Exotic Bird Hospital

06/02/2026

We put together an extensive blog detailing what bird chop is and how it benefits pet birds, including a list of real foods that provide nutrients vital to organ function, feather condition, and overall health, as well as foods to avoid.

This blog gives you the building blocks to put together the chop of your choice with fresh ingredients that can be mixed and matched and changed regularly to ensure your birds get an assortment of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. We'll show you in detail how to prepare and store it, and how to chop it to your bird’s preference.

We share some ideas for other ways to entice birds to eat their veggies, as well as ways the ingredients for your bird chop can be healthy for you, too!

Chop doesn’t have to be complicated! Check out our blog and feel free to share your bird’s favorite chop ingredients and any creative ways you have found to encourage healthy eating.🦜❤️😊

Bird Basics – What is Chop? If you have a pet bird and spend time on the Internet or social media, chances are you have heard of chop. You may have wondered what is in chop or how to make it.…

05/30/2026

🦜(Jacksonville, FL) FOUND LOVEBIRD brought to Exotic Bird Hospital on Friday, May 29,2026. 🦜

This bird was found on 5/24/26 near Jacksonville University and University Park. Finder attempted to reunite this bird but was unable to find the rightful owner.

Please call or text us at 904-256-0043 if you think this might be your bird.

Feel free to share this post to any lost and found pet pages or bird specific lost and found groups so we can hopefully reunite this cute bird with the rightful owner.❤️

Exotic Bird Hospital
11744 Beach Blvd, Suite 107, Jacksonville, FL
904-256-0043

05/29/2026

Dr. Smith recently neutered an adorable prairie dog, and along with getting hugs and kisses from the doctor, this little prairie dog will now live a happier, healthier life!

Spaying and neutering pet prairie dogs is recommended for health and behavioral reasons.

Benefits of neutering can include:
* Reduced aggression. Intact prairie dogs can become territorial or unpredictable, especially during breeding season. Hormones can contribute to biting and sudden behavior changes.
* Lower risk of reproductive diseases. Neutering eliminates some and lowers other reproductive disease risks and can reduce some hormone-related problems.
* Better social behavior. Prairie dogs are highly social animals and do best living with other prairie dogs with plenty of space to safely burrow. Spayed and neutered prairie dogs are easier to house safely with companions without mating or fighting, and spayed and neutered prairie dogs are friendlier to people too!
* Reduced mating frustration. Intact prairie dogs kept as pets may experience chronic stress from reproductive instincts they cannot fulfill. During their mating cycle, males may pace, stop eating, and even self mutilate out of frustration.
* Preventing babies. Spaying and neutering prevents accidental breeding among prairie dogs.

Unaltered prairie dogs can experience hormonal shifts that dramatically affect temperament. Some intact prairie dogs become defensive or difficult seasonally and may become severely aggressive toward other prairie dogs and/or their owners.

Since a prairie dog neuter surgery is different from a dog or cat neuter, it is important that surgery be handled by a veterinarian who is knowledgeable and experienced with exotic mammals like prairie dogs.

Did you ever notice positive behavior effects after spaying or neutering a pet?

05/29/2026

📣 We want to let everyone know that we recently identified a technical issue with our phone system affecting the way calls were being routed.

During business hours, our voicemail system was unfortunately not functioning properly.

We have resolved the issue and successfully tested the system today to ensure everything is working correctly.🎉

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate your understanding and patience.

☎️If you ever encounter any issues contacting us in the future, please let us know so we can address them as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your continued support! 💙

05/26/2026

Our Umbrella cockatoo patient decided our tech Stacey’s shirt looked like a good place to hide. While that may have been just curiosity, the behavior can also be hormonal, as it could be a bird seeking a place to nest.

In the parrot world, spring is often synonymous with hormones. However, did you know that hormonal behavior in parrots can be influenced by environmental factors in our homes and is not necessarily limited to a particular season?

