How to Find the Perfect Bird Vet | 5 RED FLAGS You Should Run From Your Vet! 

Here's how I knew I had found the right vet ;) First time I went there was probably the first time my bird had ever been to any vet (he's around 60), so I had been working on crate training for a week prior to the visit and was constantly doing some targeting with him in the waiting room, clicker and all. First thing the vet-tech asked me when she saw me rewarding him was: ''What else you got there?'' (She saw that I used walnut, almond and sunflower seeds) and then went on a 5-minute lecture (in a kind manner) about how too many seeds and nuts are bad for parrots. I absolutely loved it. And then the vet had him toweled in under four seconds, did the check-up, called in the tech to help clip his nails, weighed him and then let him out of the towel to let him hang out a bit while we talked. She even saw the black sheen in his feathers (an indication of liver disease, which I didn't even know until she told me!) Definitely felt confident enough in their competence to make them my go-to vets.

I called a place and they said their doctor was a certified avian vet. I took my baby in and told him since he is a rescue that he bites sometimes. This asshole then proceeds to FLICK my baby on his beak to show me how to "show him who is boss" and hurt him. Then he said "They dont feel pain on their beak." I was floored.

My vet, because of Covid, wouldn't let us come in during my cockatiels visit, which is reasonable. It was mainly to get her nails trimmed but he did an exam and said she looked really healthy and he weighed her in grams. After the exam he called me and asked what she ate and at that time she was still heavily converting from seeds so he just told me we were on the right track and to keep going and he made sure I was feeding her veggies.

"we don't have small enough needles to take blood from your bird" My first experience when going to a vet with one of my smol dovesies xD

If you are in the Central FL area, Dr. Diaz of Exotic Animal Hospital of Orlando is amazing. While he is not specifically avian, he has so much knowledge and is so good with birds.

Also you can find a vet before you get your bird a good vet will generally be happy to sit down and help you get a handle on bird care and what to watch out for before you even have a bird. That still might be an exam fee so they can hold a time for you but they will not belittle you for wanting to be prepared.

thankfully I have a good avian vet for my green cheek. I was actually surprised she was super pro flighted and even safe free flight. That's really uncommon in a vet

I know squat about birds, but those are two really content birds.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Avian vets Dr. Julie Hébert, Dr. Édouard Maccolini, Dr. Manon Tremblay. Dr. Tremblay does not have a clinic and only makes house calls. This is very convenient when you have numerous birds to be examined, and the vet can witness the birds' environment and how they are cared for directly. For emergencies or elaborate tests (X rays, scans, etc.): Centre Vétérinaire Laval, where the exotic department is directed by the husband-wife team Julie Hébert-Édouard Maccolini (both ABVP diplomas in avian practice). There are many other avian vets in this area, but I do not know them enough to recommend.

Also some universities have good vet schools, so don’t forget those too

In the Denver metro area, I recommend Homestead Animal Hospital in Centennial, Dr. LaBonde.

Thank you for this! We are looking for a new vet, it’s so hard though because none are allowing you inside right now. We just dumped our vet as Kauwaii went in for a well checkup and came out with a dislocated hip, they refused to admit anything happened but the second we saw her when they handed her carrier over we saw something was wrong. Now I’m looking in neighboring states, but without seeing what they’re doing I’m scared to let anyone touch them!

So nice to see Comet and Tusa and I'm guessing it was Tusa making baby sounds, too cute. A couple of things that bothered me about my Avian Vet was she would never let me be in the exam room with my bird(s) for a physical, and she had no bedside manner for the human (me), also if you can ask to see where they place your bird if it has to stay overnight or longer, when I saw this room not much bigger than a walkin closet with birds stacked and no windows I was Not happy, my little Sweetie had to stay for 5 days and she was used to a big window with lots of light where her cage is at home, so she became even more stressed. Last but not least prepare to pay a lot, a physical alone was $250.00 and that was in the early 90's. Thanks this is an important video.

Community Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Barrot takes care of my parrot. He's located in Turlock, Ca. He was recommended by the breeder when I bought my Green Cheek Conure 8 years ago. I live just over an hour away from the clinic. I always pray that my bird stays healthy, because I know the local "avian" vets will give me the run-around.

