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Tag: parrots

How Clients Can Train Their Birds for Transport and Reduce Travel Stress

Barbara HeidenreichBefore you can care for avian patients, clients must first get them to your clinic. Often, that’s easier said than done. Most companion birds are not used to leaving their home or riding in cars, and it can be frightening for them.

Reducing or eliminating distress for the avian companion starts before the patient arrives at the veterinary clinic. This is because transportation to the clinic can be a critical part of the process. Most avian companions rarely travel outside of the home. This means travel may have the potential to be challenging. Training birds for transportation in advance can give clients peace of mind and make it more likely that avian patients will receive regular annual examinations and necessary medical attention in a timely manner.

Transport Container Selection

Training for transport first requires finding an appropriate container. Some manufacturers have designed small travel cages, crates, and backpacks specifically for companion birds. However, other products such as plastic kennels or wire crates designed for dogs and cats can be adapted to work well for birds. Buyers should examine these products closely to ensure that the materials are safe and suitably indestructible, depending on the species identified for training.

An ideal container is comfortable, inviting, and easy to train the bird to use. This may require that the client add and position perching of the appropriate size for the species in training. Birds with long tails, like macaws, may require perching to be placed closer to one end to allow them to sit comfortably in the crate or cage. The container should have enough space for the bird to easily turn around.

Some containers provide more than one door, large doors, or unobstructed openings that make it easier for birds to enter voluntarily. This can facilitate training the bird to willingly enter a container for transport.

While it is tempting to put many toys inside a travel container, be careful to avoid hanging toys that can swing into the bird during car movement. This can create an unpleasant experience. Alternative options to consider include small foot toys that can be placed on the bottom of the crate or items that can be secured to the sides that won’t move.

Training to Enter the Transport Container

Training the bird to enter the travel container involves a series of steps. The first step is to give the bird time to habituate to the new crate or portable cage. This involves giving the bird time to see the travel container without any requirement to engage with it. This can be done by placing the crate or cage within viewing distance, while making sure the bird is calm and relaxed in its presence.

The next steps are to encourage interaction with the travel container. The initial interaction can be started by luring. Luring involves placing preferred items in a trail from outside that leads to inside the travel container. This can include food items and toys. For some birds, providing attention can also work.

If the bird knows how to orient their beak toward an object, like a ball on a stick or the tip of a chopstick to earn desired outcomes (also known as targeting), this behavior can also be used to guide the bird into the crate.

Subsequent steps include reinforcing for allowing the door to be closed for short increments of time. This is followed by reinforcing for allowing the container to be picked up with the bird in it. Over time, the container, with the bird inside, is moved for short distances.

Another important step in the shaping plan is to practice driving the bird in the container in the car. It is recommended to start with short trips around the block. Placement of the container may be important to prevent motion sickness for some individuals. Being able to see where they are going can help. If possible, advise clients to place the carrier in the front seat, raised so that the bird can see out the window. They shouldn’t cover the carrier or place it on the floor or in the back of the vehicle.

If clients report regurgitation, advise them on options to prevent motion sickness. Additionally, driving prior to feeding a meal can help reduce nausea.

Addressing Fear Responses

If the avian companion shows a fear response to transport containers due to prior experiences, another strategy is to use distance as a reinforcer for calm behavior in the presence of the travel container. This is done by starting far enough away from the container that the bird’s behavior is relaxed and calm.

Rather than getting closer and closer to the container, the client should approach the container only to a point at which the bird remains relaxed and comfortable, and then retreat from the container. This teaches the bird that calm body language at that distance results in moving away from the container. This is repeated and the distance between the bird and the container is decreased with each approximation.

Eventually the bird is very close to the container, showing relaxed behavior, and the procedure is switched to the steps utilizing the approach previously described. Learn more about how to use distance as a reinforcer in the Fear Free course Addressing Fear & Aggression in Avian Patients: A Constructional Approach.

Training for transportation is a behavior that can be taught even if a bird doesn’t know how to step up on hands or is not entirely comfortable with people. It is an important first step toward making an avian veterinary visit Fear Free. More details about training for transportation and how to train other behaviors to facilitate caring for avian patients are available in the Fear Free Veterinary Certification Program – Avian.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Barbara Heidenreich is an animal training consultant specializing in exotic animals. She consults worldwide working with zoos, universities, veterinary professionals, and conservation projects. She has worked onsite with over 80 facilities in 27 countries. She is an adjunct instructor at Texas A & M University. She has authored two books and contributed to four veterinary textbooks. She is a coauthor of two Fear Free® Avian Certification Courses. Much of her work focuses on training exotic species to cooperate in medical care. Barbara is an advisor for the Animal Training Working Group and the Parrot Taxon Advisory Group for the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums. She has provided her expertise to conservation projects The Kakapo Recovery Program and The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. Her goal is to leave behind a legacy of kindness to animals by sharing her expertise.
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Knowing How to Make Friends With Parrots Can Lead to New Patients

Barbara HeidenreichYour practice may not specialize in birds, but if there is not a board-certified avian practitioner in your area, you may find yourself seeing pet birds occasionally. Learning how to interact comfortably with them can help you add new clients and keep them and your feathered patients happy.

Unlike a dog or cat that may respond to a new person right away, birds can sometimes require a little extra effort on our part, especially if this is their first visit to your facility.

