I was very proud of all of the birds when they went to the vet for their well-bird checks recently. The vet said the diet I provide them is superb.
However, I was discouraged when I asked her how long I could expect them to live. She said the little ones could be expected to live 10-15 years, which was what I had always heard, but she said the big ones rarely make it past about 30 years old, even though their life expectancies are generally listed as much longer. She said Roni, the senegal, could be considered long-lived if she made it to 30, Daisy, the maximillian, the same, and even cockatoos, which are supposed to have the longest life-expectancies of all, rarely make it past 30. She said this is due to the fact that we cannot provide for them the exercise and diets that they would get in the wild, so they generally die of heart condidtions. She said that is what Alex, the famous grey, died from, and he only lived about that long.
She said she wished she had a way to take a picture of my birds' feet, because their feet looked so healthy. She wanted to take the pictures to show her other clients what birds on a healthy diet should look like. That was encouraging, and she said if anyone would have a good chance of having a long-lived bird, it would be someone who fed they way I feed. That gave me some hope. She said mine could maybe live longer because of that, and especially if we could provide them with exercise, but, still, if they make it past 30 years, that would be very unusual.
What have any of the rest of you heard? I know the occasional bird does live very long. 30 years is still a long time, but I had hoped for more with the bigger birds. I'm not young myself, but my family is long-lived in general. Do you think 30 years is the most I can hope for?
However, I was discouraged when I asked her how long I could expect them to live. She said the little ones could be expected to live 10-15 years, which was what I had always heard, but she said the big ones rarely make it past about 30 years old, even though their life expectancies are generally listed as much longer. She said Roni, the senegal, could be considered long-lived if she made it to 30, Daisy, the maximillian, the same, and even cockatoos, which are supposed to have the longest life-expectancies of all, rarely make it past 30. She said this is due to the fact that we cannot provide for them the exercise and diets that they would get in the wild, so they generally die of heart condidtions. She said that is what Alex, the famous grey, died from, and he only lived about that long.
She said she wished she had a way to take a picture of my birds' feet, because their feet looked so healthy. She wanted to take the pictures to show her other clients what birds on a healthy diet should look like. That was encouraging, and she said if anyone would have a good chance of having a long-lived bird, it would be someone who fed they way I feed. That gave me some hope. She said mine could maybe live longer because of that, and especially if we could provide them with exercise, but, still, if they make it past 30 years, that would be very unusual.
What have any of the rest of you heard? I know the occasional bird does live very long. 30 years is still a long time, but I had hoped for more with the bigger birds. I'm not young myself, but my family is long-lived in general. Do you think 30 years is the most I can hope for?