Parrot Obesity: What you should know
Parrot Obesity
Among the most common pets, such as dogs and cats, obesity is a very frequent disease. However, it is also in other animals that we can have at home, such as parrots. In fact, it is quite common for obesity in parrots to occur in those specimens that live in captivity.
When is it considered that there is obesity in parrots?
Obesity is a condition of the body in which the percentage of fat is substantially higher than what it should have normally.
In the case of these birds, obesity in parrots is considered when their weight exceeds, more or less, between 10-20% of their ideal weight.
To know the ideal weight of a parrot, it is necessary to see it from the perspective of its specific species and its age, since not all parrots have the same characteristics.
Causes of obesity in parrots
Experts point to three main factors as causes of obesity in parrots.
A very caloric diet
When the parrot eats more calories every day than its share or expends, it accumulates a caloric surplus in its body in the form of fatty tissue.
As a consequence, in the medium-long term, this becomes obesity.
Inactivity
In addition to an accumulation of calories, a very sedentary life can be another of the reasons that lead to obesity in parrots, especially when this is combined with the previous factor.
In short, when there is no «zero balance» between these two facts, there will always be a mismatch in the weight of the parrot.
few stimuli
A parrot needs to have a lot of stimuli to feel good both physically and mentally.
Without the proper stimuli, these birds tend to move little and do little, so they focus only on eating and tend to gain weight.
How to avoid obesity in parrots
Let’s see what must be taken into account to avoid obesity in the parrot.
Avoid a sedentary lifestyle
To begin with, it must be taken into account that a sedentary lifestyle is not appropriate for the animal. Neither for the parrot, nor for any other.
However, many of the parrots that live in captivity do not have enough space to move and this leads to a very detrimental lack of activity.
Therefore, the main way to prevent your parrot from being obese is to try so that it can move every day in a similar way to how it would be free.
For this purpose, you will have to provide a room in your home that is safe for its flight and take it out of the cage so that it can fly freely through it.
Take care of your diet
On the other hand, you have to watch your diet very well. Mainly, it will be necessary to offer the amount of food recommended by a professional in exotic birds and with the appropriate regularity, according to the characteristics of your parrot.
However, in the event that your lifestyle is not adequate, that is, that you are more sedentary, this diet should be adapted to your circumstances, in order to avoid the accumulation of calories that you cannot expend.
Encourage exercise
In addition to the above, to take care of the weight of a parrot, it is also important to intervene with its keeper, promoting training exercises.
For example, when it is taken out of the cage, it should be encouraged to fly from one point to another so that it expends more energy.
