Pheonix – Blue and Gold Macaw

Pheonix
Blue and Gold Macaw
Pheonix is still a baby, he’s only a year and a half old.  His family new that their environment was not good for him so want him to go to a new home where he will get all the attention he deserves.  He is in perfect feather and is very playful.  He was screeming a little while at their home but they believe it was due to not having the time to spend with him.  We will be working with him for a bit to determine any issues and to help him overcome the screeming.

What You Should Know About Medications and Parrots

Due to the death of Dong the African Grey, it has prompted me to write this article. 

We have a tendency to want to fix things.  It’s in our nature to want to help and make things better.   However’, in many instances we end up causing more harm than good.

Even what we believe can be harmless medications on humans and other animals can have adverse affects on birds.  Their physiology is so very different than ours and other animals.  Medications that may help a child, dog or cat, might end up killing your parrot or making it much worse.

Over the counter treatments, as an example, polysporin and cortisone creams are designed for humans in mind, and the dosages are based on human use.   Most people think that it is harmless, as you are only putting  it on your skin.   At the very least it would have to be diluted many times to make it safe for a parrot, if in fact it is safe at all!  The chemicals absorb into the skin and find their way into the organs of the birds.  Given at full strength, these drugs could introduce toxic levels into the birds blood stream and organs.

This also applies to herbal treatments and “all natural” products.  Most of these type of natural treatments have not even been studied on humans, never mind other animals.  Some herbs can be quite potent as was the case with Dong.  The dosages are also designed for human consumption and in most cases have not been studied for a birds physiology. Even if it has been tried by someone else and didn’t seem to hurt the bird, no testing was done on internal organs to see how the treatment affected them’in the long run.

In Dong’s case, Chinese herbs were used as a means of treating a mutilated wing.  What ended up happening to Dong is her wing ended up mummified and badly infected.   The flesh was hardened and dried out.  The bones were exposed, which created a breeding ground for infection.  One of the herbs was probably for pain relief.  Dong removed the bone from her wing, probably because she did not feel the pain that she was causing herself!   Many different bacteria were found in her wing, including ecoli.  Her kidney function was 3 times normal due to the introduction of the chemicals into her blood stream. She had to have her wing amputated and was treated with antibiotics.  She eventually died after valiant efforts to save her. You can read her story on this blog as well.

Even though the family that kept Dong were knowledgeable about herbs and their uses, they did not know what affects they would have on Dong.  The family wanted to save money by treating with home remedies, which instead cost Dong her life.

It does cost money to take your parrots to the vet.  A single visit and advice on treatment will cost somewhere in the range of $40- $90, for good and sound advice about medicating your parrot.  It is definitely money well spent.  Some vets will answer single questions over the phone about medications at no charge but don’t count on it. 

If your bird is mutilating, it is important to get it into the vet for testing and treatment to make sure the wound is not infected and to determine any secondary casues.  In the early stages an antibiotic regimen could help.

Take the bird to the vets at the first sign of trouble, don’t wait until it gets worse.  If you start treatments early, the treatment will be less invasive to the bird and will probably end up saving you money.  We all know that birds will not show signs of illness until they can no longer hold themselves up.  The first sign of trouble is usually an indication that the problem have already bypassed the stage where they can be easily handled.  Putting a collar on the bird does not treat the root cause.

Even if you believe that stress is the factor that started the mutilating, there is in most cases a secondary, underlying issue also.  The stress is just the catalyst that started the behaviour.

Seeking advice from friends and what they have tried is not the same as getting good advice from your vet.  Many prefer home remedies for the money saving aspect.  But have these been studied in a clinical setting?  Is this just one person’s opinion? Is it really worth taking a chance?  Googling articles on herbs is not the answer.  There are many self proclaimed experts out there.

I am not an expert on medicating parrots and the only advice I can give you is;  don’t use anything, no matter how harmless you believe it is, until you have asked your vet! 

It’s too late for Dong, don’t let it be too late for your precious pet parrot!

What to look for in a rescue or sanctuary

There are various types of rescues for birds and I would like to discuss some of them here. People have different visions for their parrots after they can no longer care for them.

Some wish to see their birds flying free out of doors or in huge aviaries. In most instances, and in our Canadian climate these conditions are not possible.

