being a wildlife carer

[chickie]

Hi all, and happy new year. Haven't been on the forum for ages. I have been volunteering at a native animal rescue centre and have been fostering several birds and possums at home. I now have 6 weiros, 2 of which were lost pets brought into the centre. I have raised numerous singing honey eaters and we have to keep 2 of them as one only has 1 eye and the other has a deformed foot. We have a brushtail possum in an aviary almost ready for release. We have hand reared 4 galahs from little pinkies of which we are very proud, and we have 2 left who are adorable almost 3 months old and they still shout for formula a couple of times a day. We are trying to find people to adopt them but no offers as yet so if anyone knows of anyone who is considering taking a galah on please let me know. We would need to be sure they were going to a very good home though. We are so reluctant to let them go but we can't keep them because of our neighbours. I love being a carer and am gradually gaining experience in caring for various types of birds. Identifying the teeny ones is always a problem.

[Robyn]

Hi chickie, sounds like your having a whole heap of fun. But i imagine it can be a little traumatic at times when you have to look after injured wildlife. The release of them must be a joy though.

The baby galah's, are they also rescued from the wild. As i was just wondering if there is any chance they could carry PBFD. I know there is a lot of infected birds up north on the Tablelands & out on the cattle stations a little further west. Sorry to be so nosy.

[vankarhi]

Well you are doing a wonderful job ;D and the PBFD crossed my mind too. But I am now suss of all wild birds ) psittasines (spelling)

[chickie]

There is a risk I imagine. We haven't had any infected birds into the rescue centre that I am aware of since I started last June. It would be too costly for the centre or the home carers to pay for tests for every psittacine admission. We have to be stringent with our hygeine and protect our own birds when we bring birds home to care for. . The galahs seem healthy and I know this doesn't mean they are not carriers and there will always be that risk. If we didn't raise them they would die and I couldn't refuse to take them and I would take them to an avian vet if I detected any signs of illness.

[vankarhi]

I think it is great that you do what you do. We didn't mean to sound "suss" about you raising the native parrots. Just that PBFD crosses most of our minds

[chickie]

sorry if I came across a bit defensive, it was not intentional. When I can get onto the other computer I will put a few pics of the birds and possums I have raised

[Robyn]

Chickie, please we didn't think that at all. Its always great to know what everyone else does & what they think of things. You do a wonderful job caring for all animals.

With the comment on PBFD i did buy a little corella from a petshop that developed PBFD & had to be put to sleep & he was taken from the wild & hand reared. So was just wondering how you guys deal with such a thing. But having said that, that disease isn't as bad in WA as it is in QLD is it???

Love pic's so we will look forward to seeing some. Especially the possums.

[vankarhi]

Robyn I have been told by a vet here that PBFD is rampant here amongst the wild birds........hence me being very wary of the wild parrots. They are beautiful ...... but I don't encourage them into my yard. They do come in and they do roost in our trees.....nothing I can do about that except chop down all the trees....and that isn't going to happen. I have also been told that PBFD is contagious but probably not quite as bad as we might believe. According to what I have been told the birds need very close contact......almost like aids is to humans.

[megzly]

Chickie, I dont think we have a huge problem with PBFD in our wild birds in WA. Its more common in the pet shop environments over here in my experience.

So far galahs we have had bought to the bird sanctuary have all been clear of PBFD, we have them all tested and although expensive we find that for the sake of our own birds its worth it before they leave quarantine.

We test all of the natives that come through for it just to be on the safe side. Doesnt bother us too much because the sale of our more pricey companion birds covers the cost of testing rescues that come in most of the time Otherwise we use money from donations that we recieve when people adopt birds

I understand though having been a wildlife carer that its not always viable to test birds because of the costs. Its allready too bloody expensive to keep them fed ;D

[Robyn]

PBFD common in Pet Shops, wouldn't you want to know why & where do the birds come from??? The only time i have seen it in our Pet Shops here is if they bought in birds that where taken from The Big Blue Aviary. But the unsuspecting owner doesn't find out until the bird goes through its first moult.

