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I see a lot of threads on here regarding Quarantine and in particular people who don't do the full 30 day or 45 day Quarantine period because "they have always done this and never had a problem".
Firstly I ALWAYS Quarantine new birds for a Minimum of 30 days, sometimes longer if I think it is needed, in a separate room at the very least.
That being said there are some things Quarantine alone will not stop.
I am speaking from personal experience here. Some of you will already be aware of this others will not.
Myself and a friend recently purchased two Hahns Macaws from a pet shop, (I know these aren't Budgies however I feel this is extremely important information hence posting it here, as it counts for ANY bird or indeed animal).
They were quarantined in her house in a spare room for 3 weeks before I could bring them home as I was sorting out space and cages etc.
On the day I collected them I took them straight up to my Avian Vet for their beak trims and microchipping and to get an eye exam done on Reva. (Pics in my siggy).
Reva has perminant squinty eyes, we had been assured on separate occasions he had been checked by a vet and was healthy, he had come into the shop with his eyes like that. He is 09 rung and was in that shop as a chick, this makes him nearly 4 years old.
The first thing my Avian Vet wanted to do was a test for Psittacosis on the off chance, purely because of the eyes.
We had the test and he came back Positive, with a high antibody level indicating a long term infection.
So instead of them being able to come home to me they went round a relatives where they are currently in strict Quarantine. They are being treated with antibiotics to try and clear the current infection. This is a 6 week treatment and we have just reached week 3. After the treatment is complete I have to wait 3 MONTHS to re-test them and see what their antibody level is.
Assuming we come back with an all clear to bring them home I have to re-test them every 6 to 12 months for life to check the antibodies are not rising indicating re-infection.
If they come back Positive still we have to re-treat and likely have to try something else.
(Good thoughts/ Vibes for the birds at this time is greatly appreciated).
I have to spray MYSELF down with disinfectant when I enter the room, put on overalls and gloves, spray the whole cage down get it thoroughly wet before cleaning their poo up to prevent any feather dust or dried poo dust rising into the air. Everything has to be disinfected daily in the room, I change their antibiotics daily, I then have to spray myself down again before taking off my overalls, then spray my clothes underneath just in case, then my bare arms before I leave the room. This takes around 30 minutes a day, so these birds can only have that much human attention a day at the moment. Once I have left the room I have to wash the disinfectant off my arms, then use a hand gel all over my arms and leave it to air dry.
I took another one of my birds to be tested which luckily came back negative so my aviary flock is clear of infection. I will be getting Munchkin and Rocky tested as well as I am in most contact with them personally and I am not risking them.
So here we are three weeks in, thats 6 weeks after my friend had them at her house. Over the weekend one of her Budgies suddenly died, then just as she was leaving for the vets a Lovebird went 'off' and fluffed up. He passed at the vets.
Yup ALL her birds are now at risk of being infected even though they were Quarantined for 3 weeks before I had them. The Budgie came back Positive for it.
ALL her birds now have to be treated for 6 weeks and then 3 months till re-testing.
As I am at risk myself and so are my friends and anyone in contact or who has been in contact with these birds, I now have to take antibiotics for 2 weeks as a precaution, I have had to have a chest xray to check whether or not I have it, if I do it will be a longer course of antibiotics which make me quite ill.
It took 6 weeks from when those Macaws entered her house for the first sign from one of her birds, if you don't even bother to Quarantine think how many birds could be infected before you even knew about it, what if your a breeder? You unknowingly infect your breeder birds, you sell those chicks to new owners, the stress by the move causes the infection to become active and the chicks all die.
It is likely that the Hahns are carriers although the eyes do indicate an actual infection at some point as the muscles have been eaten away at hence his perminant squint. Birds can hide this disease for years and never show any signs of it, if they are shedding it that whole time think how many birds and humans can be infected, in humans it manifests as flu like symptoms but can and will KILL if left untreated.
This is a disease Quarantine alone will not stop. ALL new birds from now on are being tested for this disease, and any others my vet might thing is needed. There is no point in risking the health of your current birds.
So is Quarantine really worth it?
YES!!!
Quarantine and screening is a must for anyone!
I can only hope by posting this that someone, even just one person stops and thinks and prevents anything like this happening to themselves and their birds.
It is not a situation I ever wanted to be in and would never wish on anyone, the stress we are all under because of it, and the stress on the birds who crave human attention and have to go through all this treatment and vet visits, all because they were not properly checked out and treated in the first place.
