The Distinction Between an Avian Veterinarian and a Vet That Will “See Birds”
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The Distinction Between an Avian Veterinarian and a Vet That Will “See Birds”

Pop quiz: it’s 7 o’clock on Saturday night and your pet has a veterinary emergency – what is the number you’re going to call?
Let’s start by setting aside the myth that all veterinarians can deal with every species of animal found on Noah’s Ark. Let’s talk about the path to becoming an “avian” vet.
Your new or soon-to-be, avian veterinarian’s learning emphasis will initially be on domestic animals (mammals), dogs, cats, cows, horses, and so forth but if they want to learn exotics they have to elect to take additional courses.

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Arranging Your Bird’s Cage: the Cage Canopy Concept
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Arranging Your Bird’s Cage: the Cage Canopy Concept

Mitch mentioned something to me the other day that I had never given any thought to the cage canopy. I had more or less arranged toys in the top part of the cage, from instinct I suppose, but never knew why I did it or thought that others might not do exactly the same. 

In the wild, parrots and other types of flighted birds (as opposed to emus and ostriches (that can’t fly) spend a lot of time foraging, often on the ground. All the rest of their time is spent in the upper branches of trees.

This provides the best cover from predators by preventing the things that want to eat birds from easily spotting them while the rustling of leaves alerts the birds to the presence of some creature in time to make every effort to escape the danger. The birds play, sleep and nest for the most part in the top one-third of the tree canopy. 

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Help – My Sun Conure Screams Loudly When He Cannot See Me
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Help – My Sun Conure Screams Loudly When He Cannot See Me

Photograph courtesy of jmbead

from “comments” in a recent order confirmation email:

he is less than a year old and screams loudly when he cannot see me. I am hoping the calm herb will be effective when my neighbors are home. Or just gives me a break when i need it. I took him to my moms for christmas and she was not happy about the loudness. 🙁

desta baldwin – Order number: WCP-89743 Order Date: 1/15/2016

Hi Desta

I’ve got a couple of ideas but need a bit more info

what kind of bird ? – how do we know it’s a he? – flighted or clipped? – did mom yell “shut up” at the bird? – could you send a pic of the bird in it’s cage? – thanx mitchr

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Are Himalayan Salt Lamps to Parrots what Coal Mines Were to Canaries?
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Are Himalayan Salt Lamps to Parrots what Coal Mines Were to Canaries?

Editor’s note: some of you may remember my journey enabling my mother’s return to Chicago Arlene (my mom) has been on five of the seven continents. Eight years ago at the tender age of 76, she spent three weeks traveling to China.

The Himalayas span five countries: India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet), and Pakistan, with the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range. At the time, China had not closed the border to Tibet and she was able to spend three days there. According to mom the majesty, environment, and the purity of the air you breathe in the Himalayas – cannot be understated.

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Is it Plucking, Molting or Over-preening? Why are those Feathers on the Cage Floor?

A subscriber from our Sunday Brunch writes

I recently adopted a 15-year-old Severe Macaw whose previous owner had a terminal illness.

 

I could tell the Macaw had been taken care of meticulously from the written records of her care from Hatch Papers to recent complete blood panels however I never had the opportunity to question the previous owner concerning details of ‘Bandit”.

 

I knew the moment I saw her that I wanted her as I owned a Severe 30+ years ago and have known several over the years but none as sweet as this little girl.

 

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Fixing the My Bird Hates Pellets but I Love Pellets – Enigma
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Fixing the My Bird Hates Pellets but I Love Pellets – Enigma

Some of you realize – many of you don’t. The majority of social media posts you read were programmed days or weeks before for “future distribution”. This means whoever is pushing the erudition out won’t be around when you’re reading their content to actually engage you in a discussion about this new important “message” from the person or brand you are following.

Water from a fire hose is fine for putting out fires, but you can’t drink water from a fire hose and you can’t water plants with a fire hose. Getting information from social media is like getting information from a fire hose.

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I Love My Bird – I Hate the Mess – A Helping Guide to Bird Mess Containment
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I Love My Bird – I Hate the Mess – A Helping Guide to Bird Mess Containment

Every parrot owner deals with the issue of messiness with seeds or pellets that get tossed out of the cage or water splashes wetting the cage liners.

No parrot parent likes to have just changed the cage liner, swept or vacuumed debris from around the cage, and provided clean water dishes only to realize that their bird has just decided to soak the entire cage floor and the food by trying to bathe in their water dish or has decided to toss out part of their food in a wide sweep that sprinkles on the newly-cleaned floor, has just taken a poop in their water dish or had poop fall into the newly-served food.

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