I have even been told  that some plan on having their pets put down as they do not feel anyone would either want them or would care for them they way they do. I find this quite sad, as there are many wonderful homes out there that would love to give a second hand parrot an excellent and loving home and would willingly follow the previous owner’s routines and provide plenty of years of love to a parrot.

There are shelters which provide temporary care and usually some behavioural help until the parrot finds another wonderful family to care for it.

There are those that have wonderful aviaries with trees and play areas and keep all the birds and refuse to adopt out. They believe this is the only environment for a parrot. However they take in more and more and at some point the birds no longer recieve the attention they deserve.

The pros and cons of this are that birds that enjoy that type of environment would thrive in there. It would be a wonderful place for ex breeders and birds that do not enjoy human companionship. The sad part is those birds that love attention from human companions as most of the time they do not do well in this type of environment. They would rather be cuddled and snuggled and talked to and played with regularly. These birds you will find cowering in the corners of these aviaries, frightened of the other birds. Even volunteers can not offer these birds the bonding and attention an individual home can offer.

There are others that house the birds in any type of container they can find and are stacked on top of each other with 500 or 600 birds! This environment is not good for any bird! They do not adopt out birds and also feel their system is best.

Although it might be nice to see a bird flying around in an aviary, we need to remember that these birds were hand raised and conditioned to wanting human companionship.

We at Paso feel that each bird is an individual and needs to be assessed based on their needs, history and experiences. We do not feel that ALL birds can fall into one category. Although a nice sanctuary setting would be wonderful for some. It is not for all. Some birds would thrive much better in an individual home where they would receive one on one attention in a family setting.

We certainly don’t feel any place with 600 birds is good for any bird!

When choosing a rescue/shelter/sanctuary for your bird, carefully look at how the birds in the sanctuary are. Are they happy? Well adjusted? Are those running the rescue able to handle ALL the birds they presently have? Do they look comfortable with the birds both large AND small? Remember these people will be your birds care givers for a long time and maybe permanently. Do they rely on volunteers to work with the birds instead of themselves? How many volunteers do they have? Is it clean? Do they try scare tactics to avoid checking other rescues? Most of all do the birds at the rescue look comfortable with the rescuers!

These are more important than clinical cleanliness! We all know parrots make messes and rescues are no exception! Most importantly is how do the birds react to their new rescuers? Are they fearful and is the rescuer capable of handling your parrot?

These will make your parrot integrate into the rescue easier and will assure both you and the bird that they are in good hands.

Can you get references for them through your local bird clubs, zoo’s, SPCA et cetera. Word of mouth is another form but not the end all to be all. Does the rescue cut up other rescues trying to get “your business”? Does the rescue use scare tactics? Does it look like they are trying too hard, or does it appear that they ramble on? If these things are happening it’s probably due to the lack of skills on their part so they make up for it using these tactics.

You are the advocate for your parrot. Make sure to check the rescue and get outside references such as those described above.

A Surprise Reference

We were surprised to find this article in our monthly bulletin as we were unaware of the impact we had on this couple. This was originally posted in the Durham Avicultural Society Bulletin. We have reprinted it here with permission from the author.

To Durham Avicultural Society

Attention Bulletin Editor

I’m submitting this article to be considered for your monthly bulletin news letter. My wife Jackie and I became DAS members through odd circumstances. We have always been dog and cat people and all our animals are rescue cases. In January of 2005, I was asked by a working acquaintance if I would look after his birds while he went on a one week vacation. He told me that the person that normally did this for him was going through some hard times and was unable to help him out.

He asked me because he knew I was a huge animal lover and it wouldn’t cost him any money. A couple of days before he left I went to his home to get a briefing on what I was supposed to do for the care of the birds. When I went to his home he took me to where the birds were kept, it was in an unfinished basement with block walls and one small window at ceiling level with plastic hanging from the beams to keep the heat in. There were three birds in two different cages, two Amazons and one African Grey.

When we went down stairs it was apparent the bird hated him and they appeared absolutely viscous. They went crazy at the sight of him. Now he proceeds to tell me that he has had the birds for about twelve years and has never had them out of their cages and I’m going to have to be careful when I change their food and water because they will attack. He told me the amazons can take off the tip of your finger. Holy cats…….what have I gotten myself into here.

