Hmm.. microchip?

[Birdnut]

I had the closed bands removed from my two blue crown conures, because one of them got caught in the grating in the bottom of the cage. Fortunately, this happened while they were still at the bird store being weaned, and there was someone right there to help him. The biggest danger, as far as cages go, is any place in the cage where two bars are not parallel, but taper towards a point (like this /\). The cage my conure got caught in was a corner cage, and while it is clear they tried to construct it so that this wouldn't happen, he did manage to have a freak accident when he reached through the bars at one point, and then moved his foot down to where the bars were slightly closer together.

 

My grey, Moussa, does have a leg band. At the present time, I am leaving the band on. If I notice him worrying at it, I will have it taken off. I was thinking it might be especially helpful for a long-lived bird that is likely to go through more than one owner to have a leg band. But I'm open to changing my mind.

[KimKim]

we found a cockatiel at the shelter I use to work at that had and band, we tried everything to locate the owner, but were unable to find any info on how to read a band and locate the breeder. We googled the numbers and still nothing. That bird got adopted after his holding period. Is there a registry for bird bands?

[pearllyn]

I was thinking about having Alfie chipped but after reading these comments I'm in 3 minds now. She still has her band and it doesn't bother her at all.

[KimKim]

I would think that chipping would hurt them, thats a big needle for a small bird. Also, not to many people that I know of, know you can chip birds. And one more thought, how hard would it be for a shelter or a vet to try and scan a scared lost parrot... I know that my grey would give them a heck of a time if he was chipped:)

[Dave007]

"""Is there a registry for bird bands? """"

 

Not really. There's no rules or laws that say a bird has to be registered anywhere. There are companies that sell blank bands to breeders or other bird outlets and they can help in telling a state or other tech. info but the best way to get any information is from your breeder whaen the bird is purchased. Most info on bands is coded.There's many breeders that refuse to band baby birds because they provide all the paperwork that's needed.

[GoDiego]

Here in Spain, it is against the law to purchase or own a bird that is not either closed banded or if the band was to be removed replaced with a microchip. The band here is actually registered to the person who owns them, so a breeder here has to register a change of ownership against the number on the band. The birds history is recorded against this number, i.e. the breeder, the owners and any illnesses. There is a big problem here in Spain, especially in Barcelona of colonies of Quaker parrots that started out in captivity but were let free. They are now a big problem in the city and any birds that are not registered there are talks of them being culled.

 

There is also a lot of smuggled wild caught parrots being sold here in Spain which is another reason for them being strict with the band. Diego's vet recommended the microchip in case Diego was stolen and they removed the band and tried to sell him on again. Again parrot theft here in Spain is a big thing

 

I'm still undecided, I don't know how I feel about it. It comes across as very intrusive.