need help and tips please :(

[GreenWing]

Well Pajarita does have a point, a bird "can" get parasites if it comes into contact with an insect while outdoors.

What I want to know is, is it deemed safer if a bird is in a carrier than harnessed while outside?

aspergillosis only happens when the bird is stressed out and has a depressed immune system or when the bird is exposed to high levels of aspergillus during a prolonged period of time - otherwise, they can fight it off with no problem.

I agree with this. Stress is the big killer. Stress affects the immune system big time. That is why a lot of people don't get sick until they are stressed out and then they get hit with a cold.

[marie83]

Well Pajarita does have a point, a bird "can" get parasites if it comes into contact with an insect while outdoors.

What I want to know is, is it deemed safer if a bird is in a carrier than harnessed while outside?

Interesting discussion. I have only kept birds indoors so haven't really thought a massive amount about this subject of parasites.I was forced to consider ecto/endoparasitic infections whilst my birds where having health troubles though. **EDITED** Just to add all mine apart from Harlie do go out from time to time in cages, I don't deprive them of natural light as I believe the benefits outweigh the small risk.

My own personal thoughts are exposing parrots to sunlight and fresh are is more beneficial than keeping them cooped up indoors. That said I wouldn't put my birds down on tree branches, benches or the floor. I feel this would eliminate "some" of the risk.

Airbourne parasites or ones which use a "vehicle" to get about will get inside anyway via open windows, doors and on clothes or anything else which is brought inside from outside so being indoor birds does not eliminate the risk of them getting parasitic infections although in most countries it probably will reduce the risk further.

I cannot see how keeping a bird in a carrier will help much over taking it out on a harness assuming you only allow a harnessed bird to have contact with yourself. Of course it would depend on the type of carrier but I imagine most people taking their birds into the garden will use some sort of cage type carrier which wont offer any protection against parasites. Others taking their bird for a walk in a carrier will probably use a modified cat carrier, again offering very limited protection due to air vents and grid type doors. Those using a pak o bird type carrier may have a bit more protection due to the fine meshing but again I don't think this would eliminate risk.

Maybe you might want to research it further regarding the risks and how high those risks are in your specific country before making a decision?

[GreenWing]

Not to hijack dvdsy's thread but I am a little freaked out about this parasites thing now. About a month ago I saw one tiny white-ish bug, looked like a mite, in the bird room. It wasn't seen in her cage but near it on a metal cabinet. Now mind you I clean the bird room every day, wiping down and vaccuming. I also just cleaned her cage.

Today I saw the same kind of bug in the bathroom, after my spouse bathed with the bird. I have eagle-eye eyesight (better than 20-20 vision) and I've checked around her cage and haven't seen anything else. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid but is a trip to the vet in order?

I would take my parrot outside with me in her carrier but now I don't think I will do it anymore.

[BB's mom]

Im new and couldn't figure out how to post but this post answered most of my questions. I have a sun conure born in January I just got yesterday and he has been on my shoulder outside for over an hour today...is that bad? Should I refrain from taking him outside again? Is an outside aviary an idea I should nix? Sorry don't mean to ask questions on someone else's post, could someone point me in direction of making my own. Also freaking out about thepossibility he could catch something or already has :/

[janetafloat]

I'm sorry but I think it's a crazy idea that one should not take your bird outside. The thought of any living creature being completely deprived of natural light and the sight of the natural world is unimaginable to me. As marie83 said, I wouldn't put my bird down on the ground or on a tree but he spends most afternoons out on my patio in his cage and I wouldn't deprive him of that for anything.

BB's mom - please don't take your bird outside if it's not in a harness or a carrier, it's VERY DANGEROUS. So many birds have been lost or injured this way. Clipped birds can fly enough to get into trouble if they're panicked or get caught by a gust of wind, for example.

[Pajarita]

My point was not for birds that go outside with their owners for a little while. That is fairly safe as one would be on the lookout for mosquitoes and wild birds/animals would not approach the companion bird and thus increase exponentially the danger of contagion/infestation. My point was for a bird that is put outside, on its own, every day, for hours at a time without supervision. This is dangerous because wild birds (as well as squirrels, chipmunks AND cats or other predators) would try to steal food from them and, in the process, not only stress out the bird but also get close enough to establish a link for contagion/infestation (again, I know of two birds that got sick and died because of this practice).

Birds that are kept outside without constant supervision need to be housed in super safe aviaries (double stainless steel screens, one for predators and one for insects, screen walls grounded in concrete so no predator can dig under them, one wall as wind breaker as well as a partial roof, no branches right above it -so no birds can perch there and poop into the aviary, etc) and they need to be periodically treated with parasiticides. But people who put their birds outside seldom think of these things...

[BB's mom]

Sorry! Forgot to mention he had a harness on lol. I have had birds before and clipped flight feathers are not a bulletproof anti flight method. Its a bird and has wings obviously it still has the flight instinct. I am building him an aviary right now using quarter inch stainless steel and have invested in a large pail of antiseptic scrub for weekly use. He won't be outside more than a few hours alone but I want his cage to be safe