Should i micro chip ?

[luvmytooo]

In the meantime, one good thing you can do is take some pictures of your bird, and of you WITH you bird, so if it comes down to it, you not only have a picture to identify him or her with, you have "proof" that this is, indeed, your bird. Put a calendar or something with the date on it in the picture, just so it's easy for them to see "Okay, here's this exact bird, posing with this person, on such and such a date."

And of course, good clear pictures are good to have anyway! And you can also use them to nominate your fid for Pet of the Day!

Very good idea! I would even take a picture of their bands #s if possible.
Not sure if that an even done , but the#s should recorded by your vet too.
That is proof as well of ownership . It's crazy the things we have to do to protect our babies .

 

[PetoftheDay]

Very good idea! I would even take a picture of their bands #s if possible.

Best way to do that is to use "macro" mode on your camera, it's meant for taking clear images close up. Just for any non-photographers in the bunch!

 

[luvmytooo]

Very good idea! I would even take a picture of their bands #s if possible.

Best way to do that is to use "macro" mode on your camera, it's meant for taking clear images close up. Just for any non-photographers in the bunch!

I seriously had no idea what the mode was for , lolol,
Learn something new everyday

Now if I can get my birds to sit still and not eat my camera :/

 

[PetoftheDay]

I suggest tasty bribes!

 

[wolf0994]

My avian vet is a supporter of chipping. Though he says unlike a dog where you put it under the skin, for birds because their skin is so thin and fragile it has to be put somewhere safer. He puts his into the breast muscle. We havent done it yet as I just am not sold either. I would think that would cause alot of pain. He also wants to remove the breeder leg band. He said there isnt much of a big market for importing greys anymore so it isnt as important as it used to be. But said I wouldnt be able to travel out of the country with him as a downside. I haven't decided on that either.

 

[luvmytooo]

I wonder if it will affect the bird flying if it's in the muscle ?
Just thinking its gonna hurt them .....just like when we get a intramuscular shot.
But with them , something will be implanted....

 

[Alisana]

I would recommend microchipping. With regards to affecting flight, it shouldn't have any side effects if done correctly.

Make sure you go to an avian vet to do this though. Not to sound negative, but some vets who don't have experience with birds are absolute IDIOTS when it comes to handling them. Either not sedating enough or too much, or traumatizing the bird due to incorrect handling. So be picky about which vet you go to. And don't be afraid to ask questions of the vet. Watch how they handle your bird. You can spot non-avian vets a mile away due to body language and how they interact with your bird.

Here in Oz from my experience with people 'chipping birds is they put them under and at the same time they'll often have a full blood panel done as apart of a vet check, and DNA sex them (either by blood or feather). That way you can see if they carry any diseases (that could be dormant). Same if you need to give any vaccines.

It's not uncommon for Australian native parrots to be a 'carrier' of PBFD (lorikeets generally recover from the symptoms after first moult with no other real effects, yet can still carry the virus) If it were cheaper to mass-produce the PBFD vaccine, I'd be giving that to my birds as well. Lorikeets and Cockatoos make me uneasy when they get too near my birds. It's not uncommon to see 'runners' (Lorikeets who are missing primary or secondary feathers).

Apart from Cat/Dog vets making mistakes with implanting chips in birds, I've not really heard of any side effects. A friend has a free flighted Amazon and he doesn't seem bothered by it - flight wise or preening wise. Hence why I recommend an avian vet, or at least a vet who is familiar with birds.

I think the benefits are well worth it - just ensure you register on multiple databases. I'm not sure how it is over in the US, if they have one giant database, or one per state, but register your microchips in as many databases as you can. The vets can give recommendations for which ones are the most widely used. Record the information from the chip on the card as well. Depending on the database, you can sometimes store the band number in there as well (if there is a 'notes' section).

 

[strudel]

I had my galah microchipped today. I'd found this thread and some other information online, and discussed it with the vet before deciding. Some info that might be of help to others....

They now have a "mini-microchip" which is suitable for birds and other small animals. It's smaller than the other dog/cat one.

He told me there were 2 ways of doing it, one is to sedate the bird, the other is by restraint (which they have to do anyway, to give the anaesthetic) and a local anaesthetic before injecting the chip, and an anti-inflammatory for pain relief. He didn't agree with giving an unnecessary anaesthetic just for a chipping, so as mentioned before, you can have it done if you bird needs an anaesthetic for something else, or have the local. My bird had the local, she came out acting completely normal. She's here with me now climbing about and acting normal, she's not droopy or showing any signs of any pain or anything.

Alisana, I was recently trying to find out which database my dog was with, his adoption papers had his chip, but not the registry. It was mentioned that they now have a search function that searches all of the different databases, so I didn't really have to pursue it. There are still different registries, but they can do a single search, they don't have to search them all individually now.