katana600

Happy Bird-Day to Harvey anyway! I thought his hatchday was the 18th of Dec. It is okay to keep the celebrations going long past the day. It is so hard for me to believe Harvey is a one year old now! Let the speaking begin, now Harvey, tell us what mumsie Jilly says....

Things have taken a turn for the worse here and I have a real bad feeling about it. Juno's droppings changed color yesterday and were really wet. He hasn't been himself, just real quiet, weight has been holding steady. This morning at five I was worried about him and got up early to check. He was at the bottom of the cage, he has been vomiting and has lost 20 grams overnight. His vet is on vacation, so I went to a different practice. They ran stool tests, cultures and blood work and his liver enzymes are a bit high, not to worry, it could be just stress from handling him and bringing him in. His red blood count is a little low. This vet put him on a new antibiotic. He was on Baytril for two weeks, this is just one week later, now he is on the Z-pack type. He is weak and can't hold his balance on my shoulder. They gave him subcutaneous fluids and said weigh him when we get home to have new weight added with fluids. The weather is frightful, it took us more than 5 hours to go to the vet and back and his weight dropped by 2 grams rather than going up as the vet expected. I put him back in the small cage he likes, covered part of the cage and put a heat lamp on him since he is shivering. He is just sitting on the bottom of the cage and shaking. His eyes are droopy and vet says he looks like a sick bird we just don't know why. I will try to keep you posted, as of now, no news is good news though.

I mix several pellets in the dish to not only give our birds some variety, but also to protect myself a little in case any one brand goes out of business or is hard to find in our area. The favorite here is the natural gold. Both our birds are also dunkers, so I just change the water a couple of times a day. I have seen some people wet the pellets with orange juice, you would just need to treat that like the fresh veggies and take it back out after a couple of hours to keep it from spoiling. We keep three dishes in the cage, one for pellets, one for mushy wet stuff and one for water.

What a pretty girl you are Tango. Keep up the good work protecting everyone and helping them to train the ground-dwellers in your home. Be patient, those wingless creatures take a lot of repetition and creative intervention to keep them straight.

What a colorful holiday you have at your house. Of course the decorations are lovely too. Your birds look adorable in and out of the adornments.

That looks like an amazingly good time! I love the second photo from the top. She looks like a punker magician preparing to pull a trick from under her wing. What a fun way to start the day.

Juno has only been home a little over a month, so we are still in the experimental stages with food. Our breeder was great at getting him started with lots of veggies, fruits and a couple of different types of pellets. She also cooked beans, sprouted and gave cooked grains. It has taken me a little bit to figure out what to fix, how much etc. and I have thrown quite a bit away, but am getting it sorted.

Thanks for sharing this interesting tidbit, I will watch for it in our grocery store. I love trying new things and giving our birds variety and nutrients to keep them healthy and interested. Eating is a celebration with so many bright colors and tasty options.

Rikki is beautiful! Happy hatch day! Poor little thing, no toys in her drawer, LOL. She leads a charmed life and brings joy to your home. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Jill, you are a hoot. I thought your photography skills were over the top and was looking for the blinds that Harvey picks off the track. Will get the floor swept and try to get a photo for you too.

Dave, you have given us a tremendous gift to watch Camilla and Gonzo from the first egg in the box to three beautiful, robust, healthy birds. They are breathtaking and so much fun to watch in between taking care of our own birds at home. Three families are going to be very fortunate to pass muster to get approval to adopt one of these adorable and well socialized babies. Thanks again for sharing this journey with us on the forum.

Wow, happy hatch day to Darwin and kudos to you for all your doting and care. I enjoy your posts and encourage all the ramblings you can manage on keeping us updated with pictures and stories about your beautiful girl. Also, her idenification ring looks like proper jewelry for a pampered feathered friend. Ours looks a bit "industrial" but Juno doesn't mind.

Lyn, that is so funny, for all your holiday efforts with Alfie, she may take up calling you Mary from now on. I hope this season brings all the best to your home, family and friends. I love the little hat on Alfie's photo too.

Juno is obviously feeling better again. Last week, twice when I went outside with the dogs, I heard a loud triumphant hoot and came back in to find the door of his cage open. Both times he was clinging to a sconce near the front door destroying a candle. I was worried that my mind was going because I was certain that I latched his door properly. Yesterday I discovered his plot, when I opened the cage to clean it, the door came off in my hands and upon inspection, he has been working out the screw that holds the door pin at the bottom! The little tinker! At dinner, for the first time he became quite vocal at being left behind in the living room so he came to a perch near me and hopped right into my plate and proceeded to eat all my rice, then when I gave him a banana of his own he ate with such relish that he made big gulping noises so if he was feeling under the weather, he is now cured.

Bernie, it is the work of your babes to pick on you, you were just getting ahead of us by doing it yourself. The boat is in good form now, it is the operator who needs the tune up.

Jill, did you make that up? This is a new side of our multi-faceted friend. I love it!

It looked like he was so pleased about discovering his bath. What a cute video. I'm glad you were there to see him.

Bismark playing with the flashlight is a good video. he is very amusing and I'm glad you are enjoying time with him so much... well, except for the accidental bite on the neck. Thanks for sharing.

I have missed being online at all hours, I have been trying to catch up and this just made me laugh myself silly. Jill thinking strange thoughts, says who? You are unique Jillybeanz and so are your thoughts. I love roller coasters, can I come play too?

Jill, I'm glad you posted this. I mix the oil with oatmeal, beans, rice, or mashed sweet potato. But, since Juno doesn't eat the whole portion, it is wasteful and it is a bugger to wash out of the dishes too. I will try refrigerating it and see if he likes it in solid form. Thanks for the idea.

Jill you are too funny, gold leaf, hahaha. In Java's small cage, I use puppy pads. I get 100 from Kroger for eighteen to twenty dollars when they are on sale. For Juno's big cage, I just found the larger 36 inch bed pads like hosptials use, 120 are about the same cost at Sam's Club. My cages have grates that keep the birds from chewing on the plastic liners and they are soft and easy to pick up the corners and roll up the mess.

Pat, I am so happy you got your new toy for Chatot and it is everything you hoped it would be. It will sure save you some time stringing wood. I say up there in the great frozen north, you should be able to sell the kindling they make for someone's wood fire. It is a real pleasure to see a bird doing the work he is meant to do.

Jenny, I looked for an older post where some UK members were giving good reviews for Northern Parrot for their prices and good service, http://www.24parrot.com/ Good luck with preparing for your baby CAG, you are in for a fantastic journey.

Awww, thanks for the Christmas wishes from all of you. The pictures are priceless. May your holiday be filled with joy and good health.

Beau just shines in his environment, great photos. I think you are right about the tail fethers looking longer when they are totally red after the first molt. Also, some greys have their wings trimmed which allows more tail feathers to show, which may also appear to be longer. That and sometimes the younger birds are just getting confident and may fray their tails where the older ones don't seem to be as rough on the tail from falls etc.