microchipping

[momy442000]

I have considered microchipping my greys. I have heard it can cause your bird to pluck their feathers. just wanting to hear other peoples experiences and opinions on this procedure?

[Tari]

I have not done this. I have heard nothing nice and I am sure it is just like with the dogs around here. No one scans for them.

I thought about doing my yard dogs but I found out that very few will scan for the chip so they are pretty useless.

The birds I have with bands on well keep their bands and Ill just have to make sure none get out banded or not.

[danmcq]

Hi momy442000,

 

No personal experience here with chipping birds, but I do have all my Dobermans chipped.

 

Here are some links on Microchipping and things to consider as to which brand to use:

 

http://www.animed.org/birds_leg_bands_microchipping.htm

 

http://www.avidmicrochip.com/answer.htm

 

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww7eiii.htm

 

http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/lovebird-care-legband.htm

[Christina]

We have our blue and gold chipped...neither our b&g or my grey came with bands. Once Finni is older (I won't do it until he is over a year, just personal preferance) then I will get him done, otherwise if I need to identify him, how else would I be able too? It was a simple procedure and it didn't bother Loki at all...he was as spunky right afterwards as he was when he went into the vets office.

[Dave007]

I agree with Tari. I think microchipping a wild animal( parrot) that has the easy and natural ability and desire to take off into areas that domestic pets don't go to makes chipping of little value. That area that domestic animals don't go into is the sky. It's extremely difficult to retrieve a bird that's escaped. It's nature is to be up in the sky traveling in a million directions. For every success story about recapturing a parrot, there's 100s of unsuccessful attempts.

What about the people who might recapture one? Many don't have the desire or money or knowledge on where to go to have a chip read by a scanner. There's a chance that those people will just decide to keep the bird considering that birds adapt to new owners more successfully than domestic 4 legged animals will.

Also,not every vet has scanning equipment. Most people who have had their birds chipped have yet to lose them, so the absolute, guaranteed success rate of chipping parrots has yet to be discovered especially if it's a single bird that's been lost by a single family. People are more likely to try and find an owner of a domestic animal because they feel the pain of the owners who are looking for the animal. People can relate to domestic animals but when they see a creature that has the easy ability to take care of itself, only a half hearted attempt is done when trying to get that wild animal.

Although I'm not against banding, it also has it's problems. Example--a person/family adopts an older bird that's been banded in the past. The new owners examine the band and can't understand the info on the band so eventually, they visit bird boards and start asking for info concerning the different meanings of the bands. The only answers they get is *what a band might possibly mean in a certain state*. The answers are vague. The imprinted info is a code. Usually, the most information that's obtained from the band is the age of the bird. The most complete info imprinted on that band can be obtained from the breeder at the time of purchase and that info should be stored somewhere just like a person would do concerning their birth certificate.

 

Post edited by: MrSpock, at: 2007/10/23 19:29<br><br>Post edited by: MrSpock, at: 2007/10/24 17:01

[judygram]

Dave's opinions are much like mine, I don't think it would be of much use and why put them thru the procedure of inserting it into their body, chances are slim to none that it will ever be found if ever it should happen to escape. Don't waste your money.:dry:

[loviechick]

I've thought about chipping as neither of mine have bands on them...Either way I will get it done if I feel it is necessary for their health, at the moment I don't think that's the case...

[BMustee]

I'm not going to chip mine for the exact reasons MrSpock pointed out.

[lovemyGreys]

Both of my boys are microchipped as they do not have rings,they were left to be reared by their parents for as long as possible.Neither suffered any side effects from being chipped.The chances of them flying off is probably nil but if the worse case scenario ever happened i personally wanted a way to identify them.

[danmcq]

All good posts and reasoning by everyone. :-)

 

I haven't personally considered Micro-chipping, but if your Parrot ever did happen to fly away, live and be found by an animal lover that knows it must belong to someone sitting at home crying over the loss of there Parrot. If the Parrot was micro-chipped, the finder could atleast go to the nearest SPCA or Vet office, have it scanned and find the owner and reunite the two, much to everyones relief and mutual benefit.

 

My take on it, is if you want even the "slightest" chance that your much loved Parrot could be returned to you, why not?

 

The bottom line is, if it's not chipped and is found, you will never know it or have any chance of ever being reunited with your Parrot.

 

After reading the links and posts on this subject, I believe I will have Dayo chipped in the near future.

 

Thanks for starting this Topic! :-)

[Cyard]

What a great amount of information, I wished I would have thought to discuss this with my vet. I will definateky discuss this with him at our spring visit.

 

I beleieve that this is a very good topic and I really look forward to hearing everyone's opinion on it!

[Christina]

I think everyone has very good points. I also think people steal birds and that is a possiblity just as much as your bird flying away. If found, I could prove he is mine. I would rather a chance of getting my Finni back then not having any chance, especially since he isn't banded.

