Category: Parrot Care
May 15, 2023
Posted by Mandee Steinmann
Active parrots are happy, healthy parrots! Your feathered family member needs plenty of exercise to stay healthy. In the wild, parrots exercise all the time in their daily efforts to find food and socialize. Birds in your home don't have those opportunities—but their need to move around doesn't change. Intentionally exercising with your parrot is important.
Sedentary, inactive parrots can actually develop a lot of health problems. Believe it or not, but your bird can become obese. This is particularly a concern for certain species: including the Amazon parrot Just like in humans, this condition can cause many problems, including heart disease, fatty liver disease, kidney disease, and arthritis.
Exercising with your parrot is a great way to provide both social time and proper exercise. Here are just a few ideas for ways you can be active with your bird: • Dance Around — Put on some great music, let your bird perch on your arm, and dance around. Many parrots love music and dancing, and this can become good aerobic exercise.
• Play Ball — Roll a ball around and let your bird chase it. This is a great way to get your feathered friend running.
• Spend Time with Toys — Make sure you rotate through different toys so your bird doesn't have a chance to get bored with something. Let your parrot play with toys during out-of-cage hours, too.
• Use Moving Perches — Ropes, swings, climbing ladders, and other moving perches challenge your bird to keep moving. At the same time, they aren't rough on your parrot's joints, meaning they're less likely to contribute to arthritis. You should allow your bird time to be active every day for optimal health. How long you spend doing this each day will depend on the bird. This kind of investment is always worth it to keep your feathered friend healthy and happy, though. Our rescued parrots at Sy's Piece of Heaven need lots of exercise and play time, too—which is now volunteers and sponsors can help us.
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