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Emergency care and safety

What happens if your bird becomes unwell while it is staying with us — written down in advance, so it is not being decided on the day.

If something is wrong right now

Your bird is boarding with us: text us on the number below. It is the same number you booked on, and it is the one to use about a bird already in our care.

Text 647-490-7156

Your bird is at home: we are not a veterinary practice and cannot treat a bird. Go to a vet — our list has clinics across Ontario, with their numbers. Phone ahead: not every practice has an avian vet on site outside normal hours.

Avian Vets Across Ontario
An African grey who stayed with us, in the bird room, tinted green like a night camera
Night watch. Cameras on the bird room, checked through the night, and AI that spots any bird that lets itself out.
  • TemperatureIts own heater
  • HumidityKept up in winter
  • Clean AirTwo HEPA filters

The bird room at night

Watched all night, so you can sleep.

Covers on, lights low, and a room that looks after itself: clean air, steady warmth, and cameras we check.

  • Two HEPA filtersRunning all the time, so the air stays clean even when the room is full.
  • Its own heaterThe room never depends on the rest of the house, so a cold snap cannot reach the birds.
  • Humidity kept upA humidifier runs through the dry winter months, for healthy feathers and airways.
  • Cameras we watchHow we check the room at night. Not a webcam: you get photos and video every day instead.
  • Covers on, lights lowEvery cage is covered with its night blanket between 7 and 8pm, after the evening meal, for a long, quiet night.
  • First thing at 7amWe uncover the birds and see to their food and water.

Houdini watch

Escape Artists, Spotted.

Some birds are little engineers: give them a quiet minute and they will work out the cage door. So our cameras and AI watch for escapees. If a bird lets itself out, we know right away and step in before anyone gets into trouble.

A few of our guests

Meet More Of Our Flock →

Vets Across Ontario

A bird vet, when you need one fast.

Ontario clinics that say they see birds, with their numbers and their hours. Keep this page handy.

  • Checked clinicsEach one's own site says it sees birds.
  • Out of hoursThe 24-hour options are marked.
  • Numbers you can tapAs each clinic prints them.
  • Unwell during a stay? We tell youWe phone you as soon as we notice, then follow up by email.
See every avian vetBook a stay

If your bird is unwell with us

What we do, in this order.

At any sign of illness, stress or injury we act early, and you hear from us at the start, not at pick-up.

  1. We Watch, And We Assess

    Behaviour, appetite, breathing and overall condition. Birds hide illness, so the point is to tell a bad hour from something that needs a vet.

  2. We Separate The Bird If It Needs It

    If anything could spread, or the bird simply needs quiet, it moves gently to a space of its own, for its sake and for the other birds here.

  3. We Phone You Straight Away

    Everyday photos and video arrive in the BST Mobile App; a worry is a phone call, then an email with what we have actually seen and what we think the options are.

    We always call if

    • Something Seems OffYour bird is behaving unusually, or in a way that concerns us.
    • A Vet Is RecommendedWe think it needs medical attention or a vet's opinion.
    • Any InjuryHurt during the stay, however minor.
    • An EmergencyIt needs emergency veterinary care right away.

  4. We Consult A Bird Vet

    Yours first, if you gave us one when you booked; otherwise a trusted avian or exotic animal vet in the Toronto area. We work with your regular vet wherever we can, so nothing gets lost in between.

  5. We Drive Your Bird In If It Is Needed

    If it cannot wait, your bird is taken safely to a clinic for treatment rather than left until you are back.

  6. We Can Cover It Up Front

    If treatment cannot wait we can pay the clinic on the spot, so nothing is delayed by money, and it is reimbursed to us afterwards. You are part of the decision from the moment we notice, never handed a bill after the fact.

Prevention

Before you book, and every day after.

Before drop-off

What Your Bird Needs

  • What We Ask ForA recent vet visit with a clean bill of health.
  • Extra TestingWe may ask for it if your bird is not domestic, or has been exposed to pathogens or a high-risk environment. Polyomavirus and chlamydia tests are no longer required.
  • No Recent Vet Visit?We still board your bird — it just mixes less with the others.
  • On ArrivalWe check every bird over ourselves.

All set? Pick your dates and book it yourself.

Book a stay

Every day of the stay

How We Keep Birds Well

  • Cages Cleaned And Sanitized DailyMost of what spreads between birds spreads through what they stand in.
  • A Health Check Every DayBehaviour, appetite, breathing: the things that change before a bird looks ill.
  • Time Out Is SupervisedSomebody is always there, so a scuffle never becomes an injury.
  • The Same Routine Every DayA predictable day is the biggest thing that keeps a boarding bird calm.
  • New Arrivals Kept Apart At FirstA bird that has just arrived meets the others once we are happy with it.

On Our YouTube Channel

Safety and medicine, the way we do it

  • 5:28

    Keeping Your Feathered Friends Safe: 10 Things We Do

    “We know we have some engineers in this room here.”

    In the film, at 0:41

    The ten safety measures we keep in place for every bird staying with us.

    Watch On YouTube

  • 6:16

    Giving Your Bird Medicine: What Every Owner Should Know

    “You don’t want to stress the bird too much.”

    In the film, at 3:53

    Sam's step-by-step way of giving a bird its medicine without stress or struggle.

    Watch On YouTube

More Films On Our Channel

Home boarding in Mississauga · Serving the GTA

Going away soon? Your bird has a home here.

Daily out-of-cage time and real interaction — and photos and videos of your bird every day in our own mobile app, so you can see it happening.

Book a stayBook grooming