Leg Band?

[Mandy_25]

We are looking to buy us a CAG she is 4 yrs old.......The owner says she DOESNT have a leg band to mark her but she has a DNA Paper for her we live in Ohio,Usa I have been told that the bird has to have the leg band! When i asked Owner About Leg band this is what i was told by them "(The bird was bred domestically, and we really had not reason to care about marking her, since we had no plans of selling her. Which was why there was no band.)"

 

This is what i have found on a web site

GOVERNMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

 

The USDA requires banding of all imported birds prior to releasing them from quarantine. The bands are used to indicate that a bird has been legally imported into the country. They are engraved with letters and numbers identifying the bird and the quarantine station. Since these bands are being placed on older birds with mature feet, open bands must be used.

 

The federal government and many states require permits to transfer certain species of exotic birds into a state. Other states require permits to own or breed exotic birds. One of the requirements for obtaining a permit is a bird's band number. It is proof that the bird was either legally imported or domestically bred. A few states will accept other forms of identification such as a microchip or DNA fingerprint, but most still require a band.

 

A bird owner should think twice before having a band removed. Many of us own birds which are long lived. We may move to a new state sometime in the future or our birds may someday have a new owner in another state. Furthermore, new laws and regulations are being enacted every day. One or more of these could affect you in the future. Until other methods have become acceptable, the band is a required means of identification.

 

 

Any help on this would be great

[rbpittman]

Very interesting. Both of my Grey's are chipped and I have their paperwork that gives hatch date and dna testing as well. It gives the breeders name and location as well as their identification numbers. Thanks for bringing up the information.

[Luvparrots]

My grey was domestically breed and I have a sales receipt, dna paperwork and she is microchipped. The band she had on, was a rubber one (more for the breeder to be able to identify her babies for feeding, etc. purposes then anything else). I had Ana Grey's vet remove it. The area where the band was is still bare and naked looking so I'm glad it is no longer there. I know her breeder kept records of her hatchday and growth information. I believe removing a band is a personal preference. Ana Grey is so active and climbs all over everything and I wouldn't want a band to get caught on anything where she might harm herself trying to free her leg.

 

Perhaps some of our members who are breeders will chime in here to give their expertise and knowledge in these matters.

 

Great post Mandy, karma to you for posting it.

[Dave007]

I'm afraid that much of the info you're talking about doesn't apply here to birds that are owned, purchased or adopted in the US whether they're in one state or another

Numerous amounts of parrots are sold everyday all over the US and those birds have no ID bands nor have they ever had any bands. The breeder makes the choice of using them and whether a bird has one or not has nothing to do with moving a bird from one part of the US to another. There's no law that says a bird born in the US has to have any leg band. What you refer to concerning going from on state to another with a parrot has to do with the species of parrot such as a quaker. 23 states have various laws concerning the ownership of a quaker. Many states allow them to be sold by breeders but not pet stores. Many states won't allow any commercial breeding of quakers but will allow private breeding. Many states don't allow any quaker ownership of ANY type. People can have their quakers taken away and the birds will be put to sleep and the owners are subjected to heavy fines. The laws concerning quakers were enacted approx 50 yrs ago because they infaded and caused severe damage to thousands of crop areas all over the US. The quakers were classified as feral and because no human importation was ever involved the USDA was allowed to put serious restrictions and laws concerning those birds. The birds came from Peru and Hondurous.

None of these USDA rules have anything to do with banding or any other type of information.

 

The rules that you're speaking about are about birds that were imported into the US legally and illegally and that practice was stopped in 1992. It's against the law to import ANY parrots into the US and jail time or very high fines can be involved.

US bred parrots of all species are commercially bred all over the US everyday and are shipped all over the US everyday and any type of leg band or other information is not required. Chipping isn't required. DNA isn't required. The seller makes the choice of what bells and whistles to provide the customer and the customer is told what will be provided.

There are 2 types of leg bands. One is called a closed band which can only be put on a bird before it's 10 days old. The other is called the open band which can be put on at any time on all birds. Anyone using a leg band isn't required to put certain official info on that band. It's totally up to the breeder concerning that info.

Banding doesn't provide any official information which can allow a person to get permits since anything can be put on a band.

A person looking for a permit to breed birds for selling purposes simply needs a tax stamp.

 

"""""" The owner says she DOESNT have a leg band to mark her but she has a DNA Paper for her we live in Ohio,Usa I have been told that the bird has to have the leg band! When i asked Owner About Leg band this is what i was told by them "(The bird was bred domestically, and we really had not reason to care about marking her, since we had no plans of selling her. Which was why there was no band.)""""""

 

The breeder is totally correct. He/she doesn't even have to provide DNA results to a person but if a person does get a bird that has results of DNA, the certificate will say 1---the sex of the bird and 2---the date that the testing was done. Even if there is no band, that bird can be sold or given away or put ino a shelter and banding isn't required. That same bird can be adopted or sold and also shipped and no ID is required other than a health certificate BUT that's only required in countries that allow shipping

from one country to another ( not for selling purposes). Example, someone lives in Canada and wants to move to the US. Quarantine is required, health certificates are required but leg bands aren't required simply because any info on a band could be false or not apply. Nor is any type chipping required.

I can give you the name of a well known company that sells thousands of bands all the time in many colors and they'll put any info on them that the buyer wants.

I also recommend to people that if there's the slightest bit of difficulty or problems that a bird has concerning the band on the leg, that person should go to a vet or qualified vet tech and have the band immediately removed because many times, bands are put on incorrectly or the right size is not correct.

 

PS--AS an aside, For those that happen to be interested the US laws concerning Quakers.

 

Illegal and restricted laws about Quakers

 

qp-society.com/wildquakers/wildtext/illegallist.html

 

 

Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2010/02/04 01:37<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2010/02/04 02:33

[Mandy_25]

Thanks For all the info/help all i just wanted to make sure things was right before i move ahead with something so big All have a great night and God Bless

[Luvparrots]

Thanks Doc for clarifying this for us all!