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First vet visit tomorrow

Tapew0rrm

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I'm very nervous. Its just a check to make sure he's healthy and that his nails/beak doesn't need trimming, but I feel an overwhelming nervousness that's kept me up til 1am worrying. :( How did you guy's first vet visits go? I'd love to hear some stories to help me relax.

Also, since he isn't hand tame yet. I was wondering if I could get some advice.
How should I safely get him in his carrier on his way to the vets? And, while there, how should I go about convincing him to come out the carrier for his check up? I'm assuming the vet might help, but if not I don't want to just..grab him..because I know both he and I would hate that. I was considering brining his favourite treats for a snack, but what if he isn't interested in food because he's stressed?

I'm iverthinjijg and worrying a lot


Bonus to the thread: a picture of him, the furthest he's came out of his cage on his own so far :)
 

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Wardy

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I'm very nervous.
Try not to be nervous your bird may pick up on this try and be as relaxed as you can.

I was considering brining his favourite treats for a snack,
totaly the best way to get a cheekie onside is with it's favourite treat..

How should I safely get him in his carrier on his way to the vets
HIs favourite treat might be the easiest way offer him the treat on top of the cage and then drop a few inside the cage.

@April might have some advice that may offer options as i know she was concerned about getting Bosco from his cage to the vets
 

April

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Aw he's an absolute cutie!

I have had to take Bosco to the vet several times in 4 months for nail trims and a boarding stay for spraying for ants. He's my first untamed bird I've ever had in almost 16 years of having parrots so this was definitely foreign territory for me.

I unfortunately couldn't even try to tempt him into the cage because he won't take treats of any kind from me or let my hands get anywhere near him and he won't reliably come out of his cage and the few times he has he panics and falls 5 feet to the floor and then runs and flaps in a panic and gets himself into potential danger so unfortunately ive had to reach in and carefully corral him and gently grasp him with a washcloth and quickly transfer him into the travel cage. Once he was there getting his exam I'd do the same thing again with the cloth and once we get home I always give him a shower to help him decompress and be able to have an enjoyable time after the unfortunate need to force handling on him. Now oddly in the shower he acts completely tame and will even step up on my finger and doesn't seem bothered by my hands so I can then after his shower walk him back to the cage and put my hand in the cage and he hops off completely fine but he just can't make that bridge of thought that the same hands that he happily sat on in the shower are the same things out of the shower.

So yes unfortunately I still cant willingly and stress free get him to shift from cage to cage which I am quite sad about because I don't want to have to use "force" every time he needs to see the vet.

The best way I've found when I had my tame Conures was to set the travel cage near their main cage and place a favorite toy on top to show them its not so scary and gradually I'd move it closer to the cage and eventually they were curious enough to explore it themselves and then after that it was easy to just place them in it. Once it becomes an every day object that's seen constantly and not considered scary it's easy to get them to go in in my experience.

Your best bet maybe to integrate it into an extended play area and that will take away the fear aspect hopefully.

Any vet that you go to should hopefully be well versed in gently grabbing a bird from a carrier with a towel. It's the most common way to get patients. It's a rare parrot in my experience that will willingly come out and stay still enough to be held by a vet or tech without panicking and being held in a towel greatly reduces the risk of injury from flailing or beating their wings and escaping from the vets grip and injuring themselves that way.

Unfortunately if worse comes to worse and he does have to be forced each time then once it's done make sure to talk softly and encouragingly to him saying how sorry you were to have to do this but that it's only because you wanted to make sure he was healthy and give him treats to help associate it with a positive once the "bad" things are over.

I hope that everything goes smoothly and that it's not as bad as you feared. I completely understand though because even though I have a lot of years of experience and work in the vet field I was still a nervous wreak having to transfer Bosco to and from cages and during the actual vet visit but I hid that from Bosco as best I could and ya know what everything ended up going well no he didn't like be held and examined but once we were back home and he was safely in his cage he started eating right away and playing with his toys like nothing has happened and each subsequent time we've had to go through this it does get a little easier because he knows what to expect.
 
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Shezbug

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Your vet will most likely help or totally remove your bird from the carrier if you cannot.
My vet does all the stuff my bird doesn’t want done then gets me to rescue him from her and the mean nurses/vet techs, there’s no use trying to have them cooperate when they’re scared and unfamiliar with the area as they’re quite likely to ignore your attempt to treat or bribe them anyway. Burt will do pretty much anything for a pine except when he’s at the vet clinic.
 

