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Some Aracari Questions

MinkFeathers

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Some of these questions may seem like no brainers to some, but please bare with me. ^__^;;

What would be considered a 'treat'?
Would yogurt be ok? I figure it may helpnwoth digestion, but no idea if this is acceptable for an aracari.
I am also planning to have a sizable chicken coop area with about 3-5 chickens and some golden pheasants. Plans are 8foot by 20foot. Would an aracari do ok with chickens? I figured the space could be used as just extra flight space every once in a while, but I don't know if outdoor fowl should mix with an indoor pet.
I have heard that aracari can be potty trained to an extent (having a designated area in each room that they can use as needed). Is this something anyone has experience with? How easy/hard was it?
What are the absolute DO NOT DO things I should know? (Other thanfeeding iron rich foods or citrus).
 

Buttersquash

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Hello and welcome - I saw your earlier thread and wanted to chip in. I'll just preface this with the usual: my comments and experiences are personal to the combination of me & my particular bird only; everyone's can and will be somewhat different.

I have a Curl crested (9 months old), canaries, 1 cockatiel (14 years old), and horse. I thought about getting a parrot for years prior and had narrowed it down to eclectus or pionus, but eventually decided against both after reading about behavioral challenges for both as well as noise. Actually my cockatiel is plenty loud (and DUSTY) enough for me! ;)

I know someone who owns both a Curl and Green, and for them their Curl is super cuddly but the Green not so much (more aloof).
I find it super relaxing owning a Curl, but I have developed a very regular routine with him. My job has a very regular schedule, no travelling, and I personally also thrive on routine. He is free flying when I'm home and I find rarely poops on anything other than T-stands I have placed in several favorite locations, although there is the occasional accident. If they've been eating blueberries, their poop will permanently stain your wall.

He is VERY content to hang out and watch TV or sit next to me when I read in the evenings, just chilling. Not demanding or noisy in the least, but still charmingly interactive. Occasionally he flies to investigate what you are doing or eating, sits on my shoulder or arm. Then he will fly away to play with other things or poop on his perch. But whenever I feel like squeezing him, (yes I admit I squeeze, smush and do all sorts of other nonsense to him) I just can scoop him up off the perch and he will let you do anything to him. Squeeze his beak, his feet, breast meat, wings, drumsticks, curls, etc etc. Very delicious all around!! He will lay in your hand upside down. FYI I am very tactile with all my pets and have been handling him profusely since he was very young. I know another Curl owner whose bird will NOT be comfortable being held upside down etc.

I went the route of getting a modest sized cage, and letting him get his exercise free flying around my home. But your set up sounds wonderfully spacious, which I'm sure any aracari would enjoy (and in fact, need, if you're unable to take them out of the cage regularly). I heard Curls are more 'docile' than other ramphastids in an aviary situation (with birds their own size or larger) but I don't know about poultry. Maybe if you socialized him early with the chickens? Provided adequate cover for the chickens? (in case the aracari went into play attack mode... which they do on occasion).

I don't have other indoor pets like cats or dogs so my aracari is king of his domain so to speak. But again, so long as your cats/dogs are reasonably gentle and carefully introduced, maybe it's fine if you had them out together. Otherwise, if you have a spacious aviary, maybe it's best he stay there to be safe. They are insanely fast - they can stab something in the eye if they wanted to without you knowing what happened. I had heard of some sad stories where this has happened (to other pets that didn't react fast enough). He will definitely seriously hurt or kill my canaries if he had the chance, I can tell. He even tries to go for my cockatiel, through the cage (my cockatiel is VERY scrappy though, and defends himself quite well, often taking my aracari aback! ;) I don't think small reptiles or lizards will be safe either. He doesn't miss a thing in his environment and will investigate everything. He has caught flies in midair.

For me, when I get home from work he calls immediately, and I love having him out and about - even if he did have a huge cage, I would want him out and able to fly and explore the house and interact with me regardless. I have a large framed print of a pair of Curl Cresteds (John Gould) and every morning he flies over to it, hangs off the frame UPSIDE DOWN, and offers them some papaya. No joke. Of course, he greets me too every morning - but I don't get fruit offerings!

