dblhelix

Hi all and thanks for the advice! I of course agree with the quarantine. Some of you may recall I have had budgies before. Lucky lived 13 yrs and actually came to me the same way!!! Found him one day in our backyard!! Regarding the quarantine, what have you done to accomplish this? Keep the new bird in another room but in the house? Keep them outside somehow and commpletely out of the home where the other bird is? I am struggling a bit with where to keep this little one for now...our house is cute, but small :laugh:

Hi John and welcome. Great advice here not much to add. Don't give up. Patience and repetition are your best friends! You really need to keep exposing the bird to new foods and toys. Not to the extent it stresses them out, but you need to keep at it. Over the long run it will make them more balanced pets accepting of inevitable change. Same is true for diet. Keep offering foods, show them they are good...all of a sudden you may find you bird enjoying something they previously would not touch, but with some it can take months or even years! Dont give up, its worth it!!

So my wife and I spent the day refinishing our outdoor hardwood deck...painful process...in the evening I look up with roller in hand and see right above me on a phone line leading to the house a little yellow budgie! I say to my wife, Hey check that out (to be sure I was not seeing things) and she was surprised as well. I start talking to the little one and next hing i know it flies down to the ground and starts to forage. It looks a little ratty/dirty, but overall pretty energetic. I spend about an hour chasing it around, though it never flew far and finally caught her... I currently have her in a box with netting over the top, in the garage. She has food and water and tomorrow I will see if anyone in the neighborhood lost one. I would bring her in the house, but am a bit paranoid since she's been out and about and I dont know if she has any parasites, lice, mites or other ailment. Anyone have suggestions?? She's really cute, yellow ( I will post a pic). She was starving and sucked down a bunch of foods....hmmm. Like I said I would love to bring her in the house, but am wary at the time being...<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/26 06:00

Happy B-Day Frank!!!! {Communicate-000200D5}

Congrats to you and Drizzle! The adventure is just beginning and we hope you will continue to learn and share with us as you go!

OK, some torture is fine. But if you move around too much too fast you miss out on a lot in my opinion. I spent 5 days in Paris on 2 separate occassions and still feel like there is more to see there. I walked A LOT! It was great! Exploring things on foot really gives you perspective and appreciation of places. Get walking maps!! You can only do that when you're young....once you get older all the charging around will naturally need to decrease so do it now! I am still in the "charge" around mode myself. It is great!!!

How much time will you have? 1 week, 2 or more? With Europe you also have the time change difference (8-9 hrs from California, so 11-12 hrs different from HI). That is a factor since for at least the first 2 days after arriving you are kind of "messed up" (but its fun). Depending on how much time you have, I would suggest choosing 1 or 2 main places or countries to go. Not more than that unless you have like a month or something. Otherwise its too much and you come home wiped out! You want an adventure, but not torture!

Well, personally a cruise does not do it for me. Too restrictive, on that boat all the time, maybe into a harbor for a quick jump off on "their" schedule. That being said, lots of folks love cruises...I would encourage you to consider going to Europe, maybe Paris France or Venice Italy or Prague in the Czech republic....You can easily spend a week or more exploring these great cities...amazing places, art, history, museums, food...wow. That being said there are sooo many options! You need to decide if you want a laid back kind of honeymoon with lots of relaxing or an adventurous kind of on the go see new things while your young trip, or something in betweeen! I am sure whatever you choose will be GREAT! Oh, and congratulations by the way!! :)

This is more or less my same response to the "Black Bugs in waterdish" thread: One thing to do is keep the food in the freezer (if storing) and the "in-use" food in the fridge. The cool air prevents the bug larvae from developing (or at least slows them down A LOT) and can work wonders if you can make the space in your fridge. You also need to look at where you are getting the food(s) from and how long you keep it in out in open food bowls. Perhaps the way the vendor stored it etc makes it really prone to bugs and you need to change vendors? It is true that at some time or another we all will get some foods infested with bugs. That is part of the deal. In fact, most of us have had bugs in other human foods (like flower, rice etc). They get into many grains/seeds that are stored. These are the best things I can think of to deal with it. Regarding a safe chemical, no matter what you do you must be really careful around the bird due to its efficient cardiovascular system and small size. Generally any chemicals should only be applied with the bird out of the home and then only brought in after sufficient airing out has occurred.

Are you sure it is coming from the food (that is common)? If so, one thing to do is keep the food in the freezer (if storing) and the "in-use" food in the fridge. The cool air prevents the bug larvae from developing (or at least slows them down A LOT) and can work wonders if you can make the space in your fridge. You also need to look at where you are getting the food(s) from. Perhaps the way the vendor stored it etc makes it really prone to bugs and you need to change vendors? It is true that at some time or another we all will get some foods infested with bugs. That is part of the deal. In fact, most of us have had bugs in other human foods (like flower, rice etc). They get into many grains/seeds that are stored. These are the best things I can think of to deal with it. Regarding a safe chemical, no matter what you do you must be really careful around the bird due to its efficient cardiovascular system and small size. Generally any chemicals should only be applied with the bird out of the home and then only brought in after sufficient airing out has occurred.<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/25 03:36

Greetings Michelle and Welcome! B) We look forward to your participation!!!