I am lucky I’m about about an hour and a half from Cornell university which has specialist some of the best in the country for any type of animal, zoo, exotic, farm, cat or dog and 1 hour from Buffalo animal hospital for specialists.

When one of the vets tell you on the phone tell you they hate birds. True story

Looking for an avian vet in the Salt Lake and Provo area of Utah. I want to have a vet in mind before I even get my bird.

In Northwest Ohio/Toledo, I'd recommend Dr. Orosz at the Bird and Exotic Pet Wellness Center. I know she loves my orange wing as much as I do and it means a lot to me to have a professional in his corner. :)

This is perfect, I've been trying to find a new vet thank you~

We had a Mexican Conure for 25 years, and didn't know much at all about these things. We made contact with Dr. Matherne who was recommended to us by a friend who knew that she acted as vet for the local zoo. She obviously had no fear of, or difficulty birds, or any other animal, and showed great concern for our family as well as "Rascal," and always explains everything very thoroughly. We live near (20 miles from) Alexandria Louisiana. (Her scale shows both metric, and English measurements in sufficiently small increments as to detect small changes) When a dog attacked our daughter's chicken, Dr. Matherne had to remove an eye, and care for other wounds - the chicken survived several more years. She has taken care of all our animals for almost 20 years now.

Thanks Jamie for the information love you guys

My little quaker had a small scare awhile back, thankfully it was nothing bad, she played too hard and got a bit of grass toy stuff in her eye😂 Anyways. We wound up seeing a local exotics vet because they were closer as a first checkup and she was fantastic. I think she sees most of the birds in my area since the closest avian certified vet near us is about a 45 minute highway drive.

Like I ALWAYS say... you have such a gift and this world (and birds) are so very lucky to have you. Also LOVE that hair color! Your totally rocking it!!!

thank you for informing us, it was a very good video

I’m lucky to live in Northern Virginia/Suburban D.C., where we’re fortunate to have 24/7 care from Pender Exotics and regular care from Stahl’s Exotics (SEAVS). Remember that there are fewer vet schools than medical schools in America, so it’s harder to get admitted to to vet school.

Great Video, On new years eve a few years ago. My blue and gold macaw decided to go down the laundry chute to the basement floor below and got injured (bleeding on his face). I called his avian vet they where unavailable and recommend another vet clinic. Called them they said they could meet me at the office, when I arrived they looked in the carrier and said "that's a bird?" (should have been my first flag). We went into the exam room I took Sparks out of the carrier as asked. When the vet came in the room she just stood back against the wall looking at him while he kept telling here 'hi", "hello" and "cracker". She said she was going to give him a sedative so she could better examine the "bird" . I felt very uncomfortable about giving a macaw a sedative, So I started looking up other avian vets while still in the exam room waiting for the vet to return, found Wisconsin School Of Veterinary Medicine, gave them a call they answered the phone right away, I asked to speak to a avian vet (telling them what was going on) within a few seconds had a avian vet on the phone first thing he said is "don't let them give his standard sedation" He then ask where I was? I told him where I was and sent him some pics via email. He quickly had the pics, and told me when the vet comes back in the room what he recommended, he also wanted to make sure where I was, He said he would call me back in a few minutes. About 10 minutes later the vet came back in still would not even get close to Sparks even though he offered the back of his neck for some rubs. She said "I was thinking maybe sedation is not the solution in this case" Here is what you can do..... She had the exact medication and dosing that I had just been told by the vet in Madison. Took Sparks to see his regular vet a few days later he was healing just fine. Moral of the story don't be afraid to reach out if the vet that is seeing your bird seems apprehensive at all. The Doc at Wisconsin School Of Veterinary Medicine was excellent his primary concern was Sparks health, the vet at Wisconsin School Of Veterinary Medicine called back about 30 min later to see how the patient was doing, I asked if he had called the local vet here, All he said "I hope he does visit any more laundry chutes" , Also sent them a check for there help.

For anyone in or near the Spokane area....just drive down to WSU in Pullman. The one avian vet we had in the area is, unfortunately, no longer at the practice.

Have you been training with Tusa frequently? He’s so puffy next to you and making wa-has. Looks like he’s 80-20 to you at the moment! Most of these pointers are good for red flags for a vet for any animal. 👍

Hey! I said that on your last wet macaw pic! The cutest wet fire chickens ever 💚

Great vid!

