The Red-billed leiothrix, with its brilliant plumage and melodious song, is one of the most famous caged ornamental birds around the world.
Let's learn how to keep this beautiful bird.
1. Bird selection
The Red-billed leiothrix is a beautiful, graceful, and popular bird.
Its body is olive green on the back, with obvious red and yellow spots on both wings, pale yellow around the eyes, a bright red beak, and a distinct orange throat and chest.
The male has a long body, a darker tail fork, and a dark, reddish throat and breasts. Females have a lighter tail fork and a yellowish throat and chest.
These characteristics must be judged together when identifying. The male bird with a bright call, large size, and bright plumage is the most suitable.
2. Choice of the cage
Red-billed leiothrix is shy and lively, so raw birds should be kept in the cage for a few days first, and the wings should be tied if necessary.
There is a cubic bird cage with dimensions of 26 cm X 26 cm X 30 cm, with a 3 cm high dung tray, a 1.8 cm spacing between bars, and a 0.25 cm thick bar diameter. This size cage is more suitable for keeping red-billed Leitrim.
Always check the cage bars for damage, red-billed leiothrix is agile and good at escaping.
3. Feeding and feeding method
Red-billed leiothrix should be fed in captivity with a variety of feeds to meet its nutritional needs.
The main feeds are cooked soybean meal, cooked corn meal, cooked eggs, fish meal, pupae meal, soursop, fruits, and greens.
Food ratios can be the following: corn meal 5, soybean meal 2, fish meal or silkworm pupae powder 1, cooked eggs 1, soursop 0.5, fruit 0.5, and green vegetables in appropriate amounts.
Mix the powder first, add a small amount of water and stir, knead it into a ball by hand, then grind the green vegetable leaves into a vegetable puree, add it to the powder, and mix well.
Reduce the proportion of corn flour and increase the proportion of soybean flour, cooked egg, and fish flour during the estrus and feather change periods.
4. Water bath
Red-billed leiothrix love to clean and like to bathe with water. In summer, you can let the birds bathe once a day, and in winter, once every other day.
You can prepare a bathing cage, and the water temperature should be 30-35℃. When the weather is cold, the room should be heated.
5. Bird cage scrubbing
Acacia bird intestinal tract is very short, feces and are thin and soft, therefore, to the bottom of the bird cage add a piece of dung board, and often pay attention to cleaning the bird cage, so as not to stain the bird's feathers, affecting the beauty.
6. feather color maintenance
To keep the red-billed leiothrix beak feathers remain bright, you can feed some sweet red pepper powder, carrots, or red fruits and red pigment, especially in the feathering period should be fed more.
