| If you're considering sharing your home with a pet | | | | cage, then you've picked a spot that's too drafty |
| canary, it's probably because you've heard so | | | | for your new feathered friend! As far as cages |
| much about their nearly constant, bubbly singing. | | | | go, your canary doesn't require anything too |
| Join the club! Since the seventeenth century, pet | | | | spectacular-just enough room to hop about and |
| owners the world over have kept canaries for | | | | stretch his wings. Make sure you purchase a cage |
| nothing more than the sheer pleasure of birdsong | | | | that is at least two feet wide and three or four |
| filling their homes. A canary is not merely a | | | | feet tall. Get a cage with a tray in the bottom to |
| feathered music box, though, and pet canary care | | | | make for easy cleaning, and make sure that the |
| is so much more than the gilded cage of old. A | | | | bars of the cage are not coated with toxic paint |
| canary is a living thing, dependent on you for | | | | or other chemical sealants. You should clean your |
| food, shelter, and love, and canary care, while not | | | | canary's cage thoroughly at least once a week, |
| rocket science, involves a certain level of avian | | | | washing perches, food and water containers, and |
| expertise. Ready to become an expert? Study | | | | toys in a mild bleach solution, and washing down |
| hard! | | | | the rest of the cage with dish soap and warm |
| Thanks to selective breeding, there's quite | | | | water. |
| possibly a canary out there to suit every | | | | While they can't stand drafts, canaries do love |
| personality and desire. Some canaries are bred for | | | | indirect sunlight. A good supply of natural light will |
| their coloration, some are bred for their shape, | | | | keep your canary singing, and will also interest him |
| and some, of course, are bred to produce a very | | | | in breeding should a female be present. If a draft |
| specific song pattern. What kind of canary you | | | | will kill a canary the fastest, a second runner up is |
| purchase will depend on what canary resources | | | | dehydration. Because of their speedy |
| are available near you. If you can find a reputable | | | | metabolisms, canaries require a lot of water and |
| canary breeder, that will be your best option. | | | | may die if they go as little as a day without it. |
| Many pet stores now, however, commit to | | | | Change your canary's water daily and never leave |
| purchasing healthy birds only from reputable | | | | for more than a day without asking someone to |
| breeders, but check first to make sure that your | | | | water your canary for you. As for food, seed is |
| canary was not wild caught or raised in | | | | the mainstay of a canary's diet, and there are |
| less-than-desirable conditions. If the pet store | | | | many good commercially available seed mixes |
| manager can not account for where your | | | | made specifically for canaries. You should |
| potential canary came from, don't buy a canary | | | | supplement your canary's seed with a little fresh |
| from that store! Oh, and be sure that the canary | | | | fruit and boiled egg every day. An apple slice and |
| you purchase is a male, if it's a strong singer | | | | a fourth of a hard boiled egg is enough. You |
| you're after. The females are incapable of | | | | should also provide your canary with a cuttlebone, |
| producing the characteristic long trills and melodies | | | | as he will gnaw on this to attain necessary |
| that made canaries famous. | | | | calcium. |
| Canaries can be quite delicate, so a primary part | | | | With these basic rules and supplies of pet canary |
| of learning to care for a pet canary is to realize | | | | care well in hand, you're ready to seek out the |
| that prevention is key. If there's a number one | | | | perfect canary for you. Will you choose a rosy |
| rule of pet canary care, it's that you absolutely | | | | red colorbred canary, an exotic Persian Singer, or |
| must keep your canary away from drafts at all | | | | something in between? Whatever your decision, |
| times. A drafty room can kill a canary without | | | | your canary will thank you exuberantly for the |
| any warning whatsoever, and even a slight draft | | | | next ten to fifteen years the best way he knows |
| can prevent your canary from warbling. If a lit | | | | how-by singing his heart out. |
| candle flickers when held outside your canary's | | | | |