This just helped everything. I'm probably about a little over an hour away from Boston, and there's a board certified avian specialist there (I recently found her). The vet I've gone to is very sweet and has always seemed confident, but this last time I just wasn't very sure that she knew what was going on and it actually concerned me. Unfortunately the vet that used to own the place, sold it (so she didnt have to manage it and could just take care of animals and the company could do the rest) and eventually retired from it. It was that vet that I used to bring my featherbabies to see and she was wonderful and so knowledgeable. But it hasn't been the same since she left. Anyway, I was concerned about if I should drive as far as Boston for their vet but now knowing that's what you do and they're not board certified, I'm convinced I need to! Thanks Jamie! I seriously needed this video! ❤❤❤ Edit* P.s. no one else start going to the vet I'm planning to! I don't want her suddenly swamped and completely overbooked since I mentioned her! Find your own board certified avian vet, okay?! Hahaha I'm totally kidding! 😜 If you live in or around Massachusetts, or live not too far from Boston or even don't mind traveling there for a board certified avian vet OR maybe you're just traveling nearby and happen to need a vet? Her name is *Elisabeth Simone-Freilicher*. It's the Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. Part of the MSPCA, I believe. She sounds great! Over 20 years of experience. And after watching this video I can't wait for my featherbabies to meet her! 🥰🥰🥰 Tysm again for making this decision a lot easier for me!! 😁😁😁

Eastern Tennessee is rural with few qualified avian vets (that I know of so far). My favorite vet was in Asheville, NC, but she moved. I'll probably try Knoxville next at the university. Thank you for the great tips on your video regarding warning signs of a bad vet. Love the macaw antics during the video.

Thank you for stressing how important it is to get things checked out before symptoms become obvious, I've worked in an avian vet practice and sooooo many people only bring their birds in once it's too late to do anything.

In the Portland, Oregon metro area, Dr. Marli Litner owns and operates the Avian Medical Center in Lake Oswego. I’ve been using her for nearly 30 years and she is super up on all things bird related and owns her own birds as well.

Tusa acting like a baby bird in this video was so cute 😍

Wet macaws have Dave hair!

A great topic for any bird owner!!

Can you PLEASE do a video on hand taming budgies?? 🤍

I don’t even have my bird yet and I was just wondering which vet I should take him/her to once I get him/her! Thanks for the info 🤩

In Toronto, Ontario I recommend The Links Road Animal and Bird Clinic.

Very helpful

i totally needed this video! i recently moved and my first priority was finding a vet. i found one about ten minutes away. i called the office and they said that one of the vets had worked on birds before. this should have been a red flag already. working on birds before is not specializing in birds. i set up an appointment for a wing clip. (my bird is blind so it’s the best option for him to get clipped). a week or 2 later we go there. first thing the vet weighed him in pounds. i corrected him but he just gave me a dirty look and kept going. i told him that Idaho (my bird) was blind. he told me, that i should put him down. i was furious. just because my bird is blind dosent mean that his life dosent matter. i stormed out of there and didn’t go back. but now i have a new problem of finding a vet. i don’t want to make the same mistake again so this video really helped.

Broward Avian was/is stellar, imo. Susan’s practice serves as a good training ground over the years for many young, out of school, vets, too. They are better than me at controlling my own birds, most of the time. Saved one bird after she flew into a fan and cracked her wing (big mistake by me!)

Denmark, Sealand, Hårlev Dyreklinik. Be has extensive knowledge about birds and still keeps himself updated in new research 👍🏻

