This is hard...I'm whining.

[Dopey]

having one in quarantine and one not. I want them to be out in the same room together. I don't care if they are in their cages I just want us all to be in the same room. I hate having to only play with them in separate rooms and having to change clothes, etc. And I still have 19 days to go.

 

[JerseyWendy]

As much of a PITA it can be, you'll be glad you did it. 19 days will fly by, just wait and see.

 

[Birdman666]

Okay. I do things a little differently, admittedly, some folks would say they are unsafe, (and perhaps they are)... BUT -

How was this bird housed in his previous place? By himself, or with other birds? Because if he was by himself, locked up in a cage, alone in a house for the past 20 years - Hasn't he, by definition, already spent the past 20 years in quarantine?! Am I missing something here?!

My rule of thumb when I knew where a bird was from, and the vet tests looked fine, was to let them out and put them on the big playstand. They've done enough time in solitary.

If there was no history, and we didn't know the exposure, then quarantine is called for.

"You can't be too careful..." is kind of wasted advice when given to someone like me. I have always taken calculated risks. It's in my nature. So consider the source...

 

[Dopey]

Well - the one I just got was in a house with lots of other birds. Separate cages but really close together. She only had him for 3 months and I didn't ask where she got him. She is clearly a flipper and I wanted to save him. The other bird which I got in mid October was in a house that had other birds...finches and a conure. She had him for six months and he had been in solitary confinement for two years.

Birdman - I'm with you and I'm so glad that you were honest with it and let me know. Thanks!

And - you take him them to the vet. You sit in an open room that clearly has other animals in it (sick or otherwise) known as the Waiting Room. They take you into a smaller room that you know they haven't sprayed down everything in the room since the last animal was in there. They may wipe things down but they don't go where birds fly. And they are all under the same HVAC system. And they want me to quarantine my birds for 30 - 60 days? Just observing.

I'm still whining.

 

[Birdman666]

Then quarantine!

Abso-friggin-lutely! No getting around it...

Hey, I took in fosters for 6-7 years all the time. I had friends birds out on my big playstands. My birds went with me to the rescue and played there, where god knows how many birds play - (but they were all quarantined before they were put out - so it should be safe - but nothing is guaranteed.)

It's the same argument with taking them outside. There is a risk associated with that, and I (and my birds) have paid the price for taking that risk, more than once. BUT it enhances their lives to such a degree that I feel it's worth the risk.

It's a personal choice.

 

[veimar]

You really DO change the cloths every time you visit the room with a quarantined bird!? Wow, I couldn't change 50+ times a day! I just had a robe that I threw on when I went in. But after realizing we had forced air heat that circulated the same air around the house anyway I decided to end my IRN quarantine after 3 weeks, because it was pretty useless anyway.
I know it's extremely annoying procedure, but it is really necessary. I at least attempted.

 

[Dopey]

Kind of!

In the morning I don't get dressed into my "day" clothes until after I have fed the cats/dog/fids and played with such. I play with the quarantined fid last. Then go change my clothes.

In the evening I don't always get a chance to play with the quarantined fid before I settle them down in for the night and then I go to bed. But I do try to change the clothes after I visit the quarantined fid.

Good for you that you made it as long as you did.

I really don't want anything bad to happen to either of the fids if I don't follow a reasonable amount of quarantining. I can't do anything about the HVAC in my house but the rest I can be reasonable about and try.

 

[Christinenc2000]

Sometimes you just have to do what you feel is right for you and your Fid. What you are comfortable with. I know a lot on this forum would have already had BB more advanced in training than what I have but, I take it at my pace so we are both comfortable. So ask opinion and then move from there.
MUCH respect for following thru with this . I am afraid I would have given in by now

 

[Dopey]

Honestly - I don't want to let you guys down. I really have a lot of respect for the people on this forum and who give advice. So, I try to do what they say.

You have done wonderful with Gus/BB.

As for training...I just don't get the stick training. I understand the concept but beats me why I would train a bird to bite a stick when I'm trying to train him not to bite. Poor Birdman...I keep bugging him and it just isn't going through this thick head.

 

[Birdman666]

You're not training him to bite the stick. You're training him to allow touching. You're using an object he isn't afraid of, that he recognizes as a toy, and not a threat, so he is more likely to allow you to do it.

Frankly, I gave up on this one with Lila. I've just been toweling her from the neck down, and opening pin feathers. Mixed results so far. The jury is out on how well this one will work with her, but after 42 years it's time to try something.

 

[Anansi]

I know your pain when it comes to quarantine. Wasn't quite that long ago that I had Maya under quarantine. It drove me nuts! And I was on this forum "whining" a bit about it, too.

And mine wasn't even a full duration quarantine, because her previous owner is a member of this forum who didn't own any other birds. Only reason I went ahead with quarantine anyway was that she'd never been to the vet, before. So the quarantine was around a month and a little change. ((Basically until we could get the results from her blood tests.)

Less than half of the usual time, but I could still hardly wait. Whenever I heard that little voice telling me that I was most likely just doing this for nothing, though, I just kept in mind how angry I would be with myself if it turned out that there really was something wrong with her. It is a pain, and a hassle, and it does cut into the quality time you could be spending with each bird. Then they don't understand and sometimes will even get a little hurt that you're spending time with one and not the other.

But it's definitely worth it. Especially considering the potential alternative. And while we don't have the equipment necessary to achieve true, hospital quality quarantine, we do the best that we can.

Really sucks while you're waiting, though. So vent away! I certainly did.