Your views on quarantine.....

[Von1983]

Dave and I have decided to adopt another fid.

Not immediately, I have a ton of research to do and I haven't even decided totally what the breed should be!
Maybe a or a or maybe even a ?
It will hopefully be quite some time from now (I say this because my beloved rabbit Moo will have to depart to the other side before I even think about making this a reality and although she'll be 7 this coming summer, I am in no hurry for her to leave us <3).

I have been researching quarantine to learn exactly what is the best method for the situation. I have a spare room on the opposite side of the house to Cal and also the option of having the bird in a friends house but this would come with it's own time constraint issues (IE: It would be impossible to spend a huge amount of time with the new arrival).

In my mind, I have ruled out getting a baby. The biggest reasons being there are a lot of adult birds in need of forever homes and breeders mean a higher chance of illness in my opinion - there's no way I'd ever put my Cally at risk.

So, my question to you all is this.

If I were to buy an adult fid from a single bird home, get him/her vet checked and be sure he/she had been with the same owners for a decent amount of time, do you believe it would be safe to perform standard quarantine from my spare room?

I look forward to your replies as I feel I can't begin to research any further without knowing that this is a SAFE possibility.

Thanks in advance guys xx

 

[Spiritbird]

From what I have learned the new bird will be shedding viruses from the stress of a move, new home and new flock. Quarantine seems to be a necessity of a bird lovers life for getting a new flock member. I know it is a pain but necessary.

 

[Von1983]

*tut* Di, are you sleepy tonight (I think it's tonight for you??!!!)

I will DEFINATELY quarantine, noooo question! I'm just wondering which route to go down, really. Spare room route would be ideal as I can spend plenty of time with a new arrival but if I quarantine in my friends house, I will have a job getting there some days for any length of time.

I just wondered if where the bird came from IE: A lone bird home would minimise the risks enough to allow me to spare room quarantine.....

This is what I've been mulling over and over for a fortnight now! I know it's difficult for you guys because you can't see my set up!

 

[Spiritbird]

It is morning here about 11 am or so. If one quarantines at another location the bird would go through two changes.

Your spare room sounds fine. Wish I had a spare room for quarantine. I am so wanting a second bird right now but not much $$$$.

 

[Pedro]

Not knowing what viruses your birds can become infected with. My understanding is if a bird is healthy & has had the necessary Vet checks there would be no reason worrying about it shedding a virus. If a bird has a strong healthy immune system, i see not reason to quarantine it at a different location. Von i would think it safe to bring a new bird home that has only had 1 owner. I would also think that you would be adopting a healthy bird.

To be honest i don't think i have ever quarantined any bird i have purchased. Not in another room anyway. A new bird that looks healthy is kept in it's own cage away from other cages but in view. I know what your going to say but the only virus i would be concerned about is Beak & Feather disease in my country. The only birds i quarantine are birds that have been presented to me with an illness but they normally have bacterial or fungal infections.

 

[HRH Di]

Quaratining in another room in the house should be adequate. Personally, I feel that a 30-day quarantine is very important. "Supposed" healthy birds have been know to bring viruses into a their new home. Is 30 days really such a burden if it provides just a little extra protection for Calypso?

Saying this, we didn't quaratine when we brought Jade and Ruby home. The reason for this is that Max was our 1st bird and we had already gotten his health verified. Jade and Ruby came to our house directly from the breeder. She gave us a copy of the most recent the lab results verifying that her aviary was clean and virus-free. Since the girls had never been around any other birds or even in any other building...we were comfortable foregoing the quarantine.

However, if I were to get a fid from anyone other than our breeder, there would absolutely be a 30 day quarantine. I just don't see the risk worth the reward.

 

[Ratzy]

You do soo NOT want to get me started on this thread.

For starters, I think it would be fine. I quarantine all animals in my room-washing hands, changing clothes and even sometimes showering in between them. As for quarantining in the same room, Pedro, what's the point of quarantining in the first place then?
I have never heard of an avian vet that tests for every disease or virus that the new bird could be infected with, so even if the new bird has been to a vet and tested negative for that diseases that it was tested for, that doesn't mean you can skip quarantine.
The reason I'm very... cough cough... extreme in my views of quarantine is that I have lost quite a few birds due to my ignorance in that department. It is horrible to lose birds knowing that it was your fault, for not doing something that everybody should.
Sorry for the rant..... lol, my siggy says it all.

