Recently, I've read the discussions regarding protection of babies from
disease.  I believe lab coats and showers before handling is a
bit extreme.  Can you imagine the bacteria and viruses that are rampent
in nature?!  Thourough hand washing will always be the best defense against 
transmission of disease.  As nursing provides a human baby with
natural immunity, the mother bird passes similar goodies to her
babies.  Perhaps hand feeding from day one and artificial egg incubation
deprives babies from this natural source of immunity.  I think mother birds
should feed the babies for about two or three weeks before removal for hand-
feeding.  My Blue-fronted Amazon has tested positive for Giardia.
We learned this, at the vet, right after we purchased her.  The vet cautioned 
us about keeping her and told us the effectiveness of treatment was less than 
40%. His advise was to return the bird to the pet store.  By this time, 
I had bonded to Rita, so we kept her.  One year has passed and she's doing 
fine.  The Giardia may recur, so I take it one day at a time.  Recently, 
Milwaukee water was found to carry this organism.  Obviously, Rita picked 
up the disease in this manner.  Would her immunity have been stronger if she 
hadn't been hand-fed from day one?  It seems the more we mess with nature, 
the more problems we invite.
... UnZip... Expand... Explode...  What pervert wrote this thing anyway?
--- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR]
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