Longer daylight hours and warmer weather can trigger hormonal responses in some parrots, and some species from other parts of the world, like Australia, may also have a hormonal phase again in the fall.

However, pet parrots can become hormonal and remain in that state year-round if their indoor environment triggers the response, driven by factors such as long daylight hours, warm temperatures, diet, and access to places that resemble a nest. It is very unhealthy and stressful for your bird to remain in that state.

It is important to understand your bird's hormonal behavior so you can discourage it. Many birds seek out dark, enclosed areas when hormones prompt them to nest. They may chew intensely, shred papers, and try to hide under furniture, in cabinets, in cardboard boxes, under sheets and blankets, and even in a person’s shirt!

It is important to prevent your bird from indulging in these behaviors by blocking access to any place that could provoke the response.

Another commonly given bit of advice is to limit touching to the bird’s head, but birds are individuals, and a specific type of touch may not affect all birds the same way. It’s best to watch your bird for any signs of hormonal behavior, such as panting, vibrating while making noises, crouching, rubbing the vent on toys, a perch, or even a person’s hand or arm, and regurgitating. If these behaviors occur after a particular type of touch, discontinue that touch.

Regarding the advice often given to limit petting to the bird’s head, some parrots become hormonal when their head feathers are preened. So it is best to view your bird as an individual and avoid doing things you notice trigger your bird. Many birds can become hormonal when stroked down the back or touched under the wings, so these types of touch are best avoided or at least be aware that they could cause a hormonal response and discontinue immediately if your bird becomes hormonal.

Hormonal behavior is frustrating for a bird. It can lead to unwanted behaviors like biting, lunging, screaming, and territorial guarding. It can even lead to feather-destructive behavior and grave health complications like excessive egg-laying and cloacal prolapse, where internal tissue protrudes from the bird’s vent, which is a life-threatening emergency requiring immediate veterinary care from an avian veterinarian.

So, it is best to avoid triggers like petting that instigate a hormonal response, dark places that could make your bird want to nest, and keeping your bird awake in a light room for more than 12 hours. Birds do best with 10 to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep in a dark, quiet room.

Since diet can affect your bird’s hormonal behavior, it is best to keep track of what you are feeding when hormonal behavior occurs and go over this information with your bird’s veterinarian. He or she can make suggestions tailored to your bird's specific needs and may suggest cutting back on high-fat foods like nuts or sugary fruits. Weight gain can also result from hormonal changes, and monitoring weight is a good idea.

In cases of ongoing hormonal behavior where increased darkness, removal of nest sites, discontinuation of petting, and dietary changes have not been effective, consult your avian veterinarian, as treatments are available.

It is important to realize that hormonal stress is harmful to pet birds, so we must do what we can to prevent hormonal triggers. Do you know your bird’s hormonal triggers?

05/23/2026

As info: Exotic Bird Hospital will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2026 to observe Memorial Day.

If you need anything, reach out to us today by phone or text at 904-256-0043 before we close at 6:00pm.

We will have a veterinarian and small staff here to care for our hospitalized patients and boarders on Memorial Day, but we will not be open for appointments.

Our boarders might even be helping behind the scenes like Kettle, our green cheeked conure boarder, helped our tech Marley with her work at the computer. 🥰😍

We have to be careful with keyboards and certain boarders, but we won’t name names, lol. Have your pets ever shown an interest in computers and keyboards? ⌨️😅🦜💻

We hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!❤️

05/19/2026

A pet bird may need medication for a variety of reasons. Some medications, like antibiotics to treat an infection, can be temporary while others, like heart medications, are often long term. Some common medications we prescribe are once a day and many are given twice daily.

Most birds are hesitant to take a medication directly from the syringe and may be fearful or aggressive toward the syringe as a result. Of course, most birds also do not want to be restrained in a towel.

Dr. Borger’s patient, Link, was not wanting to take his medication from the syringe and was stressed about being restrained, so Dr. Borger suggested trying a treat!

