Post by ekkiemum on Dec 19, 2005 19:06:30 GMT 8
Care and safety
Find an avian vet before you get your baby. Check references, because good dog-and-cat vets often have little experience with parrots.
First-aid supplies to have on hand include Kwik Stop, needle-nosed pliers, and vet wrap. Use Kwik Stop to stop bleeding after nail clipping or if your baby should accidentally tear a toenail, which is not that uncommon. (Cornstarch works in a pinch.) Pliers are used to pull a broken blood feather, if it's bleeding profusely and you can't get the bird to a vet immediately. Do not use Kwik Stop on a feather follicle after pulling a blood feather because it may kill the follicle. Instead, apply pressure with your fingers until the bleeding stops. Vet wrap is a self-adhering bandage that can be used to bandage an injury until you can get to a vet. Unlike other bandages, birds cannot take off vet wrap.
One note of caution--if you're treating a bird for such an injury, you need another person to hold the bird firmly in a towel. Hold the bird by the head with three fingers--thumb on one side of the head, one finger on top, and one finger on the other side. An alternative way to hold a bird is to make a circle out of your thumb and forefinger just around its neck. You can hold the bird tightly without worrying about choking it. Unlike humans, a parrot's trachea is fully enclosed in cartilage. The other hand should encircle the body below the breast. Do not hold the bird too tightly around the breast. Parrots do not have diaphragms, and holding the bird too tightly tightly around the breast can stop breathing.
Watch your baby to monitor its health. Parrots will go to great lengths to conceal illness from flock members and predators, so a sick bird may not appear obviously sick. If the bird's feathers lose their lustre, its poop doesn't look normal over an extended period of time, it has a runny nose, or it sits with its feathers fluffed while perching on two feet, take the bird to a vet. If a bird is really sick, it will stop perching and eating and sit in the bottom of the cage, typically with feathers fluffed.
Baths are an important part of parrot care. Some birds like to take a bath in a large crock. Others like to take showers with their owners. (Shower perches are available through suppliers who advertise on the Internet and in Bird Talk.) Another option is to keep fresh, clean water in a spray bottle and mist your bird. Don't be afraid to soak your bird--it's good for the feathers and skin. They can dry naturally, but some birds love a blow dry with the unit held a foot or so away on the warm, slow setting.
Wing clipping is vital to the well being of your bird. Your baby will arrive clipped, but pay close attention over the next several months as new feathers grow in. No matter what you're told, don't clip just one wing. This unbalances the bird, and the resulting uncontrolled flight may result in injury. The goal is to have enough primary flight feathers clipped so that the bird can flutter to the floor rather than hit with a thud, which may result in injury, but cannot gain altitude.
<Our birds are all fully flighted and your baby will arrive fully flighted. We believe that the ability to fly gives a more confident pet. Also, many injuries occur when a bird walks along the floors, falls or is dropped. It is up to you to do the research and decide for yourself whether or not to clip. A good article on wing clipping. Gwen Toews>
Leaving too many feathers is equally dangerous. Many birds considered well-clipped by their owners have been known to fly great distances if frightened or startled. Ceiling fans, mirrors, open toilets, uncovered windows, and uncovered pots and pans are major hazards to an unclipped or insufficiently clipped parrot.
We suggest having wings and nails clipped every 6 months. If you do it yourself, use scissors with blunt ends for the wing clip. The addition of a short concrete perch to the cage will help keep nails trim. We use professional quality cat-claw clippers to do nails. A Dremmel tool set on low sped with the sanding drum works well, too. Be sure you have some Kwik Stop on hand in case you clip too much and the nail bleeds.
We know you love your bird, so hopefully it won't be too traumatic to rid yourself of TeflonTM products. When overheated, Teflon, which really includes all non-stick-surfaced products, gives off an odourless toxic gas that will kill your bird. Besides cookware, don't forget such items as irons and ironing board covers. Because it's so difficult to find irons that don't have a non-stick surface, simply change the location of its use to a totally separate area of the house that is well-ventilated.
Your kitchen may contain other hazards. The self-cleaning cycle on some ovens can be lethal. We know of one person who lost two large Macaws and nearly lost two more to a self-cleaning oven. If you must use the self-cleaning cycle on your oven, remove your bird from your house first, and ensure that the house has been totally ventilated before returning your bird. And, we have heard that some cook-tops and ovens have a coating that burns off the first time the stove is used and can cause respiratory arrest. We have heard of several birds that have been killed by new stoves.
Other items reported as dangerous include plug-in and spray aerosols. Parrots have incredibly efficient respiratory systems and, are therefore, sensitive to concentrations of vapours that don't bother other animals or people. As a general rule, if something emits strong odours, it may be injurious to your bird. And, never spray an aerosol around your bird.
While on the subject of poisonous items, you should that know certain "organic" items are off-limits. Items that can be dangerous include peach and apricot pits and some houseplants including philodendron and dumb cane. You may hear that apples seeds are toxic. Apple seeds do contain cyanide, but in such tiny amounts that you don't need to worry about coring apples before feeding.
Birds need sunlight just like we do. If you can, place the cage by a window that can be opened. Unfortunately, sunlight filtered through glass loses its beneficial properties for vitamin D production. However, if your Eclectus eats a reasonable amount of a pelleted diet, this diet will be fortified with vitamin D.
Finally, Eclectus are perhaps the worst parrots about hiding dangerous obesity. They add fat in the body cavity. They do not show us that they are obese by developing fat breasts. We recommend weighing your Eclectus monthly to ensure that it is not becoming obese.
enjoy
Find an avian vet before you get your baby. Check references, because good dog-and-cat vets often have little experience with parrots.
