What is quarantine and why is it so Important?
We can not do a proper quarantine being an average bird owner BUT we can do our very best with what we have available.
a proper quarantine would be having the bird in a complete different building than your other birds, so they don't even share the same air space. but I don't know of very many average bird owners who are able to do that. So for us we manage with what we have available. and when done correctly it works very well.
There are a few reasons for quarantining a new bird away from ones you already own.
1- To make sure its healthy- Birds hide their illnesses and most look 100% healthy when you buy them, but the stress of being put into a new environment can bring out any illnesses they may have. and the signs may not show up for a day or several days. Having the bird in a separate room , away from your previous bird(s) with out any contact for no less than 30 days is best- Some even say no less than 60 days. During this time you can monitor their poop, their over all behavioral once they settle in and act like a normal bird , make sure they're eating properly, breathing right, etc. Any signs of illness and you get them to an Avian Vet A.S.A.P. for tests to be done. Actually it is best to Make the Appointment before you get your bird, and take it in a day or so after you buy it for all the proper testings. But just because your bird is seen by an Avian vet and may get a clean bill of health this does not mean you can skip quarantine - there is NO reason to skip quarantine - Only excuses!
When your new bird is in Quarantine it is best to take care of him or her last, during the daily feeding, watering , cage cleaning etc. and wash your hands very well especially under your nails (wouldn't hurt to pick up a cheap tooth brush or use an old one for this purpose only) When you go to visit your new FID during the day Make sure you wash your hands and under your nails very well even if all you did was touch the cage and not the bird itself.
in my house we use Only Antibacterial soaps, and I also have a bottle of Hand sanitizer. I even carry a travel size one in my purse for when we go to bird fairs or the occasional bird store that sells birds. I use it before I get home.
2- The other reason that quarantine is needed is to give the new bird plenty of time to settle into his/her new home, to get used to you and other people who live with you. you can also use this time to get your new bird to trust you and to bond with you. It is much easier to get a new bird to trust and bond with you when it's the only bird in the room. There really is no reason for any one not to quarantine. even in the smallest of homes it can be done. it may not be an ideal situation for a bird at first but remember it's for the safety of the birds you already own. What do you think is worse.. Buying a new bird and it ends up sick and dying But you quarantined so your other birds are fine. or Skip quarantine put a new bird right in with your flock of bird that new bird is sick and makes all your birds sick and all your birds die from 1 sick bird.. what would be worse for you?
I have heard some of the most lame excuses when it comes to people not quarantining new birds , some have really blown me away. - here are a few I've heard over the years - * its to hard to take care of bird cages that are in different rooms * - this is true AT FIRST but after the first few days you have a routine down and it just becomes part of your daily activity and before you know it quarantine is up and it didn't even feel like it's been a month or more.
*My parents won't allow me to quarantine* - time to get your parents educated on the safety of the pet(s), and to explain to them if you don't quarantine then that means more vet bills and they will be more expensive.
*I don't have money for an extra cage* - Than how is it you have money to buy another bird? If you don't have the extra money for another cage then you really don't have money to buy another bird - more birds equal higher expenses so if you can't afford a $30/$40 dollar cage to quarantine a new bird you can't afford another bird - simple as that!
* I just don't have time to take care of 2 separate birds/cages* - then you don't have the time to take care of 2 or more birds when they all live together either!
*The new bird looks perfectly healthy, it's not sick and it'll be fine living with my other bird(s)* - So your a doctor now huh? Did you know by the time a bird shows it is sick, its very very sick and usually on deaths door by the time it shows a single sign of being ill. They hide their illnesses for a reason! They are prey animals.
They can't let the bigger animals know they're sick They'd be that animals dinner in the wild!, Also in the wild a sick bird will be picked on by it's own flock. They will more or less kick it out of the flock they don't want a sick bird in with them it makes them ALL vulnerable!
The only time you don't need to Quarantine a new bird is when you have no birds and you buy 2 birds at the same time from the same place.. If you buy one bird on Monday and go back to the same store the following Monday YOU will need to quarantine the new bird- Pet shops usually get in new birds every week. They do not do a proper quarantine - did you know a bird shops quarantine is sit the birds in the back room for 3 days then throw them all in the for sale cage out on the store floor? -Don't worry a lot of people don't know that.
Here are some websites about quarantine.
http://www.parrothouse.com/quarantine.html
http://www.parrotchronicles.com/features/quarantine/quarantine.htm
http://featheredangels.wordpress.com/diet/preventative-care/quarantine-for-parrots/
Remember there are absolutely NO REASONS not to quarantine ONLY BAD EXCUSES!
a proper quarantine would be having the bird in a complete different building than your other birds, so they don't even share the same air space. but I don't know of very many average bird owners who are able to do that. So for us we manage with what we have available. and when done correctly it works very well.
