Suprelorin Implants and Birds?

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Can't blame you Flockers. It would be interesting to contact the manufacturer or pharmaceutical company and ask about them providing different sizes of implants. It really sounds like a better solution to the hormone problem than all out spay surgery or the over the top Lupron injection every two weeks. The implant would be a 'trickle' type hormonal suppressant instead of an overload type treatment. Much easier on the hormonal system. This is an interesting development in hormonal management for companion parrots.

 

[~birdybea~]

Ta to Steve for pointing out this thread was active again.

My experience with the implant has been fantastic, and we have put the implants in MANY other small birds at the vet clinic I work at with great success!!

Zoe stopped laying very quickly after the implant was put in, and only now is beginning to show nesting behaviour again. The implant has lasted well considering there is little research on it's time frame in anything other than dogs/cats.

It's a very quick and simple anaesthic procedure, your bird would only be under for a minute or two. The implant itself and the technique for placing it is very similar to a microchip, but the implant is longer. It is placed along the birds breast muscle, under the skin or sticking only shallowly into the actual muscle.

All the small birds we've implanted have recovered within minutes and not seemed bothered by the implant at all other than to preen the feathers around the site back into place.

Zoe will be getting another implant if she begins laying again, I won't have any hesitation!! We have a few birds who come in 9-12 monthly for implants to keep them from laying excessively.

Sorry it took so long for me to reply to this topic. By the sounds of it these implants are coming into more frequent use in birds.

 

[Sapphire Moon]

Boy, I hope Zoe doesn't start picking at it.

 

[Flockers]

~birdybea~ Thank-you for replying. Being under 20 posts I was anxious to hear how you were doing with your bird but had no way to ask.
Thanks to Steve for passing the message along!

Great to hear this has been as success for you with ZOe. Do you knwo of any lovebirds that have had this implant, or similar sized birds to a lovebird?
What type of bird is ZOE? Is she a small conure?
Thanks

 

[~birdybea~]

Zoe is a green cheek conure (about 65g), but if your vet is happy to implant a bird as small as a lovebird i'm sure they've had experience with it.

 

[daria]

Keep us informed! Hope it works as I have a macaw that is laying eggs at the moment.

 

[Jane H]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and new to suprelorin implants. My Eclectus, Skitter, has just had one put in this week. We've been dealing with a build-up of fluid in the lower belly area which compromises the respiratory and excretory systems. We've drawn off fluid three times and doing it again tomorrow. 50 mls the first two times and 94 mls on Monday this week. Dr. Z feels the fluid is being caused by overactive ovaries, hence the implant. Skitter has a history of 12 eggs in 10 months and even though she hasn't laid an egg since June she is often sitting on toys as if they are eggs whenever she is on the floor.
I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this ascites (abdominal fluid buildup) and used the implant successfully.
Skitter is currently on lasix to try to get the fluid out through the kidneys.

 

[daria]

Funny this post came up this morning as I'm on my way to my avian vet Dr. Flinchum (very good- Ft. Lauderdale) to get Littlebird one (7 eggs).

 

[Barb E]

This is a very interesting thread - I'd never heard of Suprelorin Implants. Something I will tell my friend about since she has cockatiels.
It makes me somewhat grateful that I have all males.
They also get hormonal but so far don't appear to have any medical issues as a result.

How is Zoe doing?

The little Love Bird (sorry I forgot her name) - did she get the implant in the end? How is she?

 

[nunous]

Hi There,
Id like to share my experience with these implants with everyone. I have a native australian rainbow lorikeet named KIKI she is the most incredible, affectionate and intelligent bird iv ever seen, she sleeps under my chin, dances and sings to me and i love her more than anything in the world.

KIKI was continously laying eggs, perhaps 2 a month minimum sometimes four. I took her to see one of the number one bird specialists in australia and we started on the hormone shots ( with no success ) then he suggested the implant.

He said he had done this surgery a million times and not to worry. First attempt, seemed successful until two weeks later when she went for her checkup and it turns out there was no implant ???? he suggested it may have came out ?? i then was in shock and so sad for my baby that she did this with no success.

As i was in shock and afraid and i took her home and tried all the other options such as more green vegetables and less sugary foods, more sunlight but she simply kept laying eggs. I took her back to the same bird specialist 5 months later. He insisted on the implant again and said that this time he would implant it into the muscle and she would be fine. I went ahead with it last week. Kiki's behaviour is normal although she is whinging alot and always wants to snuggle and stay next to me.
Today i turned her on her back and moved her feathers off her stomach to find a big lump where the implant is ( its basically sticking out of her ) and there is a dried black substance around the area which appears to be dried blood ?? Im not sure whats going on but this bird is my life and i am truly devastated about this implant. its a saturday now and i cant get a hold of the bird specialist til monday. If this implant is sticking out of my lorikeet i cant imagine it in a tiny little bird i will re-post to let everyone know what the conclusion is but if anything is wrong i am literally going to go insane!