They make EXCELLENT and IMO Perfect companion birds, if there could ever be one. It's been said before - all the pros with none of the downsides and I strongly agree. No bites capable of ripping your fingernail or lip off, no dust, no noise. I do not find the poop annoying - hey we poop too! - in fact, my canaries are way way messier, seed and dust everywhere. And let's NOT even mention horse poop - I shovel over 7 tons a year of that! (and load & stack 4 tons of hay). So I might be biased but I find caring for birds EASY, at least in the physical sense.

There is no feather dust with aracaris, which is a godsend to me & anyone with allergies. I covered his cage on 2 1/2 sides with clear vinyl tablecloth, and wipe it down once a week with a wet rag (dried on fruit comes right off - although I heard the steam cleaners are awesome). I use an Avitec infrared heater on one side since I like to keep my house on the cool side for winter (55 deg). He rarely seems to sit near the heater though, and seems very comfortable without it. But he was acclimated over a couple months.

My vote is an aracari. I've heard the Curl crested will no longer be permitted to be exported from Peru (hey as it should be - they should be protected in the wild) so unless the Curl owners in the US take up breeding efforts in the years to come, it may eventually disappear from US aviculture. I have been thinking about breeding in the future.

One other thing - it sounds like you are clearly very passionate about getting a bird and did your homework for a long time - couple of years? I say, remember time is precious and there is no such thing as the perfect bird or the perfect time to get one or the perfect situation. Nothing can be perfect - it's not supposed to be - with your passion and knowledge what ever you decide to get, you will make it work.

A co worker told me he went to a birthday party a couple weeks ago, where one of his guests revealed she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer (advanced stage, she was only 39) and now life consisted of battling the cancer, going to doctors, chemo, etc. We all worry about having enough money or ree time to do things we want to do, but if you don't have the health to do it, it all doesn't matter - game over.
 

Buttersquash

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PS. I say no yogurt (dairy foods are not what they would be exposed to or consume in the wild).
PPS. If free flying in the house - be SUPER careful about accidentally opening an outside door, even for a nanosec. I did (to throw out some recycling, thinking my aracari wouldn't notice) but he flew towards me to land on my head, missed, and then tumbled and flew right out my door into the bushes. I was able to recover him though, but super scary.
 

MinkFeathers

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Oh wow!!! Thanks for all the added info!!!

The only reason I have waited so long isn't for the 'perfect' time exactly, but, because of all the other hold backs of life. Small apartment, long and unorthadox work schedules, other financial obligations, and respecting those I lived with at the time.

Also, I doubt he will be allowed to 'free fly' in the main house. He will be allowed free reign of the office, my bedroom (and reptile rokm, which is the large 11x18 room) the outdoor aviary attatched to the office (whicch should be 11x11 and will hopefully be circular if I get it right), and MAAAYBE the chicken coop, which I remeasured according to other back yard plans and should be 10x20. It will be solid fencing 3 feet up, then a dome of chicken wire that I hope to make 10+ feet high, complete with a 'roof' that will be a tarp to offer shade in summer and a way to keep the snow/ice off of them in winter. If my aracari doesn't get along with the chickens and pheasent (wanting a golden pheasent pair), then I can actually put tue chickens/pheasents in the actual coop which is 6x8 for a few hours to let him really have at all that space!

I would also like to consider training him to a flight harness to be allowed to fly at parks or if I take him out to my horse (who boarded).

In all honeaty he will have a good amound of free time. What do you think is the 'acceptable' size of a cage for an adult curl? (Lengthxdepthxhight)

Also, if you know any breeders other than Jennings, please let me know.

Oh! And the reason that I am looking at a timeframe of 2 years is because our house closing date is end of feb. The 1st year most of my savings will go into projects around the house. Then the 2nd year will be to save up for the bird and supplies. =)
 

MinkFeathers

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Oh! And I could probably ask my exotics vet this, but I'd rather hear it from owners...

Are there anual vaccines for birds like there is for dogs/cats?
 

MinkFeathers

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Thank Calpurnia for allowing me to transfer your answer here!

A "treat" is just any food that my bird's value over all others. So it can vary between individuals. For Kevin it is probably a tie between grapes and blueberries.