If your bird doesn’t want to take the medication directly from a syringe, it’s preferable to give the medication in a treat to avoid medication becoming a source of stress for you and your bird.

When you aren’t sure what treat to try, we typically recommend starting with the Entenmann’s Little Bites muffins in either the blueberry or banana flavors.

These muffins are relatively small, but you don’t want to give a bird too large of a piece. Birds are small, so they don’t need large portions for treats, and you mainly want to give enough of a treat to absorb the medication without falling apart or getting too soggy for your bird to want it.

To give the medication in a treat, draw the correct amount into the syringe and inject the treat with the medication. It’s typically fine to give multiple medications together on the same treat, unless a medication specifies otherwise.

Most of our patients enjoy the muffins. Some of our patients like their medicine in a dab of almond butter or some like it soaked into their pellets or Harrison’s bird bread, in a slice of banana, or even on a Honey Maid graham cracker. (If you are using something flat and hard like a graham cracker for the medicine, softly etch a little trench or two into the top of the treat with the syringe so the med will soak in without leaking off the sides of the treat).

When deciding on a treat, you want choose something safe for your bird, and if in doubt, check with your bird’s veterinarian.

When giving medication in a treat, it is important your bird eats all of the treat so he or she gets the full dose.

As Dr. Borger states, birds are smart, so if you put the medication in the treat in front of your bird, he or she might not eat the treat. It’s best to hide that you are putting the medication in the treat.😉

She also states that your bird may eventually tire of the treat, so you could have to periodically switch up the treat you offer.

Does your bird get medicine in a treat? What treats do you use to medicate your birds?

05/15/2026

Did you know rabbits and horses have things in common? Although they differ greatly in size and appearance, rabbits and horses have similar digestive systems and teeth!

Rabbits and horses both depend on fiber like hay to keep the gut moving and prevent their teeth from overgrowing.

Although rabbits are often portrayed eating carrots, hay is the main component (80%) of their diet and should be unlimited. Carrots, on the other hand, should only be a rare treat.

Another thing people may not know about rabbits is they are very social and need plenty of space. Rabbits thrive when kept in bonded pairs.

People sometimes mistakenly think rabbits are simple to care for and make easy pets for children. However, as prey animals, rabbits are easily startled and many don’t like to be held. They are fragile and can be injured if handled incorrectly or dropped.

Rabbits require calm and patience to feel comfortable. Instead of picking them up, get to know them at their level where they feel safe, on the floor.

Rabbits are wonderful pets when their needs are met. Rabbits are incredibly smart, and every rabbit has a very distinct personality. What are your rabbits’s personality traits?

05/13/2026

Wednesday Friendsday and our little sugar glider friends are always given a sweet treat when they wake up from anesthesia.

Our little friend Taz was anesthetized for his neuter. Neutering sugar gliders is extremely important for health and social reasons.

Did you know that unneutered male sugar gliders have scent glands on their heads and chests that create a strong musky odor? Neutering stops them from producing hormones, which shrinks the scent glands, allows the hair on their heads to regrow, and reduces the musky odor.

Unneutered males can become territorial and aggressive toward people and other sugar gliders. Neutering decreases these tendencies and decreases territorial scent marking.

Neutering is also important because sugar gliders are very social. They need companions to be happy. Neutering prevents unwanted pregnancies, allows them to live safely with other gliders, and helps prevent self-mutilation.

Lastly, like many other animals, neutering lowers risk of testicular cancer. All in all, neutering sugar gliders is necessary for their health and happiness.

Fun fact: sugar gliders do glide! They leap and then glide to their destination.

These nocturnal animals are also sweet with one another once they accept each other as part of their colony. When they bond with each other, sugar gliders rub their foreheads together!❤️🥰😍

05/10/2026

The veterinarians and staff of the Exotic Bird Hospital want to wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day!