The Exotic Bird Infomation Blog

Psittacosis – 5 Ways to Lessen the Chance of Psittacosis in Your Home
By Debbie Davis

Psittacosis sometimes referred to as Parrot Fever or Bird Fancier’s Lung (BFL) is a disease that all species of birds are susceptible to, and one that can be passed to humans as well. Pet birds are the most frequent transmitters of the disease especially many types of Parrots. If recognized and treated early with antibiotics, the recovery rate for birds and humans is good. Here are 5 ways to go on the offensive against Psittacosis and lessen the chance of having it develop in your home.

Keep the Cage Clean–One of the ways this disease spreads is through dried dust from bird feces. Once the fecal matter starts to dry, minute pieces can become airborne with the bird’s movement, your movement or even circulating air from the air conditioner or heat. Changing the paper at the bottom of the cage daily or even more frequently lessens the chance of these airborne contagions spreading and being inhaled by you, family members, and your bird.

Become Familiar with Symptoms in Birds–This is easier said than done as many birds that are infected do not present symptoms. However, the symptom that is most indicative of this condition is eye discharge. Others include diarrhea, difficulty in breathing, a drop in energy level producing drowsiness and lethargy, puffed up feathers, tremors, disinterest in food, and weight loss. Knowing what is usual for your bird will help you spot any changes in behavior easily and allow you to take preventive steps early.

Regular Check Ups with the Veterinarian-You don’t have to go it alone when trying to recognize whether a change in your bird’s habits is an indication of sickness, and more specifically Psittacosis. Having an avian veterinarian that you trust is an invaluable resource to locate and use from the moment you bring your bird home. Don’t be afraid to take your bird for professional observation if there is even the slightest question about your bird’s health. The sooner the disease is correctly diagnosed, the better chance your bird has of surviving. And even if it turns out to be a false alarm–better safe than sorry.

Recognize Human Symptoms–In people the symptoms are similar to the flu-headache, chills, fever, aches and pains. When seeking treatment for flu-like symptoms mention that you have a bird, and ask to be tested for Psittacosis.

Use a Purifier to Filter Your Air–Nothing can guarantee that you and your bird won’t contract this disease, but given that it spreads with inhalation of dried fecal matter that is airborne, using a high efficiency particle arresting air purifier is a good way to clear the air and lessen the chance of having this disease spread in your home.

An excellent resource for an air purifier to lessen the chance of Psittacosis in your home is offered by PurerAir.com– the Bird Dander Purifier at http://purerair.com/bird_dander_air_purifier.html

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To purchase supplements, please visit Bird Buffet N Things. They carry a full line of Morning Bird products for most illnesses.

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The “staple diet” comprises the bulk of what an individual bird consumes on a daily basis. For companion birds, the staple diet has been largely seeds or pellets. Unfortunately, though these diets are simpl.e to use, they are often detrimental for companion birds when used incorrectly. Feeding just one type of food, day after day, doesn’t provide the variety that companion birds need to thrive. Malnutrition is the single most common reason for illness and death in companion birds. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies lead to a compromised immune system, which makes a bird more susceptible to viruses, bacterial infections, and fungal growth. Protein deficiency causes poor feather quality, and lack of essential fatty acids causes shin problems. Mainutrtion also leads to plucking, behavioral problems, and eventually compromised liver and kidney function.

Beak Appetit’s cooked diets solve this problem. The combination of quality ingredients and essential supplements creates a whole food that supplies birds with the nutrition they need to function and thrive. Along iwth fresh fruits and veggies, Beak Appetit’s easy-to-use diets provide your bird with a worry-free feeding plan. Simply cook up a batch of Beak Appetit and then keep it in the refrigerator for a week, warming a protion of it each day. Or, you can sparate portions into small baggies or ice-cube trays and freeze it, thawing or microwaving the portions as you need them. Variety is key and Beak Appetit has it.

Cooking time ranges from 3 to 25 minutes depending on the product (unique preparation instructions are printed on every package). Most of Beak Appetit’s recipes fill the kitchen with the luscious aroma of cinnamon, tropical fruits and other spices.

The full line of Beak Appetit diets is now available from Bird Buffet N Things. For more information on Beak Appetit diets, click here.

Yours

Michael Camire
Bird Buffet N Things

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Due to the demand by their customers to provide a larger variety of natural and cooked bird food, Bird Buffet N Things has added the entire line of Beak Appetit Diets, Softbill Diets and Supplements to their product line. 

For birds in the wild, finding food is the most important part of the day. Some wild parrots can eat up to 75 different types of vegetation as a regular part of their diet, everything from leaves and fruit to nuts and young seeds. Different foods occur seasonally for parrots. At certain times of year they feast on one type of fruit, nut, and vegetation and when that’s gone, other species of trees or grasses bloom and fruit, offering yet another nutritional opportunity.

Until recently, bird food producers ignored this need for variety. Birds were left with boring meals lacking in well-rounded nutition.  Fortunately, Beak Appetit now offers the variety that parrots require. Each Beak Appetit selection contains a vast assortment of grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, giving parrots a nutritious change of pace.

For more information on Beak Appetit Diets, Softbill Diets and Supplements, visit Bird Buffet N Things.

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Dear Friends:

This will come as a surprise to many people who didn’t know he was ill, but Ken Globus passed away on September 10th. Ken, who hadn’t been a smoker for about 25 years, was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his esophagus. What’s truly shocking is that, between his original diagnosis and his death, only 10 weeks had elapsed.

Most of you are receiving this email because you’re on his mailing list. So most of you know him as The Bird Whisperer.

