i put this thread somewhere on here but can't find it, so ill make another one...anyways, im jst wondering how many times do you take your fid to the vet for periodic checkups? ross had a check up right before i brought him home back in Nov....but i didn't know if theres a once a year thing, or only when their sick or something tragic happens.....any info would be appreciated!!!!

Its always a good idea to find a good avian vet and get established there. Birds are great at hiding illness. They really should be checked out once a year so that maybe an illness can be dicovered before it gets too serious. If not for this reason than for the unexpected accident that we all dread. A vet will more readily treat an animal that is their established Patient. Just like our doctors take an appointment with us easier. Birds will sometimes try to hide sickness until they are so sick they cant hide it anymore and in some cases that is too late for a full recovery.

okay, i just didn't know if they needed one more than that or not, but thank you for the quick reply!!!!!!

We take the birds once a year to get a full look over and get their vaccinations.

is it pricey gettin it to the vet?

depends on what you have done, where you live, etc.

i just took our birds in for a well bird/get to know you/get established visit with a non-certified avian, yet bird knowledgable and highly recommended, vet. the general exam itself was $50/bird, which includes a thorough physical exam, plus wing/nail trim.

we got blood panels done also, to establish baseline "normal" values for our birds, those were $~110/bird. we opted to get dna sexing done also, that was $70/bird (cheaper to get a card and drop of blood and send it yourself, but our vet won't do that).

the CAG also had another blood test (calcium ionization), which was another $50. total for first time visit, 2 birds: almost $500. getting results back within normal limits and finding out my birds are healthy: priceless

next year we will not need to do bloodwork, per the vet, and no more dna testing, so it will be much less expensive.

kris

I think Petey's last vet visit was about $175. That was a physical exam, fecal exam, full CBC and blood chemistry, and a psittacosis test. The psittacosis test was $35 and we won't have to repeat that. So a little expensive, but no more than my cats and dog's yearly vet exams by the time you do vaccines, heartworm preventative, flea meds, ect.

Yay to your vet!!!! It's SO refreshing to hear a vet saying you don't have to dump hundreds of dollars at his office