I think this is a necessary topic for bird owners. (Would be great to see you film this video again with stronger points and less distractions). I've had two experiences with avian/ exotic vets and neither felt "great". The avian vet was my first visit and she showed experience but didn't do good follow-thru , getting the meds she prescribed were a huge issue and she literally told me "look online to find them" this didn't work and it was almost Six months to get the meds & the nurse after those months literally had the nerve to want to charge me again for a visit because so much time had elapsed. When i finally picked up the meds, they were doing major renovations. A man was literally using a noisy Jack hammer and i asked the receptionist about how do i administer the meds and she lifts up her hands, says the instructions are in the bag, i dunno, you'll have to call...-and i couldn't wait to see someone else. (Very expensive visit too. Over $500. But i had requested a full panel of tests... The tablet pills for a macaws were a bad idea. (So the meds didn't work well) Fast forward to a few yrs later, we moved. Seen an exotic vet days ago. The man is great but it's obvious they don't handle birds often. They didn't have a bird scale. They sent my macaw flying across the room twice where she hit the wall and is now holding her wing low. Not good at all. On the receipt they classified her as a scarlet despite me listing her as a hybrid. The vet accidentally referred to her as an Amazon and often would say "these guys" instead of saying "macaw"... the vet is more caring about how i feel and is going to call me in a few hrs to follow through which is good. He also had a plan B and C in his approach to solving the feather picking issues. It's looking better but I'm not glad about her being very stressed, flying in to doors/walls & especially her being weighed on a table in a towel where she might have had her wing hurt too. Anyway, your experience with avian vets is important too and you are right. Birds should be weighed in grams. They told me she weighed 2 lbs... and I'm like. Hmm. Not helpful.

I live in a small town in Texas and I was recommended to a Creek View Vet Clinic by a family owned pet shop that carries a lot of 🦜 and I scheduled my 1st appt for April 1st... we will see how it goes. 😊

If you live or work near Buffalo, NY we go to Specialized Care for Avian and Exotic Pets. It’s in Clarence, NY. They have a board certified avian vet, Dr Wade. They have three other vets that specialize in birds and exotic pets. A vet tech we like, Gina, that knows how to handle birds and other exotics that is very good with ours. A vet assistant, Stephen, that is very knowledgeable about birds, reptiles, small mammals, amphibians, and fish. We are so fortunate to have them so close to us!

For anyone in the North Central FL area: Dr. Marnie Thomas at Hilltop Veterinary Hospital, Alachua, is fantastic!

You look really good with dark hair! Shout out to Tussa, I love how the green feathers splay out on his head.

My daughter got a baby parakeet for her birthday two weeks ago. She’s watching your videos and has been trying to get the bird used to her but is very skittish and does not want to come out of her cage. We are trying to use millet but it’s never motivating and she hasn’t taken one bite.This is our first family pet and we want her to be a fun interactive bird. She is not interested in us or the millet. Please help us!! Love your channel ❤️

Thank you for this video!!! The first vet I took my bird to almost killed him. Thankfully he is okay now, but it was not a good experience for either of us. I have been looking for a good vet and these tips were really helpful!

Love this vid sm information to know “wet chickens” lol

Thanks again Jamie! Great advice for when I get my Macaw! Love your videos, informative & fun! I've been watching this other girl on Y.T. (I won't say who lol) she's got quite a few birds and the way she handles her birds sometimes... I just shake my head at watching her. And I say, Bird Tricks would NEVER do that! You have taught me so MUCH just watching your videos. And I'm pretty SURE I've seen them all 🤩. I look forward to seeing all of your videos! Wether training, feeding, flying or informative. It will DEFINITELY make me a GOOD bird Momma when I'm ready. 🥰🥰🥰. Thank you! PS... I'm thinking about just getting a budgie for starters... Just for some companionship 🥰💜 And when I get the space and setup for a Macaw, THEN get one!

Exoclinic - Lisbon, Portugal

Could you please do a video on dove/pigeon care? I have not seen anybody as thorough as you are on the topic of bird care!

I found what I thought was a good avian vet; they came highly recommended. However, they had no idea how to handle my Rosie Bourke parakeet. They didn't even know what her nares were supposed to look like! When I brought her in for an emergency appointment after an accident at home which she did not survive, the vet commented on how I should have had her wings clipped to prevent it from happening. Very insensitive and totally unacceptable.

Comet looks like the Orange version of Sully from Monster .Inc 🤣 Helpful vid!

Thanks Jamieleigh! I just got two budgies a couple days ago, would you mind answering some questions? Well first off, my tow male budgies keep on sqwaking at each other, and I feel like they're seeing who's "better" but they still seem to be friends? I'm kind of concerning. Please let me know what this is and if it is okay!

