It's her first time. I haven't done it myself and wouldn't, but I imagine it's not to dissimilar from other things they do. You wrap her body in a towel, pin her head between your pointer and middle finger knuckles, and pry her beak apart with the tip of your pointer and your thumb. Pinning the head is a bit hard, I'm not good at it myself. Only the owner of the shop (and owner of the conure's parents) does the throat cultures (and then the sample is mailed out for analysis) so that's part of the delay in bringing her home, as the owner's only there every couple weeks.
Basically, with smaller birds you generally just force them to do whatever it is that you need them to do for a health check. Bigger birds you train to cooperate with you as they're big enough to put up a significant fight, and because it's *possible* to train them to work with you. Conures are at the border between the two, and I'm pleased to note that she's been letting me rub her feet and toes, which means that I should be able to acclimate her to nail clippings instead of having to towel her for it. ^_^
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-03-28 02:11 am (UTC)Basically, with smaller birds you generally just force them to do whatever it is that you need them to do for a health check. Bigger birds you train to cooperate with you as they're big enough to put up a significant fight, and because it's *possible* to train them to work with you. Conures are at the border between the two, and I'm pleased to note that she's been letting me rub her feet and toes, which means that I should be able to acclimate her to nail clippings instead of having to towel her for it. ^_^