Page 609 - Hand rearing birds second

610 Hand-Rearing Birds

Floor‐door: great for the larger acclimatization enclosures. Create a cat‐flap sized hole at floor
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level and cover it with a metal “door” on runners. Pull the door up and pin in place through the
wire when sweeping, then let it drop back down and securely lock it closed after cleaning.
Wire floor on gravel: difficult to rake clean, but provides great drainage and plants can still grow
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through it.
Natural dirt floor, no structured drainage: the sensible option for bigger enclosures. It’s natu-
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ral, plants grow in it, it’s relatively soft for landing, plus it’s “free” and practical. As parrots
don’t often go to the ground, the crawlies (at least in Belize) will take care of much of the food
spillages, so raking is only needed once a week or so. Don’t use sand on the floors as parrots
can ingest this.
Laid slabs or bricks: cheaper than cement and provides drainage, but very little advantage
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otherwise. A determined predator could excavate though, given time.

­ References

Berg, K.S., Delgado, S., Cortopassi1, K.A. et al. (2012). Vertical transmission of learned signatures in a
wild parrot. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 279: 585–591. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0932.
Gill, F. and Donsker, D. (eds). (2019). IOC World Bird List (v9.1). https://doi.org/10.14344/IOC.ML.9.1.
Hawkins, M.G., Barron, H.W., Speer, B.L. et al. (2018). Birds. In: Exotic Animal Formulary, 5e (eds. J.W.
Carpenter and C.J. Marion), 167–375. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Maley, A.M. and Arbiser, J.L. (2013). Gentian violet: a 19th century drug re‐emerges in the 21st
century. Experimental Dermatology 22 (12): 775–780. https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.12257.