Thank you for this video. I adopted a sun conure in June of 2020. The vet I was hoping to take her to is no longer seeing birds. I decided to wait for her well bird visit hoping things would open up and I could go in for her appointment. She is scheduled for April 22 and I doubt I’ll be able to go in with her. I’m so nervous about not knowing what will happen. I have dogs and a cat, I know how their appointments go and we have used that vet forever. Are there any tips to knowing your avian vet is the right vet when you can’t actually be in the room for the first visit? I’m so worried that it’s going to traumatize her.

Or number one!! When a vet suggests to clip wings to calm the bird...or just does it without permission.

I was watching your "human grade bird seed mix" for diet conversion on my budgie and was wondering if the oat groats and rape seed is necessary in the mix or if I could substitute those with the other seeds of the mix.

I live in a small town that isn’t close to any big city without driving for 5 hours. All of our vets in town are stretched thin because of this but there is only ONE avian vet in town for us. She’s trying her best but I feel like I’m not getting the actual help I need when it’s needed. I have a rescue who was abused by her mom and siblings in her previous house. She’s come a really long way and is doing well. I woke her up one day to find a pile of feather at the bottom of her cage, I got blood work done for her as soon as I could (weeks to a month later was the earliest I could!) her results came back and I got “well this was low but that could be because of this so who’s to say” or “this was kind of high but could have happened during transportation so not sure” it felt like such a waste of money, time and stress for my bird getting the blood drawn. They told me if it keeps happening that they’d want to put her on hormone medication. I didn’t opt for that as the major pluck was once and she stopped as soon as she stopped moulting. I think she’s plucking the area what she got plucked by the other birds due to sever itchiness because she refused to bathe in any way shape or form. I’ve tried it all and am still working on it. But when I brought this up to my vet she was like “yeah birds are funny that way” I just feel alone in this battle.

When your bird vet is from Bird Vet Melbourne heheheh I'm pretty sure I'm in safe hands!

I love your hair that color.

You are gorgous!

baby mode Tusca is precious x3

I managed to find and have on call two vets. One is not aviarian but has had Eclectus parrots in the family since she was a child. My other vet specializes in exotic animals and keeps regular contact with a retired vet/mentor whom specialized with eclectus parrots. So if ever in doubt get multiple opinions. Oh and don't ask an Eclectus who is a good vet our boy loves the vet and other animals, so his opinion doesn't count. 😊💖

Thank you so much . I live in South Lake Tahoe and my Umbrella Cockatoo Popeye got in a squabble with my small dog Mr. Wiggles on Friday and he obviously has not felt good. I couldn’t find a better anywhere that could see him. I drove a hour and half to Reno nv and dropped Popeye off. His poop is weird, he hasn’t made a sound since Friday. I dropped him off spent $900 and I don’t think she took blood. No one could help me get him in or out of crate. The vet took X-rays, radiology, tested fecal matter, couldn’t tell me anything. Wants me to bring him back Friday but I couldn’t get there till 10am so she said April 4th. She wants to take more X-rays. Every red flag this vet had. Popeye is on antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds. He still has not ate anything or drank anything. She told me water drop him and get pellets soft and spoon feed him. Wtf!!! He is an Umbrella Cockatoo! He’s a old Cockatoo.He getting yellow color change in his feathers and tonight after his meds he pooped bad looking poop. He’s going to die I know it .I don’t know what to do. I spent most of my extra secret money on this vet and she wants me to come back . Anyone have any suggestions please write back. I’m so scared. I should have watched this video but I was frantic to find any bird vet . I need help. He’s my Baby Bird. I never thought I would miss his screaming. But I do. So much. Also she has me doing all these things to him and she didn’t even administer first round of anti biotics. I need help.

You gave us a shower only fair we give you one :)

Thanks for another excellent video from BirdTricks. I have a couple much-closer avian vets, but I choose to drive over an hour, each way, for the services of Dr. Vivian Ho at Hunt Valley Animal Hospital in Maryland. Dr. Ho is excellent, and she does quite well with low-stress, force-free handling, as much as possible.

Do you have any tips for training budgies to be ready for the vet? Every time we go they fly all over the room and are hard to re-towel at the end. Fully flighted. Target trained.

I feel so lucky that i have 15 board certified avian vets within 50 miles of me...9 within 30 miles. I live 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia though.

