Parrots

We offer training and behavioural visits for parrots who are screaming, feather plucking, showing signs of nervousness or aggression. These are just a few examples as the list is endless.

 

SIGNS & OBSERVATIONS OF BIRD HEALTH

(Dedicated to Rockie)

In order to maintain your pet bird's health it is vital that you know your bird's normal routine, such as how much he eats, drinks, rests and when he plays.  Faeces can also tell you a lot about your bird's health, so it is important that you know what they normally look like and how often your bird eliminates them.

Changes in your pets routine can be detected by observation, any changes should be reported to an avian vet immediately.

The changes could include any of the following.

Any decreased changes in activity, such as:

• the bird singing or talking less than normal
• the bird sleeping more then normal
• less responsive to stimuli

Any changes in the birds' physical appearance such as:

• ruffled or fluffed up feathers
• any sign of weakness, which could include difficulty holding things with either their beak or feet
• the angle of the tail, such as pointing straight down rather than the normal angle
• perched or on the bottom of the cage fluffed up with its head under its wing
• weakness or inability to move
• stiffness in movement

Any changes in food or water intake could include:

• a loss of appetite
• weight loss
• a decrease in food or water consumption
• an increase in food or water consumption
• dehydration

Any changes in the birds dropping such as:

• the colour
• consistency
• the amount

Other more obvious signs could include:

• bleeding or other injury
• convulsions
• swollen abdomen
• overgrown beak or claws
• a bird on the cage floor

Any changes to the skin such as:

• lumps or bumps
• flaking skin or beak
• inflamed areas of skin
• crusty skin
• white or crusty deposits around the corners of the beak or on the legs

Musculoskeletal changes could include:

• lameness
• any changes to the birds posture
• drooping or hanging wing

Any digestive problems:

• vomiting, which may include regurgitation
• diarrhoea, which may include blood, mucus or even whole seed
• straining to eliminate

Any breathing difficulties could include:

• noisy breathing such as wheezing, panting or clicking noises
• blocked nares
• heavy breathing could include breathing with the mouth open, shortness of breath and or the tail moving up and down with each breath
• any nasal discharge, swelling around the eyes or loss of voice

Changes to the eyes may include:

• swollen or closed eyelids
• discharge
• unequal pupil size
• unusual eye movement
• increased or decreased blinking
• cloudiness of the eyeball
• rubbing the eye or side of the face
• squinting
• light sensitivity

Any changes to the feathers such as:

• prolonged moulting
• feather chewing
• loss of feathers
• baldness
• damaged feathers, such as twisted or deformed
• matted feathers particularly around the vent

Should you notice any changes in your birds activity levels or physical appearance contact your avian vet immediately.  Give the vet as much information as possible.  If you are ever in any doubt contact your avian vet immediately, with birds it is never worth taking the wait and see attitude as they become dehydrated very quickly and often starve to death through loss of appetite.

When you go away on holiday and leave your birds in someone else's care it is very important that you leave a description of your bird's normal routine and behaviours, so that the carer can detect abnormalities more quickly.

Always keep the numbers of avian veterinary surgeons where you can locate them easily and make sure anyone who looks after your bird has access to them too.

 

ROSIE'S STORY

LUCKY…. THAT’S MORE THAN LUCKY

I first met Rosie when she was living with Elaine and known as Stumpy because she has one. The phone rang one day, it was Elaine asking if I would like to be foster mum to Stumpy. Who had come into breeding condition and was creating mayhem in the indoor aviary. That was two years ago, Stumpy became Rosie and over the course of time, as a term of endearment Pumpkin (don’t ask me why Pumpkin, it just happened).

Monday 7th June 2004 goes down as one of the worst days of my life, it is the day Rosie decided to commune with nature. It started out as a normal evening. Rosie came out of her cage at 6 o’clock in time for the news. At around 7-30, I leave the room to prepare my meal, which we share while watching television. Madam was perched on the curtain rail a favourite vantage point; I opened the door to go through and heard her moments before I felt her skim the top of my head. She flew across the hall into the bedroom, out of the window and over the roof of a shop in Orchard Street. At that point, I thought I would never see her again.

Grabbing my keys, mobile phone, and the bag of grapes (her favourite) I headed for the trees and gardens of the properties opposite the museum, whistling and calling as I went.

NO LUCK

Into the Boulevard, more trees, asking people I met if they had seen her. Well, I had to explain why I was walking along whistling and calling Pumpkin. I phoned Elaine to confess I’d let her escape, and for the rest of the evening I did the circuit in the hope that she’d stayed locally, but reality told me she’d head for the woods.

After taking her dog-training class, Elaine joined me, by this time, it was dark, and I had spotted a white shape on the roof of a shop in Palmer Street and started to call. When Elaine arrived, we both agreed it could be her and that she had moved slightly while we were watching, so I went home for a torch and binoculars. The beam of light helped and after some deliberation with the binoculars and the input of a couple of drunks we’d acquired, we decided it was a cone shaped air vent I’d been trying to entice down.

The next day after work, I phoned the R.S.P.C.A. and went to the Police station to enquire if she had been found, and if not to report her missing. Then to the local pet shop and to some people who live in an upstairs flat with a balcony, who put two cages of African Ringnecks out on nice days. To ask if they would keep a lookout, and leave my name and address. Realistically, I thought there was little point as by then she would have fallen victim to cats or seagulls, but I felt that I had to try.

The following day Wednesday was my day off work and I was sitting at the table with a mug of tea wishing I were at work with something to occupy my mind, which was going round on a continuous loop and my stomach was churning. The phone rang ……had I reported a bird missing? I am not sure what the man said after that other than he had Rosie, as I just burst into tears. He said he was at work and would bring her to me at about 6 o’clock, if that were o.k. O.k.! Of course, it was o.k. midnight if he wanted to. Her cage got a spring clean and at the appointed time, he arrived with his son and Rosie.

It turned out his son had spotted her having a drink in their back garden, which is in the Worle area, under the woods. So, she had travelled about three miles when hunger and thirst sent her in search of food and water twenty-four hours later. It sounds as if she wanted to be rescued, when the opportunity presented itself she allowed herself to be picked up.

Now I know they say that Ringnecks are intelligent, but if your going to go A.W.O.L it’s quite clever to choose to land in the garden of a policeman, who is a pet owner and who just happens to live next door to people who have a spare bird cage.

Lucky…that’s more than lucky.

Lucille