[vankarhi]

some petshops have a lot to answer for. Someone told me the other they bought a baby galah for $600 for a pet shop and 3 months later is was dead. Apparently her friend bought one from the same pet shop and it also died a few months later?? I am not saying it was PBFD ........ but gee for $600 I would hope for a little bit longer with my companion. Plus $600?? Unbelievable. I suggested she go to a breeder next time as they will be cheaper and probably healthier too. I know not all pet shops are like this......so I am not bagging all pet shops.

[megzly]

Unfortunatley the pet shop that sells birds with PBFD is one of the main bird shops in perth.. now without even having to name it im sure you all have an idea of what shop im talking about.

The avian vet i use has told me that just about every PBFD euthanasia he has performed has been in birds that have come from that particular shop. He generally rings up the shop and tels them that they better bloody give the person their money back because the birds sometimes have very visible signs of the disease when they are sold and its passed off as " a plucking disorder" to unknowledgable buyers. The shop has a disclamer on the back of a purchase sheet saying they wont ever sell birds with visible signs of PBFD. what a load of crap!

One guy i know bought three birds from this shop and every single one ended up having pbfd.. he doesnt buy birds through pet stores anymore. The other day we went in there as we normally do to take pleasure in seeing how fast it is detereorating due to its spreading bad reputation (im evil i know but i hate this place) and there were budgies which looked like they had the disease, i wasnt the only person who thought so either.

As this shop boards a whole lot of birds i would be strongly reccomending people NOT to board a bird there. you never know what they may come home with. Plus i dont particularly like the fact that they cram a red tail into something i would use for a cockateil cage. They also like selling hybird birds for ridiculous amounts of money.. corella x galah + $900.. yeah right!!!

[megzly]

Oh Robyn, i forgot to say. Alot of this shops birds are wild caught, but it isnt the wild caught birds that have the problem, in fact if anything they are the healthiest birds there.

Its there handraised babies that have the problem and the majority are bred at the shop (in something resmbling a dark closet crammed with birds) or in the avairies of birds that are for sale (mostly conures and lorikeets that are bred in aviaires). I have a feeling that they continue to breed stock even if they have the disease until the birds die or can no longer be bred from.

A fair few of their birds come from well known dodgy breeders too, i wouldnt say that the dodgy breeders who only breed for the money dont have PBFD in their flocks too.

[Robyn]

Oh dear that is so shocking i can't believe that is allowed to happen. So very sad.
Shouldn't there be something done I mean if this person is breeding sick birds isn't that risking a persons whole collection. My God he should be shut down.

[madaussie]

Dang that is a big price i sell them for $150 to $200 depends when i have to pull them .

Hopefully i will get to breed them again this year have to find new breeders but.
j

[vankarhi]

I know no names have been mentioned ;D please make sure it stays that way too. I can remember some time ago (like probably a couple of years ago) a discussion sort of getting out of hand and names were mentioned.

Just a friendly reminder to anyone who reads this thread

[chickie]

Pardon my ignorance, I am a novice, but are there no regulations regarding breeders? Is there any type of registration?

[chickie]

On a lighter note, here are a few pics of my rescue animals ( I hope) We have had 2 possums, 1 released and the other almost ready. We have had numerous honey eaters and we now have 3and 2 of those can't be released as 1 has only 1 eye and the other has a deformed foot so we will have to keep them. We had 4 baby galahs, 2 have been adopted and we have 2 left.

[vankarhi]

wow ....... they sure keep you busy ;D thanks for sharing

[megzly]

Chickie, if your talking about regulaltions on bird breeders i dont think there are any. You have your basic licensing requirements but once thats done the birds are yours to do what you wish with them. As for registering im pretty sure you can register a few bird species with an avicultural society, Show budgies and cockateils i have heard you can do this with over in WA basically by using the club issued leg bands for your birds which are recorded in a computer system

I dont think it would be a bad thing to place restrictions on breeding some birds or having to register how many you breed a season, birds like cockateils, indian ringnecks, budgerigars, alexandrines and eclectus all seem to be way over bred over here in the west and when people cannnot get rid of the offspring they drop the prices to ridiculousy low amounts meaning anyone can afford to buy them and they arent always going to good homes.

Loving the pictures of your babies, they are all adorable. You are doing a fantastic job! But you dont need me to tell you that, you only have to look at your beautiful bubbas to know!