One of the most important aspects of a parrot’s care is its cage. Look for a cage that gives your parrot plenty of room to move around, even spread its wings a bit. It’s also important to purchase a cage that will look good in your room as it will be as permanent as any piece of furniture. You’ll also want to make sure you choose a cage that has bars with appropriate spacing for the type and size of your parrot, to prevent injury by your parrot fitting his or her head through the bars.

Feeding

Parrot foods available include the typical seed diet as well as pellet food. Pellet food generally contains more of a variety of nutrients and food than a seed diet. Pellets contain fruits and vegetables as well as a variety of grains. What you choose to feed your parrot may depend on your parrot’s taste as some parrots simply won’t like seeds, but will enjoy pellets and vice versa. In addition to pellets or seeds, treats are also available for parrots, including mixtures of fruits, nuts and seeds.

Grooming

Parrots do require regular grooming, including grooming of their beaks, nails and wings, but generally it is not recommended for a novice to attempt to groom their parrot. Consider taking a lesson from a veterinarian or bird expert before attempting to groom your parrot, this is for your safety as well as your parrot.

Training:

Training is vital. Begin by teaching these animals simple tricks to learn to obey. This will help these animals to be stable with you and in its environment. The parrot needs socializing and affection and in return will be a wonderful pet. One of the biggest advantages to having a parrot is that your parrot can be trained to do any number of tasks and tricks. Training aids are available including click trainers, harnesses and leashes. Consider also a parrot training book or DVD to help you train your parrot.

Entertainment:

Toys will be important to the entertainment and general emotional health and behavior of your parrot. Get them toys that are appropriate for their size, age and temperament. Great toys for parrots include rubber toys, puzzle type toys, wood toys, leather toys, toys where the parrot can practice foraging for food and metal toys.

Often people purchase rabbits from a breeder. Many people prefer breeders under suspicion that some pet stores sell cross bred rabbits. Such a breeder who has a litter of young rabbits available for sale can be found in the newspaper classified ads listed under “Pets” or “Livestock.” Some can be found through rabbit breeders’ club publications or through rabbit-related magazines, which often include a breeder listing. With the advent of the Internet, many breeders advertise their stock online.

Finding a local rabbit breeder is generally preferred to shipping rabbits for long distances, as it can be stressful for the animal. Many pet shops nearly always carry smaller breeds of rabbit such as the Netherland dwarf, the Holland lop, and the Mini-Rex. These breeds, although smaller than ‘normal’ rabbits, still live long and healthy lives. A point to note is that often smaller breeds of rabbits are prone to tooth problems such as malocclusion.

Rabbit rescue organizations or a local humane society are increasingly common places to find adult rabbits, who may already be spayed or neutered and docile from handling. Though most rescued rabbits are healthy, some may require special care for health conditions or behavioral problems resulting from prior abuse.

Pet rabbits can be trained to urinate and defecate in a litter box or on a newspaper in a specific corner of a room. The litter box may also be placed inside the rabbit’s cage or the rabbit can be trained to treat the cage itself as the litter box. Litter training becomes much easier once a rabbit is spayed or neutered.

Rabbits cannot learn voice commands like a dog, but can recognize different patterns of the voice. For instance, If a rabbit is disobeying, for example biting, simply make a high pitched noise, or an extremely bass noise and the message will be conveyed. Rabbits can be taught their names, although they recognize the pattern of the noises more then the words. Rabbits are intelligent, and enjoy games and toys.

It is important that if a rabbit is allowed to roam in a house that it be impossible for the rabbit to chew or get into dangerous or valuable items. They do not possess the same comprehension as a dog or a cat, and often don’t understand if punished physically; rather they will become scared or confused if some kind of punishment is used, as they do not see the damage they have done. If all this is taken into consideration, rabbits make excellent house pets.