My Veterinary Essentials

Today I worked on a Pesquet's Parrot. These medium/large sized psittacines weigh just under 1kg or about 2 pounds. Pesquet's Parrots are not your typical parrot as they have a much longer beak and head. Also called the vulturine parrot, these birds have a distinct vulture head shape with black featherless facial skin. Parrots in general can be very noisy when restrained; they are also equipped with a formidable beak capable of breaking open seeds and fingers! Parrot restraint involves immobilization of the head (the weapon), while containing the wings and feet. Parrots have somewhat delicate skin tissue on their heads making effective restraint difficult without injury to this tissue. Another factor with any bird restraint is being careful not to limit the movement of the chest. Birds lack a diaphragm, which in mammals is used to drive respiration. Birds must use movements of the chest to facilitate respiration. In larger species of birds such as the Pesquet's Parrot, I like to use an ice cream cone hold where one hand contains the feet, tips of the wings and tail, and the other hand holds that vulturine head.
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