First-aid supplies to have on hand include Kwik Stop, needle-nosed pliers, and vet wrap. Use Kwik Stop to stop bleeding after nail clipping or if your baby should accidentally tear a toenail, which is not that uncommon. (Cornstarch works in a pinch.) Pliers are used to pull a broken blood feather, if it's bleeding profusely and you can't get the bird to a vet immediately. Do not use Kwik Stop on a feather follicle after pulling a blood feather because it may kill the follicle. Instead, apply pressure with your fingers until the bleeding stops. Vet wrap is a self-adhering bandage that can be used to bandage an injury until you can get to a vet. Unlike other bandages, birds cannot take off vet wrap.
One note of caution--if you're treating a bird for such an injury, you need another person to hold the bird firmly in a towel. Hold the bird by the head with three fingers--thumb on one side of the head, one finger on top, and one finger on the other side. An alternative way to hold a bird is to make a circle out of your thumb and forefinger just around its neck. You can hold the bird tightly without worrying about choking it. Unlike humans, a parrot's trachea is fully enclosed in cartilage. The other hand should encircle the body below the breast. Do not hold the bird too tightly around the breast. Parrots do not have diaphragms, and holding the bird too tightly tightly around the breast can stop breathing.
Watch your baby to monitor its health. Parrots will go to great lengths to conceal illness from flock members and predators, so a sick bird may not appear obviously sick. If the bird's feathers lose their lustre, its poop doesn't look normal over an extended period of time, it has a runny nose, or it sits with its feathers fluffed while perching on two feet, take the bird to a vet. If a bird is really sick, it will stop perching and eating and sit in the bottom of the cage, typically with feathers fluffed.
Baths are an important part of parrot care. Some birds like to take a bath in a large crock. Others like to take showers with their owners. (Shower perches are available through suppliers who advertise on the Internet and in Bird Talk.) Another option is to keep fresh, clean water in a spray bottle and mist your bird. Don't be afraid to soak your bird--it's good for the feathers and skin. They can dry naturally, but some birds love a blow dry with the unit held a foot or so away on the warm, slow setting.
Wing clipping is vital to the well being of your bird. Your baby will arrive clipped, but pay close attention over the next several months as new feathers grow in. No matter what you're told, don't clip just one wing. This unbalances the bird, and the resulting uncontrolled flight may result in injury. The goal is to have enough primary flight feathers clipped so that the bird can flutter to the floor rather than hit with a thud, which may result in injury, but cannot gain altitude.
<Our birds are all fully flighted and your baby will arrive fully flighted. We believe that the ability to fly gives a more confident pet. Also, many injuries occur when a bird walks along the floors, falls or is dropped. It is up to you to do the research and decide for yourself whether or not to clip. A good article on wing clipping. Gwen Toews>
Leaving too many feathers is equally dangerous. Many birds considered well-clipped by their owners have been known to fly great distances if frightened or startled. Ceiling fans, mirrors, open toilets, uncovered windows, and uncovered pots and pans are major hazards to an unclipped or insufficiently clipped parrot.
We suggest having wings and nails clipped every 6 months. If you do it yourself, use scissors with blunt ends for the wing clip. The addition of a short concrete perch to the cage will help keep nails trim. We use professional quality cat-claw clippers to do nails. A Dremmel tool set on low sped with the sanding drum works well, too. Be sure you have some Kwik Stop on hand in case you clip too much and the nail bleeds.
We know you love your bird, so hopefully it won't be too traumatic to rid yourself of TeflonTM products. When overheated, Teflon, which really includes all non-stick-surfaced products, gives off an odourless toxic gas that will kill your bird. Besides cookware, don't forget such items as irons and ironing board covers. Because it's so difficult to find irons that don't have a non-stick surface, simply change the location of its use to a totally separate area of the house that is well-ventilated.
Your kitchen may contain other hazards. The self-cleaning cycle on some ovens can be lethal. We know of one person who lost two large Macaws and nearly lost two more to a self-cleaning oven. If you must use the self-cleaning cycle on your oven, remove your bird from your house first, and ensure that the house has been totally ventilated before returning your bird. And, we have heard that some cook-tops and ovens have a coating that burns off the first time the stove is used and can cause respiratory arrest. We have heard of several birds that have been killed by new stoves.
Other items reported as dangerous include plug-in and spray aerosols. Parrots have incredibly efficient respiratory systems and, are therefore, sensitive to concentrations of vapours that don't bother other animals or people. As a general rule, if something emits strong odours, it may be injurious to your bird. And, never spray an aerosol around your bird.
While on the subject of poisonous items, you should that know certain "organic" items are off-limits. Items that can be dangerous include peach and apricot pits and some houseplants including philodendron and dumb cane. You may hear that apples seeds are toxic. Apple seeds do contain cyanide, but in such tiny amounts that you don't need to worry about coring apples before feeding.
Birds need sunlight just like we do. If you can, place the cage by a window that can be opened. Unfortunately, sunlight filtered through glass loses its beneficial properties for vitamin D production. However, if your Eclectus eats a reasonable amount of a pelleted diet, this diet will be fortified with vitamin D.
Finally, Eclectus are perhaps the worst parrots about hiding dangerous obesity. They add fat in the body cavity. They do not show us that they are obese by developing fat breasts. We recommend weighing your Eclectus monthly to ensure that it is not becoming obese.
enjoy