MnGuy

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Place a pile of his favorite treats in the very back of his carrier, step aside but stay near and once he goes completely in, quickly and safely close the door.

I’m taking my new ringneck (have had him 3 weeks) to the vet tomorrow, too! I’m lucky that he is hand tame, but he will not let me place him in his travel cage while he’s sitting on my hand.

I’ve spent the last week training him to go into the very back of his travel cage for almond pieces while I sit nearby doing nothing. He’s been going in reliably for the last few days.

Tomorrow’s the big day I try closing it for the very first time! Poor guy’s gonna hate me!
 

Pixiebeak

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Good luck today!
 

Tapew0rrm

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Hello everyone!!! Sorry for the lack of responses! I was heavily focused on making sure everything went alright for him.

He didn't go for the treats trick, unfortunately. I ended up having to go with @April's washcloth technique this time because we were going to be late. We both absolutely hated it- I was left shaking and apologizing multiple times, and he was sitting quietly looking fearful, so, after giving him the next few days to settle down, I'm going to try helping him feel more relaxed around the carrier so neither of us have to repeat that. I'm actually thinking of treating him to a new one that doesn't have all the "bad" associations to it, like being taken from his previous home and that situation above.

He travelled well, and the vet? I HAVE to give top marks, they were absolutely freaking AMAZING, the best vet I've ever been to before, with any of my animals. We were 10 minutes late because the vet is directly near a christmas market that started recently, and they were so kind about it. And it didn't cost nearly as much as I was expecting! I had a nice conversation with someone about their bird which made me feel good, since I don't typically speak to people very often. The vet herself was absolutely wondeful, too, she was so kind to Aro and talked to him the whole time, and he seemed completely relaxed with her, even let her pet him! The only time he put up any sort of fuss was when she was trimming his nails a little and had to hold him. Apparently he is in amazing health, and I once again was told that I'm doing a great job at taking care of him which by this point I have no choice but to accept it, haha.

When we got home he immediately perked back up, too, excitedly chirping until I put him back in his cage ( Yeah! An extra surprise! he waited in the carrier chirping at me until I held out my hand to him, which he immediately stepped up on and let me put him in his cage !O: )...theeen he ran out and decided to try his luck in stealing sunflower seeds. A few minutes home and already being a little brat, just how I love it ;)

Now he's back in his favourite spot, all comfortable beak grinding and relaxing. I'm so glad he's okay <3

Here's a picture from being caught in the act of being a little thief ;)


20221203_145532.jpg
 

Pixiebeak

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Yay!!!! :loveshower: :congrats:
He looks radiant!! Such a gorgeous guy!
Awesome that you found such a great Avian veterinarian and they made you both comfortable!

Ok if those are seeds sold for wild burds ....I would not give them to my parrots even as treats. They often covered in powder mildew
 

Tapew0rrm

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Yay!!!! :loveshower: :congrats:
He looks radiant!! Such a gorgeous guy!
Awesome that you found such a great Avian veterinarian and they made you both comfortable!

Ok if those are seeds sold for wild burds ....I would not give them to my parrots even as treats. They often covered in powder mildew


Omg!!!!
Thank you for telling me!! I didn't know that!!! I will get him better ones tomorrow, they were the only ones they sold at the pet store so I assumed they'd be okay. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
 

Pixiebeak

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You can get human grade unsalted ones. Or pick them out of parrot seed mix to save as treats .
Or even grow your own next year! I take some of my wild burd sunflower seeds and have grown awesome sunflower from them.

I myself just don't trust wild burd seed...it almost always seems to have that powder mildew
 

April

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Hello everyone!!! Sorry for the lack of responses! I was heavily focused on making sure everything went alright for him.

He didn't go for the treats trick, unfortunately. I ended up having to go with @April's washcloth technique this time because we were going to be late. We both absolutely hated it- I was left shaking and apologizing multiple times, and he was sitting quietly looking fearful, so, after giving him the next few days to settle down, I'm going to try helping him feel more relaxed around the carrier so neither of us have to repeat that. I'm actually thinking of treating him to a new one that doesn't have all the "bad" associations to it, like being taken from his previous home and that situation above.

