The Vet

[Degrees55basebal]

I have had my bird "Corkie" now for about one and one half years. She or He is a great bird and I only relized her being somewhat sick once. how often do you think I should take her to the vet for like a check-up.

P.S.Would a Nonday Conure and a Lutino Cockatiel get along with eachother.

[Mylo's Mama]

They say to take them in once a year ("They" being every book I have read) If you decide to, make sure you take her to an Avian vet, and always try to be the first appt (the vet is where sick birds go, etc....)

Not sure on your PS

[The Outlaw]

You can easily sex a Congo grey by looking under their tail. If it is totally red, its a male.

If, however, its shaded with grey around the edges, you have a female.

[Monica]

Some birds can get along well together, while others would rather kill eachother... there's no guarantee that two birds will ever get along, even of the SAME species.

[Captain Jack]

In my opininion, the average person should at least take ther bird in every six months. Its cheap, and its better to be safe then sorry. I dont think its good to stretch this out unless you are set up to do your own gram stains as many people on this board are. Plus, if you Avian vet becomes familiar with you bird when and if something does change they have a better chance at properly treating the bird. Heck our vet could spot Amber and I in a crowd we are in there so much.

[Winged_Victory]

My opinion: Birds that our sick or have continuing problems should go to the vet as required. We don't take our birds to the vet on a regular basis as we do not want to expose them to other birds in a vet office that have been sick or ones that have PDD. An established vet sees many birds that may have PDD or other diseases that can be transmitted through the air or by touch. If a vet sees a bird that has PDD how would you know he has taken adequate precautions in cleaning the exam room, X-ray machine, etc, that he used to examine the ill bird. Since the transmission media of some viral diseases are unknown we do not want to take a chance with our birds going to the vet unless they having a life threatening reason for being there.

The best time to go to the vet if you do not have a life threatening issue, the first thing in the morning before the vet has seen other birds and the office is the most sanitary.

Birds mask signs of illness very easy, if you feel your bird may be ill you need to take it to the vet, don’t wait! Chronic or ongoing problems need to be seen by your vet!

Now you can see why routine visits are a hard call, especially if you have more than a couple of birds, you take to the vet for a routine checkup. The potential is there for one to “catch” an infection or disease at the office and bring it home to the rest of the flock.

[Degrees55basebal]

Thank you very much everyone for your opinions. I will take every one into concideration.

[Willow]

I go once a year for bloodwork, and in between if I need nails trimmed or whatnot.

[Mylo's Mama]

Another thought is if you do not do your own grooming, take him to your vet to have him groomed. I do this and it's a good way for the vet to see the fids every 3-4 months (grooming is a lot cheaper than bloodwork too!)