Band movement

[Carebear]

Hey all -- we just noticed that Birdy's leg band, which has always been around her "ankle" has moved up her leg and is now above the "knee" joint. It doesn't appear to be too horribly tight on her up there (I can twist it slightly, but she won't straighten her leg out so I can see if it will slide down, and I'm scared to force it at all). She doesn't seem bothered by it; she's not biting at it and she's moving normally, and the leg and foot don't appear to be discolored like they're losing circulation or anything. Is this something I need to worry about???

[Mustang99]

I have always had the bands taken off my birds to prevent any chance of them getting caught in any way and then they get in trouble. They can get into so much and it would only take your vet or breeder seconds to take it off. I wouldn't think the circulation would be affected but my advise would be to have it removed.

[trinity]

Birdy is over 4 month's right? If she is then that band is too big for her. See your vet or ask Catfish what his clinic suggests. I guess I will be the pro-band proponent. Without registered ID band numbers or tatooing nobody can track your bird back to you if a flyoff occurs. I still don't like them. I wish they made smaller microchips, but there you are. Since I have them I insist that they be appropriately sized for my kids.
If you have to reband the International Parrotlet Society will issue new bands to you and register them. IPS also creates bands in three different sizes.

But see your vet or talk to Catfish. If she can't get a full range of motion because of the band - that may not be a good thing.

[RockyandhisFriends]

The International Parrotlet Society (IPS) offers IPS bands for sale to its members. All bands issued are close bands and should be put on a baby parrotlet between 8 and 12 days of age depending on the size of the bird.

Once a bird is 3 weeks old a proper sized band is impossible to put on a parrotlet. I would try to slide the band down or see if your vet can do it for you.

If you find it a little tight trying to get it over the joint in the birds leg try to use some form of lubricant. I prefer to use olive oil as a lubricant instead of an antibiotic cream that some breeders recommend. This way the bird does't get any medication in its system if it eats the lubricant.

Phil

[Carebear]

Thanks for the info and advice! Birdy is a year-and-a-half old, and this is the only time I've seen trouble with the band. It had returned to its original position on her ankle within a few hours, so I guess all is well for the moment. I will keep an eye out for any other movement, and consider having the band removed. I had a parakeet for a dozen years and never noticed any troubles with his band, so this was a surprise for me.

The comment about removing the leg band to avoid trouble reminded me of situation I witnessed last year while visiting a pet store that sells lots of birds...as we were looking at all the cages, we noticed this one particular bird who was "preening" her foot. After looking at the birds for a while we noticed that she was still preening that foot. On closer inspection, we saw that the tip of her beak was caught in her band. Who knows how long she'd been sitting there like that. We alerted the sales clerk who came and rescued the poor thing.