NewBirdParent

Welcome! I remember being a new bird owner and this kind of community helped SO much. Excited to have you!

One thing that really helped was adding a full-spectrum Arcadia UV light near the cage. Give it a try — can't hurt!

Reading this hit home. My parrotlet went through the same phase around the same age. What helped us was getting a kitchen scale and weighing them weekly to track health. Also just accepting that birds are gonna bird, you know?

So what I ended up doing was target training first, then building up to step-up. Within a few days there was a noticeable improvement. Definitely worth trying.

Need to drive my Indian ringneck from Parkdale to a vet appointment downtown. They've never been in a car before and I'm nervous. What travel cage do you recommend? Any tips to keep them calm?

Second vote for BST. They boarded my lovebird last summer and I could tell Jade was well cared for when I picked them up. Total peace of mind.

Welcome to the forum! Great to have another bird lover from the GTA. Your blue and gold macaw sounds adorable — what's their personality like?

It's been raining for days in Vaughan and my zebra finch is losing their mind from boredom. We've done every foraging toy, training session, and YouTube video in the playbook. What do you do on endless grey days to keep your bird entertained? I'm running out of ideas and Blu is about to redecorate my walls.

My advice would be putting treats inside paper cups, folded paper, or tissue for foraging. Went through the same thing with my sun conure last year.

My lineolated parakeet likes to sleep on one foot tucked into their feathers, and sometimes they grind their beak. Is the beak grinding normal? Also, how many hours of sleep do they actually need?

I went through this exact thing with my budgie Clover! It lasted about about 10 days and then resolved on its own. Hang in there.

Birds are basically tiny dinosaurs with attitude. My Basil has me completely trained at this point.

If you're near Milton, PetSmart on Hurontario St actually has a decent bird section. Better than most locations.

Absolutely love hearing success stories! This gives me so much hope for me and Jade. Thank you for sharing!

Hey welcome! You'll love this community. Feel free to ask anything, everyone here is super helpful!

I switched to Roudybush last year and haven't looked back. My lineolated parakeet's feathers have never looked better.

I went through this exact thing with my blue and gold macaw Paco! It lasted about about 10 days and then resolved on its own. Hang in there.

What worked for me was using a stainless steel cage with proper bar spacing for the species. Took about a week but my Indian ringneck responded really well to it.

I'd suggest trying using a shower perch so they can bathe with warm mist. My avian vet recommended it and it made a huge difference.

Great question! So in my experience with Pionus, this usually comes down to a few things. First, putting a bird lamp on a 12/12 timer to simulate natural daylight cycles. Second, make sure they're getting enough sleep — 12 hours of uninterrupted dark sleep is crucial. And third, pay attention to the cage being in a high-traffic or drafty location because that was a huge factor for my Noodle. Hope that helps!