kitt79

I'm due in January so I'll be going through this too . I'm not one to abandon an animal after I bring it home so they'll just have to deal lol.

He looks a bit like a nanday conure to me. Someone probably really misses him .

Almost everywhere they add either chlorine or chloramines to tap water to kill off harmful bacteria. I feel safe drinking it unless it smells very strongly of chlorine. Chlorine dissipates into the air over time or with vigorous mixing, so even if it smells strongly, letting it sit for a bit should help. (Or add aquarium water dechlorinator if you're in a hurry and paranoid)

Starbuck dunks most of her pellets, except the grape-shaped ones. Those she likes dry. (She's eating ZuPreem) We end up changing her water twice a day.

Soo... Because Starbuck was splashing all the water out of her small water bowl, I bought her a larger clamp-on crock. Now I see how she's emptying them -- she's bathing in it. She has a great time! What I'm wondering now, is whether there is a large enough crock style bowl for her to get totally in. She won't use a large bowl placed on the floor of the cage; she likes it up high, I guess. Has anyone else found a good solution for this?

It's rare for humans to catch it, as long as you aren't immunodepressed already, and when they do it's normally mild enough to be mistaken for a bad cold. If you develop a fever see a doctor and mention psittacosis to him. Some birds can be carriers and never show signs at all, so any bird yours has come in contact with could be the culprit. He could even have been a carrier all along -- most vets don't test for psittacosis because there are a lot of false positives and it's fairly rare. Birds that come down with it can also recover and not have any more trouble -- but I won't lie, it is a serious disease, especially if you don't catch it very early. I hope your guy feels better soon!

I'm in a similar situation, except that I got our grey (abandoned at my workplace!) right before I found out I was pregnant. I am now 3 months and although I have not considered giving Starbuck up, I've been planning/considering how to handle whatever challenges may come up. Mainly, giving her the attention she needs will be the biggest issue. I don't anticipate it being *too* big of a problem, though, with this particular bird. She is fairly social with strangers and family alike; if worse came to worst, my mom would be happy to birdsit if I get overwhelmed. Starbuck slightly prefers me to my husband, but not so much that she won't happily accept his head scritches ;-). Between the both of us and helpful friends and family, she should get plenty of attention. The issues most people will likely have is with a)noise, and b)mess. Starbuck can be pretty loud when she wants, but she does settle down if you put her in her cage and close the door. When her cage is covered at night, she stays silent as a mouse. She *is* messy, though, and the thought of a baby crawling through bird poop is enough to freak out any new mother. I'm currently looking for some nice durable floor mats to put under her cage and places she enjoys sitting, as well as a second set thereof so cleaning is quick. (The quicker and easier you can make cleaning, the more likely you will be to do it, even when tired from baby!) Most likely, the moms-to-be that give up their birds are just not willing -- or are too scared, which is understandable -- to try to balance cleaning, noise, cost, and time with the bird. I don't blame them really, it's a little daunting. On top of all that... you know that cry, that urgent, ear-splitting, omgmakeitstop cry that babies do? I'm completely convinced that the damn bird is going to think it's the awesomest noise in the world, and repeat it gleefully for hours on end. LOL

I was afraid that would be the answer. She makes other annoying sounds, which I'm ok with, but this one seems to be damaging my eardrums lol. Oh well.

Starbuck has found an absolutely ear-piercing sound (literally.... my ears will ring, or i'll go deaf in one ear for several seconds afterwards). "no" doesn't work. immediately leaving the room doesn't work completely ignoring it doesn't work. ideas?

Greys are very demanding. At your age I'd suggest parakeet, a cockatiel, or even one of the smaller conures. (The green-cheek conures come to mind, as they are fairly calm and quieter than their cousins). A customer bought our green-cheek for her 12 year old daughter about a year ago, and sometimes she brings it in on her shoulder .

I have 3 cats and 3 birds (among other things). My cats were not too interested in the grey, but 2 of them are older and have never been outside. The third is only about a year old, and the one time he got close at all, Starbuck gave him a growl and lunged at his nose. Since then, he stays away. It probably helped that they were used to our tiel beforehand and never messed with him either. In fact, the tiel climbs down to sing to them while they nap, and they either ignore him, or run off somewhere high where he can't follow. (I clipped the bejesus out of Merlin the tiel when we got Starbuck, right after he made a beeline for her and nearly got his head bitten off.)

He'll probably pull it himself when it starts to irritate him, but if it makes you feel better you could clip it where it is broken. As long as it's not bleeding it's nothing to worry too much about!

I agree with just about everyone -- she looks normal to me. And unfortunately, BMustee is right. In a pet store you certainly don't want your big expensive bird flying clumsily around banging into things or heaven forbid into another animal that may injure it. It might be best for them to learn to fly early, but not in that environment.

