Hi there! I'm writing not as a parrot owner but as an animal lover. My friend's roommate has had his parrot for over a decade. They are quite bonded of course at this point but I've become rather concerned for how the parrot is taken care of. For a short summary it seems the parrot isn't getting the right diet, enough attention or hardly any mental stimulation, and his night-time (or when he's covered up in his cage) is too long of a period.
From my own reading on what the parrot should be getting I know it's not an ideal situation, but I'm having trouble finding real specifics on if I should really be concerned.
As for more detail, his diet is mostly, if not all, nuts. They are always good usually organic nuts, but still just nuts. I've seen that he has another kind of food that's more colorful and looks sort of like fruity pebbles, but I've never once seen the parrot actually eat it. I eat fairly healthy myself so I always have fruits and veggies with me and will always give him some pieces of my food that I've checked to see are approved, and he usually eats them but sometimes just looks confused at what it is.
During the days that his owner works he will sometimes never get time outside of the cage. And when he does it's at most for an hour or so. On his days off he will sometimes bring the parrot into his room with him while he works. But as far as mental stimulation or game playing there is almost none. Sometimes they will play different games where the owner holds his upside down but that's about as far as it goes. I bought him some kitty jingle plastic balls that he will play the toss and fetch game with, but that's only played when I get the balls out. The parrot often gets in trouble for making noises. I play games where I mimic all the noises he makes for a period of time and then he listens very well to me when I am leaving the room and tell him that it's now quite time (otherwise he will scream for me to come back in the room). There is never a radio or tv left on for the bird while he's gone as the owner has said he doesn't want the bird learning new sounds, and there is barely any light or heat left on for him as well.
He is covered at 8:30 every night, and the owner wakes and uncovers him at 9 or 9:30 the next morning (so about 12- 13 hours covered a day). However if he is leaving for the evening he will be covered up even earlier, like 5 or 6.
The owner will describe how they have a unique relationship and how the bird will often do things on purpose to upset him. I don't really doubt this as the parrot is probably looking for attention regardless of the repercussions. I feel at a bit of a loss because it's not my pet and unlike dog or cat owners I haven't found much information on what someone legally has to provide for birds. On top of this, my friend and I are fairly certain the owner is on the autistic scale and he would have a lot of issue with me bringing any of my concern up to him.
I know this is a hard one, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Even just knowing that my concerns were valid or not would be helpful at this point.
Thanks!
-Parrot Friend
From my own reading on what the parrot should be getting I know it's not an ideal situation, but I'm having trouble finding real specifics on if I should really be concerned.
As for more detail, his diet is mostly, if not all, nuts. They are always good usually organic nuts, but still just nuts. I've seen that he has another kind of food that's more colorful and looks sort of like fruity pebbles, but I've never once seen the parrot actually eat it. I eat fairly healthy myself so I always have fruits and veggies with me and will always give him some pieces of my food that I've checked to see are approved, and he usually eats them but sometimes just looks confused at what it is.
During the days that his owner works he will sometimes never get time outside of the cage. And when he does it's at most for an hour or so. On his days off he will sometimes bring the parrot into his room with him while he works. But as far as mental stimulation or game playing there is almost none. Sometimes they will play different games where the owner holds his upside down but that's about as far as it goes. I bought him some kitty jingle plastic balls that he will play the toss and fetch game with, but that's only played when I get the balls out. The parrot often gets in trouble for making noises. I play games where I mimic all the noises he makes for a period of time and then he listens very well to me when I am leaving the room and tell him that it's now quite time (otherwise he will scream for me to come back in the room). There is never a radio or tv left on for the bird while he's gone as the owner has said he doesn't want the bird learning new sounds, and there is barely any light or heat left on for him as well.
He is covered at 8:30 every night, and the owner wakes and uncovers him at 9 or 9:30 the next morning (so about 12- 13 hours covered a day). However if he is leaving for the evening he will be covered up even earlier, like 5 or 6.
The owner will describe how they have a unique relationship and how the bird will often do things on purpose to upset him. I don't really doubt this as the parrot is probably looking for attention regardless of the repercussions. I feel at a bit of a loss because it's not my pet and unlike dog or cat owners I haven't found much information on what someone legally has to provide for birds. On top of this, my friend and I are fairly certain the owner is on the autistic scale and he would have a lot of issue with me bringing any of my concern up to him.
I know this is a hard one, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Even just knowing that my concerns were valid or not would be helpful at this point.
Thanks!
-Parrot Friend