He travelled well, and the vet? I HAVE to give top marks, they were absolutely freaking AMAZING, the best vet I've ever been to before, with any of my animals. We were 10 minutes late because the vet is directly near a christmas market that started recently, and they were so kind about it. And it didn't cost nearly as much as I was expecting! I had a nice conversation with someone about their bird which made me feel good, since I don't typically speak to people very often. The vet herself was absolutely wondeful, too, she was so kind to Aro and talked to him the whole time, and he seemed completely relaxed with her, even let her pet him! The only time he put up any sort of fuss was when she was trimming his nails a little and had to hold him. Apparently he is in amazing health, and I once again was told that I'm doing a great job at taking care of him which by this point I have no choice but to accept it, haha.

When we got home he immediately perked back up, too, excitedly chirping until I put him back in his cage ( Yeah! An extra surprise! he waited in the carrier chirping at me until I held out my hand to him, which he immediately stepped up on and let me put him in his cage !O: )...theeen he ran out and decided to try his luck in stealing sunflower seeds. A few minutes home and already being a little brat, just how I love it ;)

Now he's back in his favourite spot, all comfortable beak grinding and relaxing. I'm so glad he's okay <3

Here's a picture from being caught in the act of being a little thief ;)


View attachment 418498
I'm so glad it went so well with the vet! That's always such a relief to find a trust worthy and skillful vet to see our little ones.
 

Tapew0rrm

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You can get human grade unsalted ones. Or pick them out of parrot seed mix to save as treats .
Or even grow your own next year! I take some of my wild burd sunflower seeds and have grown awesome sunflower from them.

I myself just don't trust wild burd seed...it almost always seems to have that powder mildew
I completely get that. I think I just assumed if they were good for wild birds, they'd be okay for him. But I'll be more careful and research everything I give him from now on to be safe <3

I will find some sort of use for the onesI have left though. Like you said,I could try grow my own! :D And there are always lots of b0rds in my area who would love a good snack <3
 

Tapew0rrm

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I'm so glad it went so well with the vet! That's always such a relief to find a trust worthy and skillful vet to see our little ones.
I'm really glad that I chose this vet over the one suggested to me in my area, having a vet around that I feel like I can trust makes me feel so much more comfortable <3
 

April

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I'm really glad that I chose this vet over the one suggested to me in my area, having a vet around that I feel like I can trust makes me feel so much more comfortable <3
It really does make a world of difference. I'm really glad you have that now and feel so comfortable.
 

Tapew0rrm

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Strange occurrence

I was expecting him to be kind of,,off? When he got back, given how I had to get him into a carrier. I fully expected him to be weary of me :/


But very suddenly just now he came all the way over to me and asked for head scritches, like nothing ever happened at all. It feels kind of odd, like hes so much more into interacting with me? I mean, I'm down for it but I don't want him to feel like he has to push himself :(

Is this a normal response? Or is Aro just some anomaly of the highest level (joke)
 

April

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It maybe because you "saved" him from the vet. Sometimes when a stressful thing happens that will strengthen the bond more because they see you as trustworthy and safe and are willing to take that next step.
It happened with my old Greenie I had adopted him and had him a few days and we were doing good but not bonding as strong as I had with my first rehomed Greenie but after we went to the vet and I "saved" him after the apt our bond changed and suddenly he was super attached to me and it was like a switch flipped.
 

Tapew0rrm

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It maybe because you "saved" him from the vet. Sometimes when a stressful thing happens that will strengthen the bond more because they see you as trustworthy and safe and are willing to take that next step.
It happened with my old Greenie I had adopted him and had him a few days and we were doing good but not bonding as strong as I had with my first rehomed Greenie but after we went to the vet and I "saved" him after the apt our bond changed and suddenly he was super attached to me and it was like a switch flipped.
I hope it's something like that, I started to over worry again and thought I had done something wrong. I'll roll with it though and see how it goes, even just a small petting session with him made me sooo happy <3
 

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You see how things have changed for you in just a few days? I am so happy to hear you have a good vet that you and your wee Aro like.
Don't worry that he is pushing too fast. He is feeling more comfortable with you now and has upped his pace. Patience pays. :)
 

Shezbug

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So pleased to hear everything went smoothly and it was nowhere near as terrible as you thought it would be. :)
 
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