microchip

so I've been thinking of having Lincoln and Apollo microchipped, I don't think it'll be needed much for Lincoln since he cant/wont/doesn't fly so I'm not too concerned of him being lost but Apollo does fly so I especially want to get her one even though I wouldn't be taking her outside without a harness or in a carrier. Better safe than sorry.

What are the pros? cons? of having microchips implanted? What's the procedure like?

I know I don't want to chip any of my birds (flight or no flight).

I read (somewhere) that there is a higher incidence of animals that have been chipped having tumors. I know this was talking about cat's & dogs not birds. With most parrots having a longer lifespan than your basic cat or dog I would be more concerned about the long term effect of having that chip implanted.

I could be completely wrong, I admit it. It could be just scare tactics.
If there has been any long term studies ( 30 years or more) I would like to hear about it.

We've been considering chipping Arika.
Rest assured, we will do a lot of research before we make any moves.
Would love to hear more experiences, pros / cons.

We are faced with the reality of CITES and the requirement that near all newly hatched mid-to-large parrots needing birth /purchase documents. That began 2, January 2018. As that group becomes older, the need to prove the age of your parrot and it being, in fact, your parrot becomes ever more important. Yes, your well maintained medical file with dates and the age of your parrot on it will help. But, unless your documents have a picture on them, they are little more than paper sheets.

Within the near future, your Avian Vet will likely begin providing you with medical documents with the mircochip number on it providing Identification of your Parrot.

Europe is already requiring CITES documents and North America is rapidly following them.

There is always the likelihood of your dear parrot being stolen. The only proof of ownership that will hold in a court of law anywhere in the United States is a microchip.

Placement of a microchip should only set by an Avian Professional. Dog and Cat Vets do not understand the placement demands for setting a microchip in a Parrot.

Size Matters! Mid to Large Parrots only, unless you are having a CAV placing it.

I have not hear of the issue of tumors. That said, the vast majority of set microchips are in Dogs. Parrots barely lifts a line in comparison.

When it comes down to ownership vs health I would rather know my bird/birds are healthy living with someone else than having medical problems because I had electronics injected into them.

I understand that the "chip" is about the size of a large rice grain.
A bird just doesn't have much spare tissue to accept something like that.
plenty of room on an animal the size of a dog/cat.
And then there is the age thing.
And how long have they been in use..... How much study on birds in particular.
It sounds too much like big brother and Revelations, you know the number of the beast and all that.

If I was told I HAD to have them chipped or loose them I guess I would do it, no other way.

Not sure they do microchipping for small birds like a cockatiel. But I did get Cairo microchipped for a few reasons:

1. He flew off several times from his previous family (largely when they free-flew him, but still a concern). So I definitely wanted some id on him.

2. People here don't always view birds as pets, but more a commodities sometimes (depending on the person of course), so he did get caught and his closed ring id snipped off when he got lost from his family. Likely to be resold. I wanted an id that wouldn't be so easily removed, something that the police would take seriously.

3. He would come with us to the US if we decide to move out of country, and I just needed to make him as legal and as documented as possible. Since his closed leg band is gone, I didn't have anything that can establish history without being easily removed (open leg bands can be put on and removed any time).

Now, if we were in my hometown, I'd be less inclined to microchip him - it's just culturally very different than here and I wouldn't have international laws to deal with.



For us the procedure was just them cleaning the area and inserting a big needle into his chest to inject the microchip. He bled a little, but it clotted quickly. The vet recommended no flying for 2 weeks if I remember correctly - I checked with folks here and they said that was unheard of, that most of them just had to wait a day or two. So we kept him somewhat grounded for about 48 hours and then didn't practice any recall for a week, but we let him do his house flights if he wanted.

He was quite upset, of course, largely because we did it within the first month of adopting him, so he didn't know who to go to for comfort. And he didn't like the vet team (this was before we switched vets to the amazing one we have now), so he was feeling not just sore but also scared and angry.

He kept his wings away from his body for about 15 minutes after the procedure. Then he relaxed and acted like nothing happened.

We did get to see it months later on an x-ray (done for other reasons). It looked fine. And it really doesn't impact him at all. He flies normally, he preens normally, etc.

Really your personal choice

Same reasons here...


the only one that is not chipped is Appie.
(She has a perfectly readable legband and documentation/ though I am still not sure she will not be chipped in the future for my peace of mind. If the avaiatortraining goes well maybe I will, for the same reasonons charmed already mentioned.)


Chipping itself takes just a moment: here they just desinfect the place (like you would for every shot), place the needle and push the plunger.

(The contraption is scaryly large, but that is is the outside one to make sure the microchip does not get lost, the inner needle is - still not the smallest one ever- not as bad.)


Sunny never had an issue after it being placed (it was done while she was out cold ) - but she was having soo many issues at the same time her reaction may have been lost in the heap of things going on.


Japie felt very sorry for himself afterwards: hanging his wing slightly for a few days (it is in the pectoral muscle, so moving the wing obviously was a bit annoying; it could have been the pinprick wound/ slight bruising/ the transponder still settling in).

Yes...I felt guilty for doing it to him, but when they changed the CITES I was glad he already had undisputable way of indentifying him and proving he was my bird long before that law came into it play.


D. never even blinked an eye and did not display any discomfort afterwards.
(She was so tame and relaxed already they did not give her any aneastesia, they just plunked it in without any issues.)


Placing it just underneath the skin (also done) is less traumatic and easier, but it makes it very easy to remove as well.

If you ever free-flight or even consider free-flighting any bird larger than a conure, I'd think it highly recommended. Mine are too small for me to think it worth doing balanced against the stress and cost of the procedure, but my thinking on its necessity may shift as technological advancements continue and the procedure becomes less costly and discomfiting.

Both of my big guys are chipped. The avian vet I work with doesn't advise microchipping any bird smaller than a larger conure, and refuses to chip any bird smaller than a tiel for the bird's safety until they can develop a smaller chip.

I opted to chip the big guys instead if having them banded as babies because I think there is less risk. Bands can get caught on toys or parts of the cage or even their play stand. Not to mention they can be easily cut off by someone looking to steal a bird.

My smaller birds, that I got from a really young age, have bands for identification purposes because there isn't much else that can be done. Photos can be taken, but like with my lutino linnie, a completely yellow bird doesn't have too many distinguishing marks.

Granted, the fact that I work really closely with the breeder of my two big birds as well as my linnie gave me more flexibility than most people have.

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so basically can't for Apollo but Lincoln I probably should? I'll have to talk to my CAV about it. Apollo has an ID band but as far as I'm aware ID bands are essentially meaningless to everyone except the breeder.