 

[daria]

How terrible! Is she OK?Wonder what size the implant was? Do they come in sizes?

 

[clawnz]

Hi There,
Id like to share my experience with these implants with everyone. I have a native australian rainbow lorikeet named KIKI she is the most incredible, affectionate and intelligent bird iv ever seen, she sleeps under my chin, dances and sings to me and i love her more than anything in the world.

KIKI was continously laying eggs, perhaps 2 a month minimum sometimes four. I took her to see one of the number one bird specialists in australia and we started on the hormone shots ( with no success ) then he suggested the implant.

He said he had done this surgery a million times and not to worry. First attempt, seemed successful until two weeks later when she went for her checkup and it turns out there was no implant ???? he suggested it may have came out ?? i then was in shock and so sad for my baby that she did this with no success.

As i was in shock and afraid and i took her home and tried all the other options such as more green vegetables and less sugary foods, more sunlight but she simply kept laying eggs. I took her back to the same bird specialist 5 months later. He insisted on the implant again and said that this time he would implant it into the muscle and she would be fine. I went ahead with it last week. Kiki's behaviour is normal although she is whinging alot and always wants to snuggle and stay next to me.
Today i turned her on her back and moved her feathers off her stomach to find a big lump where the implant is ( its basically sticking out of her ) and there is a dried black substance around the area which appears to be dried blood ?? Im not sure whats going on but this bird is my life and i am truly devastated about this implant. its a saturday now and i cant get a hold of the bird specialist til monday. If this implant is sticking out of my lorikeet i cant imagine it in a tiny little bird i will re-post to let everyone know what the conclusion is but if anything is wrong i am literally going to go insane!

Can I butt in?

First can I ask Birdybea, How is your little one?

What worries me is that an implant is only good for 12monts or one season, does that mean you have to do this every year while they can lay eggs?
I am sure some of you know what I went through with Roxy Tink and Cindy.
I am not keen to seeing them doing this every year or would I like to think of the cost.
I did manage in the end with Flooding them with dummy eggs and would go this way again if Tink starts, and only if that fails or her health seems to drop then have the implant.
Flooding did stop Cindy, but I do mean flooding big time. It is a matter of getting the body to except enough is enough.

 

[blackivory]

Now I'm worried about Sage laying a million eggs. Though I have had this issue in the past with my various hens.

 

[Renae]

Clive, my friends female Cockatiel, Sunny, has to get the implant every 9 months (if I remember correctly, I think she said it is something like $190 each time, I can ask her).

It might be a pricey (not sure about there) option, but it could also possibly be more effective than flooding her with dummy eggs to the point where her body accepts that enough is enough.

 

[ZJJ]

My cockatiel had this proceedure and it was very successful.
She was a chronic egg layer (18 eggs)and didn't respond to hormone injections or oral medication.
She had the implant and immediatly stopped laying and nesting.
She did not suffer and the procedure was quick.
I cannot see the implant in her at all.
It's expensive but worth it and I would absolutely recommend doing it.

 

[~birdybea~]

Can I butt in?

First can I ask Birdybea, How is your little one?

What worries me is that an implant is only good for 12monts or one season, does that mean you have to do this every year while they can lay eggs?

Once again i didn't realise this thread had become active again! Zoe never suffered any negative side effects from her implant. The following season she stopped at 6 eggs (instead of 23 the year we did the implant) and she hasn't laid again since then (that was last year) so i haven't had another implant placed. Like i've said before, in the hands of a good avian vet the procedure carries very little risk and it is a very short time under anaesthetic. The cost is about $120-$150 depending on how the vet bills things out and the markup on the implant at the clinic, to me this seems like a small annual cost to prevent egg laying in problem hens.

 

[KatherinesBirds]

I have never heard of this implant but its sure nice that it worked for you. My Blue Crown put out about 9 eggs in her lifetime and since I did not intend to breed her I tried everything I could. Finally at 22 years old she is slowing down I guess. No egg laying.

 

[clawnz]

Clive, my friends female Cockatiel, Sunny, has to get the implant every 9 months (if I remember correctly, I think she said it is something like $190 each time, I can ask her).

It might be a pricey (not sure about there) option, but it could also possibly be more effective than flooding her with dummy eggs to the point where her body accepts that enough is enough.

The flooding worked, so hard to say that the implants would be a better option. I did have to learn how, and that was the only hiccup.
At $450 a year to have all three, and having any of them put under every year is "Not for me"
At least with the flooding there is no danger to my girls. And now I know how to pull it off, I will go that way again.
Not that it looks like I am going to have any trouble this year as no signs yet.
They cannot be far from molting and that should mean an end to breeding season. Fingers crossed.

 

[chere]

For those of you that have had this implant done, is it still being successful? The one question that was never answered was, do they come in different sizes? Thanks.........................

 

[Skyler]

bump