Psittacosis sometimes referred to as Parrot Fever or Bird Fancier’s Lung (BFL) is a disease that all species of birds are susceptible to, and one that can be passed to humans as well. Pet birds are the most frequent transmitters of the disease especially many types of Parrots. If recognized and treated early with antibiotics, the recovery rate for birds and humans is good. Here are 5 ways to go on the offensive against Psittacosis and lessen the chance of having it develop in your home.

Keep the Cage Clean–One of the ways this disease spreads is through dried dust from bird feces. Once the fecal matter starts to dry, minute pieces can become airborne with the bird’s movement, your movement or even circulating air from the air conditioner or heat. Changing the paper at the bottom of the cage daily or even more frequently lessens the chance of these airborne contagions spreading and being inhaled by you, family members, and your bird.

Become Familiar with Symptoms in Birds–This is easier said than done as many birds that are infected do not present symptoms. However, the symptom that is most indicative of this condition is eye discharge. Others include diarrhea, difficulty in breathing, a drop in energy level producing drowsiness and lethargy, puffed up feathers, tremors, disinterest in food, and weight loss. Knowing what is usual for your bird will help you spot any changes in behavior easily and allow you to take preventive steps early.

Regular Check Ups with the Veterinarian-You don’t have to go it alone when trying to recognize whether a change in your bird’s habits is an indication of sickness, and more specifically Psittacosis. Having an avian veterinarian that you trust is an invaluable resource to locate and use from the moment you bring your bird home. Don’t be afraid to take your bird for professional observation if there is even the slightest question about your bird’s health. The sooner the disease is correctly diagnosed, the better chance your bird has of surviving. And even if it turns out to be a false alarm–better safe than sorry.

Recognize Human Symptoms–In people the symptoms are similar to the flu-headache, chills, fever, aches and pains. When seeking treatment for flu-like symptoms mention that you have a bird, and ask to be tested for Psittacosis.

Use a Purifier to Filter Your Air–Nothing can guarantee that you and your bird won’t contract this disease, but given that it spreads with inhalation of dried fecal matter that is airborne, using a high efficiency particle arresting air purifier is a good way to clear the air and lessen the chance of having this disease spread in your home.

An excellent resource for an air purifier to lessen the chance of Psittacosis in your home is offered by PurerAir.com– the Bird Dander Purifier at http://purerair.com/bird_dander_air_purifier.html

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To purchase supplements, please visit Bird Buffet N Things. They carry a full line of Morning Bird products for most illnesses.

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Feeding your pet canary the proper diet is essential. Most importantly, it will help him remain healthy. If you have a male, he will also be happier, so he’ll sing more often. If you don’t know what to feed him, keep reading. This article will give you a few tips for feeding your canary the proper diet.

Seed

Seed should be the main part of your canary’s diet. He can survive on just seed alone, although he should be fed a balanced diet just like humans. There are many different varieties of canary seed available, so you’ll have various options to choose from.

Egg

You should also feed your pet canary boiled eggs regularly. This will help increase his intake of protein. Feeding eggs mixed with biscuits is especially important if you want to breed your bird.

Water

It should go without saying that your bird will need water. It’s best to have fresh water available on a daily basis. These small birds have a fast metabolism. If they’re deprived of water for too long, they will quick die of thirst.

Fruits/Veggies

Your pet canary should also be fed fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are good for their minerals and vitamins. Canaries usually like fruits such as grapes and apples. Popular vegetables include lettuce, watercress, spinach, and corn on the cob.

Snacks

Just like humans, canaries enjoy snacks too. So, make sure you provide a treat for your buddy every once in a while. Popular snack choices include millet spray and honey stick.

These are a few tips for feeding your pet canary a proper diet. Besides feeding, there are many more things you need to know about taking proper care of canaries. So, click here right now to learn more about basic canary care.

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Visit Bird Buffet N Things for a full line of canary feed, treats and supplement.

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Beak Appetit’s cooked diets solve this problem. The combination of quality ingredients and essential supplements creates a whole food that supplies birds with the nutrition they need to function and thrive. Along iwth fresh fruits and veggies, Beak Appetit’s easy-to-use diets provide your bird with a worry-free feeding plan. Simply cook up a batch of Beak Appetit and then keep it in the refrigerator for a week, warming a protion of it each day. Or, you can sparate portions into small baggies or ice-cube trays and freeze it, thawing or microwaving the portions as you need them. Variety is key and Beak Appetit has it.

Cooking time ranges from 3 to 25 minutes depending on the product (unique preparation instructions are printed on every package). Most of Beak Appetit’s recipes fill the kitchen with the luscious aroma of cinnamon, tropical fruits and other spices.

The full line of Beak Appetit diets is now available from Bird Buffet N Things. For more information on Beak Appetit diets, click here.