 

[Von1983]

Thanks so much for the input gang, I really REALLY appreciate it.

Being able to standard quarantine with my spare room would be perfect. Not only does it mean spending a lot more time with the new arrival, but the bathroom is between there and where Cal is a lot of the time lol.

There are a lot of lone birds for sale and I just think this also helps to minimise risk as well as giving an adult bird a forever home.

The breeder I got Cal from was very good, but as I say, there are too many adult birds in need. I've had the joy of bringing home a 3month old parrot and as she's grown to be so calm and loving, she will be a good influence on any new arrival I'm sure.

I can now start researching and considering breeds although I am strongly drawn to the TAG, it will depend which bird is in need when I am ready to adopt.

Thankyou very much you lot, I can stop worrying!!!

 

[Pedro]

Ratsy, i do understand where you are coming from & your entitled to rant as much as you like. I am sorry you have lost birds. Please don't judge me because i don't practice strict quarantine. Where i live there is no real need to. All my birds are kept outside in aviaries anyway because we live in a tropical climate where it's summer 12 months of the year. Even my companion parrots are kept outdoors. I can understand keeping birds in a bird room could have the potential to spread a disease very quickly.

Could you guys please tell me what diseases you have to be so careful of in your country?. Like i said the only real threat in my area is Beak & Feather Disease & that is mainly in the wild flocks of parrots. In all my years dealing with my birds i have never bought in a diseased bird. The only deaths i have had is related to egg laying hens being egg bound. Honestly i have not had a death in the past 7 or 8 years.

If i do buy a bird i am very selective whom i get it from. We don't have an Avian Vet within a few thousand miles so we have to keep an eye on our birds health ourselves, there is no yearly wellness check up where i am. In fact the only time a bird sees a Vet is if it's showing signs of illness.

Guy's i do take the health of my parrots seriously & if i thought for a minute there was a need to quarantine i would do it. All new bird are monitored carefully.

 

[Von1983]

I understand what you're saying Pedro and I am VERY jealous of the weather situation!!!! We've had heavy snow last night and today...brrrrr.....

To the best of my knowledge (I have indeed been scouring for information), there are no PROMINENT diseases amongst companion birds in Britain.

It isn't totally unknown to have outbreaks though and I am always very cautious of private advertisments and what people say....I've had some experiences let's just say!

Therefore, if someone promised me faithfully that yes, they'd had this bird all it's life and yes, it gets taken to the AV yearly...dib dib dib.....I still wouldn't risk Cal's health. There are too many parrot thefts in Britain and I'd hate to believe someone who said: "Yeah, he's been in the house but he's not very tame as noone has spent the time training him" only to find out to the detriment of Cal that the bird was stolen from someones infected aviary.

There have been a few outbreaks in the past amongst our British wildlife - usually stemming from the poor old pigeon somewhere along the line, which we have in abundance. Cal for example, is from an aviary. Quite often I have visited aviary's for larger birds/bird of prey santuary's, where little sparrows or tits are feeding on the bottom.

In my mind, a 30 day quarantining in another room with a lone bird home would be safe. I wouldn't feel the need to do 90 days off the premisis but I DO want to do what's best which is why I value all your opinions so much.

It probably DOES seem over cautious and based on if's, and's and but's but I'd rather be that way than hurt my girl for anything.

 

[Spiritbird]

here is a detailed article on one of the more prevelent viruses in the USA and elsewhere.
http://www.parrottalk.com/chamydia-psittaci.htm

 

[Bogo2]

Hello,
I think this is a pretty important thing to do. A couple of times we haven't done it cause my dad just didn't or because we brought in a parakeet to keep our other parakeet from being too depressed after her friend parakeet died and my mom thought our old parakeet would die if we waited for quarantine cause he was really depressed. But even then she kept the parakeets separated from the conures just in case cause even though the new parakeet came from a friend mom was worried about Sam and Gem. I know when I was a little kid we often had birds and other animals we cared for for soldiers and pilots and we always kept those birds separate for at least a month. But still in the same house but separate and we had to wash our hands and use different clothes if we were going to play with the visiting birds for that month.
Kat

 

[Von1983]

Hi Kat - you must be Barb's daughter?

Thanks for the info and nice to see you!

