Twosteph

I switched my screen name over to stephjls because of an e-mail switch, i'll start replying back from there. Is there anyway I can delete this username?

Thank you for all the support. We were using two vets, one for the emergency visits, and then for the original check ups and such we were using a VERY well respected vet. I don't blame the vet at all. It must have been a disease we wouldn't regularly do on the initial check up. Hazel died before we could get all the check ups even done. This is hard to talk about:(. We didn't have Stella for a full 60 days either, so she never had the chance to go get re-checked. (Correct me if i'm wrong, but I think you're suppose to go do that.) I did go meet the breeder before hand, and she seemed like every other breeder I met. A little messy, but the baby birds were treated well. Everything was cleaned between birds, and I just cleaned everything AGAIN yesterday, by soaking it in vinegar boiling water. **If anyone knows of a better way to scrub the toys, without having to melt the plastics or shrink the leathers, let me know*** I still feel its something we did wrong. With this new baby, everything was being done so differently at the breeders. For one, they told us they NEVER goto bird shows with thier birds, and the last breeder had taken hers. The babies are kept in a VERY heated room, on heating pads, in paper bags until they are fully feathered. The last breeder kept the babies in a guinea pig cage. (Like the plastic ones, they are small. plastic on the bottom, bars on top). Hands ALL had to be washed before the babies touched, I don't remember that with the other breeder. The babies at this place were very clean, and they really advertised spoon feeding as 100% better then syringe. http://www.babyexoticbirds.com/ -- This is the place.

Stella died. We got her from the same breeder we got Hazel from. After Hazel died, the aviary vet told us it was probably from the Granuloma. That an autopsy would cost 700.00 to be for sure. Hazel had a clean airsac, no toxins, nothing that we did caused her to die. So we got Stella. She was taken to the vet for the typical check up and we were told she was a happy and healthy bird. Perfect weight, may even be a little on the heavy side. A week or so after, she began having a runny nose. The day I saw her runny nose we rushed her to the aviary vet. 500.00 later, nothing was wrong with Stella. In fact, they didn't even see evidence of a runny nose. Three weeks later, we notice she is starting to drink a LOT of water. This worried us.. (at this point she's on two feedings a day, eating fruits and veggies, playing, ect.) About two days after we notice the water, we wake up to find a runny nose, runny stools, and breathing heavily. The same things Hazel was doing two days before she died. We rushed her to the aviary vet, yet again, this time in tears. We already knew the outcome. Again, after all the testing, they found that it was "nothing we did wrong". No toxins were found, her airways were clean, She appeared to be healthy. She died 12 hours later. Maybe the bird picked up a disease in the toys we bought for her at the bird shows. I never even thought about cleaning those toys, because they were all new. Maybe it was from the breeder. Luckily, she was in quarantine the entire time we had her, so she came no where near our quaker. We also have never bought Beenie (the quaker) toys from bird shows. All her toys came directly from the petstores. We have found a new breeder, who offers a 5 year bird guarantee. We went and visited, all the birds were clean, all the cages were clean. The babies were in a very heated room, all spoon fed, everything is so different. Even the way the baby birds are kept, is different. I want so bad to try again, but I now have the WORST fear of the bird dying again. Its been over a month since all this happened (probably longer, it just seems like yesterday) and my family and I have talked about it. The vet assured us there was nothing we could have done, that it wasn't our fault, but were all still worried. We are so hurt over the whole situation, I don't even know if we could handle another bird dying in our hands. This is a long post, sorry. Just needed to explain the situation. Opinions?

Yes, she is much prettier now that she is finally cleaned. The toy is for her playstand. Its made from 100% cotton - mop. All the add ons were little 5cent toys I got from a bird show. But yes, full supervision =)

Meet Stella. She is now 10 weeks old, eating like a pig and growing like weeds. ^^Thats the day or two after we got her. You can see how dirt her chest is from caked on formula. ^^Trying her HARDEST to use her feet. She still can't grab onto anything, but she's trying. Haha. She has the concept down. She'll get there. Cleaned up. Andd, finally. Here is the toy I made. Though, the picture itself does no justice. I'll let her play with that when she's a little older.<br><br>Post edited by: Twosteph, at: 2009/04/12 02:24

Thanks for all the responses. The growling has kind of stopped, and she's much more interested in everything. I guess she needed some time to settle in. She growled like a monster at a hard boiled egg, then again I guess that would be like putting a dead baby in front of me. Ha. Eventually she ate it. As for the clipped wings, the breeder I got her from didn't do it. She got the bird from someone else, along with two others. There's not much that can be done now, so i'm not really going to throw a fit. I have been rinsing her off, esp when we got her. She was plain filthy. She is much more playful and alert then Hazel ever was. Shows how sick that little baby truely was. We named her Stella I will post pictures when I get home from work.

