Canary Bird Care
Canary bird care is important as they are usually robust birds, but caring for them and keeping them healthy will ensure that they stay healthy. Canaries are generally very clean birds and would be quite happy to bathe themselves daily. Be sure to provide your canary with a bath regularly. If you can, let him bathe every day or even every three or four days. Bathing is very important for canaries when they are molting and breeding. You will need to occasionally trim the canary’s nails but ensure that you never clip into the veins. The canary can quickly bleed to death if this happens. As far as bird cages for canaries are concerned, choose one that is large and roomy. For a single canary bird, the cage should be at least 16”, for two canaries it should be 20”. Try and get the largest cage possible so that there is room for flight and exercise. A pet canary’s wings should not be clipped. The cage should be cleaned thoroughly every two weeks. Bird droppings should be removed every day and the bottom of the cage should be disinfected daily as well. You can line the bottom of the cage with newspaper as this will make cleaning easier for you. Food and water containers should be cleaned daily as well.
Canary bird health is another area you will have to be concentrate on if you keep one as a pet. Canaries are hardy birds and illness is usually due to a bad diet, dirty cages or drafts. Some symptoms of illnesses include: runny beaks, diarrhea, excessive preening, lack of appetite, molting out of season, ruffled feathers and wheezing. Illnesses that are common to canaries are aspergillosis, mites and bumblefoot. Bumble foot is an infection that occurs in the feet of the bird. The feet can turn scabby and lameness might set in. Aspergillosis is a fungal infection which leads to respiratory distress. Air sac mites infest the canary’s wind pipe and eventually cut off the air supply altogether. Do take your canary to the vet immediately if you suspect that he is ill.
Following a good canary bird diet will keep health problems at bay. Provide fresh food and water every day. Fresh canary seed is their staple diet. Vegetables like peas, celery, spinach, watercress are good supplements for them. Apples, oranges, melons, bananas, and grapes are good too. Mix honey with the seeds for an occasional treat. Bits of hard boiled egg can be given sometimes as well.