Yours

Michael Camire
Bird Buffet N Things

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For birds in the wild, finding food is the most important part of the day. Some wild parrots can eat up to 75 different types of vegetation as a regular part of their diet, everything from leaves and fruit to nuts and young seeds. Different foods occur seasonally for parrots. At certain times of year they feast on one type of fruit, nut, and vegetation and when that’s gone, other species of trees or grasses bloom and fruit, offering yet another nutritional opportunity.

Until recently, bird food producers ignored this need for variety. Birds were left with boring meals lacking in well-rounded nutition.  Fortunately, Beak Appetit now offers the variety that parrots require. Each Beak Appetit selection contains a vast assortment of grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, giving parrots a nutritious change of pace.

For more information on Beak Appetit Diets, Softbill Diets and Supplements, visit Bird Buffet N Things.

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This will come as a surprise to many people who didn’t know he was ill, but Ken Globus passed away on September 10th. Ken, who hadn’t been a smoker for about 25 years, was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his esophagus. What’s truly shocking is that, between his original diagnosis and his death, only 10 weeks had elapsed.

Most of you are receiving this email because you’re on his mailing list. So most of you know him as The Bird Whisperer.

Here are some things you may not know about how Ken got started working with aggressive and phobic birds. Our parents used to own a tropical fish store in Inglewood, California. One day, our mother cleared out some space in the store and asked Ken what he thought would be a good idea to put there. Ken thought about it, then suggested that they might start carrying a few birds. Since our parents knew nothing about birds, they put Ken in charge, and he got to work reading books and researching bird behavior before he bought his first bird for the store. Keep in mind that, in those days, almost all birds sold in stores were wild caught, not bred in captivity – so they were usually pretty terrified and unruly. What Ken discovered – to his great surprise – was that very little of the advice in the bird books was appropriate for dealing with aggressive birds. So, through trial and error, he learned how to work with them.

One of the many qualities that made Ken so successful with birds was his patience – he could simply persist until a bird decided that being aggressive wasn’t working to drive Ken away. Another quality that served him so well was his flexibility – if one thing didn’t work to calm a bird, he’d try something else until he made progress. (Parenthetically, it’s a quality that also made him a great father.)

When my parents reached an age when they were no longer able to run a demanding business, Ken went out on his own, doing private training sessions for bird owners. It was at one of those sessions where an immensely grateful client said, “Ken, you really are a bird whisperer.”

Ken called me and mentioned the incident, and I suggested he use the name The Bird Whisperer because I thought it would quickly convey what he was capable of doing. But he was reluctant to use the name because he thought some people might think it was a bit pretentious. As a marketer, I reasoned that, at the very least, it was very easy for people to remember, where Ken Globus was not. He finally agreed.

Over the years, a lot has been written and said about Ken’s techniques. You are certainly free to dismiss what I’m about to say as the biased rantings of a grieving brother, but I was simply blown away by what Ken was able to do with birds. I traveled with him both to private sessions and public workshops, and I watched him calm birds that couldn’t even be touched by their owners. I saw people sobbing at the the sight of Ken stroking a bird’s neck, a bird who wouldn’t allow even its owner to come near it for over a decade. And I saw this happen many times.

His bird-training sessions really picked up when he set up his web site. For the first time, people outside of the Los Angeles area where he lived could get a sense of what his techniques were all about. He began to be interviewed by news organizations, magazines and newspapers, all of them interested in how he was able to tame birds so quickly. He was hired by zoos, bird stores, and rescue organizations to deal with birds they’d given up on. And somewhere along the line, Ken got a phone call from a woman who identified herself as Kate Capshaw. Thinking it was a joke perpetrated by one of his friends, Ken hung up on her. She called back and informed him that she and her husband, Steven Spielberg, would like Ken to come to their house for a private session. He gulped, and agreed. And as Ken showed Kate how to handle the bird, Steven walked all around him with a video camera, recording the entire hour-long session. Talk about pressure!

Through his many interviews and public appearances, Ken got to be pretty adept at dealing with one kind of pressure or another. The type that gave him the biggest problem came from his detractors who often wrote vicious and totally untrue things about him, and he would sometimes forward to me the more outrageous items. Usually we would giggle like schoolgirls, but I found some of these things to be appallingly mean-spirited, and I would want him to post an angry rebuttal. But, for the most part, he wouldn’t. He simply felt that these people were uninformed. I always thought that was a most charitable way of looking at it, especially considering that many of the most shamelessly idiotic things were perpetrated by some of the more authoritative people in the bird world, people who felt more comfortable sniping at him from a distance rather than bothering to actually attend one of his events. But I digress.

What Ken was able to do with birds wasn’t magic. Ken was just an incredibly sensitive and intuitive person who, in a very short span of time, could figure out the best way to get a bird over its fears. At this I’m fairly certain there were few like him.

I can also tell you that as a brother, there were none like him. He was kind, funny, incredibly bright, supportive, generous, and courageous – qualities he displayed up to his dying breath.

