Housing:

Birds require safe cages to keep them from getting loose and hurting themselves. A safe cage should have the proper distance between the bars to prevent a bird from getting caught (a bird should not be able to get its head in between bars) and to provide easy climbing on the bars. Bird safe paints and materials should be used (no galvanized metal or lead based paints). A bird needs at least enough room in a cage to spread its wings and turn around without tail damage. When it comes to space, the more the merrier, as there is more room for toys and for play! Many birds enjoy a separate roost cage for sleeping. This smaller cage can be placed in dark, quiet part of the house to allow for adequate rest. Feather plucking and other destructive behaviors often arise from lack of sleep and too much stress. Provide a cuddly hammock or towel and bowl of water for overnight. Bring your pet bird out to his day cage every morning!

Location: Birds should be located in an area where they can get plenty of attention. Most behavior problems occur when pet birds, especially large parrots, don’t get enough personal time. Steer clear of places that may be drafty, get too hot or cold due to placement too close to a window. If your bird is in a location that will be brightly lit late at night, you can use a sheet or cage cover to provide privacy and dark to sleep by-or use a roost cage. Be careful when changing the location of your pet’s cage, as this will sometimes tigger stress activities such as feather plucking. (While other birds love the change of scenery!)

 Food: Our most commonly kept species have distinctly different food needs. Parrots do best with complete pelleted diets supplemented with seeds, fruit, vegitables, and occassional protein based treats such as cooked chicken, fish, cheese. Finches and canaries can also be kept on pelleted diets with fruit and vegetable treats. There are some parrots who are nectar eaters, and require a specialized diet mimicking their natural diet. Vitamins and minerals can be added to the food and water to complete the diet. The best words of advice we can give is to provide a healthy, varied diet – don’t just stick to a seed mix. Research your particular bird’s special dietary needs before purchasing! And think about what that bird would eat in the wild…

Foraging: Feeding your bird in challenging ways keeps his brain and beak active on productive activities. Birds spend 80% of their time in the wild foraging for food. Feed in different bowls. Cover the food place it in toys that have to opened, turned or rolled to get the food. Invest in some commercial foraging toys. You and your bird will love the discovery process! This is one of the best things you can do for your pet bird’s mental health!

Grooming: Most owners don’t think of grooming for birds, but there are benifits to keeping your pet looking top notch. Keeping a beak trimmed can avoid painful bites for you, and avoid cracks and breakage of the tip. Nails that are too long can cause stress on the toes, as well as on the skin of the owner. And most importantly, a well trimmed set of wings won’t allow a pet bird to fly into ceiling fans, fireplaces, or out the window or door while still allowing them to float to the floor and not crash.

 Wellness Care: The best wellness care will be done at home as you provide the best and most appropriate housing, husbandry, and food that you can. A pet that is not stressed and is well-nourished, will maintain within its own healthy parameters.

Regular Veterinary Check Ups: will step up your Wellness Program. All exotics, and birds in particular, tend to hide illness from owners or the animals who prey on them. Your veterinarian can sometimes see things that you don’t recognize on a daily basis. Also, a short blood screen once a year will help you and your vet detect problems before they are a crisis. Many issues can be managed with simple husbandry and diet changes or nutritional supplements

Signs of Illness: When your pet bird shows illness, it has generally been going on for at least a bit of time. Because of this, do not hesitate to seek assistance once a problem is noted.

” puffy feathers “                 eye or nose discharge “                     lack of appetite,

loose stools, discolored stools (“greens” that are too bright or too brown, white sections that are too watery or too yellow) “

 weight loss. (One of the best aids you can have in monitoring your pet’s condition is a scale. A scale will pick up weight loss before an owner can by feel.) 

 Common diseases in pet birds include Polyomavirus, Psitticine Beak and Feather Disease, Proventricular Dilitation Syndrome, Gout, Mineral imbalances, fatty liver disease These can be tested for and Treated. Not all can be completely cured, but knowing the disease is there allows for better care and a longer, happier life!

PBFD is a devastating disease of many species of birds caused by a virus called “circovirus”.  The disease may be silent for some time before early signs such as poor plumage, broken feathersand lack of powder down are detectable.  Over time, the disease causes destruction of feathers, damaged beak and nails.  Ultimately, affected birds’ appetites drop off and wasting occurs. 

While there is no effective cure for this disease at this time, birds can be treated with nutritional supplements and supportive medications for some time to allow them to feel good (although they may look pretty tragic, as “Magnolia”, a very happy, outgoing victim of PBFD pictured above). 

It is only recently that the cause of PBFD has been discovered, but with the discovery of the cause, there is now a blood test that can be run to check whether a bird is carrying the virus!

Even though there is no cure, knowing whether your bird has this disease, even if he appears healthy has value.  Healthy appearing birds as likely to shed the virus to other birds, so it important to keep “silent carriers” away from other birds (pet and wild birds).  Also, knowing that the virus is present allows the bird owner to remain vigilant for signs so that appropriate medical/ comfort care can be instituted right away as it is easy to mistake early signs for “innocent” feather plucking.

SIck birds should always be tested for PBFD, in addition to a Chemistry screen, CBC, and other infectious diseases to determine what treatment is most reasonable and effective.

Dr. Carolyn Wulf,  Director of The Avian Center at Cimarron recommends testing all new birds, especially before introducing to any birds already in a home.  Also, she recommends knowing the PBFD status of all birds in the home before introducing anyone new so as to prevent spread of the virus.  Breeding birds must be tested to avoid spread to chicks, poor hatching and reproductive problems.  Once your healthy pet’s status is known, further testing is unnecessary unless your bird has an outdoor aviary where she might come in contact with wild birds, who can also carry the disease (pigeons are notorious silent carriers).

Contact the Avian Center at Cimarron today for more information or to schedule a Wellness check and PBFD test for your feathered friend!

Virtual Aviary

By following Cimarron on Twitter, you will be eligible for exclusive discounts on Cimarron’s services and products! Find out before the rest. Get the best. To receive tweets from Cimarron’s Virtual Aviary, visit our Twitter page and follow us.

Here’s How to Get Started: (It’s Easy! Promise…)

Go online to twitter.com.   Click on “Get Started- Join”.   Fill in your information.  Click on “Create Account.” (it’s free)              

On the next page, click to Find Friends on Twitter tab.  Type: Cimarron Animal Hosp

Search

In the entry showing Dr. Bohnke’s picture, click “Follow”.  Now you can log on to Twitter onthe computer any time to see our Tweets!

Sign up your mobile phone to receive our text Tweets!  (Don’t worry about spam texts.  You on ly receive tweets from the people you allow– see process below.  And won’t tweet more than once a week!)

Go to your Settings page.  Click on the Devices Tab.   Type in your phone number with +1(area code)(phone number)- no parentheses or spaces.  Check the “it’s OK” box.  Save. Text the code shown on the computer screen to “40404″, Twitter’s text number. 

When twitter verifies your phone, Turn on the Text function on your computer:

Go back to your Home page on the computer.  Click on “”Following”, Cimarron Animal Hospital should be one of your choices.  Click in the round “radio button” indicating Device Updates “On”.

You should receive our next Tweet as a text on your cell phone!  See you there!