ramsabi

GorgASS, with your care and the thoughts of the this flock, Willis will get better soon. Keep us updated.

Yes Jill, the little one hatched last. I have been wondering if it is getting enough food. I check its crop regularly and it is full. I have decided to start hand-feeding it from Thursday. Ranaz, we are yet to name them. We were considering an Arabice name, an Indian name and a Western name. Judy, Sabi does not want to give them away but in the long run I am concerned about in breeding. Thanks luvparrots. Not only do they look different, they are already developing different personalities.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay22.jpg[/img] http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay221.jpg[/img] http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay222.jpg[/img] http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay223.jpg[/img]

The photos were taken using my mobile so the clarity is poor. They have grown rapidly haven't they? To us they are a daily affirmation of the glory of life and I count myself fortunate that wee have had this opportunity. Almost every moment I find myself being astounded by some behaviour or other of these chicks and their parents. I have had absolutely no inclination to hand-feed them since th parents are taking more than adequate care. I have started handling the chicks on a regular basis. Initially the parents were ravenously eating only soft foods. Over the past week, they have slowly cut down on the soft foods and are now eating what I can only term as copious quantities of seed. I realised that the parents are themselves taking care of the weaning !! Will keep updating. Incidentally the oldest and biggest is taking after Pakshi, the li'l runt looks like it will take after Khushi, but surprise of surprise it looks like the one in the right in the bottom photo is almost surely a lutino. I read that lutinos are 90% of the time females.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay111.jpg[/img] http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay112.jpg[/img] http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/ramsabi/The%20Chicks/ChicksDay115.jpg[/img]

I do pay the price very frequently for permitting Rishi to sit on my shoulder. He is normally on my left shoulder and my left ear will probably start resembling a cabbage leaf in the very near future and that is going to only increase Rishi's onslaughts because he does like cabbage !!

ranaz wrote: Hi Rana, whatever makes u assume that "they" care about human or any other consumption? ;) <br><br>Post edited by: ramsabi, at: 2010/02/16 20:42

Hi Jayd, I recollect you spoke about intending to retire a few posts ago ?? Are these posts the result of having implemented your intention? ;)

I have had no time to post. Sabi has gone to India for a much deserved 10 day break and I have been handling Rishi, Pakshi, Khushi and the 3 Muscateers. I never imagined the demands that could be made by two tiels who are raising chicks. They are voracious and need fresh food every 2 hours at least. The chicks are very healthy and coming along fine. Sabi has taken our camera and I am not able to take pictures. So, I am not able to post the progress photos I have completely changed Rishi's diet. I now give him a mash on the lines of Mike's Manna. The added ingredients in the mash are baked sweet potatoes and casava. The mash also has crumbled boiled eggs with the shell. Just before I give it to Rishi I mix in finely chopped vegetables. He seems to love it and his appetite has improved considerably. He gets his seeds and pellets only in the night. I can see that he misses Sabi very much. He would not let her leave the room even for a minute and this is the first time that she has been away since Rishi decided to cone with us to share our life. To make up for her absence, I have now contrived to arrange a sleeping perch for him that is attached to our cot. He now sleeps close to me during the night and seems to be pleased with the arrangement. With the change in the diet and also more exposure to the light(we now take him out to a park near our house everyday), we are hoping and praying to see an improvement in his condition. It is now 5 months since he fell sick. The vet at that time had said that he suspects PBFD. We have not seen any alarming deterioration in his condition and are cautiously optimistic that it may not be PBFD. I will update after the current efforts with Ranaz's assistance to get a vet to Muscat have some results. Again our deepest gratitudes to this wonderful flock. From The Shis, The 3 Muscateers, Ram & Sabi<br><br>Post edited by: ramsabi, at: 2010/02/16 18:26

Dave007 wrote: Dave can olive oil be used on the body also for dryness instead of aloe gel? I have been using aloe gel for Rishi but it doesn't seem to be helping.

Kathryn, I have no doubt that your love, care and dedication are the cornerstones of Vree's recovery. All good thoughts and prayers continue to flow your way.

Thanks Ranaz, speechless for the assist. The Buraimi route is technically illegal !! Visas ARE required for an Omani resident to enter UAE regardless of where the entry point is !! Omani nationals do not require a visa. But anyway that is not the problem. I am prepared to travel anywhere for Rishi. I will be very grateful if you can speak to Dr. Jonathan and ask him if he is willing to make it to THIS side of the border. I can then take Rishi close to the border and he can have a look at him. Alternatively if he wants to fly down to Muscat, I am willing to pay his air fare apart from his professional fees. I can also request the local vet here to extend the use of his facility if required.

Hi Jayd, thanks for the links. I read the material in the sites. The first one is a newspaper article. But some statements have been attributed to the Director of the World Parrot Trust. I am a member of the WPT and coincidentally I have posted the "clay question" to the experts forum resource available there. The second one is a tour promotion site for Peru. The article is By Charles A. Munn, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, Tropical Nature (a nonprofit nature conservation group---www.tropicalnature.org) and he says: The key word is "appears" !! The fourth one appears to be a commercial site and therefore with suspect credentials. Similar theories have been used for bitter almonds, Vitamin B17 and laetrile as possible cancer cures. The fifth one is also a commercial site and the product description does not claim anti-toxic effects. It says I have googled '"Geophagy" in African Greys' and it returned ONLY 475 hits and most of the info is again speculation or promotion. The following link has some good info: http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/stanford-fellowship.pdf

Thanks Greywings I will certainly follow up on this. But I am very sceptical about the knowledge and skills of the few local vets vis a vis birds and specially Greys. When u say spin it down, I assume that requires some equipment? The vet clinics here are largely 2 room affairs and I have not seen any kind of sophisticated equipment.

Hi Greywings, if I do that how would I earn my karmas from all of you? :) Just kidding. I have been thinking about that actually. The problem again is that even to collect the samples (especially blood?) I would not trust the regular vets here.