Can You Have an Owl as a House Pet?

In many movies, books, and TV shows, owls are shown as incredibly friendly, intelligent, and affectionate pets.

Does an owl make as good a pet as it looks in the movies, and if so, what does it take to properly care for one? Can you keep one in a regular parrot cage and feed them seeds and other types of commercial bird food?

Owl needs a lot of space

While the pet owl has been popularized in books and movies (such as the Harry Potter series), the truth is that owls are not a good choice for pets.

The hardships of caring for an owl are a big reason why it is best to leave them in the wild, as these creatures can be both beautiful and attractive.

For starters, owls cannot be kept inside a standard indoor parrot cage, they must be kept in a large cage with an indoor and outdoor entrance, as well as have access to a bathtub which must be kept clean, where they bathe regularly in order to keep their feathers meticulously clean.

Owls fly silently, but their feathers will make a noise if they are not brushed. This noise is harmful to their hunting, and they must also be able to fly frequently if they are already physically able to fly.

What you need to know about owls as pets

These birds are raptors that live and hunt independently. Unlike other species of large birds such as parrots, owls do not live in flocks in the wild, which makes them very antisocial when it comes to other birds.

A herd mentality is what allows a parrot to successfully integrate into a human family, since owls lack this type of mentality, they view everyone except the person they choose as their “companion” as an enemy or prey.

They are likely to attack others on sight, and this can be a huge problem if you ever get sick or otherwise unable to care for your owl.

Their diet is specialized

Diet is another concern that makes it nearly impossible to keep owls as pets, since owls are technically a bird of prey, they have specialized nutritional needs that cannot be met by feeding them seeds, pellets, or fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables.

If you offer any of these rewards to an owl, they will likely not even recognize them as food. Owls are carnivores and should be fed whole rodents such as mice, baby rabbits, quail, and young chickens.

As carnivores, owls are equipped with beaks and claws specifically designed to shred and shred pieces of meat – capable of doing a great deal of damage to human owners if they are upset for whatever reason, they are destructive and can easily shred anything you might have in their enclosure.