T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
---|
127.1 | Slow down and smell the roses! 8^} | SAGE::CARLSONJ | | Fri Feb 24 1989 12:23 | 32 |
| Hi! My name is Jean Hutchins...owner of 'Feathered Obsessions Aviary'
in Nashua NH. Well, I don't raise parrots...so I cannot help you.
But, I will take this opportunity to caution you!
Amazon parrots, nice pets, great talkers, are very very susceptible
to strange diseases... Since you already have a conure...stay with
Conures! It is not advisable...verify with a veterinarian if you
like, but trust me....
Conures carry Pacheco's Disease. This is a form of Herpes Virus
that ALL conures carry and may display NO symptoms. Pacheco's is
very hard to find/track down and is most easily identified at necropsy!
(Autopsy). The Pacheco cells are not found in live birds, plus
a biopsy of organs needs to be taken...most birds would not live
thru the biopsy surgery. Texas A&M is doing Pacheco testing now,
it is an ELISA Titer test. This test requires 1.5 CC's of whole
blood centrifuged to 1/2 CC of serum.
Anyway...the easiest way to check for Pacheco's is to use a sentinal
bird in the same room for a 45 day (minimum) period. If the sentinal
bird lives (usually a parakeet), the conure is most likely negative.
Be careful...Pacheco's is deadly if in fact you have a positive
bird. Pacheco's is NOT a human transferred so it will not hurt
you. Just the other birds.
My suggestion is to stick with conures...and if you get a new one,
keep it separated for 45 days.
Sorry to deflate any bubbles!
Jean H
|
127.2 | no parrots for Larry | GIAMEM::TORTORELLI | | Fri Feb 24 1989 12:41 | 18 |
|
Hi! thanks for the advise! what about conures catching dieases from
other birds - such as parakeets or cockatiels? also, do you know
of any aviaries in the Worcester area? (I've been reading notes
for a couple weeks and I am somewhat familiar with you - the Dear
Abby of pet probs. - and I would love to see your aviary - but
Manchester is quite a hike from Worcester) Do you happen to know
how much a hand fed conure would go for? The one I have now was
bought at Tropic Isle in Framingham - and They cut Larry Birds nails
so short he almost bled to death the same night I brought him home!
anyway, he cost about $200.00 - I dont have a regular Vet. I live
right near Tufts, but I dont know if they have any Bird Vets.( I
guess a call would do the trick). SO MANY QUESTIONS!!! I could go
on forever - but I'll let you answer these if you would,, then
I'll ask you some more.
Thank You Again - peggie(temp)
|
127.3 | is me again | GIAMEM::TORTORELLI | | Fri Feb 24 1989 12:53 | 6 |
|
Hi! its me again - what about a cockatoo? are they just as
susceptible to this disease you spoke of?
looking forward to your comments/advise.
peggie
|
127.4 | No, No, You got that wrong! | NUTMEG::WALKER_M | | Fri Feb 24 1989 16:20 | 19 |
| NO NO NO!
Conures make other birds sick! Parrots seem especially prone to
these afflictions. The parakeet I mentioned as a sentinal bird
is one that would die within days of being exposed to a conure!
Most aviculturalists do not combine conures with parrots, parrakeets,
budgies and the amazons... you follow what I mean?
Your conure will remain a better pet for you if you have only him
anyway. If it's possible, read through this whole conference.
There is lots of information that I know you will find most
enlightening.
Jean Hutchins - Feathered Obsessions Aviary... 8^}
At Little Malka's terminal this time!!!!!
|
127.5 | Jean......help!!! | EUREKA::WHITE | the PARROT_TROOPER | Mon Feb 27 1989 10:08 | 17 |
| It never amazes me what you can learn in this file.......
Jean, you never replied to my mail!!
I was GIVEN, over a period of six months, TWO Mitred conures....
one from a friend, one from a pet store.......Aquatara to be exact.
They have been co-existing in my aviary for two years now....thank
'someone' that nothing has happened. Am I still safe, or do I
still run the risk of contaminating my stock???
They even have laid two eggs......nothing hatched as I believe one
of them is still too young!
help me out Jean.
chet
|
127.6 | Conure Horror Stories | MANILA::WALZ | | Mon Feb 27 1989 10:57 | 12 |
| Although SOME conures carry Pacheco's Disease, I definitely do not
discount them for the loving, playful pets that they are. I per-
sonally own and breed sun conures along with Amazons and macaws. I
do not have in my aviary the diseases that Jean mentions.
Proper quarantining of new birds, the advice of a good avian vet, and
proper husbandry are essential. In my experiences of breeding, I had
only one "poor doer." This bird was a baby from another breeder. He
died of macaw wasting disease.
If your conures have co-existed with your other birds for two years,
they are healthy conures. I would not worry about my stock.
|
127.7 | NO NO YOU MISUNDERSTOOD ME! | GIAMEM::TORTORELLI | | Thu Mar 02 1989 12:48 | 11 |
|
I didn't misunderstand you - my question is "Can conures catch diseases
(ANY) diseases from other birds such as parakeets or cockatiels?"
For example: I bring home a sick parakeet(unknowingly) to see if
my bird has Pacheco's (sp?) disease - and my bird gets sick from
this sick parakeet? Could this happen? And my other question was
are cockatoos less susceptible to catching this disease? Are they
better disease fighters than parrots?
thanks again!!
|
127.8 | Conures can be safe.. | NEXUS::M_ROBSON | News item from the Banzia Institute | Thu Mar 02 1989 14:53 | 8 |
| Yes, Conures can be carriers of "bad" things for other hookbills.
