I was lucky enough to find a certified Avian vet just an hour from me and brought Nike in for a wellness check.
It was nice to talk to someone who knew birds and watch him poke and prod her looking for enlarge organs and the like.
I spoke with him about her hormonal behaviour and we talked about things that could be done to reduce it. Most of it I already knew and was practicing but he brought up something new. He said that they have done studies, specifically with Amazons and determined that there is a 12" personal space zone where no one is allowed to enter without repercussions but the mate. The study concluded that being close to the bird, within the 12", engenders hormonal behaviour. He suggested keeping her 12" away from me at all times (not going to happen) as yet another tool in the toolbox.
We also talked about the pellet which they implant, he's done it many times and has had good success with it though it doesn't really work well on males so if we were to go down that route we should have Nike sexed first. The pellet which is actually a ferret medication lasts about 9 months in birds and costs $275 to administer (including anesthesia).
He did not recommend any bloodwork because she was healthy and mentioned that the lab results for birds when they are having kidney failure for instance doesn't show up until they are about 90% failed and by then it's too late to do anything. If I ever bring her in sick they bloodwork may be in order but he gave her a clean bill of health.
He also wants her on 90% pellets which I've been day at for the last few months giving her nuts and extra seed and she's been ignoring her Zupreem (I could tell because her poop has been normal looking and not red
) so I'm going to cold turkey reduct everything but the pellets until she starts eating them again.
And the surprise at the end was that it was only $75
It was nice to talk to someone who knew birds and watch him poke and prod her looking for enlarge organs and the like.
I spoke with him about her hormonal behaviour and we talked about things that could be done to reduce it. Most of it I already knew and was practicing but he brought up something new. He said that they have done studies, specifically with Amazons and determined that there is a 12" personal space zone where no one is allowed to enter without repercussions but the mate. The study concluded that being close to the bird, within the 12", engenders hormonal behaviour. He suggested keeping her 12" away from me at all times (not going to happen) as yet another tool in the toolbox.
We also talked about the pellet which they implant, he's done it many times and has had good success with it though it doesn't really work well on males so if we were to go down that route we should have Nike sexed first. The pellet which is actually a ferret medication lasts about 9 months in birds and costs $275 to administer (including anesthesia).
He did not recommend any bloodwork because she was healthy and mentioned that the lab results for birds when they are having kidney failure for instance doesn't show up until they are about 90% failed and by then it's too late to do anything. If I ever bring her in sick they bloodwork may be in order but he gave her a clean bill of health.
He also wants her on 90% pellets which I've been day at for the last few months giving her nuts and extra seed and she's been ignoring her Zupreem (I could tell because her poop has been normal looking and not red
) so I'm going to cold turkey reduct everything but the pellets until she starts eating them again.And the surprise at the end was that it was only $75
