proper quarantine

ptagle · Post by **ptagle** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:14 pm

Hi peeps!

I've been searching around the forum on proper quarantine time. It seems that there are many ideas, some say 4 weeks and others 2 months. I really would like to know which is correct. Does anybody have an idea on the quarantine length for like imported birds entering a certain country? this may also apply for us with new birds. I just got infected with MBS and got myelf 2 new IRN's! :lol:

Was looking for a pair for my single 10 year old male and found 2 juveniles (about a year old as per the storekeeper). He said that they are siblings. btw, they're a male and female. the male is quite frail and it's really cute when the female takes really good care of it's bro. it would preen and protect him (if anybody comes near the cage). so, i bought the two thinking that if i leave the male it might die on it's own! so please help on the quarantine issue as me and my family would like to see all 3 together. my old bird has been on it's own (since the 2 previous owners) and we'd like to give him a flock!

CatsChair · Post by **CatsChair** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:15 pm

I dunno....but I want to see your new babies!!!

Donna · Post by **Donna** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:07 pm

There's really not a set time of how long you quarentine. But if their imports from another country I would go 60 days if there just out of a local pet shop go 30 days and vet checked is a must! Most birds will not show illness unless they have been stressed by moving to a new environment. Thats why 30 days will give you time for a vet check and have all the blood tests back before introducing them to your existing flock.

Donna

Post by **ringneck** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:16 pm

As donna siad, there is really no set time; however, i quarentine for 3 months. Though it might seem long, i'll go loger if i feel i need to. You can never be too sure!

Hope this helps,
:wink:

Imran Chaudhry

Post by **Lauren** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:44 pm

There is no set time, Ive been told anywhere from a month to 6 months. Get the vet check done first. If all clear then you can think about introducing each other for short times during the day then slowly bring them together. Well, this is how I did it. :wink:

ptagle · Post by **ptagle** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:15 pm

okay so the longer time the better! then again patience is a virtue!

i would admit that i exposed them for a couple of minutes though. had to take pix to show around! :wink:

that won't really affect them right away right? i bought them from a pet store which told me they were from a local breeder, but i really don't trust them 100%. so i'll just keep on separating them for a while. the new ones are quite active already. even the male i told you about that was frail is showing-off already! i had clipped their wings and took them for a bath.

here's how they look like....

MY NEW FIDS: Jasmine & Travis (my kid's choice!) I also need your expert opinion guys if they look like a year old as per the pet store.

SEE THEIR TATTERED TAIL FEATHERS! but today after their 2nd bath it's starting to straighten up

THEIR BIG BROTHER MANOLO! Quite handsome huh? see the nice tail feathers?

Once again thanks for the replies!

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:34 pm

The 5 P's, the malignant psittacine killer diseases, take from a few weeks to 2 years to incubate. Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD), Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), Psittacose, Pacheco and Polyoma can wipe out flocks when outbreak occurs and once your birds are infected, it's pretty much a death warrant. Infected birds can also be carriers, not showing symptoms but very capable of infecting other birds.

So unless you can plan on quarantining for over two years, drop by a good avian vet on the way home with a newly-acquired bird. Although a vet check is not 100% fool-proof (Polyoma cannot be readily detected with tests), avian vet testing and vaccination is the most conscientious thing to do to protect your flock.

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:09 am

Great post dude. To the point with the information (regardless of whether or not its what people want to hear). No beating around the bush. I like that in a person. :wink:

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:09 am

Yup Mikaela. It's better to be blatant sometimes to get the point across. I know of two nearby breeders who had lost their flocks to a Polyoma outbreak. Some of the dead birds include Violets and Cleartails and it was back when those birds where priced over $5000 a piece. Besides the monetary loss, I really feel primarily for the birds who rely totally on us for their care and seems like we do fail them on occasion for one reason or another, mainly neglect.

As Donna has said on her post above, some diseases don't show up unless a bird is stressed. The Polyoma virus does not show on the blood stream unless the bird is stressed out, bird shows and transports in between do stress them out so I thought that would be good timing to drop them off at the vet. Cloaca swabs does not always work with detection of Polyoma as the virus does not always show up on the feces.