Don't let this happen to you!
EDIT: Just to add approx 60% of birds have this disease!!
Firstly I ALWAYS Quarantine new birds for a Minimum of 30 days, sometimes longer if I think it is needed, in a separate room at the very least.
That being said there are some things Quarantine alone will not stop.
I am speaking from personal experience here. Some of you will already be aware of this others will not.
Myself and a friend recently purchased two Hahns Macaws from a pet shop, (I know these aren't Budgies however I feel this is extremely important information hence posting it here, as it counts for ANY bird or indeed animal).
They were quarantined in her house in a spare room for 3 weeks before I could bring them home as I was sorting out space and cages etc.
On the day I collected them I took them straight up to my Avian Vet for their beak trims and microchipping and to get an eye exam done on Reva. (Pics in my siggy).
Reva has perminant squinty eyes, we had been assured on separate occasions he had been checked by a vet and was healthy, he had come into the shop with his eyes like that. He is 09 rung and was in that shop as a chick, this makes him nearly 4 years old.
The first thing my Avian Vet wanted to do was a test for Psittacosis on the off chance, purely because of the eyes.
We had the test and he came back Positive, with a high antibody level indicating a long term infection.
So instead of them being able to come home to me they went round a relatives where they are currently in strict Quarantine. They are being treated with antibiotics to try and clear the current infection. This is a 6 week treatment and we have just reached week 3. After the treatment is complete I have to wait 3 MONTHS to re-test them and see what their antibody level is.
Assuming we come back with an all clear to bring them home I have to re-test them every 6 to 12 months for life to check the antibodies are not rising indicating re-infection.
If they come back Positive still we have to re-treat and likely have to try something else.
(Good thoughts/ Vibes for the birds at this time is greatly appreciated).
I have to spray MYSELF down with disinfectant when I enter the room, put on overalls and gloves, spray the whole cage down get it thoroughly wet before cleaning their poo up to prevent any feather dust or dried poo dust rising into the air. Everything has to be disinfected daily in the room, I change their antibiotics daily, I then have to spray myself down again before taking off my overalls, then spray my clothes underneath just in case, then my bare arms before I leave the room. This takes around 30 minutes a day, so these birds can only have that much human attention a day at the moment. Once I have left the room I have to wash the disinfectant off my arms, then use a hand gel all over my arms and leave it to air dry.
I took another one of my birds to be tested which luckily came back negative so my aviary flock is clear of infection. I will be getting Munchkin and Rocky tested as well as I am in most contact with them personally and I am not risking them.
So here we are three weeks in, thats 6 weeks after my friend had them at her house. Over the weekend one of her Budgies suddenly died, then just as she was leaving for the vets a Lovebird went 'off' and fluffed up. He passed at the vets.
Yup ALL her birds are now at risk of being infected even though they were Quarantined for 3 weeks before I had them. The Budgie came back Positive for it.
ALL her birds now have to be treated for 6 weeks and then 3 months till re-testing.
As I am at risk myself and so are my friends and anyone in contact or who has been in contact with these birds, I now have to take antibiotics for 2 weeks as a precaution, I have had to have a chest xray to check whether or not I have it, if I do it will be a longer course of antibiotics which make me quite ill.
It took 6 weeks from when those Macaws entered her house for the first sign from one of her birds, if you don't even bother to Quarantine think how many birds could be infected before you even knew about it, what if your a breeder? You unknowingly infect your breeder birds, you sell those chicks to new owners, the stress by the move causes the infection to become active and the chicks all die.
It is likely that the Hahns are carriers although the eyes do indicate an actual infection at some point as the muscles have been eaten away at hence his perminant squint. Birds can hide this disease for years and never show any signs of it, if they are shedding it that whole time think how many birds and humans can be infected, in humans it manifests as flu like symptoms but can and will KILL if left untreated.
This is a disease Quarantine alone will not stop. ALL new birds from now on are being tested for this disease, and any others my vet might thing is needed. There is no point in risking the health of your current birds.
So is Quarantine really worth it?
YES!!!
Quarantine and screening is a must for anyone!
I can only hope by posting this that someone, even just one person stops and thinks and prevents anything like this happening to themselves and their birds.
It is not a situation I ever wanted to be in and would never wish on anyone, the stress we are all under because of it, and the stress on the birds who crave human attention and have to go through all this treatment and vet visits, all because they were not properly checked out and treated in the first place.
Don't let this happen to you!
EDIT: Just to add approx 60% of birds have this disease!!
