Why do we insist that you weigh your bird daily for the first month home?

Written by Sal Salafia, Certified Avian Specialist, Founder of Exotic Pet Birds Inc.

As many know, the bulk of the birds that people acquire from EPBI are hand raised babies. Before we allow a bird to go to a new home, the baby must pass a series of checks and balances that assure us that the bird is ready for life in a “consumer's” home.

First, the bird must be capable of navigating a cage by itself without assistance by staff. This includes but is not limited to, perching.

Next, the baby stays with us for a period of time, unsupported by formula feed, so that we can assure that the bird is sustaining life on solid foods. During this period of time, which we call “observation,” the bird is literally checked for weight, keel score and behavior. We want to make sure to help bring you the optimal success as a new pet owner. We say no to sending birds home before being fully weaned several times a year. It’s just simply too dangerous, as the experience this staff has in qualifying birds for being weaned is unmatched. Myself alone, I have now overseen the weaning process of over 5000 baby chicks. This is no small amount of knowledge I have gained. There are very few scenarios I’ve not been a part of solving and I have all the technology here in this facility to bring a struggling chick to a successful outcome.

That said, we do require that our partners who take over our babies do follow our rules for the next phase of life for the babies. We have created a discharge document in addition to our bill of sale, that has been expanded on through the years. Any scenario we feel fits the needs of all clients get added to our discharge document so everyone can learn from each other’s experiences. This discharge document is critical to be read and we require clients to sign it and check off each item so we know you read it. The success of your bird in your care can absolutely be impacted by your lack of knowledge of some of these topics.

Today I am going to cover the importance of the handoff of us to you. We know that everyone is excited to bring their new bird home so we cut ourselves off at typically around two weeks of observation to allow you to take ownership at home. That said we require that everyone knows a few items in our discharge document are non-negotiable to us:

1.) your bird must be weighed on a digital gram scale daily for a month at the same time each day so you know your bird’s baseline for weight. An underweight bird is your first sign of a problem. Birds transition from us to you is a delicate process. The birds can be nervous, they can be impacted by environmental factors in your home. These things can cause major headaches and yes even death! If you know your bird’s weight you will be able to contact us for support and we can help solve your issue!

example of a gram scale

2.) You must keep the bird on the same food it was weaned onto. You can cause confusion and stop your bird from eating. Remember that most birds discharged have been eating solid foods for about two -four weeks. If you change onto another food you have a high probability to slow down your bird’s gain. This can cause serious issues.

3.) Certain odors in the home can cause harm- Teflon being the most common silent odor we don’t even know is floating around our homes in so many products. Candle phosphates, deodorizers, perfumes and other types of chemical scents can stop your bird from eating and cause other health concerns. We as the “Bird Store” cannot protect and police your bird when it switches environments we create and monitor to the one you bring your bird to. We have to trust that because we only sell our birds to adults that they all take our advice seriously and know that we are here to support you and take that support early on in a situation.

Examples of harmful odors

As a team we put literally hundreds of hours of our time energy and love into the care of your new pet. We consider it the most basic sign of respect to your new pet that you are taking steps 1-3 into consideration and are doing step one daily. In fact the first question the staff is trained to ask you if you call for support is what did your bird weigh when you took it home and what did it weight today? We NEED this data to help advise you if you are having a serious issue or if you’re ok. We may even insist you bring the bird to a veterinarian asap. We use vets weekly and aren’t afraid to suggest you do too. There is no pet in the world that you can’t take to a veterinarian in case of concern. Taking your pet to the vet is part of the deal in owning a pet. If you are the kind of person who wants to limit your time in a vet office, knowing the tips in our discharge document can and will limit your time there. Keep in mind we want to be your partners in Aviculture and to be a good partner to us back we need your support in keeping certain data.