But this mainly is related to imported Conures. If you get one
from a reputable breeder you should be safe from any problems.
My Sun Conure has been with my A. Grey and Mullocan for the last
1 1/2 yrs. (In same bird room -- not cage)
Mark
|
127.9 | Conure with unknown history | EBBV01::STAATS | | Tue Mar 07 1989 12:30 | 19 |
|
I have a conure that has been living in the same room as my pair
of peach face love birds for about five months and a cockatiel
has been moved into the room within the last month. Should I
consider Woody (the conure) "safe" as far as contagious diseases?
I don't know the Woody's history beyond the last two years - he
was found in a shopping mall parking lot as an "adult bird".
All my little friends appear healthy - Flipper, the newest member
of the family(cockatiel) and Woody will even sit inches apart on
my knees and watch T.V. with me or talk between them selves.
Woody is considered a permanent member of my family but in time
I would like to save towards a hand fed baby (undetermined spieces),
but I would not want to endanger any bird by exposure to disease.
Any opinions out there ???
|
127.10 | Pacheco Paranoia | MANILA::WALZ | | Wed Mar 08 1989 10:45 | 22 |
| Many a finch has been sacrificed to check for Pacheco's. It goes
like this:
1. Get new conure.
2. Buy finch. Place in cage right next to conure.
3. Leave for one week.
4. If finch is still alive, conure does not carry Pacheco's
I have been breeding conures for a little over 10 years. In that time
of bringing in new stock (some imported, some domestic) I have lost
exactly zero finches. I have had no Pacheco's and breed my conures
side by side with macaws and amazons. I know other breeders who have
had zero problems. In fact, I have not seen a case here in Houston,
although people do talk about conures and Pacheco's.
I would declare Woody "safe," relax, and enjoy my pets. You--as a
human being--are a carrier of diseases to parrots also, but it's OK,
you can stay, too.
Let's stop picking on conures. Continue to be careful with "new"
conures introduced into your homes. Try the finch test. And then,
RELAX!
|
127.11 | Oh Wow, I got carried away -- sorry! | WILKIE::VALERI | | Mon Mar 20 1989 12:55 | 19 |
| WEll, I can see I opened a can of worms! SORRY ALL! I sound like
Conures should not be alive. I don't mean that at all! Honest
I dont' I like them! I had an opportunity to get a Padagonian
a few weeks ago.... I held off. I did research with with a
veterinarian though. Several vets said keep away from the conures.
I too, feel that is unfair to the conure! Finally, I found a vet
that was willing to help me in my quest! This is when we found
that Texas A&M does the tests to *Release Bad Press from Conures*!
We even put an article in the NHAS bulletin regarding the undeserved
press conures get!
If there had not been a bird lost last month to Pacheco's, I would
probably not have mentioned it either! But it happened, and it
was a baby yellow nape that was diagnosed with the disease.
So sorry for the confusion...and maybe even elevated blood pressure!
Jean
|
127.12 | Hold those Aggie jokes, please! | MANILA::WALZ | | Mon Mar 20 1989 15:08 | 16 |
| I am lucky enough to be within driving distance of Texas A&M.
They are doing amazing research of parrots under the Schubot
endowed chair under the direction of Dr. Graham.
Dr. Graham will be speaking at our next Parrot People (Houston
Bird Club) meeting. I am lucky enough to be giving introductions
and taking Dr. Graham out to dinner afterwards.
Texas A&M's major concentrations are on PBFD and Macaw Wasting
Disease.
By the way, if any of you have ever met Schubot---he is a reall
hoot! He does quite a bit of breeding (Hyacinths!!!!) himself as
does the Macaw Project which is part of Texas A&M's project.
|
127.13 | So close to Texas A&M - How Lucky You Are! | MAMIE::VALERI | | Tue Mar 21 1989 16:54 | 6 |
| Pat, I have to say I envy you! So close to them! No aggie jokes!
I heard 'em all when I went to school in Texas many years ago!
I understand Dr. Graham replaced Dr. Grimes. And yes, they are
the leaders in the field!
J
|
127.14 | The Lone Parrot State | MANILA::WALZ | | Tue Mar 21 1989 17:56 | 21 |
| I agree! Also we have a bunch of great avian vets here in
Houston thanks to Texas A&M. We are very lucky in Texas.
A&M began a series of symposiums last year (all day).
They are about pet birds. The last one covered:
Disease Update
Breeding Systems
Environment
Nutrition
Marketing Birds
Physical examination of cage birds
Sexing
Hard copy notes of all the lectures were distributed. I was in
parrot heaven.
I was also lucky enough to attend the AFA meeting in Dallas last
month. I got to meet Marc Valentine (Feather sexer of the universe)
and scads of breeders. Of course, Mr. Schubot was in attendance
and gave his words of wisdom whether we wanted them or not. He
is something else.
Texas is Parrot Country!!!!!
|
127.15 | I have a great conure! | USCTR1::NBONAZZOLI | | Mon Jun 25 1990 11:09 | 9 |
| Hi. I have a 9 mos. old hand-fed Jenday Conure for sale, real cheap! It
looks like we may be relocating, and are not able to keep him. He's
extremely tame, does tricks, and is VERY pretty. He's vet checked (of
course) and in perfect health. Eats everything, too!. We paid $650.00
for him back in December, but will sacrifice for $350.00 with cage and
toys. Please call and let me know what you think. I can be reached on
(508) 456-8803 eves, and DTN: 297-6674. I live in Harvard.
Nancy Martin
|