There are a few reasons for quarantining a new bird away from ones you already own.
1- To make sure its healthy- Birds hide their illnesses and most look 100% healthy when you buy them, but the stress of being put into a new environment can bring out any illnesses they may have. and the signs may not show up for a day or several days. Having the bird in a separate room , away from your previous bird(s) with out any contact for no less than 30 days is best- Some even say no less than 60 days. During this time you can monitor their poop, their over all behavioral once they settle in and act like a normal bird , make sure they're eating properly, breathing right, etc. Any signs of illness and you get them to an Avian Vet A.S.A.P. for tests to be done. Actually it is best to Make the Appointment before you get your bird, and take it in a day or so after you buy it for all the proper testings. But just because your bird is seen by an Avian vet and may get a clean bill of health this does not mean you can skip quarantine - there is NO reason to skip quarantine - Only excuses!
When your new bird is in Quarantine it is best to take care of him or her last, during the daily feeding, watering , cage cleaning etc. and wash your hands very well especially under your nails (wouldn't hurt to pick up a cheap tooth brush or use an old one for this purpose only) When you go to visit your new FID during the day Make sure you wash your hands and under your nails very well even if all you did was touch the cage and not the bird itself.
in my house we use Only Antibacterial soaps, and I also have a bottle of Hand sanitizer. I even carry a travel size one in my purse for when we go to bird fairs or the occasional bird store that sells birds. I use it before I get home.
2- The other reason that quarantine is needed is to give the new bird plenty of time to settle into his/her new home, to get used to you and other people who live with you. you can also use this time to get your new bird to trust you and to bond with you. It is much easier to get a new bird to trust and bond with you when it's the only bird in the room. There really is no reason for any one not to quarantine. even in the smallest of homes it can be done. it may not be an ideal situation for a bird at first but remember it's for the safety of the birds you already own. What do you think is worse.. Buying a new bird and it ends up sick and dying But you quarantined so your other birds are fine. or Skip quarantine put a new bird right in with your flock of bird that new bird is sick and makes all your birds sick and all your birds die from 1 sick bird.. what would be worse for you?
I have heard some of the most lame excuses when it comes to people not quarantining new birds , some have really blown me away. - here are a few I've heard over the years - * its to hard to take care of bird cages that are in different rooms * - this is true AT FIRST but after the first few days you have a routine down and it just becomes part of your daily activity and before you know it quarantine is up and it didn't even feel like it's been a month or more.
*My parents won't allow me to quarantine* - time to get your parents educated on the safety of the pet(s), and to explain to them if you don't quarantine then that means more vet bills and they will be more expensive.
*I don't have money for an extra cage* - Than how is it you have money to buy another bird? If you don't have the extra money for another cage then you really don't have money to buy another bird - more birds equal higher expenses so if you can't afford a $30/$40 dollar cage to quarantine a new bird you can't afford another bird - simple as that!
* I just don't have time to take care of 2 separate birds/cages* - then you don't have the time to take care of 2 or more birds when they all live together either!
*The new bird looks perfectly healthy, it's not sick and it'll be fine living with my other bird(s)* - So your a doctor now huh? Did you know by the time a bird shows it is sick, its very very sick and usually on deaths door by the time it shows a single sign of being ill. They hide their illnesses for a reason! They are prey animals.
They can't let the bigger animals know they're sick They'd be that animals dinner in the wild!, Also in the wild a sick bird will be picked on by it's own flock. They will more or less kick it out of the flock they don't want a sick bird in with them it makes them ALL vulnerable!
The only time you don't need to Quarantine a new bird is when you have no birds and you buy 2 birds at the same time from the same place.. If you buy one bird on Monday and go back to the same store the following Monday YOU will need to quarantine the new bird- Pet shops usually get in new birds every week. They do not do a proper quarantine - did you know a bird shops quarantine is sit the birds in the back room for 3 days then throw them all in the for sale cage out on the store floor? -Don't worry a lot of people don't know that.
Here are some websites about quarantine.
http://www.parrothouse.com/quarantine.html
http://www.parrotchronicles.com/features/quarantine/quarantine.htm
http://featheredangels.wordpress.com/diet/preventative-care/quarantine-for-parrots/
Remember there are absolutely NO REASONS not to quarantine ONLY BAD EXCUSES!