Owl Care

[blackbat67]

Okay, i'm doing a course over the summer and i need to do a talk on something and as i have always loved owls i want to do a talk on their care - specifically i am thinking a snowy owl

so what are the housing requirements
how often are they fed
do they have to be flown

just general stuff like that lol

thanx in advance!

ps any good sites out there?

[stuartdouglas]

The National Birds of Prey Centre - 2005

What JPJ doesn't know about BoP hasn't been written.

Snowy's aren't especially good starter owls, they can overheat in Summer, and they can be arsey. Basically snowy's need a decent sized aviary about 12x6x6 would house one, the will feed on Day old chicks, rats, rabbit, virtually anything, Snowy's are primarily ground dwellers, so don't really need a perch. If you're going to fly one, you'll need bracelets fitting to the owl's legs, Jesses, to hold the owl when on the fist, a glove, swivels, and a creance (training line) You'll also need to weigh the bird daily, this is in order to find its flying weight, basically owls will only fly for food, not hungry= not fly. The idea is to feed the owl up until it will not respond when called to the fist, then the next day, get it out, weigh it and call it again, no response = no food, repeat this until you get the owl to come to the fist. that weight is the bird's flying weight, drop the weight too low and the bird will become aggressive and could possibly die, if the weight is too high, it won't move. Training involves small increments of gettting the owl to take pieces of food from the hand, followed by gradually moving the hand fist away from the perch so the bird has to step onto the fist to get the food. Then gradually increase the distance between the bird and the fist, so it has to make a small jump, this initial training is all carried out in the aviary. Once the bird has learned the requirements of coming to the fist for food, you can move outside with a training line on. You may find that you have to reduce the distance from the bird initially as it's a new environment, repeat the steps as in th aviary. if the bird refuses to come at any point, put it away and don't feed it. next day start off a bit closer and work the distance up gradually again. Pretty soon it will get the gist of what's required. i used to fly mine for strips of beef, bits of chick are so messy. They are quite time consuming as they need daily contact and you need understanding neighbours as they can stink a bit in summer and their call can be heard quite a way away. Our European male could be heard about a mile away.