Theft and Death Benefits:
"With AviCare, you can recover the market value of your bird if you lose your bird due to theft or dealth."
Veterinary Fee Coverage:
AviCare provides your bird with up to $2,000 per incident in veterinary expenses*.
*Does not include coverage for existing diseases or routine preventative treatment.
Q. How do I tell if my bird is sick?
A. The best indicator would be the bird's droppings. Bright green or watery droppings are not a good sign. Also a sick bird will sit huddled and puffed up, with its eyes closed. The bird's song may change or stop and it may stop talking. Wheezing or sneezing or a nasal discharge is bad news. The bird might "pump" its tail. It may not eat or it may consume vast amounts of water. Observe your bird every day, that way when something occurs out of the ordinary, you'll notice. Also, birds often don't manifest signs of sickness until they're really in trouble.
Watch for warning signs, and act on them--get that bird to a vet. Better safe than sorry.
Q. What about weighing my bird? How do I do it? What sort of scale do I need to purchase?
A. contributed by Kelly Flynn, Kevin Chu, and Michael Holland
I'm weaning my new bird, but he doesn't seem to be eating well, should I be concerned?
-- or --
I'm switching my bird from seed to pellets, but its hard to tell if he's eating much...
-- or --
My bird has seemed listless/depressed recently, is he sick? Should we see a vet?
A possible answer to all of these questions would be to look at the bird's weight, and whether there is a significant change in the pattern or average weight of the bird. A bird's weight can't give you the WHOLE answer like a thorough vet examination with blood tests, etc., could give you, but it does provide a relatively inexpensive and VERY valuable insight into the bird's physiology you can't get with the naked eye. (See the list of AVERAGE WEIGHTS OF COMMON PET BIRDS)
There are at least two ways to get an idea on how much a bird weighs. You can feel the muscle around the keel of the bird, an emaciated bird will obviously feel thin, and one that has great breast muscle will feel very beefy, but unless you've felt a LOT of birds, its difficult to be able to tell if there's a been a slight change, and sometimes harder to note a slow trend or weight loss (or change.)
The BEST way to tell a birds weight is to regularly weigh them. For a healthy bird, that has had no recent problems, and is acting normally, I recommend weighing a bird once a week, and keeping track on a chart or record of some sort, about the bird's weight. You can even note other changes in the bird's appearance, like whether tail or wing feathers are molting, when was the last time the bird was clipped, visited a vet, had nails trimmed, or maybe had a significant accident like falling off a table, or hitting the window, etc. Maybe the bird appears fine after the fall, but once you start recording these accidents, you see a trend of them happening more often than they used to....this insight can help you catch a health problem early which will GREATLY increase the chances of recovery and survival for your bird, as well as lower health bills for you.
A common chart might have columns like this:
Date | Weight | +/- | Notes
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| | |
7/29 | 900g | 0 |Two large blood feathers on tail
| | |
8/5 | 912g | +12g|Blood feathers on tail still growing
| | |
8/12 | 908g | -4g |Tail feathers completely in, fecal abnormally
smelly past two days....?
Notice how I have a column I marked " +/- " where I see what the numerical difference is between the last weight taken and the current weight. This can be VERY valuable in noticing trends immediately. For instance, A weight loss of 10% or more of a bird's normal body weight can be very significant and should cause some concern on the owner's part if everything else appears normal. However, a LARGE weight loss would be obvious, like in the above example, if the bird lost 100 or 200 grams! On the other hand, if the bird started to slowly loose weight, for example 5-10 grams were lost each week, this would be more subtle, but if I review the " +/- " part of the chart, a weight loss trend of constant (if small) losses would jump right out at me. So I really like including this column in the chart. Its not only important to regularly weigh a bird, but to also weigh a bird correctly: At the same time each assigned day. For instance, I weigh my birds in the morning, after they've excreted, which is usually a large amount. If the bird has not pooped, I note this on the chart, since it can make a difference of up to 40 grams on a macaw! Whatever the time of day, or conditions, just be consistent in taking the weights at the same time. I also like the morning since I know the bird has been sleeping all night, and does not have any food in its crop from eating, which can throw off the 'real' weight of the bird.
