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Removing legband

TikiMyn

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Who has had their bird's legband removed? Did they have to go under anesthesia or not? I want to have Xena's band removed, but because of her not great overall condition I am wary of that. She does mess with her leg band for a bit every day, so I would like it removed. Especially considering that she could get metal toxicity from it besides the regular safety hazards it poses.
 

alshgs

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All of my personal birds have their bands removed. No anesthesia, the vet can do it at a regular checkup. Just make sure they are microchipped if you have it removed.
 

TikiMyn

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Thanks for responding! My vet wants to do it under, so did two others I contacted. It seemed to me that was an unnecessary risk so thought I would ask experiences from others:) I will ask my vet why she won't do it without, and otherwise I will contact the remaining vets in the country:p
 

iamwhoiam

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All of my banded birds have had their bands remove. No anesthesia was necessary.
 

Peachfaced

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Rupert's was removed without anesthesia. Tech held him still while the Doctor cut the band two times. She was a bit worried since he was wiggling and she wasn't sure she had enough strength in her hands to cut through, but she managed it just fine. I kept the pieces from the band and put them with my collected feathers.
 

CrazyBirdChick

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I had Blu's leg band removed on our first wellness visit and he was not put under. Two techs were supposed to do it, as I watched from the other room, but they had a bit of an issue removing it. So before I knew it another tech and then the Dr came in to help because they said they'd never seen such a thick leg band before.

It took a while and a little finesse but they managed to snip it off with no issues, with a little extra effort.

I was very happy once it was off and I don't think Blu even remembered it was there. I wondered if he'd miss it but I don't think he did.
 
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TikiMyn

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Thank you all for your input! It is very reassuring to know so Many of you had it done without it:) The vet that saw Xena at the shelter actually works at the finest/most specialised and equipped Avian vet’s Office in the country. It is quite a trip but he saw her already and I am quite certain they would do it without.
 

painesgrey

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I had Cake's legband removed because it was irritating him. It was done under anesthesia only because he was already going under for beak reshaping. Zero issues.
 

Lady Jane

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I think it depends on the vet you go too. Some insist anesthesia because they are afraid of injuring the bird. One vet I went to for this wanted anesthesia and I refused. The second vet was board certified and took the band off a budgie in no time at all with what she called the proper tool to do the job.
 

painesgrey

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I think it depends on the vet you go too. Some insist anesthesia because they are afraid of injuring the bird. One vet I went to for this wanted anesthesia and I refused. The second vet was board certified and took the band off a budgie in no time at all with what she called the proper tool to do the job.

Most small bird legbands are plastic or aluminum, thus light and easy to snip. Bigger birds usually have stainless steel bands that are harder to cut, so anesthesia might be necessary.
 

Teckechick

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Aries passed while having her band removed, really before it was even removed. The vet was an Avian Vet but I don't think she had been one for very long and we are pretty sure she gave to much anesthesia.

Jenks had his removed with out anesthesia by a much more experienced vet (Niles).

Unless it was a life or death reason I would never put another bird under anesthesia.
 

Garet

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My vet tried to remove Bull's legband without putting him under, but he ultimately required it since the material used was too tough for regular cutting methods.
 

Lady Jane

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My small birds all had metal bands.
 

Brittany0208

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I had Java's leg band removed and he was gassed, which I wasn't told until I took him in for a wellness exam. While he was under, the vet said, " I'd really like to take that band off his leg. It's just going to cause him problems in the long run." So I had him remove it since I was already thinking about having it removed. Had I'd known he was going to be gassed for the exam, I would've gone elsewhere, especially since after he came to, the vet tech said they had a bird not come out of it earlier that week.
Haven't been back since.
 

Tanya

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Good grief! That's terrifying. Our vet did not put Lemmy under to remove his leg band. Just toweled him carefully and had two technicians managing all the bitey, flappy and kicky bits.
 

Parrotl3t

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I have had a band removed without sedation by a vet (lovebird) & another one of my birds (parrotlet) had the band removed by a breeder friend of mine (no sedation).
 

webchirp

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You could ask for a different type of sedation other than the gas kind. Dr. Orosz removes bands without sedation if she thinks it will be safe. Julip often gets sedation for beak trims in the form of a shot which makes her sleepy. But she has seizures when the vet messes with her. I need to have Maks band removed since it slides over his hock.
 

TikiMyn

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Thanks you alle for the responses! I decided against having it removed for the moment, Xena stresses quite a bit about travel and for now her legband is not a danger. When I move in a couple of months we might Make An appointment though, as she Will have to be moved anyway:)
 

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After careful thought on my amazons safety, I had the vet remove the leg bands.

I didn't want to take the chance that the bands would snag on a toy or something in their cage when I wasn't home.

My vet used a special tool (resembled a type of bolt cutter if memory serves me) and did it without anesthesia.
 

Tazlima

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Had my TAG's band removed without anesthesia and with no problems. It took about two seconds.

It was aluminum, though, which made it much easier.

The neat thing was watching Boo over the next few days. You could tell she felt weird (but good) without it. Makes sense, since she'd been wearing it for 11 years. That was about a month ago, and maybe it's just a coincidence that she's finally starting to really come out of her shell ever since then, but she's definitely upped her activity levels, and our flapping exercises are starting to see marked results.
 
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