[lovemyGreys]

Bands & rings are fine,i have two greys chipped & one has a ring,my concern with bands/rings is that if a grey was stolen a thief would attempt to cut it off ! i have also heard of horror stories when birds get their bands caught when playing etc & have suffered some terrible injuries.Pros & Cons for both i think.

[Guest briansmum]

i only just found this thread but i thought i would add.

 

brian is microchipped. i had him done when he was about 14 weeks on his wellbird visit, the vet recommended if i was going to get it done to get it done when he was a baby and then it was over and done with.

 

they have to inject the chip into the birds breast (rather than under the neck skin of a cat or dog) and it did take it out of baby brian for a couple of days and he was a bit sensitive there but he never bothered the area. few days on he was he was perfectly fine.

 

the reason i opted for microchip was because my mums dog ran off not so long ago.. and ended up MILES away from his home (we think he was taken there as he is a pedigree)

 

where i live valuable animals do get taken for money, and i saw microchiping as an extra security measure. yes the proceedure stressed him out a bit, but it's been months now and there have been absolutely no reprecutions.. he's completely oblivious.

[birdmom]

Well, yes and no. The band should have the breeders number on it, each breeder is supposed to be licensed, and they are issued a breeder number. So that goes on the band. It is my understanding those numbers on the little band do not contain a hatch date. One of my birds was hatched here locally, and the place is called the birdshop. Their bands all say BS ____ and a number.

 

Anyway I agree on the micro chipping. It seems like whenever I go to the vet, my vet never says " Oh, gosh we need to scan your bird and see if it was reported stolen." So, even if someone found my bird, and took it to a vet sometime, it's unlikely that any veterinarian would scan it, and many don't have scanners. I guess you'd have to have alerted all the vets in your area to be on the lookout for your bird, and you should always have written down the numbers on your birds band, that way if you report it stolen, the number will be on the police report. You can tell local veterinarians the number and if someone brings a grey in, that is a new patient, they could check it for your birds band number.

[Toni]

My dog got lose one time I didnt have her chippied but the day it happened I called all the vets in my area and couple off the boundry to look out for my shih tzu, well someone came in w/ her and almost took her as their own until the vet noticed how I described her as having a fat head..lol

he asked them if they just got her and they said yes..He asked them if they found her they told him yes. He told them the owner is looking for her. I went and picked her up my vet did tell me if it happeend again to do the same thing I done. Call all the vets . They wont scan if someone just brings in a pet.

[Guest briansmum]

microchipping is very common where i live. every vet that offers microchips, which is any decent one, has the equipment to scan them too. also the police and RSPCA all have scanners, and it is standard proceedure to scan lost pets, it was a policeman who scanned my mums dog

[Kibibi]

I looked into chipping some time ago. There isn't a standard chip (4 major types) or chip reader (2 major manufacturers) in the US but there was in Europe. So frequently the vets and animal shelters don't have a scanner that reads all the variations of the chip. Unfortunately for us in the US, there's no standard in the US but outside the US there exists an international standard (ISO's 11784 and 11785). So based on the hit or miss capability of it in the US, my conclusion at the time was that the only real use for it would be if your bird was stolen and you needed proof of identification in a court. In that case, you could force the person holding the bird to have it scanned using all the different technologies to prove that it was your animal. Using it to retrieve a lost bird isn't very useful. If lost, you should notify your local vets and animal shelters immediately. If someone brings in a bird matching your description then scanning probably won't be necessary. That of course assumes that someone finds it, that person takes it to a vet or shelter, the vet or shelter has been notified by you, and the vet's personnel are aware of your notification.

[birdmom]

Yes I'm in California, US.

[particle77]

Thought I'd add to this discussion, as I'm contemplating having Earl microchipped. While I recognize that the chances of the microchip helping Earl get safely back home, are very low, I figure its still a chance.

 

Also, regarding the multiple types of chips used in the US, and issues with scanners. Scanners capable of reading all 4 common formats have been available for quite some time. also, even if an old incompatible scanner is used, those could sometimes at least detect that a microchip of an unrecognized format was present, which might lead to further investigation.

[rbpittman]

Dixie and Sterling are both chipped and I wuoldn't have it any other way. They were chipped when I got them, so I didn't have a choice, but Blue has a band, and we will be visiting the vet soon to discuss removing the band and having him chipped. The possibility of finding a lost bird is slim, but to make a possibility have a more footing, I'll go with the chip. At least if someone did come in with a bird, that hasn't been to the vet before (we have only the one in this area), and he's aware of a lost pet, he can easily scan for the chip. Any chance is better than none.

 

All three of my dogs are chipped. Pugs do not have much of a chance wearing a regular collar with tags, at least mine don't, and without their chips they would not be easily identifiable as who they are and who they belong to. Tags attach to their harnesses when we walk, but they don't wear them all the time and there have been times when they did get out of the back yard. Unfortunately, we've had to padlock the gate since the neighbor kids think it's funny to let dogs loose.<br><br>Post edited by: rbpittman, at: 2009/09/30 02:56