Last week there was an occasion I’ll never forget. It was only a few days after his passing, and my wife wanted to put together a “remembrance”, where a few friends could gather to talk about what Ken meant to them. Even though this was thrown together at the last minute, over 60 of his friends showed up, and I’m certain that, given enough time, a few hundred might have been there. Ken was loved and appreciated by so many people. There were folks there from various stages of his life, all relating stories about Ken that helped to paint a complete picture of him. And what a picture it was!

He was a great guy. A talented man who could do so many things well. And he was my best friend for 57 years.

Dennis Globus

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There’s no catch. These videos are really free…

See, Chet is just 2 weeks away from releasing tickets to his first-ever “Advanced Parrot Training, Handling, and Health Seminar” that he’ll be hosting at a world-class resort in Florida this coming January.

So to celebrate, he’s giving away this FREE Sneak Preview of the caliber of parrot training secrets he’ll be revealing for the first time ever, live on stage, at this event in this special three-part video series.

In video #1, you’ll discover the secret to NEVER being afraid of getting bitten or nipped by your bird again by learning to read what I call your parrot’s “Fear Feather’s.”

This training principle is so powerful, and so effective, you’ll be able to use it to guarantee your spouse, kids, other family members and friends can handle your bird safely, without ever getting bitten, too!

To watch it now, visit: https://www.birdtricks.com/watchthevideos

And pay attention to your email… Because I’ll be sending you TWO MORE free videos like this one over the next 2 weeks!

Enjoy…

Michael Camire
Bird Buffet N Things

P.S. On this page, you’ll also find out how you can qualify to win over $5,000 in parrot training supplies and private consultations.

Visit https://www.birdtricks.com/watchthevideos to get all the details.

Follow me, Pratbirdman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pratbirdman

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Thanks,
Angie.

I had a budgie once, who was the smartest budgie..ever! im not lying, he could say 34 different words within about 13 different phrases. And he wasnt that old. He was only 18 months when he died of some weird hereditory disease. So I can't help but wonder if he was still alive now, like 4 years later, how many words would he ba able to manage now? it was so amazing, but when i tell people now they get that real disbelieving look on their face.

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Katie, our Greenwing has two. We play "Peek-a-Katie" with her, where I'll hide and say "Where's Katie? Where'd Katie go?" And then she'll flap her wings and say "Here I am!" I taught this really quite easily because if I get out of her sight, she flaps like a lunatic, so that part was easy to praise. Then, when I'd show myself I'd go "Here I am!" in a really excited tone of voice. I did this about 15 times, and she had it.

(I just had to retype the last 20 or so words thanks to my cat…LOL)

The second trick Katie does is "Strike a Pose" where I'll say "Strike a Pose!" and she'll put her wings up in a beautiful display. Same concept…

My African Grey is only 7 months old and doesn't really speak yet. I taught her how to identify colors, shapes and sizes. It too was really easy. I always identify everything I give her by color, ie. "want a green grape, or want a red melon?" I have these 2 and 3 inch round plastic disks (coins) of different colors. I hold two different colors up and moving them towards her one at a time I say the color of one then the opposite, ie. "blue, red" I do that three or so times then I say "which one red, or blue?" and she grabs the right coin and drops it into my hand. I do the very same thing with the different size coins, ie "big, little, which one big?" She's mastered those two games, now I need only hold up the two different colors or sizes and say "which one. . .?" and she knows the answer. Last week we started working on shapes. I say, "see the star, yellow star, pretty star, see the green square, that's a nice square, see the square?" then I ask her, "which ones the star?" She's doing great at her shapes as well. I'm really anxious to hear her voice though. Anyone have any Grey's out there? How old before they started to chatter?

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You can contact threw this to have mailed to you

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Basically, trick training starts with the natural things your bird already does. You start with those. For instance, say you've got a bird that hangs upside down from your finger. Add a hand cue, (other hand pointed like a gun) and a verbal cue (Bang!) and then praise the heck out of your bird when he starts to do the upside down movement on cue. This is what we did with an eclectus that I know. I taught him to "fall over dead". We shoot him with our imaginary gun, then he falls over backward.

If your bird bobs his head, praise it and give it a verbal cue. When he does it say "Yes!" and then "Goodboy Yes!" or if he does it over and over, call it dancing. "Goodboy Dancing! Are you dancing?! Goodboy!"

See where I'm going with this? Take the natural movements that he already does, and add verbal cues to it so that you can ask him to do it on command.

After you get some of those accomplished, then you can add some new ones in. To add the new behaviors, put him in a position where he would have to do what you're expecting. Say you want him to shoot a basketball. Well, to do that, he's got to pick the basketball up. So, put him on the floor and roll the basketball to him. If he picks it up, you're half way to learning the trick. Praise, praise, praise.

Also, I don't give food rewards for trick training. Some people advocate it, but it's my opinion that there may come a day where I need my bird to do what he's told and I won't have that treat in my pocket. So, instead I give him scratches, I clap, I applaud, I scream WOOHOO! and act like a general lunatic. He LOVES that. LOL

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