As for the potty training thing.... really, really don't get your hopes up here. Not trying to be a downer, just that it is a topic I have discussed with other aracari owners and the reality is, potty training is hard enough with a bird that is relatively focused and food motivated (i.e. many parrots). Aracari's on the other hand can be food motivated to an extent, but seem to have very short attention spans and get full very quickly. They are designed to eat smaller amounts of food frequently throughout the day, which means if I'm trying to train Kevin with even his favorite food (blueberries), after just 4-5 he is already full and could care less about what I'm trying to teach him. I've tried cutting them up into little pieces (like halves or quarters) but then, even if he is not full after a few minutes he usually gets bored and just hops away.


So far I've taught Kevin how to "target" and fly to me on command, but even simple tricks that my parrotlet picked up immediately (like spin around or wave) have proven difficult.


So in conclusion, their lack of decent training ability PLUS the fact that they poop so often makes it super difficult to potty train them.


To finish with your other questions: No I don't think yogurt is acceptable for an aracari. All birds are lactose-intolerant for one, so it actually has a greater chance of causing digestive upset than aid. Yogurt is significantly lower in lactose than milk (which is why many people feed it in small amounts to their parrots), but because I can't really see any true benefit to feeding it to an aracari I would avoid it. If you are looking for a digestive aid simply feed papaya (something that is recommended to be fed daily anyway).


Personally I would keep your aracari and chickens separate. You're right in being wary of mixing outdoor and indoor birds. You do not want to risk exposing a hand-raised aracari to a multitude of poultry related diseases or parasites. On top of that, not all aracari's are going to be bird friendly. Kevin was raised with Simon and so is gentle and non-aggressive towards him, but is very confrontational with my BH pionus and budgies. If your curl was raised with chickens it might be ambivalent towards them but since this also isn't recommended.... I would just go ahead with separate flights for everyone if you want an outdoor aracari space.


Hmmm.... Do not do things.... well I could say do not leave an aracari out unsupervised unless you know the room/space is tidy. This means making sure there aren't little odds and ends laying about (unless they are bird-safe). We learned the hard way that an aracari can and will try to eat inedible things after Kevin swallowed an earplug and a hair tie on separate occasions. Luckily he has a nifty habit of coughing up things that can't be digested but if this is not the case with your bird you run the risk of serious medical emergencies. Now that we've learn our lesson we make sure to keep the bird room clean and uncluttered. Also NEVER EVER clip an aracari's wings. They cannot climb with their beaks and so if clipped are severely crippled. Kevin also isn't the most graceful chicken (the foot definitely doesn't help) so he needs to be able to fly to get around as well as catch himself during a fall.
 

MinkFeathers

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And some more questions.

What low iron pellets do you guys feed? I was thinking of going with mazuri (probably spelled wrong, sorry), but wpuld like to know what other options may be available. Also where do you get it? I figure I will be getting it delivered from an online source.

How much do you buy at one time, and how long does it last?

Annnnd....this is just more out of curiosity than anything...but, is it possible for 'companion' or 'pet' birds to still nake good breeders? Just thinking that maybe, if a curly really does work out for me, that I may want to dabble in that (as I have with my reptiles). May still just want to keep to the 1 bird rule, but might be something to think about. =)

Oh! And I know that they require fresh fruit daily, but was wondering about frozen fruit. Is it ok to chop a bunch say...once a week, then freeze it in baggies and pull out to thaw and serve? If this is not good, why?
 
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MinkFeathers

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I wanted to edit my sbove post to add this question, but it seems I can't.

Soooo, is there a list somewhere that gauges the iron in fruits/veggies?

I was thinking about the blue berries and pomagranate that have been mentioned, and was wondering about other berries like black or raspberries...what about strawberries?

Sorry for the barrage of questions lol. Just so excited to learn more than my initial understanding of 'basic' care for these beautiful companions!
 

