welcome millie the mitred conure

[sandra902]

i was assured by merlin's foster mum that my office would happily house 3 birds. so now i am at 3 with little millie and that is that.

 

millie is a mitred conure that was offered to us by a man that big daddy knows. we were of the understanding that she was being rehomed as the product of a divorce but now that she is here i am thinking differently.

 

her former poppa had built her cage for her (still not sure how old she is) which to my horror appears to be zinc hardware fabric! he did a very fine job but i am afraid she's been adversely affected by this.

 

her chest is nearly bare and she troubles her feet almost obsessively. my opinion is her chest and feet were most in contact with the cage material. she also seems to have some strange neurological traits. sometimes she will do the same cluck and head twitch for minutes at a time.

 

she is very dear and sweet and will actually step up and down and shows and wants a lot of affection. she has a great appetite and readily accepted a change in diet. she plays with her toys and is active and interested in her surroundings.

 

of course we went out and got her a brand new cage and some really premium food. but i noticed that her lower jaw does not meet her upper beak for her to properly grind the roudybush small pellets. so i am going to start feeding her some beak appetit so she can get her nutritional levels up a little faster.

 

i am reading up on zinc toxicity and think a trip to the vet is in short order.

 

i'm also going to start spritzing her with aloe and gave a try today with plain water which went a lot better than the spritzing trial went with merlin.

 

and speaking of mr merlin -- he has been shameless in attracting millie's attention! he has been an absolute marvel since millie came home. he shows off for her, he keeps a very close eye on her as she steps up and down on mamma. he initiates more play with me and i'm looking forward to him stepping up for big daddy soon. he will put one foot on daddy's arm but that is as close as he gets (for now).

 

so now we are at our pre-determined limit of 3 birdies. i'm hopeful we can get little millie more healthy very soon. she seems to be less manic in the new cage which is also bigger with lots of toys. merlin disabled his last toy that had a bell and now has his beady little eye on millie's toy that has a bell. so i have to now go out and get merly a toy with a bell. His Royal Highness!

[lovemyGreys]

Hi Sandra,

 

What a big heart you have,Millie doesnt know how lucky she is to have you.I know you will give this little girl a wonderful & spoilt life Already a new cage,toys,change of diet,concern for her health,you are a good women.

 

Dont forget Merlins new toy with a bell now

[judygram]

I am so proud of you Sandra for taking in this conure that definitely needs some tender loving care and who better than you.

 

Her former owner probably didn't know any better for I am sure if he had he wouldn't have built her a cage with zinc. I agree she needs to be seen by an avian vet but it looks like damage has already been done but maybe you got her in time to save her.

 

That is so endearing to hear that Merlin is taking the new addition to the flock so well, he thinks he is daddy and has to keep his eye on her and keep her safe from harm.

 

Better get another bell soon, you know how greys love their bells.

 

I'm hoping you will share a pic of her with us as soon as you can, we would love to see her.

[sandra902]

thanks everyone for your support. she is a dear little thing and a wonderful example for her uncle merl as to how mamma might not be the devil's daughter. he watches us closely as she gets her skritches and tickles.

 

i do not blame her poppa for the cage. looking at it you can see all the trouble he took to make this thing. it really is a fine job too bad about the zinc. we are going to take the zinc fabric off (it just lifts off) and use the base and the stand downstairs for when miss millie comes to watch TV at nite.

 

and oh boy did i get merly his bell toy. it is one of those spherical kongs with the bell inside. he is really going to have to earn the privelege of disabling THIS bell! but he is up to the task no matter how long it will take.

 

my next day off is monday so i will call today and see if i can get missy into the avian vet.

 

here is a little funny. wee peetey decided to have a fly-round which he knows gets merlin stirred up. so away he went round and round and landed on the floor under millie's cage. at which point merlin said 'Wow'.

 

so far so good. the aviary is happy. next up is seeing if miss millie likes a proper bath. the conure book i bought said they often do. so i'll run a shallow bath and see what she thinks. maybe i'll put a dollop of aloe in it while i'm at it.

 

just made a little batch of beak appetit (TIP: i use the little tiny crock pot so i do not scorch it) and added frozen veg to ramp it up a bit. i'll try it out tonite and see what she thinks. so far she accepts everything she's been offered.

 

off to work have a great day

 

-s

[judygram]

Wow, what a cute little story of Millie fly around and then Merlin's comment, I bet he was so proud.

 

I hope your conure likes baths better than mine, she will take one in her water bowl sometimes but if I take her to the sink or tub she goes nuts, she hates it.:ohmy:

[Abernathy]

My conure loooves baths. We use a casarole dish with a couple of inches of water in it. He runs through it splashing and laughing at himself. Maybe something like this would work for yours as well? Here's a pic so you know what I'm talking about

 

Post edited by: Abernathy, at: 2008/09/03 20:30

OMG... lemme see if I can get it smaller :blush:<br><br>Post edited by: Abernathy, at: 2008/09/03 20:31

[Lyric]

Welcome Millie, she sounds like a sweetheart and now Merlin has his hands full (so to speak!) doesn't he? That's so cute that he said "Wow". Have fun with your new addition!