No Fly with Microchip (for 2-3 weeks)

[charmedbyekkie]

We made the stressful decision to microchip him. I went back and forth because he is an ekkie, which means he's prone to plucking, but he's also used to free flight (we won't do that, but at least he'll fly with a harness) and he's an escape artist when he was with his previous family.

So he's been microchipped, and now the vet says not to let him fly for 2-3 weeks or else it'll migrate.

How on Earth do I do that?

The guy goes bonkers if he doesn't spend time in the air. He gets really upset if he doesn't at least fly around our small room. Cairo is big on flying, even if he does crash land on to our bed sometimes. The moment he leaves his cage, he flies. I've no clue how to stop him.

 

[ChristaNL]

Weird ...
I had 2 of mine chipped and never got that advise.


Let the bugger fly free if he wants to

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

I agree that sounds odd. I've had all of my large birds chipped and all my vet has ever said is to keep them caged for the rest of that day so they don't fall on their chest for like 6 hours after they get the chip in. After that he says they can resume all normal activity. I honestly don't see how the chip could migrate that much since in birds it is implanted into the chest muscle.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Ok, I'm reading online that they recommend at least 24hrs of no flight, which is more manageable for him (I hope). I guess we'll keep him in his cage for 24hrs, then try to keep him from flying too much this week. Whatever necessary to lessen visits back to the vet, especially since he bled immediately after the injection and they had to stop it.

*sigh, poor guy is so stressed every time he visits the vet, that he's just tuckered out after. They didn't want me in the room - probably because I was so worried about the whole thing and would just (s)mother him to death - but he was just screaming in fright and pain. I'm glad it's a one-time thing because he was so stressed afterwards, and it's so terribly upsetting to see him like that.

 

[ChristaNL]

oh, in that case... prepare for drama-queen.
Japie was *not* happy with the chip in his muscle and displayed a droopy wing for weeks (unfortunately for him I noticed he mostly did it when he knew I was watching ... left to his own devices he sat in a normal position after a week -> I was worried, he picked up on it and milked it for all it was worth!)

 

[EllenD]

I've not ever heard that, and all 4 of my guys are chipped. It might depend on the chip they used, they are getting smaller and smaller, but all of the ones put into my birds were a simple injection into the breast muscle, no big deal. And I was not ever told anything about not letting them fly, nor have I ever heard of this...

I'd go to the website to the particular brand/manufacturer of the chip that your bird got, and see what their website says in the FAQ, or possibly call the company and ask them.