A family went to a pet store and bought a bird. A cute little parrot that instantaneously became part of their family. A few weeks later, it was at an avian vet, in intensive care. The family was heartbroken when it couldn’t be saved. Turns out the bird had been hiding an illness the whole time. The vet told them that if it had been caught earlier, the bird could have recovered. If only the pet store had bothered to screen ...

 

Stress bars are lines that run crosswise through a feather shaft illustrating that inadequate diet, high stress or illness (and subsequent medicating) was present during the time that the feather was being formed. They are areas of poor development that create flawed or weakened segments which make the feather vulnerable to breakage.

Stress bars are similar to what a geologist discovers as he studies the layers of the earth. Each layer tells a story about the conditions at the time the layer was forming. A geologist can tell if ...

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During the last spreecast, Chet mentioned that scales were now available in the Birdtricks.com store. While he was talking, I wondered if everyone watching had a good understanding of why it is SO important that we regularly weigh our birds. If there are any questions, this post will answer them.

To begin, I need to explain that birds, with great skill, hide their illnesses. This is necessary for the survival of wild birds and for the survival of their flock. Predators will target the young and ...

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This is a topic I have covered in past posts, but an email I received today convinced me that this is a subject that can’t be discussed enough.

In this email, a young woman that I knew in Austin, told me that her much loved sun conure, Mango, had died unexpectedly.  She included her phone number, so I called her to offer my condolences.  In the course of the conversation, I found that Mango had indeed been showing signs of illness, but her owner didn’t know how ...

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There might come a time when, because of illness or injury, you will need to medicate your parrot.  It’s a good idea to start preparing for that possibility now, before the need for your bird’s cooperation arises.

Several years ago, after I had first gotten Linus, he managed to escape his cage while I was at work.  I came home to a complete mess.  A quick glance showed that all the other bird’s cages were still closed, so I spent the next several minutes assessing the damage and trying to ...

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