Owl is considered as one of the pets that are quite difficult to keep. Because, these birds are easily to stress and die. If you have no experience of keeping a pet, we wouldn’t recommend you to choose owl as your starting pack! Well, at least before you read below tips…
1. Pick a Young Owl
If you want to have owl as your pet, it is better to pick a young owl instead of the full-grown owl. This is because a young owl is easier to be trained or tamed. In addition, the food is that needed is not that vary (you can give insect food such as crickets).
2. Set up a Perching Spot
The next thing you need to do if you want to keep an owl is by setting up a perching spot. Most of the keeper will put their bird inside an iron cage and put a perching spot inside it.
Owl will get stressed easily if you put them inside a small iron cage.
Instead of locking them inside a cage, you can set up a perching spot, and lock their legs to the perching stick. By doing this, they will be far less stressful for them!
However, if you still insist to use cage as your owl’s exhibit, choose a big and wide one (recommended to choose 50x than their size).
Perches can be made using natural wood twigs with an ideal and comfortable shape. Usually, owls that are not tamed yet, their legs are still need to be tied to a perch so they don’t fly away.
3. Handle it Frequently
The next step to take care of your owl, is by taming them! In order to tame them, you need to build a relationship with your owl by handle it more often.
You can gently pat and touch their head and pay attention of their reaction. If they’re seems to not comfortable at first, don’t rush it! Take a short break and slowly build connection with them.
By handling them more frequent, your owl can quickly get a long and recognize you as the keeper. As the result, they’re much easier to be tamed!
Read: 10 Things to Consider Before Getting a Pet
4. Set Up a Shade Spot For Your Owl
Owl is a type of nocturnal animal. In their habitat, they active only at night, even when looking for prey. So, if the sun is high and feels hot, put your owl in the shade.
5. Calm
When you are all taking care of your owl, especially during the taming process, you all need to be able to stay calm. Because, if you’re panic, they can sense it and they will be panic as well. As a result, there is a chance that they will stress and reduce their hunger.
When you just own them recently, it is normal to have fear of being bitten or scratched by your own owl. To overcome this fear, you could buy some gloves and use it when handling them.
6. Do Not Forget to Turn Off The Lights!
If you keep an owl at home, you should not disturb its activities by turning on bright lights. So, you should turn off the lights that are near the owl until it’s all dark. Owl’s vision are very sharp even though it is pitch black.
7. Proper Feeding
Well, the most important way to care for owls here is in the matter of providing the right and nutritious type of food. Although owls are a type of carnivorous bird, owl should not be fed carelessly. You are still obliged to pay attention to the protein content and nutrition of the food.
For the type of plop type of owl food, you can feed crickets or small fish. However, it is different with other types of owls. They will need a type of food in the form of white mice, small fish. However, you should avoid giving processed or packaged meat.
This is because processed or packaged feed contains preservatives or chemical substances which can undoubtedly damage the owl’s health. Thus, all of you have to provide fresh and alive feed. For the gift, you can all place it in a container that is easily accessible by the bird or feed it.
Likewise for the problem of giving drinking water, you can put it in a place that is easy for owls to reach. Give in a disciplined and regular way.
8. Treat Them As Your Buddy
The next way to care for an owl is to think of it as your best friend. Not everyone can keep it well. Thus, you all have to really pay attention to the pattern of care. If you have taken care of it properly, your owl will not run away from you even though they are not being laced.
