There are pros and cons in keeping mynahs.

Cons:  Mynahs are  extremely messy  birds so very hard to keep.  They eat fruits, moist pellets and some insects.  They are high metabolism.   Therefore, they eat throughout a day.

 They drop wastes frequently, in the food dishes,water, on floor & perches make it sticky & hard to clean even in an outside aviary.  They also love to bathe so water can be everywhere.

• Hill mynahs are also very expensive  because they are very hard to breed, eating expensive diets and high maintenance.
• Like other softbills like finches or canary, hill mynahs only live up to 10 years.  They are also not as tame and lovely as parrots.  ( the exception of a well socialized mynah).

Pros:  Greater hill mynahs are rare to find and beautiful.  They are very chatty birds and have impressive mimic ability.  They are in fact one of the best talking birds even better talkings than congo african grey parrots. 

 Hill mynahs make different jungle sounds depend on a time of a day or weather season.   Also handfed  and tame hill mynahs are  adorable to have.

Length:  10 to 12 inches long

Indian hill mynahs are trully beautiful birds.  They are overall glossed black plumage.  They have a bright yellow beak with lighter at tip.  There are deep yellow wattles on the side of its head and nape , white stripes on his primary feathers, yellow feet & black eyes.

Young mynahs have duller feathers, wattles & bill.  As the birds mature,  its feather becomes shiner & brighter.

Wild mynahs mainly eat fruits, flowers & insects.  They are omnivorous.  We should feed our mynas a pellet base in additions of fruits, veggies and insects.  The advantage of feeding them pellets are drier droppings so less messy.

Please note that Mynahs must be provided with a low-iron softbill pellet diet, because of their susceptibility to iron storage disease.  There are several brands of low iron softbill diets  which are best for mynahs.  You can buy from:

Kaytee - Exact Original

Toucan/ Mynah/Softbill Diet

Petty Bird softbill

Zupreem softbill - low iron softbill diets for mynahs

Mazuri - Zulife Soft- Bill Diet

According to Mazuri, avoid high iron food items like meat, dog food

low in iron papaya, apple, and other high moisture fruits.

Fruits & Veggies

Avoid fruits like oranges, pineapples as they are high iron storage which shorten mynahs lifespan.

Insects

Once in awhile, we feed our hill mynah insects like live crickets, mealworms, super mealworms, earth worms or dried insect mix. 

Where to buy:  Ebay or exotic pet stores

 Greater hill mynahs are best know for its talking ability.  They are rival even congo african grey parrots because of their super clear voice.  They can minic voices of all family members.  Both sexes can produce an extraordinarily wide range of loud calls – whistles, wails, screeches, and gurgles, sometimes melodious and often very human-like in quality.

They love to bath everyday

They love to jump in a shallow bowl for a splash.

They love attentions 

They are extremely messy birds.  Due to the fact that mynas eat fruits so their droppings are very watery.  They are not fit for an apartment living.  Large space inside or an outside aviary are the best for them.

Hill mynah are very gentle birds.  They hardly bite at all. 

Mynahs are tropical birds.  They need a warm - tropical temperatures

Aviary

 It is best to keep a Hill Mynah in an walk in outside aviary.  Depth is more important than height, because mynahs like to hop back and forth - A longer width & depth are the better.  They love to fly from perch to perch & hop  around.  They do not walk, they hop instead.

• love to hop around or fly from perch to perch
• chatting in a low voice

love water

Hill mynahs love to bathe.  They do bathe many times a day.  Make sure to always provide a source of fresh, clean water for them.

• A large shallow bowl is better & change water at least twice a day

Mynahs are suffered from conditions known as Iron Storage/Overload Disease.  This disease is not transmitted from mynah to mynah.  The disease is caused by feeding a diet high in iron.

Please see info under Diets for low iron diets.

Mynahs are fairly quite birds.  They only make noise once in awhile.  Usually in the early morning and at noon time.  They also seem noisier right just before a rain.  In contrast, wild mynahs are most vocal at dawn and dusk.

Mynahs once in awhile make some shrill calls but they are not as frequent to be bother anyone. 

Mynahs are extremely messy.  A day without cleaning looks like a whole weeks mess of other parrot species.   They poop everywhere, in dishes, perches & water.  Their wastes are smelly, watery & sticky.  They are hard to clean.

• Here are some cleaning tips

1.  Set up two cages, one inside & one outside  of your patios.  Use a garden hose water to to wash its cages.
2. set up its cage at least 3-4 feet away from a wall.  It is best to set their cage on a concrete floor for easy cleaning.
3. Leave water & food on a lower level & away from perches.  Also use easy movable perches for easy cleaning
4. Use newspaper on its tray for easy to remove & clean.

The best way to determine a mynah sex is DNA sexed.  However, male seems larger than female.  Also male wattles seem larger.

http://www.mynahbird.org/

Hill Mynahs are difficult to breed.  They need largest aviary & privacy.  They will abandon their nest even with a small disturbance.   Therefore, you should place their aviary at a quiet, farthest corner in your property.   Here in South Florida, they breed mainly in a summer.  A clutch consits fo 2-3 eggs.  Both parents incubate their eggs which last about 15 days.  Their young fledge at 1 month & are independent at 2 months.

Baby mynahs are easy to raise.  We pull them for handfeeding at 2 weeks old.  They don't have crop and eat a lot and grow real fast.  We give them fruits and moist pellets - once in awhile afew insects....

We house them in an aviary of 16'x16'x7' with several style logs and cockatiel nestboxes.