Proper Handeling of Exotic Birds essays

Proper Handeling of Exotic Birds essays Imagine being in an environment where you live in constant fear that your captor, who is 100 times your size may, at any moment, kill you. How stressful is that? Many pet birds seem mean because they live in fear of their owners. Often, people buy a bird who is sweet and affectionate with the caretaker at the store, and when they bring him home, they expect the bird to behave exactly the same with them. It is important to take the time, however, to establish a trust and a bond with the pet bird, because without it, the bird is only going to react in fear. Birds are one of the most rewarding pets a person can own. They are highly intelligent and they crave human attention. They love to please people and they crave affection. So much so, that most parrots become jealous if they see you giving too much of your affection to someone other than them. When I began working at a pet store as a bird specialist, I enjoyed a first-hand opportunity to work directly with a variety of birds, and I quickly learned many new things. Sometimes we would get an older bird in the store who had been mistreated and who was afraid of people. Those birds ta ught me the importance of establishing trust and dominance, as well as the value of rewarding good behavior often. With a simple understanding of the birds perspective and knowledge of proper handling, a strong bond can develop between people and their pet birds. In the wild, a bird must be on the defense at all times because they are small enough to be prey to almost any creature. To a bird, we are potential predators. Until we have proven to the bird that we are not going to kill them and that we are not a threat, the bird will continue to be frightened of us and defend itself. So how do you get the bird to trust you? Well, you have to start by catching the bird. Depending on whether the bird was handfed as a baby or not, and how the bird has b ...