lovethatgrey- Thats what I was saying. I got her out when I got off work yesterday and threw a fit, one because she was so dirty, two because her wings were ALREADY clipped. She still has pin feathers, and yet they thought it to be important to clip the wings? ughh Schroeder- The growling is any time we make a noise or one of the dogs bark. She can be growling while eating, ha. I don't think its a hungry growl, because she'll be doing it after we pump 30cc in her. I honestly think its just a scared growl. Maybe within the next couple days it will stop.

She isn't weaned. We are hand feeding her three times a day. We have hand feeding experience. No worrys.

Why is the bird so inexpensive? Ask about health problems, and ask if its friendly. Make sure you know the age. You're not going to want a bird thats extremely aggressive. I live in St. Pete, FL. So i'm pretty close to you. The breeder I went to sells them for 600.00 at two weeks, and 800.00 at weened. (I think thats right.) Either way, you'll need a job to pay for vet bills, a cage, toys, proper food and ect.

We got our new baby today. She was very grungy, and we washed her up. Her feathers have been clipped, i'm not to pleased. So, I guess we'll have to wait for her first molt to let learn to fly?:angry: She is having problems perching, and I blame that to on the poorly clipped wings. She is eight weeks old, and tonight she has been trying to use her feet to hold her carrots and ect. Its cute, because she just can't do it. Anyhow, She growls, at everything. When we walk into the room, when we open the cage, when a dog barks. Everything. What do I do? I understand its because she's scared, but is there something I should be doing?<br><br>Post edited by: Twosteph, at: 2009/03/29 04:21

Thank you. The breeder has promised to "replace" her. Hazel was tested for everything, and everything came back negative. She was just at the vet last week, and her physical exam was perfect, with the exception of her preening glands were a bit swollen. She was a very heavy bird, the vet was impressed. The lump turned out to be a very rare Teratoma. Lightfoot said she had only seen it on 3 other birds before, two greys and one bald eagle. They were going to use Hazel as a study bird, and they were writing a research paper on her. Its just so upsetting that she could be so happy, and healthy, then loose so much weight overnight, and have such breathing problems which caused her death 3 hours later. Just the night before she was eating all her fruits, veggies and pellots. She had eaten 40cc of formula, and was on top of her cage flapping away. Its just so shocking !

This morning we noticed Hazel wasn't breathing right. She was begging for food though, so we did feed her. She still wasn't breathing right, and she had lost an incredible amount of weight this morning, even with feeding her. We took her to the vet, where they said she had a huge infection in her air sac, and we needed to rush her to the emergency vet asap. We got her there, they put a tube down her throat, and she passed away twenty minutes later. They told us it was from the cancer. The bird was eating completely normal, and her poop was perfect. She somehow lost the weight, and it wasn't from her food. The autopsy, to prove this though, was 600.00. So, we decided not to go through with it, because there is nothing we can do now anyhow.<br><br>Post edited by: Twosteph, at: 2009/03/01 18:16

Hazel is getting so bored with being hand fed. She'll eat the first tube like she's starving, then just get bored half way through the second. She'll like attach me with love, just charge at me, and try to climb up my shirt and unto my shoulder. Its just like a sudden burst of energy, but she's so cute:) She is fully perched, and sleeping through the night on her perch. Her FAVORITE food atm seems to be blueberrys, and she makes SUCH a mess out of them. Ha

Yes, I'm thinking its going to be an out of the cage play toy, for when Hazel gets a but older. So she will be supervised. Thank you =)

I found a neat toy on a website posted under the create your own topics. It was a mop, tied to a fly swatter, with beads and fun stuff tied on. So, here's my question. Would this mop head be acceptable? http://www.discountofficeitems.com/cutend-wet-mop-head-cotton-size-white-uns2016c-office-products-47561.html?utm_content=UNS2016C%2520-%2520Cut-End%2520Wet%2520Mop%2520Head,%2520Cotton,%2520&utm_term=UNS2016C&utm_medium=shopping_engine&utm_source=froogle&source=froogle&ref=froogle#16%20Size,%20White&utm_campaign=UNISAN OR any idea's on what kind of mop head would be safe? This is probably a really stupid question, but if I am making my own toys, i'd like to know if it has hidden toxin in it that could harm my bird:blush: