Leg Band Removal for Charlie

[Pearly]

Hi all,

Just about a month ago, I acquired my 3rd Cockatiel, a White bird. I named him, "Charlie".
I saw him in a sorry state (skinny, dirty and with some bleedings at the wings) in a pet shop hence I thought I could "save" him by getting him out of the cage.

Charlie came with a leg band/ring/chain (whatever you call it) and it seems cruel to me too. What exactly this band is used for, is it really necessary in the 1st place?
I went to a vet, did a general health check, have him sedated and finally got the band removed safely.

He seems bonding well with Pearlie, which is a relief to me.

Regards,

 

[iMoosker]

Breeders sometimes put a leg band on birds to keep track of which bird is which. It's harmless and could possibly be helpful if you lose your bird. If it doesn't bother the bird, it's not necessary to remove it and it can just be a piece of jewelry for it's lifetime. If it's bothering the bird, or if you don't like how it looks like, then removing it is an option.

 

[Pearly]

Breeders sometimes put a leg band on birds to keep track of which bird is which. It's harmless and could possibly be helpful if you lose your bird. If it doesn't bother the bird, it's not necessary to remove it and it can just be a piece of jewelry for it's lifetime. If it's bothering the bird, or if you don't like how it looks like, then removing it is an option.

I am not exactly sure about this but I guess the chances of recovering a bird (even with a leg band) once it is lost out there is pretty slim.
I've seen video where cockatiel flying freely in the wild and be readily recallable by the owner. This probably not happening to most of our birds here.

The only thing to do here is just to keep the birds safe at home for now.

Without the leg band, Charlie is able to to retract the leg and seen cleansing it with its beak. The band previously deprived Charlie's freedom to do so.
So I still felt that its plain cruel to put a leg band for whatever reasons, imagine putting one on your leg for the rest of your life.

Regards,