To Chip or Not to Chip????

[JDykstra]

I brought the subject up of Micro chipping in another thread. My CAG is only 3 week old at the moment but I am trying to decide whether to micro chip him or not. Does anyone have an opinion or experience they can share?

Thanks,
Jennifer

[bb100]

I have often thought about it but I have never actually went through with it. Mostly out of some baseless fear it won't do anything other than cause my parrot to be uncomfortable. My parrots have their Annual Vet visit next week so I'll probably ask him his views on the subject. I shall report back (lol).

[little_angels]

well when i got my aus king he wasnt banded and altho i am the only owner of one inside a 50mile radius...i still got him chipped for peace of mind,
i got it done while he was having a vet check and getting bloods taken for sexing and beak and feather etc.

i must say i was worried about the side effects of being put under but to be honest it was a very light Anaesthetic, he was only under for a few mins and i was able to bring him home (once the nurses were finished doting over him) after about an hr.
i personally thing it is definately worth it. it only cost me €90 (alot cheaper than a new bird!) and at least i know now my bird is traceable if the worst happens

[Bela]

I had Bela chipped and it does only take a couple minutes and she didn't seem to pick at the area it was implanted. She didn't like being restrained to gas her, but the doc brought her back to me just as she was coming out of it and THAT was more freaky to ME.

[Lisa B]

just for future reference for you grey owners. Greys do NOT do well under anesthesia and the process should not be taken lightly. Yes, there are new advances and the anesthesia is tailored more for parrots then just general they used to use, but still and all, Several of my vets, All ABVP warned me of putting several of my greys under, and the 50% risk of them not coming out.
Please discuss it in detail with your vet. I will not put my guys under unless deamed medically neccesary. I had one strong boy who survived being put under more times then I can remember, but it had to be over 20. He succomed to Asper. I had not choice with him. He would have died without it.
Antoher grey, had to be put out once for preen gland surgery. I had to sign a paper releasing the hospital if he passed on. He did fine.
Emma, was suggested to have her neck xrayed for future reference because of the twist in it, and she will eventually get arthritus(sp) I refused because they wouldnt do it without puttin her under.This came from a well known and highly regarded avian vet. It didnt matter the credentials I was not taking the chance. My regular vet, said she would attempt to capture the xray with miss Emma laying on her back, as she does everywhere she goes.
I was however at a vet with my girlfriend, many moons ago, where her grey did not survive. She came in with a picking grey, came out with a corpse.
Something like that stayes with you, and luckily, my vets are aware of my fears because of what I saw, and often will choose to do things without the ansethesia if they can for me.(mind you nothing that would hurt them!!)

[FeatherLover]

I was unaware that some vets use anesthesia to chip birds.
Togo was chipped w/o anesthesia and was absolutely fine.
Perhaps different chips/birds/vets have different needs?

[Ringneckmom]

Anesthesia is definitely a personal thing for each owner, but as far as chipping goes, I would recommend it.
A year or so ago I fostered an amazon that had no band and no chip. It took a while to find the owner but I was able to get them reunited.A micro chip could have enabled us to locate the owner much quicker, so I do think they are a good thing to think about doing. Plus - a band can be cut off, a chip is a little harder to get rid of and it can also be the proof that someone might need if there was ever any dispute.