Many people also have difficulty figuring out which scale to use. You don't need to buy an extremely expensive scale to be accurate. You can buy one in ounces or grams, (mine are in grams, since I find most bird weight records in books, vet offices, etc., also use the gram system, and everyone is trying to move to metrics...) and buy one either intended for birds, or not. Many of my friends have gone to office supply stores, and bought scales intended to weigh mail on, which are very nice and inexpensive scales! I got my scale from an ad in Bird Talk magazine, for about a hundred dollars, to weight my macaw on. I think its worth every penny, since its used several times a week and will last several years. It has a perch attached, but I have also seen ads for perches that attach with suction cups, which helps the bird stand on the scale. With smaller birds, they seem to have little trouble standing on the top of a sale, but with larger birds like large cockatoos or macaws, you might want to use a perch on the scale. My friend has made a perch that looks like this:
________
_____|____|_____ <--Board sitting on top of scale
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| scale |
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It consists of a base board, with holes that PVC plastic fit in securely. The PVC forms a U shaped and stable perch that is placed on and off the scale as needed.If you are hand raising a bird, or weaning a bird, there is NO excuse for not using a scale daily to chart the progress of the bird, and to make sure its gaining weight at a normal rate. The details of this should be discussed with the breeder before bringing the bird home. Weaning/ hand feeding a bird is a tricky, difficult and challenging job. Its not impossible for someone new to do well, but if you don't have a scale to be able to really see that the bird IS gaining weight, growing and doing well, then you should NOT be taking care of that bird, period. I know that sounds extreme, but I do feel that strongly about the topic.
Overall, I feel the use of a scale can greatly improve the ability of an owner to judge its bird's health. The records that accumulate as time goes on are VERY valuable for your vet and yourself to use if/when your bird DOES get sick. It may seem intimidating and overwhelming at first to keep records of your bird, it takes time and effort, but take it slowly at first, write down what comes to mind, and don't worry too much, soon, you will notice and know what to write down that is normal/abnormal for your bird. If you have difficulty with numbers, get a simple calculator to keep on hand. And bring these records with you when you visit your vet for a biannually or yearly check-up, they will appreciate the care you've taken!
When buying a scale, keep in mind:
Q. Do I really need to clip my bird's wings?
A. A lot of people think it's mean to clip a bird's wings. "What good is a bird that can't fly?" Well, it's a bird that you won't lose. Wing clipping is painless, like getting a haircut. The bird won't end up injured due to flying in the house. Clipping also keeps the bird from getting too smart-alecky and it is an aid in the taming process.
Different birds require different patterns of clipping. A cockatiel is such a powerful flyer that usually all the primaries have to be trimmed. Ask your vet or breeder to show you how to do it, and then you can do it yourself from there. If you do it, it's actually less stressing for the bird, and no, the bird won't hate you. Make sure to check for blood feathers before clipping wings.
Q. If I clip my bird's wings, how soon will they grow back? What if I pull the feathers out instead? Do they come back quicker that way?
A. A feather that is cut, clipped, broken or bent will be replaced during the next molt, no matter how awful, raggedy or good it looks. However, if a feather is pulled out (ouch!) and as long as there is no damage to the follicle (the area that the feather grows from, like our hair follicles) the bird's body will immediately begin replacing the feather. This new feather, until it is mature, will have a blood supply to it (See BLOOD FEATHER). Some people prefer to pull out wing feathers, rather than cutting them, because it looks nicer. This not only hurts (imagine someone 'trimming' your hair by yanking out bunches), it also puts stress on the bird's body. Feathers are all protein, and having to replace many, large wing feathers at once depletes bodily resources.
Q. My bird's nails are overgrown. Can they be trimmed?
A. Yes. Use either a pair of nail clippers or special bird claw scissors. Look for the "quick", the vein that is in the claw. You can see in it light colored claws as a pinkish stripe. In dark claws, you can turn the bird over to see the underside of the claw and the quick. You may want to have someone show you how to clip them first. Provide different perches and surfaces to keep claws in trim naturally. If you do hit the quick, dip the claw into some styptic powder to staunch the bleeding.
Q. My bird's beak is overgrown. What do I do?
A. An overgrown beak usually means that the bird doesn't have enough to gnaw on, which is how the bird keeps the beak trimmed in the wild. A vet or experienced breeder must trim the beak, as it is full of blood vessels, and a mishap could be very serious. Offer the bird toys to chew on or lava blocks or such to help keep the beak trimmed.
