.
Home
Keeping a Pet Bird in Singapore
Lifestyle

Keeping a Pet Bird in Singapore

perroEditorial
Feb 9, 2022
11 min

Keeping a pet bird is not uncommon in several households in Singapore. In fact, Singapore has a long history of trading in birds. Notwithstanding, according to Singapore Legal Advice.com, birds may be allowed in HDB and private properties as pets if they are not considered a protected wildlife species and if the bird is not a “street bird.”

Considered getting one before? Since keeping birds as pets is a popular hobby in Singapore, you will see bird lovers around the neighborhood get together from time to time to showcase their feathered friends would invoke the feeling of having to adopt your own flying forever friend.

Are you passionately looking for a pet bird so as to be part of this team? You should know that they are in various colors, shapes, and personalities. So, getting a bird that fits your lifestyle and personality will be greatly advised. This article will unveil several factors you should consider before keeping a pet bird in Singapore.

Considerable Factors Before Adopting or Purchasing a Pet Bird

Since you have decided to keep a new feathered companion for your home, family, and yourself, there are important factors you must consider before keeping one.

Commitment

As social animals that are playful and intelligent, keeping birds will require you to make some important commitments if you really want to have them and make them comfortable within their new environment. These commitments include time commitment, maintenance, and the cost of keeping them.

For time commitment, you should prepare yourself for a very long-time companion because birds do have a long lifespan. For example, an African grey or Amazon can live up to 60 years and a cockatiel up to 25 years. You should think about if you can commit to that.

As pet parents, you need to do a frequent cleaning of the habitat of your birds. This is a crucial task that requires dedicated time. Your weekly duties will be to clean out the habitat perches, structure, dishes, substrate (or habitat liner), grates, and toys. On a daily basis, you may also need to clean and refresh the water and food dishes.

Moreso, you may need to know how much is a pet bird, which may vary depending on the type of bird you prefer. For instance, you may need to answer questions on pricing such as finding how much a parrot, budgies and cockatiel birds cost. Cockatiel‘s average price ranges from $50 to $150, the average cost of a budgie is usually about $25, and the price of an Africa grey parrot is usually about $500-2000+.

You should remember that different birds have different needs. So, you may want to consider other important factors, such as designing a budget for the chosen bird and getting needed bird supplies.

Research

It should be noted that owning a pet requires fundamental knowledge of the pet in general and different species/breeds. This knowledge will go a long way to show if the conditions at home will affect the chosen bird. Some of the knowledge you must gain may be about spacing, noise, and air condition. Others include the bird types, breeds,  or species.

perrobook_pet_bird

Species such as finches or canaries will be great for beginners that have little time to spend with a pet bird. For those with a bit more time, ideal birds (if interested in parrots) will be cockatiels or parakeets (budgies). You may also want to consider Pionus parrots, lovebirds, parrotlets,  grey-cheeked parakeets, Quaker parrots, or poicephalus parrots. Although pigeons and doves may be overlooked as pets, they may be good companions because of their sociable and quiet temperaments.

If you’re in Singapore, several species are ideal for you as a beginner. Most of them can live more than a decade when properly handled. Some of these you can keep as pets in Singapore include:

  • Dove
  • Zebra Finch
  • Canary
  • Ring-Necked Parakeet
  • Cockatiel
  • Peach-Faced Lovebird
  • Budgerigar

Note: These pet birds should be kept away from children unless they can handle them properly. This is because children can easily injure them.

Getting the right equipment

Apart from knowing where to get a bird, you need to consider getting the necessary materials and doing needed preparation. Some of the materials you should get to keep your bird healthy include:

  • Food: Get food pellets, dehydrated or fresh fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, and cooked brown rice.
  • Cage: Go for a strong and non-toxic material that is easy to clean.
  • Perch: You can buy bird perches from a pet store or use branches from non-toxic and pesticide-free trees, like citrus, Northern hardwoods, Australian pine, or eucalyptus.
  • Water and food bowls: Use wide cups instead of deep ones to encourage the bird to try the food items.
  • Cage liners: This will help monitor droppings easily.
  • Toys: Objects such as rawhide and chews, soft white pine, or pine cones will keep your bird active and make its peak healthy.
  • Hiding place: You can use a paper bag, towel, or nest box as an escape hatch.
  • Healthcare: Make provision for first aid.

For your bird items, you may want to visit https://perromart.com.sg/collections/bird

Conclusion

Though not an easy feat, as with all responsibilities, knowing all this is needed to understand what it takes to care for these beautiful creatures.