TOUCANS AS PETS AND BREEDERS

 by Jerry Jennings

Emerald Forest Bird Gardens

 Toucans and their smaller cousins, the toucanets and aracaris, are among the most curious and comical birds in aviculture.  Their long colorful beaks have attracted attention since the time of the first Spanish conquistadors, whence they were taken to Spain for the idle pleasure of the King and his court.  Since the early 1500's toucans have continued to mesmerize those fortunate enough to have them.  Today they are no longer the confined to the realm of royalty, but available to those whose tastes and interests extend to the truly exotic.

Toucans, toucanets, and aracaris, which will be collectively referred to hereinafter as toucans, are members of the family Ramphastidae, a new world group of birds found exclusively in the tropical regions of Central and South America from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina.  While most are lowland rainforest species, a few(the Mountain Toucans) have adapted to the high altitude mountainous areas of the Andes, where they may be found as high as 9,000 feet!

 Toucans are known in aviculture as softbilled birds, due to the nature of their natural diet, which consists of a large variety of fruits.  In some areas of the rainforest, they are known to take advantage of over 100 species of fruiting trees, shrubs, and vines.  During the breeding season toucans also consume insects, which they feed to their rapidly growing young, whose protein requirements exceed that found in available fruits.

TOUCANS AS PETS

Toucans can make wonderfully entertaining and affectionate pets, providing they are handreared as babies.  They will cuddle, ride around on your shoulder, and learn to play in a variety of ways, including playing catch with small balls or objects.  They have even been trained to free fly and entertain audiences with their antics.  At one time they were a part of the Animal Actors Theater at Universal Studios, and today they can be seen free flying at Disney World's Animal  Kingdom in Orlando, Florida where four Toco Toucans perform in nine shows daily.

Unlike a parrot, toucans are unable to talk, but also unlike a parrot, they do not make loud noises, cannot chew up the house or furniture, and they do not shed feather dust making your house look like it was hit by a small snowstorm. 

HOUSING YOUR PET TOUCAN  

Housing a pet toucan is similar to that of a pet parrot.  Size of the bird determines the size of the cage.  A large toucan, for example, should be kept in a macaw size  cage.  A toucanet or aracari, on the other hand should be kept in a cage appropriate for an amazon or African Grey.  These birds should be let out to play, just like a parrot, and are readily trained to stay on a perch stand, either on top of the cage or nearby.  The perch stand should be equipped with a appropriate food and water bowls. 

Clipping the wing feathers of a toucan is a decision requiring a little more thought than when considering clipping a parrot.  Toucans cannot climb as readily as a parrot, since they do not use their beaks in the same fashion.  Toucans will hop their way to a higher or lower position in the cage and on their perch stand.  If their wings are to be clipped, perches must be arranged so they can readily hop higher, lower, or horizontally. 

Every toucan should be given the opportunity to leave its cage to exercise more than the cage would normally allow, and the owner is encouraged to interact with their toucan much in the same fashion they would interact with a parrot. 

DIET FOR YOUR PET TOUCAN

The diet of a toucan is relatively simple.  If you have cared for a parrot, you will have no trouble with a toucan.  Toucans, as mentioned earlier, thrive on a diet primarily consisting of fruits, which fruits are also an important component of parrot diets.  Toucans should also be fed a pelleted ration, that contains an appropriate composition of proteins, carbohydrates, etc.  There are a number of pellet products on the market from which to choose.  The key concern in choosing a pellet is to feed one that is low in iron.  An appropriate iron level is less than 100 parts per million, therefore it is important to check manufacturer's claims on the package (or call their customer service number on the package).

 Since we are unable to provide the types of fruit they eat in the wild we must go to the grocery store in search of alternatives.  We have found that nearly all commercially available fruits are suitable for toucans.  We rely heavily on papaya(if papaya is not available at your market, the other fruits will do just fine) and grapes for the foundation of the diet, which may be supplemented with various melons, i.e. cantaloupe, honeydew, bananas, apples, pears, peaches, apricots,  blueberries, etc.--in short nearly everything except citrus.  Citrus fruits are very high in acid and should be avoided, since the acid helps the intestines absorb iron more effectively, and we want to avoid high iron in the diet.

TOYS IN THE CAGE

Toucans, like other large birds, will enjoy playing with toys.  The choices to be made in selecting the proper toys are a little different than when considering toys for parrots.  Toucans are very curious and playful animals, and will pick up and mouth nearly anything they can grasp with their beak.  Objects small enough to be swallowed, will likely be swallowed.  Also objects that are ring like may wind up around the bird's neck.  Ideal toys are ropes that they can grab, rubber objects too big to swallow, and anything that they can stand on.                         

 HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS

Toucans are very hardy birds that will live as long as 25 years, while the the record lifespan for a toucan kept at the San Diego Zoo was 32 years.  They are resistant to viruses, which have rarely been documented in a captive toucan to date.  They are also resistant to Psittacosis, which has never been reported in a toucan(Dr. Amy Worell, DVM-personal comment).  Toucans, however, do get intestinal parasites such as roundworms, capillaria, etc., and occasional bacterias common to other birds, i.e. E. coli, etc.  Therefore, as with any new pet bird, it is advisable to take your new toucan to your veterinarian for a wellness check.

Toucans also occasionally develop iron storage disease, or hemochromatosis as it is technically known.  Iron storage disease occurs in a variety of animals including humans, and is found in birds, most commonly in Birds of Paradise, Mynahs, Toucans, and Tanagers.  It is a metabolic problem associated with the malabsorption of dietary iron.  To avoid this problem toucans (and other softbilled birds) should be fed a diet low in iron and low in acid.

