• What parrot species is the right choice for you?
Choosing the right parrot species as a pet is vital for the bird and the owner. Parrots can be for instance vocal and depending on the species might be too "loud" for your home environment. If you make the right choice there is no reason why a parrot can't be a wonderful companion, but you should seek advice what you can realistically expect and how to look after your bird in the "long-term" to ensure its well being. Please remember also that the "cute baby parrot" will grow up and might be not as "cuddly" anymore. In addition, not every parrot learns to talk. This is even valid for species famous for their talking ability such as African Grey Parrots. Or what about should you buy one or two birds and what can you expect if you do?
Parrot Advice 4 U can undertake an assessment for your individual circumstances and recommend a parrot species that will best suit you.
Send us your questions and we aim to reply as soon as possible (within one week)
Service charge £ 10.00 Submit question on choice of species
• Suitable cages and aviaries
The size, style, material and position of your parrots cage or aviary are all critical to the health and welfare of your bird. The right choice of the bird's captive environment will govern the ease with which you are able to look after your parrot and the enjoyment by making the right choice for both of you. Cages and aviaries are both costly items that must be chosen carefully if you are to get value for money and the captive environment that most closely possible meets the needs for the bird.
Send us your questions and we aim to reply as soon as possible (Within one week)
Service charge £ 10.00 Submit question on choice of cage
• Behaviour problems and how to train your bird
If you are experiencing behaviour or training problems such as:
If you want to train your bird some tricks to enrich its life, or some basic commands to respond to you we are here to help you on your way. And no, you don't need to clip your bird's wings, to be able to do so!
Most behaviour problems and training can be dealed with by either using our e-mail (preferred) or telephone consultation service. In special cases we also offer home visits wherever possible.
We offer you help with training methods for your parrots based on positive reinforcement to either overcome the problem behaviour or how to achieve your training goals. We make suggestions how to change the environment your bird is in and teaching you a way of communicating with your bird by reading its body language.
In other words you are involved step-by-step and not just given advice. To resolve behaviour problems takes time and patience. The same is valid for training your bird. If you are willing to learn that you don't need to "dominate" your bird, because you rather have a mutual relation ship with your parrot based on trust we are the right choice for you.
Benefit from our knowledge of nearly 30 years with parrots. Contact us and we will send you a questionnaire that enables us to Asses the situation you and your bird are in.
The fee charged includes the original question and subsequent questions that relate to the original problem or training goal are not charged extra within 6 weeks of the first contact.
Service charges e-mail consultation £ 35.00 Submit Question
Telephone consultation per hour £ 40.00
Please phone 0044(0) 1736 – 850551 to book a consultation
Pay for telephone consultation - book first
Home visits depending on location
• Diet suggestions for your bird to keep it healthy
We are able to offer a range of products (see sale section), that we feed to our own birds and have done for many years now. These include supplements; pellet and seed based diets as well as hand rearing formula for breeders. The selection we offer has proven beneficial for our birds, but please note to, it does not claim to be complete – indeed there is no complete diet available for parrots no matter what food manufactures write on their packages. Nor does it mean that products sold here are better than other products from different manufactures on the market. We have however, been very happy using these for our birds and therefore offer them now to our customers.
If you choose to buy any of the food products we offer then we would suggest that you send us a short e-mail so we can give you (free) advice based on how we use the products for our own birds. We believe that a variety of ingredients is the key to a healthy parrot diet. The diet consists of pellets, seed mixes, pulses, vegetables, fruit and all supplemented with vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
• Independent scientific research for Zoos and Bird collections to improve welfare and breeding success of kept species
The proprietor of Parrot Advice 4 U is qualified and experienced implementing scientific based behaviour studies on captive Psittacines. Please see research section for current projects. For statistical analysis Minitab v. 14 is used to see whether the obtained data shows significant (< 0.05) differences between the recorded data sets. Based on the outcome of the study we can provide detailed recommendations and guidelines, e.g. what kind of enrichment should be used for different parrot species. Or for another example, how to modify the aviary in a way based on the outcome of scientific data, to enable the birds to really use the given captive environment to avoid stereotypes.
Not every Zoo or professional Bird Collection may have a member of staff with the right amount of knowledge, or the time to implement research within their busy timetable, which would enable them to improve the welfare standards of kept parrots. We have the experience and qualifications to give your facility a detailed report on how to improve your husbandry methods, train your birds with positive reinforcement in order to aid their welfare and improve the breeding success for critically endangered Psittacines.
Testimonials are available on written request.
Service charge: negotiable depending on location, duration and extend of the project.
• Seminars in Parrot training and Husbandry for animal and bird courses at colleges and universities. Also for pet shops their staff and / or their customers.
A service dedicated to improving knowledge about parrots and their needs in order that they may live a fulfilled life in captivity. We bring our own parrots to these workshops, to show you how to look after them and how to train these magnificent birds with positive reinforcement methods.
Using this service gives students a wonderful insight into the life of parrots and their need for conservation. It is also the ideal service for pet shops that want to improve staff knowledge. Offer this service to employees by way of training to improve their knowledge. Our details may also be passed onto new or concerned customers.
Service charge: depends on locality and duration.
