Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:01 pm Post subject: Leg banding babies
Wandering if anyone has had any issues banding (the metal or plastic ring on leg) babies whose parents are unbanded? I know with some parent birds they will attack the young or injure them while trying to remove the unfamiliar object. Thanks in advance.
l purchase a kaka with a band on his leg it was on loose but he was forever picking at it until l have to get the vet to remove it coz he made his leg bleed not a fan of bands.
They can also be extreemly helpful too. In our country if you happen to buy a bird with a official band you can look it up on the web and find out more info on the bird. It also contains the year it was born and often the breeder. Even if the band itself does not contain all the info you can request informtion from the AAC (Avicultural Advancement of Canada). You can then contact the breeder and find out genitics, history etc. (If they kept good records)
Also if you plan on doing any travelling with your birds they have to have oficial bands.
I think the problems arise when the band is placed on the bird at a later date and it thinks of it as a foriegn object that it needs to be removed. I have one bird who was bought via a pet store and he had issues with some of his bands and not others. We did remove some. It looked like the pet store had added some for their own identification- not good for the bird.
Think of it like a wedding ring. If you've never wore a ring before it feels awkward when you start wearing a ring, yet you want to wear it to show you are married so you leave it on. Later when you do take it off, your finger feels "bare" and you once again feel awkward.
If the bands/rings are introduced at an early age the bird accepts it as part of its self.
I want to band my babies, but am concerned about the unbanned parents. They may see it as a flaw or something foriegn that needs to go at all expense. I wish the parents were banded because I bought them at a bird sale and really know nothing about them. The lady didn't seem very helpful. I had visited her home before going to the sale and she seemed to give different stories each time-not to trustworthy on information. I don't know if she raised them or got them from someone else.
I have heard horrifying stories of birds mutalating themselves to remove the band. I figure I should band them if I can, since I don't know what their future will hold- it might be that at some point they will need a band.
I have used open bands on adult cockatiels and kakariki and although it makes them nervous for the first couple of hours/days, but they never mutilated themselves or anything.
Neither I had problems banding chicks, other than removing the mother/father from the nest, as some birds are really reluctant to leave the nest so I had to delay or refrain from banding.
Cheers / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
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