What does leg band tell?

tu_ija · Post by **tu_ija** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:38 am

In my female ringneck leg band there is a code: TJ2944 NB97.

Only what I can understand is that she has born in 1997. Bird has bought in Finnish pet store and I`m her second owner. Ex-owner doesn`t know about earlier life of bird.

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:05 am

I don't know about Finland but here in the USA the breeder will put their initials of the breeder or the the aviary initials and then an ID number for that chick and the state initials and year. The year is the most important part of the band just so you know how old the bird is unless of course the bird becomes lost or stolen. Always keep your birds ID band # written down and put in a safe place. If your bird has no band then an open band can be placed on the bird with info you want on it.

Donna

tu_ija · Post by **tu_ija** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:39 am

I think that Tuittu has arrived to Finland some other country because Finnish parrot people doesn`t know what that code means and the other hand there hasn`t been so many ringnecks in Finland in 1997 and here the "banding culture" is some more in its infancy (much less in 1997). TJ or NB could mean country or bird club.

Aves · Post by **Aves** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:43 pm

I hate to put in my two cents here but just some food for thought....

I am anti-ring band. Honestly, I don't know that it's not a great tool for identification of missing birds and for their safe return to their rightful owners but I can tell you a real quick personal story about why I don't like them at all...

My cockatiel pidget just had his leg removed in april because of his ring band. The vet believes he got it caught on something and as a result it snagged and snapped his little leg. Thank goodness he made it through the surgery and the recovery process (now he's my little pirate). I'm getting Levi's (my new little ringneck) removed this Thursday (it was the soonest, I could get her in).

I know it doesn't exactly apply to your question (I apologize as I am the queen of tangents) but it was so scary to almost loose my little Pidget because of a metal band around his leg. If I'd of known better I would have had it removed a long time ago.

I don't know how you all feel about ring bands but again... just my two cents...

tu_ija · Post by **tu_ija** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:02 am

Aves wrote:I know it doesn't exactly apply to your question (I apologize as I am the queen of tangents) but it was so scary to almost loose my little Pidget because of a metal band around his leg. If I'd of known better I would have had it removed a long time ago.

I don't know how you all feel about ring bands but again... just my two cents...

Thanks for thought

I don`t like leg bands either. My other ringneck doesn`t have it and I have planned to remove Tuittu`s leg band also. But I have owned Tuittu only for six months so haven`t yet get around to (I don`t have suitable tongs). I have also discussed downside of leg bands with some people who ringed wild birds.

julie · Post by **julie** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:06 am

mia please dont try to do it yourself apparently it can cause a bit of damage if you dont know how.

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:42 pm

I band all my babies. I also do some rescue so it's a good source of info if the bird has been banded. Accidents will happen with any pet, I've seen dogs get hung by their tags and collars and birds get their wings caught in a toy, I'm just saying a band or micro chip may help you save your bird if it happen to fly through an open door or window. A bird still can fly a good distance with a wing clip.

Donna

Gemstone · Post by **Gemstone** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:45 pm

We have Amazon banded, and will be banding all our babies with our own tags with their ID numbers and Gemstone on them with a phone number, i like them so i know which one is which. But i cant help you with your ID number

Aves · Post by **Aves** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:56 pm

Hey Donna,

It's always good to get a counter view... I've been through too much this past year with pidget's ringband incident though to ever want another ring band on my bird. It's funny you mention the thing with dogs and collars getting caught on things too though because my friend had two dogs when I was younger who were playing in her yard one day and one of the dogs got its foot caught in the others collar when they were playing. The dog with the collar (foot caught in it, that is) nearly choked to death. I literally saw the poor dogs eyes nearly pop out. I sat in the back seat with the two dogs trying to keep one calm (and not further twist its foot into the other dogs collar) while my friend cried and as her mom drove us to the animal emergency room... To end that story as an FYI the dog turned out ok, needless to say, they didn't keep a collar on either of their dogs after that.

Heheh, we weigh the risk from our personal experience I guess. I totally respect the fact that if I'd never had my personal experience with my birds leg band that I might be kicking myself if he flew out my window without one. My vet also said however that it was not the first time that he had seen this, and that several bird owners had come to him with broken birdie legs due to ring bands. That's the only reason I throw it out there... but I totally understand the initial rational behind them...

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:00 am

Leg bands can be dangerous when sized incorrectly. For example, size 10 and size 11 bands are prone to snags on cages with a bar spacing of half-inch.

Among breeders, legs bands are very important in identifying a bird in an aviary full of similar birds. Genetics and pedigree can be data logged and tracked using the leg band system. Just like tu_ija's situation, leg bands are sometimes cryptic in nature as their primary purpose is in-house identification of birds.

Among pet birds, leg bands are not as important. Unless the bands are sized too large and pose danger to the bird, I suggest not removing it anyway as some pet birds end up as breeders down the road and could use the leg band for database purposes.

If I were to guess, TJ would be the initials of the breeder and NB is the locality.

nichole123 · Post by **nichole123** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:53 pm

I'm trying to find a vet that will microchip my bird but I have only hit dead ends.

alana8819 · Post by **alana8819** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:10 pm

i dont like the thought of leg bands but what is involved in micro chipping i would hate to lose cookie

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:41 pm

Micro Chipping

It's a very small computer chip that is put under the skin of dogs, cats and birds.
After it's inserted a code will be stored in a database of a scanner with your name address etc. all important info.
Now Do they work? Yes for dogs and cats but if you ever lose a bird chances are very slim of you recovering it. Why? Many people are not honest enough to turn in a lost and expensive bird especially if it talks and is friendly.
My experience with micro chipped birds is the birds find it and pick it out because it's a foreign object on their body that shouldn't be there and if they don't pick it out they constantly pluck that area. Just my input.
Don't waist your money. Wing clipping is much safer and cheaper.

Donna

alana8819 · Post by **alana8819** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:06 pm

thanks cookie doesnt like outside anyway too many things to scare him, he gets all jumpy and makes his sad noise until we go inside so i dont take him out.

Gemstone · Post by **Gemstone** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:30 pm

i have never heard of micro chipping birds, but i'm not sure it it would be safe.

i know that when they chip cats and dogs theyput the chip between the 2 layers of skin.
chipping of dogs here is mandatory, cats are on the same path, but i'm not sure if there would be any benifit chipping a bird, it's not like its a GPS tracker.