A parrot is commonly kept as a pet. Some types of parrots can be challenging to keep. As where others are very simple to care for.

When you believe you are ready to get your first parrot, it is very important to thoroughly research the type you want. You have to remember that these birds do have a long life span. A parakeet can live to 20 years old, as a macaw can live to 50 years old. This is a long time to care for an animal. The cage for your bird should be as big as you can afford it. This will give lots of room for the bird, multiple perches, food and water bowls, toys and a hut or box for them to sleep and hide in. A parrot will need a lot of toys to play with.

The toys should be rotated weekly so that they will not get bored with the same toys. Make sure to buy or make toys of the appropriate size for your bird. You have to watch for parts that they can get their head or toes stuck. Now some types of parrots will be afraid of a new item in the cage and will need to slowing be introduced to new toys. The water should be changed daily. It will need to be changed more often if the bird were to soil the water. Food needs to be a mixture of pellets, fresh fruits and vegetables, certain types of human food and seed. It is not a good diet to only feed seed. Seed is like a candy and will shorten their life span if it is there only source of food. If your parrot is tame, it will enjoy spending time outside of the cage.

Parrots are highly social creatures by nature and needs the time and attention from their owner to live a happy life. If this is not done, the result can be a bird that screams for your attention and love, starts feather plucking, self mutilation, or may become wild and will bite when handled. Many parrots will benefit from you training them to do tricks or to talk on command. A parrot does enjoy learning new behaviors. Some examples would be to train an amazon to step-up on the hand with a verbal command, training a cockatoo to use birdie roller skates, or a parakeet to ring a bell for a certain treat. The behavior being trained does not have to be anything difficult. The training sessions only have to last about 10-15 minutes a day. But to succeed in training, you have to patient and consistent. A parrot can be a very rewarding pet for some people but remember a parrot is not for everyone.