Celebrating the Holidays with your Pet Bird

Holiday fun isn’t just for the people in your family. Your pet bird will feel the festivity too and want to be a part of it. Celebrating the holidays with your bird is a great way to bring you closer together and can be fun for the whole family. You need to remember though that the commotion of the holidays can be stressful for your bird and may present other health risks. Follow these tips for a healthy and happy holiday:

• Keep a Constant Environment: Birds become very attached to their surroundings, even outside the cage. When decorating for the holidays, try to put most of the larger decorations, like a Christmas tree, somewhere away from your bird. This will help keep him calm and de-stressed. Also, decorations like a Christmas tree have many small parts and can be hazardous to your bird, so make sure your pet doesn’t have access to such decorations.
• Go Easy on the Lights: Most pet birds need 10-12 hours of darkness per day to sleep. Because of this, you should go easy on the holiday lights, or try to keep them out of sight of your bird. They can cause sleeplessness and stress. Also, consider using a cage cover to keep your bird properly rested.
• Be Wary of Guests: If you’re planning on having a lot of family or friends over for the holidays, you should make sure they don’t disturb your bird too much. Try to keep your bird away from where the guests will be congregating and make sure none of them are stressing your pet.
• Poisonous Plants: Make sure your pet bird doesn’t have access to any holiday plants such as poinsettias or mistletoe. These can be harmful.
• Avoid Fumes: Birds are very sensitive to fumes, so try to avoid potpourri or burning candles in your home around the holidays.
• Other Things to Avoid: Holidays often involve many other things that can be dangerous for your pet bird. He may try to consume many things that could harm him, such as ribbons, bows, ornaments, and food. Try to keep your bird away from these things.
• Spread the Joy: Just because there are a lot of things you need to look out for during the holidays doesn’t mean your bird can’t share in the fun. Try to involve your bird by spending quality time with him and giving him gifts as well. It will help bring you closer together and make the holidays even more fun.