Good news, though some work ahead for you and Makena! B) Is there anything special you need to do to disinfect the cage, home or anything? Since the lice are parasites they probably cannot really live unless on a host (eg Makena), but I am curious for future reference if there are any other disinfecting steps recommended. Thanks for the update, and glad to hear the overall positive state!!

I am glad to hear the Mende is not in pain, and most importantly has a loving home! Its good you have some info about the cause of the deformities. As lovemygreys indicated, Mende has never known anything else. If he can be happy and healthy just the way he is than all is good! Regarding the life expectancy, I have done a fair amount of research and data I have seen supports the average is 50-60 yrs if cared for in an acceptable manner. This age is of course dependent on the individual animal and the diet/care it has had throughout its life (just like us). The standard seed only diet fed yrs ago to captive birds may in fact have led to avg life spans around 35 yrs. Today this number is quite a bit higher and there are documented cased of them living over 75 yrs. Not to be demeaning to your vet in any way, but the perspective of one individual on this topic may not be accurate or representative of reality, even if well intended. Judy - Any statement by a vet, a medical Dr or anyone (professional or not) should be questioned (me included!). Do not assume just because the vet or Dr said so "it must be factual"...that can be dangerous. Of course we want to and must trust these people for many reasons. They have studied and acquired knowledge over many years, but they do not know everything and can be wrong! B)

Any update here? I hope Makena is getting along OK with the little buggers and am sure you will be able to get it under control.<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/24 21:42

Glad to hear things currently look to be improving. Please keep a close eye on him and keep us posted. I can appreciate the challenge involved here. My Grandfather lives in Calpe, Alicante. Everyone just needs to do the best they can with the resources available.

CONGRATULATIONS JUDY AND BECCY!!{Communicate-00020110} You are both great assets and continue to help make this place better and better for all!!! B)

Greetings jlbatch and welcome! We look forward to your participation here!! B)

If you are looking for a SLR in the $700-$1000 range the comparable model from rival Canon is the EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi). Both are nice units, reasonable size/price for a SLR. There are people in both "camps" (Nikon vs Canon). I have the Canon and am very happy with it, but I chose based on how the unit felt in my hand. This will be different for everyone. If you do choose a SLR and build lenses around a brand that can be a factor keeping you in one camp or the other! If you are not going the SLR route then there are many options of good units/brands in the $300-$600 price range. I am not as experienced as CD, but I have done some homework on cameras...B) What do you want to do with the camera and what is your price range. This can help direct you to the SLR or point and shoot type of unit.

Greylover, Please keep us posted. Our positive thoughts are with you and Chico for a speedy recovery.

Congrats Beccy!! :P

This is a pretty good article. It seems that lice are very rare in parrots...In any case, the vet needs to physically evaluate before you jump into potentially harmful treatment. http://www.birds-online.de/gesundheit/gesparasiten/federlinge_en.htm<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/23 00:34

Hold off treatment. More research needed. I am not familiar at all with parrots getting lice. I also would want to do some thorough research on proper treatment for birds of such pests if, in fact, that is what they are. Where do you see the bugs? Little brown bugs can be in the food and perhaps you are just seeing them crawl on Makena. Lets see what we can find out. I am sure you want to act, but I do not think its an emergency...<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/23 00:35

Kip is small too at 365g. I also got the medium. I got it on her once and it looks like it will work (though maybe a bit big). She is tolerating it more and more, though after the first bloody incident I am actually following the instructions in the video and taking time to get her used to it! She will allow it to be draped over her now and remain quite calm, but she still may pull away so I want her to be even more comforable with it before I attempt slipping it over her head again... <br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/22 23:39

Correct. In addition, it is true that birds from certain geographical locations may, on average, be larger or lighter/darker then their counter parts in other regions. But they are one of two subspecies: Psittacus erithacus erithacus, (Genus, species, nominate species) aka "CAG" Psittacus erithacus timneh, (Genus, species, nominate species) aka "TAG"

There are two recongnized subspecies: CAG and TAG. CAG's are the nominate species (eg more common). When people refer to CAGs as Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, Congo and Angola Greys, they are referring to the region or country from which these parrots originated. These are their "street names" and they refer to "VARIATIONS," not subspecies. This is actually a pretty informative site: http://www.africanature.com/Project%20Africa/wildgreys.htm