 

[Bogo2]

Hi Von, yes I am Bogo1's daughter. She is on your side of the world right now and I have the house and am having lots of wild parties (not) until she and Papa and Peter get home . You are the person with the shop in England with the really pretty Sun right. I have seen her pictures. I want to take Gem to college with me next year. She is suddenly turning all red on her belly and chest and Mom is going to be really surprised cause it it happening very fast even though she doesn't seem to be molting otherwise. Under her wings too is red. Really pretty! Well I hope when you get your new bird it will be friends with your sun cause that is so much fun when Gem and Sam and the two parakeets all go crazy at once. See here is a picture of a handful of birds. Notice Gem isn't all red in this picture!
Kat

 

[Von1983]

That's us, the shop in England!

I know I'm biased, but Cal is very pretty She's getting prettier by the day too with her colour change! I've just had a delivery of 14 toys for her and various birdy bread based treats as well as harrisons to try her on....I know, I know, too many toys haha! But she loves the rotation of them!

How old is Gem now? She was lovely before so I can only imagine her colouring now! I love the picture you posted. I would hope any bird we adopt will get along with Cal, but I am approaching it as if they won't. We'd like a larger bird though so, it will have to be done very carefully. Cal has a big personality so perhaps if we have a calm addition they might just get along! She's incredibly bossy!

Your Mum is very lucky you're responsible! When I was 16 my mum went to Spain....I come from a veeery small fishing village in the Scottish Highlands so she didn't have any need for concern. *cough* I had a party that weekend and spent the rest of the week sorting the house out!!! haha! The entire living room, pictures and all were swapped around, gunky alcohol everywhere and someone accidently burnt her mat by the door!!!

When I was 22 I confessed and told her to look at the veeerrry back of her cupboard where she kept stuff she never uses(as "old" people do "It'll come in useful!!!) and she'd find the burnt mat! (She had a spare mat in the same cupboard but didn't notice it was missing!) She laughed her head off at the whole story - especially the living room!!!!

Pretty sure she'd not have done that when I was 16 though.....

 

[Pedro]

I understand what you're saying Pedro and I am VERY jealous of the weather situation!!!! We've had heavy snow last night and today...brrrrr.....

To the best of my knowledge (I have indeed been scouring for information), there are no PROMINENT diseases amongst companion birds in Britain.

It isn't totally unknown to have outbreaks though and I am always very cautious of private advertisments and what people say....I've had some experiences let's just say!

Therefore, if someone promised me faithfully that yes, they'd had this bird all it's life and yes, it gets taken to the AV yearly...dib dib dib.....I still wouldn't risk Cal's health. There are too many parrot thefts in Britain and I'd hate to believe someone who said: "Yeah, he's been in the house but he's not very tame as noone has spent the time training him" only to find out to the detriment of Cal that the bird was stolen from someones infected aviary.

There have been a few outbreaks in the past amongst our British wildlife - usually stemming from the poor old pigeon somewhere along the line, which we have in abundance. Cal for example, is from an aviary. Quite often I have visited aviary's for larger birds/bird of prey santuary's, where little sparrows or tits are feeding on the bottom.

In my mind, a 30 day quarantining in another room with a lone bird home would be safe. I wouldn't feel the need to do 90 days off the premisis but I DO want to do what's best which is why I value all your opinions so much.

It probably DOES seem over cautious and based on if's, and's and but's but I'd rather be that way than hurt my girl for anything.

Thanks for that Von. I must say life is so different here & i guess a lot safer than most places. We are such a close community & if there is a dodgy breeder or a problem in someones aviary the news moves like wildfire. So we all buy from breeders we know well.

If i was in the same circumstances as you guy's i would certainly practice strict quarantine.

 

[Bogo2]

No Von, I am pretty sure that mom would not laugh if I had a wild party. But its okay for me to have friends over. We have people here all the time lol... older people like my grandmothers and Peter's and my friends, so I am okay having friends over just no party. I told Adam (my boyfriend) your mat story and he laughed but also he said that there was a broken window at his house from new years eve last year that he wasn't going to admit to until he was about 30 or so lol.
Kat

 

[Ratzy]

Hi Kat!
I'm not judging you, Pedro . Some of the diseases we have to be careful of include Megabacteria, Scaly Mite (okay, not a disease and it probably won't kill your bird, but it still lowers the immune system ), canker, etc.