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Happy Hatch Day to Alfie! What a beautiful boy!

Alfie turned 17 years old today! I bought him some of his favourite treats, which turned up yesterday. And as everyone likes photos- here are some from the last week or so.

Happy hatchday Alfie! Looks almost like Huey in that aviary pic!

That's the only thing I can think of so I'll rule it out by leaving it off for a couple of days or so and see if things start to clear up. I can't put it any further away from his cage as it's already on a table and touching the ceiling! I deliberately put it higher than the recommendations as he's never had one before. So it's currently sitting higher than the suggested height for the initial two week 'burn in' period and has been there for over a month. Alfie's skin has only started changing (from what I could see) in the last few days to a week. He loves sitting under it as well, so it's not like he's only just started using it in the last few days. He took to it straight away. I only mentioned the outside aviary as it was a warm sunny day and that's the only other thing outside of his usual routine that's happened - but it was only about 19 degrees centigrade. He was out there for about 4 or 5 hours and it's only been the once. He also went out in his backpack carrier for a walk with me- but that was only for an hour and the carrier is quite sheltered. Alfie has managed to ding and dent himself several times from toys (he plays rough!! 😂) but this is different, this isn't a cut or usual marking. It does look more like a sun burn.. if that's possible for parrots. If it doesn't start to improve in the couple of days or starts getting worse then I'll get him to the vet to be on the safe side. If it does clear up then maybe I'll rethink the lamp positioning and put it over a lower perch in his cage. Maybe start on a reduced schedule as well and see how he gets on. But I'll wait to see what happens and make sure it does properly heal first before I turn it back on. I feel so guilty!