 BREEDING TOUCANS

Toucans nest in the wild in hollow tree cavities, usually those left abandoned by woodpeckers and parrots.  Toucans do not have a great ability to carve out their own nests like woodpeckers, so they move into someone else's digs.  They will make some effort at remodeling, but their beaks are not hard enough to remove wood material, unless the wood is very soft.

In captivity, toucans have nested readily in hollow nest logs carved from lengths of palm tree trunks, and to a lesser extent in wooden nest boxes.  The nests should be 8-11 inches in diameter for the large toucans, and 4-6 inches for the smaller toucanets and aracaris.  Entrance holes in the side of the nest should be relatively small, allowing the bird a tight squeeze on entering.  Diameter of the entrance for a large toucan should be 4 inches, and for a toucanet or aracari only 2 1/2 inches.  Nests should be 2-3 feet deep inside for all species and if a nest box is used, the walls should be lined with a wire ladder for the birds to climb up and down.  Their toe nails are sharp enough to climb the interior of a natural log.

Nest logs should be placed high in the aviary as close to the ceiling as possible.  In the wild, these birds prefer to nest very high up in dead trees, so height will encourage them, and low nests will discourage them. 

THE AVIARY

Toucans make wonderful aviary birds, where they enjoy flying about with a great deal of energy.  Compared to a parrot they more active and will engage their owner in a variety of ways with their courting, nesting, and playing behaviors. They enjoy planted flights, and unlike parrots will not damage the foliage.  Plants also provide perching opportunities and shade which is very important, especially in warmer climates (fruiting plants such as grapes also provide dining and entertainment opportunities!).  In fact, temperatures in excess of 95 degrees Fahrenheit require that plenty of shade be present, and over 100 degrees mandates the use of misters.  Cold, on the other hand, is less of a concern as toucans will adjust to temperatures close to freezing.  I fact, I have photographed captive toucan sitting on perches covered with snow!  Needless to say, when toucans are placed outdoors, they need to be acclimated slowly to abrupt changes in the temperatures to which they were previously accustomed.

Most species of toucans may be housed together with other toucans and/or with other birds of similar or larger size.  Cage size is the all important consideration--the larger the cage the greater the opportunity.  Large toucan species should be housed alone in cages smaller than 12 feet by 20 feet by 8 feet high. However, if you have an extremely large flight, many pairs may be successfully kept together.  Such a situation may be seen first hand by paying a visit to the Dallas World Aquarium in downtown Dallas, Texas where they have on exhibit  many pairs of Keel Bill Toucans, Swainson's Toucans, Red Bill Toucans, Spot Bill Toucanets, Collared Aracaris, and Black Neck Aracaris and Green Aracaris in a large free flight nearly an acre in floor space and nearly six stories high.  There are a number of other birds in this enclosure including Spoonbills, Ibis, Flamingoes, and even Tanagers along with two species of monkeys!  There is also a much smaller flight there with several species of toucans housed together.

 When breeding toucans is the primary concern, the probability of success will be increased proportionally to the fewer birds sharing the flight.  The best results, of course, will be obtained when toucans are housed alone.

BREEDING DIETS  

 The diet for breeding toucans is the same as for pet toucans with a few exceptions.  Once babies have hatched, the pelleted portion of the diet must be moistened, so it does not have the affect of dehydrating newborns.  Fruit must be diced in pieces no larger than three eighths of an inch, and grapes must be diced--not fed whole. 

 While the toucanets and aracaris do not require live food to successfully rear young, many of the larger toucans will not feed their young aggressively unless they are offered live food.  We have found that the large toucans will not take mealworms, but love crickets.  Crickets are readily available from commercial sources, and may be kept in large plastic tubs, such as garbage cans.  They should be fed live.  Contrary to myth, toucans do not need, and should not be fed, live baby mice(pinkies), since mice are common carriers of Salmonella and Yersinia, two bacterias toucans are vulnerable to, and not otherwise exposed to except through contact with rodents.

HANDFEEDING TOUCANS 

Like most birds, toucans may be easily handfed.  The methods employed in handrearing parrots are similar.  Toucans are best fed via syringe,  using a commercial handfeeding formula, such as Kaytee Exact.  However, it is very important to add some fruit to the handfeeding formula, otherwise the babies will have a difficult time digesting.  Gerber's manufactures a variety of suitable fruits, such as Guava (most important), Mango, and Apple/Banana.  These should constitute 20-30 % of the handfeeding formula,  The formula should be mixed with distilled water, as it is the least likely water source to be contaminated with bacteria.  Tap water, no matter the source,  should never be used!  No other food should be offered to baby toucans until they are ready to leave the brooder and enter their weaning cage.  Once in the weaning cage they should be offered the same diet offered the adults, while continuing to be handfed until they wean, a process that can be sped up by handing them pieces of food from their food bowls.

 Like baby parrots, unfeathered baby toucans start out in a brooder.  However, they require slightly lower brooder temperatures, since the parent birds naturally brood less than parrots, thus the babies are not kept as warm.

 CONCLUSION

Keeping toucans, whether as pets or aviary birds, is a very rewarding endeavor that will enchant the owner as no other group of birds can.  They are delightful and entertaining, and much easier to keep successfully than one would suspect at first glance. 

Unfortunately, there has been a paucity of available reading material on toucans, which has led to the perpetuation of a lot misleading information and myth.  No books have been written on the husbandry of toucans, though there have been a number of journal articles appearing during the past twenty years.  There are also several books in the scientific literature available that describe natural histories of several species, and there are Field Guides to the birds of various countries, such as Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela. 

Further information on toucans, their care,  photos of all the species available in the United States, and a lengthy bibliography of further reading material may be seen by visiting our web site on the internet at www.emeraldforestbirds.com , and after visiting, if you have more questions, please feel free to e-mail us.