Q. Does my bird need a bath?
A. Yes! Most birds love baths, and will bathe in a dish or in the shower with you or like to be spirited with a plant mister set to fine. It's excellent for the bird's plumage and with "dusty" birds, like cockatoos, helps keep down the dust. Some birds may have to be gradually introduced to misting, but it's a good move. You can let the bird dry by itself (as long as the ambient temperature in your house is at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 Celsius) or use a hairdryer set on medium heat. Never put a wet bird to bed for the night.
Q. Do I need to install full-spectrum lighting?
A. It's a good idea, especially since birds really don't get enough sunlight in an apartment or some homes. You can get the bulbs at pet stores or order them directly. These bulbs are called "R" bulbs meaning that they cannot be used with a covered fixture. This includes track lighting and recessed lighting--anything with a "shade" even if the "shade" is made of metal. Check with the manufacturer, or get in touch with the local electrician. The lighting should be placed 4 to 8 feet away from the cage, in an ordinary light socket (no shade!) The light should only be hitting a portion of the cage. The bulbs should be used a minimum of 10 (ten) hours a week.
Q. What about an air-filtration system?
A. Maybe. If you find you're sensitive to the dust from your birds. They help reduce the dust load greatly. If you have a lot of birds, this is a good idea. Also, if you smoke, it would be a good idea to have a filtration system for the sake of your birds.
Q. What about stress in my bird?
A. The best cure for stress is prevention! Make sure the bird is healthy, has a good diet and isn't bored. But if this all checks out, think about the bird's surroundings: Did it recently get a new cage or was the cage moved? Did you rearrange the furniture? Change the diet? Remember, birds are usually suspicious of any new thing. Stress is serious, it's a physical reaction to mental and physical strain. A bird can become stressed when you go away for a long period of time, like a vacation. Infections can be a cause of stress--the bird is fighting to maintain homeostasis. Even strong perfume or even smoke can be a stress. Natural processes, such as breeding or molting can cause stress. Of course, what may stress one bird may be of no consequence to another.
***Help! My bird's NAKED! Why does it pluck?***
This behavior is most common in African Greys. Plucking is usually brought on by stress, but sometimes skin problems can cause it. Parakeets sometimes will pluck their older babies, in order to get them out of the nest, so that they can clutch again. Cockatiels might do it as well. A bird may denude itself because it wants to breed, but cannot, as it's a pet. Sometimes, plucking is acceptable, as when a hen may pluck her brooding area to transfer her body heat better. Boredom can cause plucking. A diet that is poor can cause this behavior, too. Once started, it usually is a very hard habit to break, and even if "cured" the bird may regress back to plucking if it gets upset. Even a minor change may trigger plucking.
Q. How do I stop the bird from plucking?
A. First, take it to the vet to rule out any medical causes. Consider any changes in the bird's environment. Even little things. A plucker may be dissuaded from its habit by giving the bird a toy with rope or fabric or anything the bird can tear up. Polly Dolly (TM) toys are great for pluckers. There are bitter apple sprays available, but they usually don't work. Collars can be used, but don't ever try to do this without a vet's help, or the bird could get hurt.
Q. Do I need to vaccinate my birds?
A. There are pros and cons to vaccinations. The biggest drawback is that every bird will react differently to the same vaccination. Some birds become paralyzed, others blind, some die, some aren't even bothered. I would think that one or two domestic birds kept as pets wouldn't need it. Birds in a large, mixed, business aviary, maybe. I don't feel qualified to give advice on this one. Ask your vet. They'll be able to explain it to you, correctly and in depth.
Q. What's a hospital cage?
A. It's a small, enclosed cage that has a heater in it, and usually a humidifier. A hospital cage can be warmed up, which makes it easier for the sick bird to maintain its normally high body temperature. The humidifier helps ease respiratory problems. You can make such a cage by using a small aquarium, and placing a heating pad under it. Put a thermometer in the bottom corner where the bird will be. Put some bedding in there, along with food and water, and cover with towels. Place in a dim room. The temperature should be about 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (27 to 32 degrees Celsius). If you're really in a pinch, place the cage, wrapped in towels, near a light bulb.
Comments or Suggestions should go to the current maintainers of the FAQ files:
| Kathryn A. Smith |
| Damian Bates |
This FAQ is by no means meant to replace the many wonderful and informative books, breeders, magazines, and veterinarians that are out there.
| Last Revised: Friday, 18-Jul-2008 19:48:54 MDT ( Damian ) | |