Calpurnia

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I feed both Zupreem Softbill and Blessing's Softbill pellets. I've not tried Mazuri because it is usually more expensive and more difficult to get than the Zupreem (I like to order it online using Amazon Prime), and upon comparing the ingredient lists of both I found them extremely comparable. Both companies try to keep their iron levels around 80ppm but can get up to 100pm. Mazuri is the only company that publishes the iron content of all of it's batches but Zupreem is guaranteed <100ppm. These are the two brands I've seen most commonly used by breeders and zoos and seem well respected. I started with Zupreem because that is what Kevin was weaned on, but I know if you get a bird from Jennings they will be eating Mazuri. In general I would avoid brands like Kaytee that artificially color their pellets, as the dye is unnecessary. I have just recently switched Kevin over to the Blessing's softbill pellets. Just because their guaranteed iron analysis is 26ppm by FAR the lowest on the market. Unfortunately, I don't really like the texture of the pellets once they are soaked (they kind of just disintegrate) and they also come in huge pieces that I have to break up so Kevin can even eat them. Right now I only have a 2 lb bag of the stuff so will see what I feel like going with once they are finished. But they are another good option.

For just Kevin I buy ~2lbs online every 3-4 months. They last so long mainly because I limit his pellet intake and only feed 1 tbsp soaked per day.

I feed frozen blueberries (because trying to buy enough fresh in the middle of winter would cost an arm and a leg) but that's it. From experience I know that Kevin really doesn't like the texture of most frozen fruits OR they just get unnecessarily messy. For example I would definitely prefer to feed free blueberries all year as the frozen ones seem to make his poop stain more easily and get purple juice everywhere when thawed. Raspberries, melon, papaya, banana, apple, grapes.... all get too mushy when frozen and thawed. You will be surprised that aracaris can be picky about the taste/textures of their foods. The only fruits I've had limited success with are pomegranate arils and firmer veggies like carrot, sweet potatoes, squash....

Honestly fruit chopped once a week can be stored in the fridge no problem. Of course you will want to consider leaving out things like banana/apples/etc that brown easily or spoil quickly and mixing them in later. You'll also have to watch for things spoiling (for example, chopped papaya becomes softer and more translucent with age, something that Kevin doesn't like). Personally, I chop all of my fruit for the next day the night before, but prepare it in advance. So over the weekend I will steam a carrot and some sweet potato then put that, half an apple, some washed grapes and pomegranate arils in a tupperware. The papaya I cut into quarters and wrap with plastic. Leaving the seed in things or leaving the fruits as whole as possible keeps them fresher longer. Then I just slice off as much as I need each day. Takes about 5 mins tops.

Here is a link to the food guide I made for myself (based off of what produce is commonly available in my area as well as the Riverbanks Zoo Toucan Husbandry manual). It shows a bunch of safe fruits and veggies you can feed. Now I've gotten into arguments with other toucan owners before who said that feeding my birds greens, veggies, or other "high" iron foods like dragon fruit, blackberries, or sweet potato was irresponsible. BUT I'd like to just point out that the food with the highest iron content that we regularly feed our birds is in fact their pellets. 100g of pellets has over 10x the iron as a similar amount of sweet potato, 40x the iron as a similar amount of papaya, etc, etc. As you know, pellets are necessary in the diets of these captive birds and they aren't keeling over from eating them. So while it is important to not feed tons of iron rich foods or citrus in excess, it is also important to have a varied diet. Sorry for the rant, I'm just thinking about a toco owner who told me that he fed nothing but papaya, blueberries and mazuri pellets to his bird and feeding anything else was dangerous/unnecessary. There is being cautious, and then there is being overly paranoid at the expense of your bird's mental and physical health.
 

MinkFeathers

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Rant away! That was full of great info! I don't personally eat much fruite myself outside of canned peaches, canned mandarine oranges, some apples, and bananas, so I have no idea how quickly these things spoil. I do grab mango and papya to blend into a mush along with fortified powdered food for my crested geckos though, so I don't see this being too different. Just more often. (Geckos get fresh fruit once a month to break up the monotony of their powdered staple, and baby food twice a month, but only mixed with their established powder). I am no newbie to specialized diets lol.

Now, I do have leopard geckos that I buy super worms, wax worms, and breed dubia roaches for (will probably get another type or two of roaches to mix it up as well). Will an aracari appreciate a little insect snack?
 

