Care and Feeding of Pet Mynah Birds
Diet
Hatchling
Mango was raised on baby bird food – not what she really needed. Mynahs are not seed eaters and require protein and vitamins. Younger Mynahs (up to about 5-6 weeks of age) will require hand-feeding every three to four hours during the day and you can use the following recipe:
Recipe for Handfeeding Formula
- 1 cup soaked cat food
- 1/4 cup of applesauce
- 1 hard boiled egg
- Avian vitamins (follow dosage on package)
- Around 750 mg calcium (like Tums Smooth Dissolve tablet) ground to powder and dissolved in a little water.
Water to desired consistency
Mix all ingredients together, and add enough water to make it the consistency of cooked oatmeal.
Hand feeding is best done by using a chopstick or very small spoon to place the food inside of the baby bird’s mouth. A small syringe will also work. Mynahs are known as gapers and will open wide for feeding when hungry or if their beak is tapped gently.
After about two months, much to our delight she started eating on her own.
Adult
Unlike greater Indian hill Mynahs, Common Mynahs are insectivores, most of their diet is insects, grubs, beatles, etc. If you look at the ones in the wild, you’ll see them on the ground probing for food in the grass, just like their close cousin European Starlings. Most of the commercially available mynah pellets are formulated for the Indian hill Mynahs (commonly kept as pets on the mainland) and are higher in fruit content than protein. As there seems to be more information available for starlings, we modified the adult starling diet as found on www.starlingtalk.com.
- One very ripe papaya, mashed
- 1 cup high protein chicken-based dog or cat food (We use Nutro Indoor cat food. Ensure that you do not use a red-meat based food as Mynahs are very sensitive to iron which is found in high quantities in red meat.)
- ¼ cup layers mash or mynah pellets. This ingredient increases the amount of calcium in the diet as required by birds.
Pulverize the dry ingredients and mix them with the mashed papaya to form a dough-like consistency. We feed one heaping teaspoon per day. If the consistency is too firm, add unsweetened applesauce to make it softer and easier to eat. This can be made into balls and frozen, or kept in the refrigerator for about a week. We call this concoction “Mango Mash”, and she will ask for it by name.
This is further supplemented with other fruit (be careful of Vitamin-C content as this will increase iron absorption), cooked eggs, and rice. They should also be provided some live food – mealworms or crickets are ideal, feeding 10-15 mealworms each day in addition to the mash diet.
She was not fond of meal worms as a young bird, preferring to kill, play with them, then leave them. We tried again when she was about six, and discovered that she loves them. She gets about ten a day in a dish with some polished stones, so she can hunt for them.
For safe treats Mango also loves apple, Swiss cheese, and wild rice. She gets a few small potato chips once in a while, and a little breakfast cereal from Dad too.
Maintenance
Mango requires regular nail trims as they grow long and she will snag on the carpet. As with any other captive bird, wing feather trims are recommended to prevent panic flight, and potentially a lost pet. We regularly see posts from frantic owners who have lost their birds – this can easily be avoided with wing feather trims. Nail and wing feather trims – also referred to as “clipping” – are quick, painless, and easy procedures that your vet can provide at low cost. Some pet stores will also perform nail and wing trims, but Mango is such a handful, we take her to out vet to have this done for a nominal $15 charge.
Heath Issues
Scales
Common to captive Mynahs is the formation of large scales on their legs.
In the wild, these scales would be rubbed off during daily activity.
It is speculated that some deficiency in captive Mynahs diet exacerbates this problem. After a few years, we noticed that the scale buildup was thick and starting to interfere with her walk (see photo right). After consulting several avian vets, and eventually received a recommendation to place a light coating of mineral oil on her legs, which quickly enabled shedding of the biggest areas of build-up. Over several months she has shown a big improvement.
Sugar Input and Diabetes
Initially we made mash of Cat Food, ground up Mynah pellets, and banana’s added as a sweetener. However, we noticed that after her molt, many of her feathers did not come back in. A vet diagnosed that Mango had developed border line diabetes due to too much sugar in her diet. This was compounded by lots of sweet treats, which she loved but were not at all good for her. So we switched the Banana to Papaya for the sweet taste that she loves – and stopped the treats with processed sugars.
Vet Care
Find a good avian vet specialist. They can be expensive, but worth it if you run into any issues. Just like any other pet, regular vet visits are recommended. As mentioned above, nail trims and wing feather trims are highly recommended.
Life in Captivity
Captive Mynahs can live for 20-25 years, so once you commit you’re in this for the long haul. Mynah’s should have a large roomy cage that they are comfortable with, and toys to keep their minds engaged. They also need to keep clean and love baths, so provide access to a bowl in the cage, or around the house. Mango loves to take baths in Lucky’s water bowl!
Mango does not need to hunt for food as wild birds do, so it is important that she have plenty of toys – which helps keep her out of trouble. We allow Mango free run of the house when we’re home. The activity is good exercise for her and helps to keep her engaged. And besides, she’s such a busy body around the house – it’s fun to watch her interact with other pets and things she finds around the house.
Training A Mynah Bird?
Yes, really – Mynah’s can be trained. It took us a while to figure out how to do this. We found three things that she didn’t like: large sticks, dark objects, and being chased with an outstretched towel. The stick was too scary – we suspect this triggers an instinctual fear of snakes. So we settled on chasing her with a towel. Our primary objective was to train her to return to her cage when she was young. Surprisingly, she learned this lesson very quickly. We associated it with the words “cage time”. She learned quickly to what this meant and we were able to skip the towel after a week or so. Now she will return to her cage on command, and only occasionally requires coaxing. Every now and then she will run off and make us chase her around the house a few times before reluctantly hopping back into her cage.
We also trained her to “step up” so we can pick her up. The outcome of this command is somewhat hit and miss, but three out of four times she will hop up on your hand, and often quietly repeats the word “up” when this is requested.
Potty training would be ideal and something we joke about, but since we didn’t work on this when she was younger, it’s probably just a pipe dream!