I am very glad that the largest bird we sell at my store is a conure -- if I had to lay the smackdown on people trying to get talking birds all the time, I'd just walk out one day. Store directors hate me because I will talk people *out* of buying animals (even fish) all the time -- my sales suck, but somehow my bonus is always ok and my loss stays low, so they can't really get on my case too badly.

I've heard that sometimes Ivermectin doesn't work as well as SCATT -- but again, that's just anecdotal from people on the finch forum.

I haven't experienced anything like that, but I've read about it. It can be a sign of air sac mites. You have to treat them with SCATT or some other similar medication to get rid of them.

That's a good idea. I was thinking today if I can't get another gouldian male soon, I could just get her a society finch for companionship until next season. They are pretty mellow finches, and it couldn't hurt to have them around for fostering purposes if necessary in the future. She looks just fine still, no fluffing or anything, eating and drinking and pooping normal colors. I think she is going to make it .

Side note; I think Starbuck the grey saw the whole thing. She was really quiet and wanted to stay in her cage last night, and this morning is acting the same way... friendly but not wanting to come out and make noises like she usually does. The only sounds she's made other than grinding her beak at me has been her ear-shattering alarm call -- and she did that when a cat jumped in my lap.

Milly looks much better this morning. I have sent my husband out for antibiotics. She isn't fluffed or anything, just looks a little confused at her current environment. I have these silly scenarios playing in my head where Vash flapped around to distract the cat from her and saved her. He certainly was a protective little thing, would fly right up to your face and cuss you out for looking at them when she was sitting on her nest, so I guess it's possible. If she makes it (which I am much more hopeful about this morning!), she'll be all alone again. I don't know when I can get her another friend, or if she'll accept another mate. Milly was one of my rescues -- I work at a pet store, and my manager couldn't figure out why she was going bald. She spent about 4 months in isolation, being given the antibiotics the vet gave us, in a tiny little cage. I got attached to her, and she started to stand right up at the edge of the cage and watch when I came in to feed the animals in there. She seemed like such an intelligent bird, for being so tiny, and I found myself wishing I had the $150 to bring her home. I told my manager, and she gave her to me since she couldn't sell her without any feathers on her head. I did my research and got her the iodine she needed. 3 months later she was a gorgeous little girl, and I went to a bird fair and found her a handsome guy. About a month ago he built her an awesome nest, and shortly after she laid a clutch of eggs. They never hatched, and I know from the carnage that they probably weren't fertile, but with time I'm sure they'd have gotten it right. I'm so upset that I forgot to close that door.<br><br>Post edited by: kitt79, at: 2008/05/29 17:37

Update: Vash died (as I feared he would) but Milly has started eating her millet and is preening a bit. She's a tough one, so maybe she has a chance.<br><br>Post edited by: kitt79, at: 2008/05/29 05:05

I do belong to a finch forum, but no one there is up this late, and if you guys have any ideas I'm all ears. This is what I just posted there.. Well my finches may not be long for this world Sad. We are babysitting a cat and forgot to close the door to the bird room -- she hadn't shown a lot of interest, but I guess she discovered them while we were out. Came home to the cage on the floor, and both the gouldians sitting on the floor in the hall. Vash has a big wound on his stomach, I don't expect him to last the night. Milly doesn't look injured but there could be something under those feathers...she's at the very least banged up a bit and in shock. I took their nesting box and put them in it, in an empty 10g fish tank with a screen top, and a light for warmth. I put a water dish in there, but honestly I think they'll be gone before morning Sad. Any other ideas? All I could think to do was give them a warm place that felt safe -- hence the nest box -- and the light for warmth...

All birds are noisy... all birds are messy... all birds may require vet bills and other unexpected costs... all birds will require some attention from you. I'd wait til you are done with school if you don't think you can give it enough attention/money.

I think I just joined the club, judging from the angry red mark on my ring finger... Of course, Starbuck didn't do it out of anger... I was holding her perched on my hand and not looking... A cat stretched up to be petted and surprised her... I got a "OMGPredatorFlee!" bite, yelped, Starbuck jumped to the floor, across the room Merlin the tiel freaked out and flapped to the floor by the grey, who started making angry advances... Causing me to clap my (injured) hands and snatch both birds away from harm... Meanwhile all the cats are cowering under the bed wondering just how much trouble they are in! (Anyone worrying about my many-species home rest easy; none of my cats are interested in the birds, in fact they run from them. Merlin sings them love songs and makes flirtatious eyes at their tails. The hamster watches on with great amusement.)

I bet most fruit juice is fine. I don't drink anything with aspartame in it so those things are out... mmm I wonder if V8 is good.

Our cockatiel has a really irritating squawk he does to get the cats' attention -- unfortunately Starbuck the grey has picked it up and thinks it's the best sound in the world. Only she does it LOUDER and randomly -- at least we can satisfy the tiel by calling the cats into the room. Sigh.