jonesy wrote:omgsh! i did not know that about seeds. i will get those straight away! listen i am only going by what bird people have told me over the years. the bird vet told me that pellets were much better than seed for her. i don't honestly know how i am going to get any of them to eat real food; they look at it like its alien. but i will defnitely try again.
i live in brenham tx. i am distrustful of doctors after the 1k fiasco with no result, that vet had been trained at tx a&m university. i have called another vet who is a country doctor in a neighboring town and have an appt with them on thursday. they do birds.
sorry i didn't know what you were speaking of with full flight, i thought you might have been talking about a supplement or a brand of food. the bird in question and her husband are allowed full access to the house during the day; their children get out when we come home from work. HOWEVER, i do believe in wing clipping because we had a bird escape 2 years ago(totally my fault, forgot that she was on my head when i was taking rubbish to the curb) but she was returned 2 weeks later because we put an advert in the paper.
i have never seen anything called roudybush(?) do ya'll recommend anything else that i can get at a petstore? does petsmart have this food? they do have eco-trition brand.
thanks for your time with the replies y'all, i really did learn a lot from it.
Pellets *ARE* healthier than seeds, they've just been proven detrimental to small species when fed in large quantities. More or less, an all pelleted diet can be just as bad, and sometimes even worse, than an all seed diet. It depends on the species, mutation and overall health of the particular bird eating said diet.
As for clipping, well, even clipped birds can escape, so that's *NO* excuse to keep a bird clipped. Supposedly, there was a study done in Europe that said that it was about equal of clipped parrots vs flighted parrots escaping or getting lost. There's also many dangers to having a clipped bird that not very many people realize. Clipped birds are often on the floor where they are easier to step on, easier for dogs, cats, ferrets and other predatory species to get to them, and clipped birds are prone to getting stuck in places that a flighted parrot may have ease getting out of... such as trash bins, toilets, pots, aquariums, etc. *IF* a clipped bird accidentally escapes, then they might end up on the ground, once again a danger to predators from both the ground and from above, as well as cars and who knows what else. Add to this, a bird who cannot properly glide to the ground may be more likely to end up with a broken keel bone, broken legs, etc. Likewise, flighted parrots may crash into a wall, window or otherwise and break a neck, have a concussion, etc. My point is, there are pros and cons to clipping and allowing a bird to remain flighted. If it is *safer* for your birds to remain clipped, then by all means, continue what you are doing! *BUT* and this is a big one, *IF* you can allow for flighted birds in your home, after bird proofing your home (and there are some things you can do as extra safety precautions), then there is no reason to clip your birds just on the basis of having accidentally lost a bird due to an accident. Have I lost a bird that took off into the wide blue yonder, due to a stupid mistake? Yes I have! And I still promote flighted parrots!
In regards to food.. Well, Roudybush is a form of pellets. I feel that it's better than Zupreem, and it's what my guys are currently on. However, you will, unfortunately, not be able to find it at Petco. Petsmart *might* carry it, though! I currently have the Mini and the Small pellets. If you'd like, I can take pictures to show the size difference. Either one would work for cockatiels, but my guys usually prefer smaller foods. I honestly don't care for *most* brands of food sold at chain pet stores and none sold at grocery stores. It's unfortunate that there are no bird stores in your area....
As for avian vets, is Houston too far of a drive?
Natalie Antinoff, DVM, Dipl ABVP
Clinic Name: Gulf Coast Veterinary Spcialists
Address: 1111 W. Loop South, Ste 110
City/State: Houston, TX 77027
Map: [urlhttp://maps.google.com/maps?q=1111%20W.%20Loop%20South,%20Ste%20110%20TX]Google Map[/url]
P:
F:
Email:
Sue Chen, DVM, Dipl ABVP,
Clinic Name: Gulf Coast Avian & Exotics
Address: 1111 West Loop South, Ste 110
City/State: Houston, TX 77027
Map: Google Map
P: 713.693.1133
F: 713.693.1110
Email: drchen@gcvs.com
Roy Cruzen, DVM
Clinic Name: Steeplechase Animal Hospital
Address: 9609 FM 1960 West
City/State: Houston, TX 77070
Map: Google Map
P: 281-890-7257
F: 281-890-8641
Email: aggievet@pdq.net
M. Iqbal Javaid, Veterinarian
Clinic Name: Abbott Animal Clinic Pet Hospital
Address: 17006 Sugar Pine @ FM 1960 W.
City/State: Houston, TX 77090
Map: Google Map
P: 281-893-5000
F: 281-893-3250
Email:
Dan Matthew Jordan, DVM
Clinic Name: Animal Avian Hospital of the Village
Address: 2422 Robinhood
City/State: Houston, TX 77005
Map: Google Map
P: 713-524-3800
F: 713-524-8314
Email: yourpet@animalavianhospital.com
jonesy wrote:one more question...what is sprouted seed? can you buy it at pet stores?
At a chain pet store? No. At a bird specialty store? Perhaps. You can also go to a health food store (Whole Foods, for instance) and go to their bulk grains/legumes section, and buy some of these for sprouting! You can also sprout some vegetable seeds for the birds. I gave you this link previously, but if you check out the grains and legumes, most of that you can sprout. I can try and get a "sprout specific" list of seeds for you, if you would like.
As it stands, if you don't buy from a health food store, you are probably limited to having to purchase sprouts online, unless a bird store in one of the big cities that you can travel to carries sprouts. My own bird store carries two different sprouting mixes.
avian-diet-discussion/topic109164.html
jonesy wrote:ok, i've read your posts more carefully and have another question:
do you only feed your birds at certain times? i have food available to them all day and night. does it matter?
mfids, i love your suggestions and will try those regarding veg.
i have two large cages on top of each other for space saving measures. since she's not used to being caged up except at night she will pace frantically until i let her out. i have a separate big cage that i could keep her in in another room. would that be better and would i keep her in there by herself until she gets better? also, she picks her feathers out, do you think this will worsen if she's by herself in a cage?
i think it will be a difficult transition regardless. i am learning so much from your tips?
Generally speaking, I feed my birds enough food to last them for 1 day. They may have some left-over food the next day, and depending on how much fresh food they ate, they may have quite a bit left over! They get dry foods once per day, and depending on the day, usually get fresh foods either in the morning or in the evenings.
The feather picking could potentially be because she's sick. I have one hen that mutilates the tips of her wings, and possibly her tail feathers. Thus far, she's 'clean' but I plan on taking her in for more testing soon.
It is usually recommended to separate sick birds from healthy birds, and get the sick birds on *proper* medication, but it's also possible that in a flock situation, that different birds can be sick with different illnesses that may, or may not infect the other birds.