Here are some things you may not know about how Ken got started working with aggressive and phobic birds. Our parents used to own a tropical fish store in Inglewood, California. One day, our mother cleared out some space in the store and asked Ken what he thought would be a good idea to put there. Ken thought about it, then suggested that they might start carrying a few birds. Since our parents knew nothing about birds, they put Ken in charge, and he got to work reading books and researching bird behavior before he bought his first bird for the store. Keep in mind that, in those days, almost all birds sold in stores were wild caught, not bred in captivity – so they were usually pretty terrified and unruly. What Ken discovered – to his great surprise – was that very little of the advice in the bird books was appropriate for dealing with aggressive birds. So, through trial and error, he learned how to work with them.

One of the many qualities that made Ken so successful with birds was his patience – he could simply persist until a bird decided that being aggressive wasn’t working to drive Ken away. Another quality that served him so well was his flexibility – if one thing didn’t work to calm a bird, he’d try something else until he made progress. (Parenthetically, it’s a quality that also made him a great father.)

When my parents reached an age when they were no longer able to run a demanding business, Ken went out on his own, doing private training sessions for bird owners. It was at one of those sessions where an immensely grateful client said, “Ken, you really are a bird whisperer.”

Ken called me and mentioned the incident, and I suggested he use the name The Bird Whisperer because I thought it would quickly convey what he was capable of doing. But he was reluctant to use the name because he thought some people might think it was a bit pretentious. As a marketer, I reasoned that, at the very least, it was very easy for people to remember, where Ken Globus was not. He finally agreed.

Over the years, a lot has been written and said about Ken’s techniques. You are certainly free to dismiss what I’m about to say as the biased rantings of a grieving brother, but I was simply blown away by what Ken was able to do with birds. I traveled with him both to private sessions and public workshops, and I watched him calm birds that couldn’t even be touched by their owners. I saw people sobbing at the the sight of Ken stroking a bird’s neck, a bird who wouldn’t allow even its owner to come near it for over a decade. And I saw this happen many times.

His bird-training sessions really picked up when he set up his web site. For the first time, people outside of the Los Angeles area where he lived could get a sense of what his techniques were all about. He began to be interviewed by news organizations, magazines and newspapers, all of them interested in how he was able to tame birds so quickly. He was hired by zoos, bird stores, and rescue organizations to deal with birds they’d given up on. And somewhere along the line, Ken got a phone call from a woman who identified herself as Kate Capshaw. Thinking it was a joke perpetrated by one of his friends, Ken hung up on her. She called back and informed him that she and her husband, Steven Spielberg, would like Ken to come to their house for a private session. He gulped, and agreed. And as Ken showed Kate how to handle the bird, Steven walked all around him with a video camera, recording the entire hour-long session. Talk about pressure!

Through his many interviews and public appearances, Ken got to be pretty adept at dealing with one kind of pressure or another. The type that gave him the biggest problem came from his detractors who often wrote vicious and totally untrue things about him, and he would sometimes forward to me the more outrageous items. Usually we would giggle like schoolgirls, but I found some of these things to be appallingly mean-spirited, and I would want him to post an angry rebuttal. But, for the most part, he wouldn’t. He simply felt that these people were uninformed. I always thought that was a most charitable way of looking at it, especially considering that many of the most shamelessly idiotic things were perpetrated by some of the more authoritative people in the bird world, people who felt more comfortable sniping at him from a distance rather than bothering to actually attend one of his events. But I digress.

What Ken was able to do with birds wasn’t magic. Ken was just an incredibly sensitive and intuitive person who, in a very short span of time, could figure out the best way to get a bird over its fears. At this I’m fairly certain there were few like him.

I can also tell you that as a brother, there were none like him. He was kind, funny, incredibly bright, supportive, generous, and courageous – qualities he displayed up to his dying breath.

Last week there was an occasion I’ll never forget. It was only a few days after his passing, and my wife wanted to put together a “remembrance”, where a few friends could gather to talk about what Ken meant to them. Even though this was thrown together at the last minute, over 60 of his friends showed up, and I’m certain that, given enough time, a few hundred might have been there. Ken was loved and appreciated by so many people. There were folks there from various stages of his life, all relating stories about Ken that helped to paint a complete picture of him. And what a picture it was!

He was a great guy. A talented man who could do so many things well. And he was my best friend for 57 years.

Dennis Globus

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Here’s Video #1 of a three-part series I’m sending all my subscribers courtesy of my good friend and Parrot Behavior Specialist, Chet Womach over the next 2 weeks…

There’s no catch. These videos are really free…

See, Chet is just 2 weeks away from releasing tickets to his first-ever “Advanced Parrot Training, Handling, and Health Seminar” that he’ll be hosting at a world-class resort in Florida this coming January.

So to celebrate, he’s giving away this FREE Sneak Preview of the caliber of parrot training secrets he’ll be revealing for the first time ever, live on stage, at this event in this special three-part video series.

In video #1, you’ll discover the secret to NEVER being afraid of getting bitten or nipped by your bird again by learning to read what I call your parrot’s “Fear Feather’s.”

This training principle is so powerful, and so effective, you’ll be able to use it to guarantee your spouse, kids, other family members and friends can handle your bird safely, without ever getting bitten, too!

To watch it now, visit: https://www.birdtricks.com/watchthevideos

And pay attention to your email… Because I’ll be sending you TWO MORE free videos like this one over the next 2 weeks!

Enjoy…

Michael Camire
Bird Buffet N Things

P.S. On this page, you’ll also find out how you can qualify to win over $5,000 in parrot training supplies and private consultations.

Visit https://www.birdtricks.com/watchthevideos to get all the details.

Follow me, Pratbirdman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pratbirdman

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