Jan. 2012

Time for a rant!!!!
This poor male Snowy was bough in by its desperate new owners. They had bought it as a young bird, a bit of a jump from their current owl which was a barn owl. They were concerned about its health as it was not feeding and had a wing injury. Due to financial difficulties, the owl’s owners could not afford a vet so we took the bird in.

It was a mature male, had a severe mite infestation and had clearly never been handled. Due to his age, a quite life in an aviary was required, unfortunately his new owners had been chasing him around his aviary on a daily basis in an attempt to catch and handle him. This had caused severe feather and wing damage as he has been trying to get away and hitting the mesh of his aviary.
He was taken to the vet, given antibiotics and parasite treatment and was put on a good mixed diet. The wounds healed, and the feathers grew back on his wings. He has now gone to a home where he can spend his life in peace.
Snowy owls are notorious for bad tempers, are large birds and need lost of time to train them. They are not a wise choice for inexperienced owners.

This owl was ok in the end, but due to a lack of knowledge on his owner’s behalf, he had been put through unnecessary stress. A little research would have given his new owners at least a little insight into what they were letting themselves, and the owl, in for.