Turacos as Pets
Information and Photos by David Jones, UK Breeder and Turaco Expert – Website: http://www.turacos.co.uk
Turacos become hand-tame if hand-reared from an early age. However, the following need to be considered:
- Turacos are fruit eaters and their droppings are very sloppy, deposited anywhere, including when in flight.
- They need a lot of space to fly and run around in.
- Most do not enjoy human contact, although hand-reared ones, petted continuously, do accept and enjoy human attention.
- Hand-reared birds can just as easily be over-aggressive towards humans and with no fear of people can present a problem. I have two males (hand-reared by someone else), who attack me at every opportunity!
- Turacos are happier with a partner, although sometimes have to be kept alone due to aggression.
Having said all that, I know that some people do keep turacos in the house as a pet, so if you can find a tame one it is up to you.
Diet / Food:
The following diet is recommended by David Jones – Website: http://www.turacos.co.uk:
To feed about 80 adult turacos, I mix:
- 1200 grams (total) dry mix, in equal parts, of Orlux low-iron softbill diet (from Double Dutch 01970 832797), Haiths Prosecto (Freephone: 0800 298 7054 – UK only, International: (+)44 (0)1472 357515, poultry chick crumb, poultry layers pellets, Nutribird T16 (from Double Dutch 01970 832797), mixed dried fruit
- 100 grams of sweet corn (frozen)
- 4 large carrots, 100 grams mild cheese (grated)
- 5 hard-boiled bantam eggs, 2 large iceberg lettuce (finely chopped)
- 40 apples, 10 pears, 50 grapes, 40 bananas, 10 tomatoes, 3 oranges (diced into 0.75 cm cubes)
Please refer to this website for softbill diets.
Memberships / Organizations:
The International Turaco Society is dedicated to the keeping and breeding of Turacos in aviculture and the collection and dissemination of information on the wild Turaco family in Africa.
David Jones is the Chairman and manages its website, which can be found at: http://www.turacos.org/ … If you wish to join or renew, then on the Home page click ‘MEMBERS’ and then ‘JOIN / RENEW’.
Purchasing Turacos:
If you are interested in purchasing a Turaco, please visit this website for available birds and pricing. If you can’t find the species you are interested in, contact David Jones directly for a referral.
