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Hi. Just wondering is anyone has micro-chipped their bird, was anesthesia used, and has it bothered the bird since it's been done? Any pros or cons ? thanks in advance.

My personal opinion is that budgies fly so well that the chances of recovering an escapee are too slim to warrant chipping. I would instead put every effort into NOT letting your bird escape. It's hard to be careful but it's soooooo worth that effort. Put reminder signs on your doors. Form VERY careful habits about closing a door between your bird and an exterior door before opening.

Thanks for asking! There's not much worse than watching a bird you love fly outta sight, knowing s/he will likely die VERY soon and it's your fault.

My macaws are chipped & I have never seen it bother them.

Three of my four birds (Timneh, red-tailed grey and a goffin) are chipped. I will get my other goffin chipped at some point. No issues so far and they were all done a few years ago.

Bev

Most a-vets will not chip any bird that is cockatiel sized or smaller, which usually includes the pyrrhura conures, however they will microchip birds that are quaker or sun conure sized and larger.

Pros?
The chips are small and "easily" fit underneath the skin
They can hold enough data on them to help return your lost pet

Cons?
There's been at least one report of a macaw that started mutilating himself after being microchipped
Microchipping in parrots is still relatively new, so not everyone will think to scan a lost parrot for a chip.
Not all scanners will read all chips
The majority of people who find dogs and cats usually have the mentallity to look for their owners. Although many people who find birds will do the same, I've noticed a larger portion will decide to keep the bird rather than looking for the owner... then again, I frequent bird forums far more than I do cat or dog forums, so that information could be wrong.


I'm sure there are more pros to microchipping, and that the pros probably outweight the cons. Here's a couple of articles on the subject.
http://www.birdtheft.org/birdid.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww7eiii.htm