Bird Health - Pet Shops - Health Programmes

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Pet Shop Health Programmes For Birds

The future of birds as pets has never looked better, especially for those pet shops embracing the electronic age. Surely, potential "e-customers" will select a pet shop that practices a gold standard of bird care and also guarantees the health and quality of its birds.

Nowadays, the general public demands a guarantee of health for the birds they purchase from pet shops. I certainly believe this is a reasonable request that can be achieved with minimal effort and without financial burden to the shop. However, the pet shop must be motivated and have a dedicated and willing staff before it is able to confidently guarantee the health if its birds.

The process of attaining good health in the pet shop is achieved by using proven health programmes. The following health programmes have been used in specialist bird shops for over 20 years with outstanding success. I am most grateful to Charlie Sultana of Crystal Pet and Wire Centre for his help and feedback over the years. Together we have fine-tuned these programmes into very workable models, that are easily applied to almost any pet shop.

The health programmes:

Keep the birds in the shop healthy and happy.
Most importantly they maintain the health of the birds after they leave the shop.
Inform the new owners of the proper care for their pet bird.
Provide the pet shop and their customers with an expert veterinary support system.

The health programmes vary slightly according to:

Category of pet bird. Hand- reared or not.
The species of bird. Parrot or Finch.
The time of the year. Winter or summer.
Financial restraints of the customer. "When only the best will do" or "The bare essentials" programme.

The health programmes advantage the bird in the shop and in their new home.
The birds in a pet shop on a health programme are at a considerable health advantage when they go to their new home because they already display a high level of health. As well, they are already accustomed to the taste of the additives thereby guaranteeing their continual health.

Pet Bird Health Programmes
The Hand Reared Birds

Basic Rules:

If possible, purchase hand-reared birds prior to weaning so that they can be weaned in the shop.
Test feed the babies before accepting them. They must have a very strong feeding reflex.
Accept only the strongest birds. Reject babies with red skin. This is a danger sign of dehydration.
Place every on the Hand Reared Bird Health Programme immediately, monitoring the birds carefully twice daily.
For those babies still being fed by hand mix, 5 drops of Dufoplus, 10 drops of Ioford, 6 drops of Turbobooster into 100mls of the hand rearing mix for two meals a day. Have seed and water impregnated with the above additives. This is the very best time for the hand-reared bird to accept new tastes.
Make sure they are accepting the new taste of the food.

The Pet Bird Health Programme
This programme is good for all pet birds, be they hand reared or not.

Day of Week	In Water	Mixed With Seed
Friday	Water Cleanser	Turbobooster/F-vite
Saturday	Dufoplus/IofordNF	Turbobooster/F-vite
Sunday	Dufoplus/IofordNF	Turbobooster/F-vite
Monday	Ivermectin once each 4 weeks	Turbobooster/F-vite
Tuesday	Wormer each 3 weeks	Turbobooster/F-vite
Wednesday		Turbobooster/F-vite
Thursday		Turbobooster/F-vite

Special First Aid Instructions:

Ill bird information click here.
Contact the avian veterinarian for advice.
Thrush is the most common health problem for hand-reared birds. Nystatin is the medicine of choice.

Aviary Bird Health Programme

Basic Rules:

Be very selective when purchasing birds for your shop. Do not accept unhealthy or weak birds.
Get a general overview of the birds on arrival at the shop, but first let them settle in the transport container for 15 minutes. At this time, look for the vitality in the birds and for any obviously weak or distressed birds. The poor birds are rejected.
Prepare the shop cages beforehand, cleaning them out with a cage cleaner and the water containers with Water Cleanser.
Mix NV powder in the water and have the best quality seed in place.
Handle the birds individually as they are moved into the shop cages. Examine each bird starting from the head and moving towards the tail. Look for and reject birds with red or discharging nostrils, watery eyes, obvious weight loss, breathing problems, no tail or a loss of feathers on the head.
Treat those birds infested with lice or mites (look carefully at the wings) as they are placed into the shop cages.
Place similar aged birds of the same species in the one cage and do not overcrowd.
Monitor the birds each day and remove any fluffed up birds to the hospital cage for medical treatment.
Follow the Parrot & Finch Health Programme below.

The Parrot & Finch Health Programme

Day of Week	In Water	Mixed With Seed
Saturday	NV powder	F-vite Clean the cage with Cage Cleaner
Sunday	NV powder	F-vite
Monday	Wormer each 4 weeks Ivermectin is given for two days in summer each 3 weeks	F-vite
Tuesday		F-vite
Wednesday		F-vite
Thursday		F-vite
Friday	Water Cleanser	F-vite

Routine Treatment:

Mix the NV powder in the water on Saturday morning, leaving it there until Sunday evening.
Mix the F-vite in the seed.
Water Cleanser as a water cleanser each Friday.
Clean the cages with Cage Cleaner each week.
Gentle Wormer each 4 weeks for two consecutive days (Monday and Tuesday).
In summer Ivermectin is given for two days (Monday and Tuesday) each 3 weeks. Lice and mite control are essential during the summer moult. Ivermectin is given in the water and the cage is cleaned with a pyrethrin based spray.

Special Treatments:

Winter is a bad time for birds and every attention is given to preventing diseases.
Constant monitoring of the entire bird shop is necessary. At the first sign of illness a short preventative medicine programme is given.
Chlamydia treatment is the medicine of choice for ill parrots. Contact your veterinarian for advice.
A Sulphur based medicine is the medicine of choice for all ill finches and ill budgerigars.
Some pet shops benefit from regular treatments and others are best to treat after a problem is recognized. The most important part of disease control in the pet shop is the early recognition of disease. The staff must be trained in the art of recognizing the early signs of illness.