The photos below are typical of what you
can expect to deal with every day for the next 20 to 80 years. You can
click the pictures to see an enlarged version. |
 |
|
|
|
|
This is about 10 minutes work for a macaw's beak.
You will be sweeping up messes like this all day, every day. |
|
Cages
require cleaning daily. |
|
|
|
|
Not
only must the paper be changed, but the interior and exterior
surfaces of the cage, as well as bowls, must be cleaned of food
residue and waste matter every day. |
|
Smaller
bird doesn't necessarily mean smaller mess.
This is the work of an African Grey Parrot. |
|
|
|
|
| And
then, there's meal time. Before..... |
|
.....and
after!
Count on cleaning this up at least twice a day. |
|
| And to
make cleaning matters even worse, virtually all of today's modern cleaning
and sanitizing products are poisonous to your bird. Vapors from aerosol
products can kill a bird in a matter of minutes. Non-aerosol products
leave residues that can be absorbed through the bird's feet or
tongue, poisoning it more slowly but just as surely. If you are going to own a
parrot, get used to scrub brushes and lots of hot water and apple cider vinager
in a bucket. Oh, one more thing. Did I mention that parrots love to sling their
food? Count on washing down the walls from time to time as well. |
|
So you want to own a parrot?
|
|