first besides paying a ton of money to have a bird sexed is there any other way to tell if you have a boy or girl mcaw?second is a bit of a story but,i went to a lil pet store yesterday one really small passed many times looked to be a place that didnt have much i thought,well so i went in by chance and seen it had perches i had been looking for in all the big majior pet stores stores with no sucsess got lucky. but i seen its run by a very elderly man and he had about 50 large birds i seen 3 mcaws that had very bad overgrown bottom beeks hard to eat and close mouth,i asked did he know they need to be cut bad and he said yes my wife used to come in and do it him being so old i presumed she was dead,i didnt get nosey and ask but the birds need trimed asap.is there a way i can help with out like reporting him i dont know how myself but id love to help him and the poor birdies how can i?
2007-01-28 02:47:11 · 8 answers · asked by wh1te_diamond06 1 in Pets ➔ Birds
report him,..he is definitely too old to properly care for the animals so why perpetuate it?
2007-01-28 02:55:15 · answer #1 · answered by iroc 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If you take the bird to the vet you can get an educated guess which should be right about the bird's sex. Otherwise yes, you have to spend a ton of money, and don't forget drawing blood puts stress on the bird and hurts. If you aren't breeding the bird there's no real reason to have it sexed. Occasionally a female will lay eggs which of course are not fertile.
As for your other question, if you are concerned volunteer to take the birds and have their beaks trimmed. In the long run, this guy ought to be shut down if he cannot adequately care for the birds, however. I know you feel sorry for him, but what he is doing is inhumane and illegal. Eventually those birds won't be able to eat, if they aren't already at that point. Three macaws with untrimmed beaks means he may have a host of other birds ill--some of those diseases can even be transmitted to humans, as we've found out lately. If you don't report him, someone else will, but in the meantime those birds are suffering.
2007-01-28 11:09:47 · answer #2 · answered by Sally T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not even a ton of money. A regular checkup is about $50, which you should be doing anyway. Getting sexed is only about $20. :) Otherwise, you can do a feel for the pelvic bone, but it's often uncomfortable for the bird, winds you up with a sore finger, and is unreliable. Many parrots can't be visually sexed.
I would ask your vet if they're willing to help this man. I'm sure you can have them call him and list you as an anonymous reference and the vet can invite him to go in. Maybe you could offer to pay some of the fee for the visit?
Good luck.
2007-01-28 10:58:30 · answer #3 · answered by PinkDagger 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's no 100% way to tell, but if you have something to compare it to, you can check the vent area. Females tend to have more space between their bones there for eggs to pass through.
It's actually not THAT expensive. Each of my guys cost me about 40 bucks to DNA test. Your bird will need a full check up anyway, and the whole thing plus DNA will cost about 135 bucks, I'd imagine. There's a few tests they'll want to run, and you may as well get it out of the way while you can.
As far as the old petshop owner...Uggh. Those poor bird don't have a prayer for ever being bought if this guy's running the show. I'd call the humane society in your area and ask them who best to report him to.
2007-01-28 17:54:51 · answer #4 · answered by sdkramer76 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
DNA sexing is NOT expensive and you can use blood or feathers or feces. www.avianbiotech.com will send you the collection cup for whatever means you want to use. You don't take the macaw to the vet you do it yourself.
If you want to help the macaws you need to educate the person. A great online educational group/message board is www.forthebirds.us go their, register and ask and learn
Only a licensed avian veterinarian should touch an overgrown beak on a macaw. This is very serious work. It requires very specific heavy duty tools and sound medical judgement to slowly over time trim and correct an overgrown beak on these big birds.
Good luck.
2007-01-28 10:59:05 · answer #5 · answered by thefinalresult 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Do you know some one that would go to his store and trim the beaks? If so give him the phone number and then check back to see if it's done. Being elderly I think it would be too hard for him to take the birds to have the beaks done.
Besides the beaks, did the birds look healthy and well cared for? If not you may want to call the local humane society.
Good luck.
2007-01-28 10:58:59 · answer #6 · answered by purple 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
contact the man and ask im if he has a local vet if so explain to him what you think of the birds without upsetting him. Then ofer to take the birds to the vet for him
2007-01-28 10:56:26 · answer #7 · answered by funkymonkeygrubb 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For the 2.You can go ask him if you can help out?BUT DO IT @S@P
2007-01-28 12:22:59 · answer #8 · answered by Animal.Lover.Brooke.101.Rocks 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