I should have left right then and there but something told me to stick it out. He said just come twice a week to change their food and water. I knew when he left I didn’t have to show up for a few days but I could not get those birds out of my mind. I went to the house the first day he left and just stood by the cages, I had a sadness that drew me back to them. I did not know anything about birds but I was smart enough to know that any living being would go crazy under these conditions. I came home and told my wife Jackie about my thoughts, she could tell this was really bothering me, so later that day she had to go and see for herself. When I took her down into the basement her first thought was it looks like the set from the movie Silence of the Lambs – dark, damp and scary. There wasn’t even a chair to sit on to hang out with the birds.

So this was the beginning of our relationship. Despite the fact there was no way we could put our hands in the cages, it was very apparent they wanted a relationship with us. Bart, the African Grey seemed particularly interested in Jackie. She would bob her head up and down and Bart would copy her movement and stick his tongue out. Shaba would crawl down to the bottom of her cage asking ‘what ya doing’ while I changed her papers. Fred, scared us the most since he would scold us if we came close to the cage and lunge at us. We stayed for about two hours and just watched and talked to them. When we left we both knew that we could not leave these beautiful creatures to suffer in this hell that they had been living in. We decided that we were going to get these birds and if the only thing we could do was give them a clean cage and a nice view it would be a heck of a lot better than how they were exiting now.

When the owner came back I had a very uncomfortable and honest conversation with him. At the end of the conversation he agreed that the birds would be better in our care .In February 2005 we took possession of our new flock. Jackie started to snoop around for some professional help and as luck would have it we were introduced to Carol Davies who lived very close to us. Carol came over to see the birds and quickly noticed how aggressive they were . Carol was on blood thinners at the time and thought it would be too risky for her to try to help us with the taming of the birds. She told us about a couple named Brett and Nancy Daniels who run the Parrot Adopt Southern Ontario agency and if anyone could help us with the birds it would be them. We contacted Brett and Nancy and within a couple of days they showed up at our door. This was an experience that has changed our lives forever. These birds had not been handled for over twelve years. They were scared and as we were later to find out in poor health.

I thought that Brett and Nancy would come and visit with the birds a few times and cautiously try to put their hands in the cage to gain their trust over several visits. Boy was I wrong. On the day they showed up we met them at the door and the first thing I noticed was a huge gash on Nancy’s hand in the perfect shape of a rather large beak. NOW I’M NERVOUS. I tried to ease my tension by making a joke and saying “a bit of a cooking accident”. She responded by calmly stating “it’s a parrot bite, look if you got birds your gonna get bit, it won’t kill you, get used to it, it only hurts for a bit.

We gave them a brief history on the birds and they decided they would concentrate on the two Amazons that night. Within five minutes of them being there the Amazons cage was open and I could not believe what I was seeing. Without batting an eye Brett went over to the cage and stuck his hand in until the one bird Fred had a firm grip on his finger and when she was firmly attached he pulled her out. As soon as he cleared the cage Nancy gashed hand and all was next in line to pull out the remaining bird Chauba. It went the same way, a chomp on the finger and out she came.

I must say it was not what I expected at all, I thought my god these people are nuts, I’m surprised they have any fingers left at all. The fact they just got bit did not faze them at all. Brett said “look these birds have cage rage, you got to get them away from their cage to deal with them. What happened in the next half hour was amazing, I realized, my god these people know birds. Not only were they handling the birds, but the birds felt safe with them. The birds were enjoying being on their hands and being told how beautiful they were. Birds that had not been out of a cage or been handled in twelve years.

I thought this has been a great night, what a success, put them back in the cage and we will pick up where we left off another day. WRONG !! Nancy and Brett had different plans, they said look theses are your birds and you might as well start handling them and get bit while were here. It’s not goanna kill ya. They were right we got bit and it sure didn’t kill us. That night gave us the confidence to start working with the birds on our own. We have had to pick up the phone and call Brett and Nancy on occasion for advice as we still have much to learn. I’m happy to say that we can not walk by the bird cages today without the birds rushing out on their own and sticking their foot out so we can pick them up and carry them around with us. Also our African Grey Bart who had never been handled and was completely plucked when we first got him has regained all his feathers . It took a few bites but he now steps up and loves to play PEEKABOO and has crush on our cat Spencer.

Jackie and I would just like to give a special thanks to Carol, Brett and Nancy for sharing their experience and providing the moral support we needed to get through this past year. It has been difficult for us to attend meetings due to the constant care we are providing for an elderly family member that lives with us. We are hoping in the spring to be able to attend some meetings and bring the birds so they can say thanks to our DAS friends for their new freedom.

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