Hi can you make a Video how to make sprouted seeds plz

Yes, I agree with you, I have a good avían vet only 5 minutes from my House, and urgencys , a greeting, ❤️❤️❤️❤️

GOOD bird vet in Virgina is Stahl's (around the Reston area)

I would love you to film a visit at a vet so some new owners as I, could have an idea of what to expect..🙏🏻

WET CHICKEN! Thanks for this, it's small details that sometimes you're too intimidated to bring up to change vet, but it's important

Taking my conure tomorrow and i am going to the vet my chameleon went to ill update if it goes well

There's only one avian vet close to me. Right now we are not allowed to go in with out birds. Please take your birds to a vet regularly. Always take a new bird to the vet asap. No matter where you get it from. If it comes with vet certification. Take it to a vet!

Hey Jamie my name is Georgia and I was hoping u could help me with my birds we have some type of bugs in our house like thrip or some other bug and I was wondering if it would harm my really old budgie and my young budgie because they have been bitting us and the birds and my cockatiels we had to get them out with a towel and try and get the bugs of them and we had to throw out all the food because the bugs go into it but the bugs are very hard to spot since there so tiny and we have no idea we they come from so I was wondering if I should be really worried about them getting sick or dying thank u

Is there any sort of organization of avian specialist vets with a directory to look up? I know in the reptile community people use the arav website to look for herpetological specialist vets maybe there's a similar organization that is a resource for bird owners?

Very few avian certified veterinary in Canada

How do I train my bird to use perches.. he's stubborn and only stays on my person when outside the cage

This could not have come at a better time. My sun conure is having problems with her toe and the vet won’t respond right away

In San Diego - Avian & Exotic animal hospital ..............Just moved to Florida & I'm still searching

Do you clip your birds toe nails or do you have it done? How often should you be getting the toe nails clipped, say on an Amazon?

Can someone recommend a good avian vet in CA, Los Angeles? I have been scared to go to a vet without being able to do research about their experience and education.

Macaw is also speaking ,aae aae 😂😂

Hi, i have a friend who is looking to get a budgie, she is impulse buying one. I do not know how to tell her that she should not just buy a 10 aud dollar bird and a 20 aud dollar cage. I know that if she got this bird it would be neglected and it would probably end up being rehomed to me. She thinks that bird are low maintenance and need no mental stimulation or any training. I have spent time with her telling her to do research and all but it does not work. What should i do to tell her that it is not a good idea for her to get a bird or how do i educate her about a bird???

Does anyone have avian vet recommendations for Singapore?

Hello mama I have a 3 months old baby Alexander parrot he lost all his tail feathers I don't understand why could you please tell me why this happened and what is the solution for it, please help me

My vet is an actual Avian vet and she sees parrots all day but it's the only avian vet around for like 50 miles

Backos Birds if you're in southeast florida I have found to be the best in this area.

My quaker is used to me touching and kissing him, but he doesn’t stay on my hand or shoulder for long. He always flies and sits on top of the curtains, how can I stop this?

Hiya just wanted to ask I bought a ringneck a couple of days ago and she hasn't ate What shall I do?

We still did not finde one...😕

Today is a horrible day. This morning I opened the cage of my sun conjure and she came sitting on my shoulder stealing nibbles of my morning apple. Gave some kisses and cuddles when suddenly she started screaming on the top of her lungs. She usually yells some but this was different , this was screaming. She took of and went straight into a window. She was on the floor shaking her head and making soft kiss sounds. I picked her up to check her out and to comfort her when she with all her strength bit my finger and just died on me. I've been crying all day and my mind is a mess. She was only seven years old and truly my soulmate. RIP lieve Jaanie

I took my baby cockatiel to a vet that gave her a treatment for her pneumonia and had a scented candle burning away in the lobby when I came to pick her up. She literally died the next morning.

North Alabama Cat and Bird Clinic, Hartselle AL

After my 3 birds died I brought my teil in to the only Avain vet I have. Luckily the vet had none of these red flags. But he kept asking me if I feed my teil Avocado🤣 I obviously don’t because it’s dangerous but he thought one part of my teils chop was avocado and kept asking about it. Also when I brought my teil in the ER vet when my 2 budgies died. Said that pepper (my other teil) was really sick and Charlie was sick. But I couldn’t tell, he had no signs of illness. I am so glad the told me. This was a needed video! Thank you so much!!!!!