Calpurnia

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Oh yes lol Kevin goes nuts when a moth gets in the apartment. It's actually kind of morbid how he stalks, then catches, then releases, then stalks, catches, releases the bug over and over again until it's all mangled and near death. Only THEN does he finally eat it. I don't feed insects regularly but can imagine they'd be a nice treat every now and then.

One last thing I just thought about when it comes to keeping your fruit fresh is feeding it whole! Especially in the summer when things spoil a lot more quickly. I'll string chunks of papaya or berries on a skewer (leave the skin on it helps keep the fruit from being torn off and dropped in big pieces), tie half a banana with part of the peel torn away to the side of the cage, etc. Great for foraging and saves work on chopping haha. :D
 

MinkFeathers

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Oh cool! I was wondering about that! Make them work for their fruit! Lol.

How often would it be ok to offer insects? Don't want t over do i after all. =)
 

Calpurnia

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Hmm, I'm not really sure. Maybe once or twice a week at most? Then again, I don't know their iron content so that is just as often as I would be comfortable.
 

MinkFeathers

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I bet I can hit up some other reptile breeders to get iron content for bugs. I know they have a fat/protine break down of each kind as it is. Shouldn't be too hard to find. =)

If I find out I'll let you know!
 

MinkFeathers

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What do you line the bottom of their cage with? I hear that newspapers work, butvwith how wet you say their poo is, is that still good?
 

Calpurnia

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I bet I can hit up some other reptile breeders to get iron content for bugs. I know they have a fat/protine break down of each kind as it is. Shouldn't be too hard to find. =)

If I find out I'll let you know!
Thanks that would be great!

What do you line the bottom of their cage with? I hear that newspapers work, butvwith how wet you say their poo is, is that still good?
I use a paper bedding (I think it's called Kaytee Clean Comfort or something like that) because I only clean his cage once a week (twice in the summer). I put "Fresh News", a paper kitty litter, in the spots where he poops the most. This has worked really well for me so far but note that I have a relatively small cage so it is more feasible (money-wise). Newspaper definitely works but with that you'd have to change the main poop spots at least once a day because it isn't as absorbent.
 

MinkFeathers

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I have experience with that paper bedding. Was GREAT for my mice and rats (bred them for the snakes but got too smelly for my current tiny apartment). That stuff is expensive though....

Did you do a full clean once a week, or just the worst spots?

Also, what is the minimum space needed for a cage? If he is happy with alot of time out in the office and out door aviary, perhaps I don't need to go so crazy with the indoor enclosure. I may still want to do a custom one anyway, but maybe scale it down a bit.

Calpurnia, do you ever use skype?
 

Calpurnia

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Yeah I buy it in bulk and between the three of my cages a big $30 bag lasts about a month, with full cleanings once a week. During the summer I do replace the kitty litter in the worst spots of Kevin's cage midway through the week.

Kevin is ~140g and Curls are supposed to be around 210g so that's 1.5x as big approximately.... The size of Kevin's cage now is about 3ft x 2ft x 4ft. Here you can see it:

KevinCage.jpg

Even if he is forced to stay inside of it all day it is plenty of space to hop back and forth between perches, play with toys, etc. But since this is rare (and since space is limited at the moment) I'm happy with it's size.

A curl would need a slightly larger set up (probably 1.5x bigger because of their body size difference), but if they end up having a similar lifestyle with tons of out of the cage time, then there is no need to go crazy.

I don't use Skype! But if you are interested in chatting more you could always PM me.
 

Sweet Louise

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@Calpurnia Thank you for all these posts. An Aracari is still my dream bird. I just don't think I could keep up with all the fruits and veggies... I admire the folks who can take care of these special birds, and Kevin seems to live in birdie heaven.
 

MinkFeathers

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Al, ok then. I think I ill measure the area of the room the cage will go in properly. I rarely use vertical space, so if I can I may just make it as high as the cieling because....why not? Lol.

From the sounds of it though I probably had good numbers in mind. The drawing I have now has the cage being 5 foot long by 6 foot high. I was wanting to save a bit of floor space so only have it about 2 foot deep. I guess I should try and see if I can make it 3 foot deep instead.

The only thing I cant think of how to make is the 'droppings pan' for a cage that large. .

Any suggestions?
 
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