Continued from page 1On a related subject:
6. Illness. Know what is normal for your bird so that you may easily recognize what is abnormal. I'm tired of hearing that "birds mask their illnesses to avoid predation" as an excuse for not bringing them to the vet quickly enough. Illness is only difficult to spot if you don't look. Birds are total creatures of habit; keep an eye out for listlessness, lack of vocalizations, sitting fluffed, discharge from the mouth, eyes or nose, any limp or wing sensitivity, lack of appetite, bleeding or unusual droppings. Weigh your bird in the morning, before eating (before the bird eats, not before you eat) every few days. If you suspect something is a little off, weigh him every day. If there is a weight loss approaching 10%, go to the vet.
But that's the secret to the whole issue: If you even suspect that anything is wrong, go to a qualified avian veterinarian. Immediately. Don't hem or haw about about it, just go. Please remember that it's not your decision to make, really, because it's not your life that's at stake.
Before we change the topic, just a couple more things about illness prevention. First, don't use dietary supplements/vitamins that you put in the birds' water as they are a great breeding ground for germs. Use a powdered supplement that you put on the dry or wet foods. I prefer the natural products like spirulina or wheat grass. Second, if you are going to be around other birds at a bird show, club meeting or the like, change clothes and wash your hands both before and after you go. Obviously, don't stick your bird next to some strange bird to "see if they'll be friends" or something. This protects both your birds and the other birds. If you have any birds at home that are under one year of age, I would not go to a bird mart or handle any other birds at all. Call me compulsive.
Finally, you should quarantine any new bird that you bring home for a period of no less than 30 days. This includes keeping him in a separate room, disinfection your hands after handling him and feeding your existing birds before feeding the new birds. (This is an over-simplification, but I can feel this article getting a bit long.)
Hey, here's a good one:
7. Smoking. Never smoke around your birds. Once again: Duh. Don't smoke in the room next to your birds either. Don't smoke downstairs if your birds are upstairs. I smoke a pipe and I'll smoke in the house if I'm in the study (well ventilated) with the door to the hall closed and the birds are down the hall in a room with it's door closed.
I am the staff avian behaviorist at Wilshire Animal Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. I recently spoke with someone with an Amazon with chronic respiratory problems. The file was loaded with notations saying "Owner told not to smoke around bird." Again, the bird was starting to show signs of an infection. Somehow, she thought that smoking every other cigarette outside, or "trying" not to smoke around the bird was good enough..... I was blunt, which kinda took her by surprise. She got the point.
8. Cages. Rules are rules, and here are some:
-All welds should be smooth; no sharp edges.
-All doors should be escape-proof or easily made so with a lock or C-clamp.
-All bars should be parallel; NO converging bars anywhere on the cage. Disaster waiting to happen.
-Cages should be powder coated or stainless steel. Many wrought iron and painted finishes (especially imported) are dangerous.
-While the cage should be very roomy, the bird should not be able to fit his head through the bars.
9. Strangers. Birds and people who live in Los Angeles naturally fear strangers. It is a protection mechanism, for birds and Angelinos. In that very few people know how to handle birds properly, it is probably good that most birds won't go to just anybody.
If you want your bird to go to other people, which can be great, it is important to let them know how to pick the bird up, that they lower their energy and not be anxious and that they approach the bird slowly and do everything possible to make the bird feel safe and secure. But most importantly, that strangers, as well as the birds keepers and anyone who handles the bird use:
10. The Final Word. And that word is "UP". One of the greatest uses of the "Up" command is that it enables more people to safely handle your birds because the bird will know what's happening as soon as they hear that word. This can be a great stress reliever. Also, if something ever startles your bird or there is a problem, a properly trained bird will immediately respond to the "Up" command and you can then take the bird away from the danger or otherwise protect him.
"Up", the word with a thousand uses.
I look at people who keep companion animals as their guardians, not their owners. Ownership implies property and to me property is something inanimate or lifeless, that can be discarded if you like. If you have to put a word on it, I would say that animals are "kept", and as their keepers it is our job to keep them safe and healthy and happy, without reservation or compromise. If you can't afford the vet bills, the safe toys, the quality cage, then you can't afford the animal.
Boy, that horse just keeps getting higher and higher. It may take me a while to climb down this time.
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