Birds can often show escape and avoidance behaviors when meeting a stranger. Here are some things you can do to help them to be more comfortable when you are getting to know them in a clinic setting.

  1. Give the bird space: Although it is tempting, try not to go right up to a bird. Give him some time to get used to you being in the same room. Once he is looking relaxed and comfortable you can move a bit closer.
  2. Speak softly: Many parrots respond to our loud voices by getting louder. Parrots can go from calm to highly aroused when we get animated, which can create conditions in which aggressive behavior is more likely to occur.
  3. Move slowly: Birds tend to show fear responses when people move too quickly. You don’t want to scare your soon-to-be new friend.
  4. Approach from the front: Be sure to approach the parrot so that he can easily see you coming. Many birds don’t like it when someone is moving behind them.
  5. Show him something special: Before walking closer to a parrot, it is a good idea to have some preferred food items, small parrot toys, or other desired item with you. Ask the client what the bird likes best. Show the bird what you have to give him before you get too close.
  6. Watch his body language: When you show the parrot the special treat or item you have for him, watch how he responds. If he leans toward you, he is saying he would very much like to accept your gift. If he leans away, he might be saying he is not sure he is ready to make friends right now. If he is not ready, you can always try again later.
  7. Offer the special item: If the parrot leans forward and reaches his beak toward what you have to offer, you can move closer and give him what you have. Whenever you offer a preferred food item or toy to a parrot for the first time, try to present it so the bird has to lean forward to take it with his beak. This way you don’t have to get too close to the bird’s beak, and you can be extra-sure the bird is ready for the item. Sometimes when we get too close or offer the item too fast, a bird might respond by biting.
  8. Offer more items: If the parrot takes the first food item or toy and is receptive, he might look or lean toward you for another one. If he does, that is an invitation to really start getting to know each other. Continue to offer him the desired items. This will cause your new parrot friend to look forward to seeing you.

Once a parrot understands that desired interactions occur in your presence, you will begin to notice more affiliative responses. He might be eager to step onto your hand. He might even talk or sing to see if he can encourage you to come closer to gain desired outcomes. As the bird’s comfort increases, he might even let you stroke the feathers on his head. This can be a good sign that you were very careful not to evoke fear responses and have done a good job building desired engagement.

Making friends with a parrot sometimes takes a little extra effort. But it is a very special compliment when a parrot accepts you as a friend. Pay close attention to your actions when you are meeting a parrot for the first time, and offer him preferred food items and fun toys. To learn more about interacting with, caring for, and managing parrots, seek out the Fear Free Veterinary Certification Program-Avian, which includes how to recognize stress in birds, how to handle and examine them safely, and how to teach cooperative care behaviors.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Barbara Heidenreich is an animal training consultant specializing in exotic animals. She consults worldwide working with zoos, universities, veterinary professionals, and conservation projects. She has worked onsite with over 80 facilities in 27 countries. She is an adjunct instructor at Texas A & M University. She has authored two books and contributed to four veterinary textbooks. She is a coauthor of two Fear Free® Avian Certification Courses. Much of her work focuses on training exotic species to cooperate in medical care. Barbara is an advisor for the Animal Training Working Group and the Parrot Taxon Advisory Group for the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums. She has provided her expertise to conservation projects The Kakapo Recovery Program and The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. Her goal is to leave behind a legacy of kindness to animals by sharing her expertise.
 

Are Your Clients Raising Avian Junk-Food Junkies? What They Should Know About Feeding Birds

The idea that birds should eat all-seed diets likely has its roots in two facts:

  1. Many birds are uniquely adapted to eat seeds and nuts, able to effortlessly crack even the hardest shells and extract the tender insides.
  2. Birds love seeds.

If birds love seeds and are engineered to eat them, doesn’t it follow that the bulk of a pet bird’s diet should be seeds? Absolutely not.

The nutritional needs of our birds’ counterparts in the wild may well be quite different from those of our pet birds, living in luxury in our homes. Also, the nutritional makeup of what they eat in the wild may be quite different from what we feed them in our homes. They’re living very different lives!

All-seed diets make most pet birds sick over time, because seeds deny them the nutrients they need for longer-term survival, add nutritional components that are excessive and unhealthy, and ultimately weaken them to the point where other diseases find it easy to take hold. The fact that pet birds can survive at all on such diets is a testament to the toughness of birds.

An all-seed diet contributes both directly (through malnutrition) and indirectly (by weakening the bird, making it easier for infectious disease to take hold) to a serious reduction in the possible life span of any pet bird – by half or more in many cases.

But birds know what’s good for themselves, right? After all, parrots are very intelligent. Well, so are you, but we bet that fact hasn’t stopped you from enjoying tasty treats that you know aren’t good for you. For birds, seeds are the equivalent of a greasy burger: junk food. And it’s that high-fat component that tends to get them in trouble. Too many pet birds (and people) are junk-food junkies.

Pelleted foods are a solid basis for a bird’s diet, but even pellets, wonderful as they are, probably need to be supplemented with vegetables, fruits, and other such “people food” as bread and pasta. Giving different foods in addition to pellets is a way to replicate the way most psittacines eat in the wild, consuming a wide variety of foods that vary seasonally.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Excerpted from Birds For Dummies, 2nd ed., by Brian L. Speer, DVM, Kim Campbell Thornton and Gina Spadafori, Wiley, 2021.