Happy New Year to everyone who uses the Gregorian calendar!

Flighted vs. Clipped:

1. Are your parrots flighted, or clipped?

2. If flighted, has your bird ever been clipped? If clipped, has your bird ever been flighted? If so, was your bird's behavior or "personality" different?

3. Do you think it's safer to keep a bird clipped than flighted? Why or why not?

4. Some people think flight is essential for a parrot's physical and mental health. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?

5. If your bird is flighted, is there anything that would convince you to clip her/him? If your bird is clipped, is there anything that would convince you to grow out her/his wings?

I was in the middle of moving the finch cage out of the living room into the bird room which meant separating a few of the colony. Some of which are supposed to go to a new home in the next few days.

The gouldian moved no problem, diamond dove same thing. Then it was time to choose a nice sturdy pair of finches from the colony to become pets for an elderly gentleman and his wife. I caught a nice healthy male with no leg or foot problems. And planned to do the same for a female. As several of my females came to me with feet/leg problems I do not feel it is fair to send them off to an elderly person who cannot handle the potential vet bills. Well i catch one female and she looks to have no feet problems and is nice and in full feather and has a good feel to her keel bone. They go into a cage to wait for their new home in a few days.

Now it is time to chase the rest around the cage to catch them and get them moved into a new cage in the bird room where i can control the temp better than in the rest of the house as we keep blowing breakers. So I move one of the many nest oxes in the cage planning to dump it and any eggs into the trash and set it up in the new cage in the bird room. Nope big suprise for me. Some one has actually hatched a few of the zillions of eggs these birds lay. 4 little tiny fuzzy lumps not much bigger than a Malted milk ball. And i have chased every one around the cage. no clue who is mommy. Or who is setting on the nest. So right now the nest box, the four babies, and the two remaining pairs of zebra finches are in a small cage as i wait to see who wants to be the parents to the little fuzzy beings.

Any one know anything about had feeding zebra finches just in case? I know how to hand feed parrots of all sizes but am under the impression feeding finches might be a bit different?

I'm concerned about Bowser's right foot. I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but I never manage to have the camera handy when he's standing in a way that shows it clearly. His right foot seems... misshapen somehow, almost like it was broken and set badly and healed that way. It's been like this ever since I've known him, in fact, I asked his previous owner about it the first time I met him. She said it's fine, but she's a 70 year old woman who had him for three months. I've never spoken with the original owners. The vet also checked his foot and said it was fine, but he managed to make it look normal throughout the whole visit. -_-

He can use the foot just fine to hold things, perch, etc, but I have noticed he uses his left foot much more and will switch if he has a chance. If I dangle him upside down from my hand my the right foot, he'll move to switch to his left but not immediately. It doesn't seem to bother him in normal activities. I believe he was mostly on dowel perches prior to coming to me, but I'm not 100% sure. He's approximately 4-5 years old as far as I know.

( Large pictures of parrot feet. )

Thoughts? Should we return to the vet for a more thorough foot examination?

I don't know if this qualifies as stupid pet owner....

I was browsing the classifieds of a local news group (it is more popular than Craigslist in Utah)and this is what I found.


( Wild Caught Pigeons )

Can I report this to some ONE? Animal cruelty is a felony in Utah....

I stumbled upon this video http://www.youtube.com/user/sugarglidervet#p/u/12/kjAd_SCnYW4
yesterday, of a "vet" giving out information on sugar gliders. I couldn't even listen to to the entire thing without getting steamed! I am part of a small pet rescue and we have had MANY sugar gliders given up over the years. Many that are injured ,ill, malnourished and unsocialized. He gets right into calling rescues false and continues to bash them!
The cage behind him is way to small for even one sugar glider but that is what he recommends. He also says it is okay for sugar gliders to be alone as long as they get attention from a person. Which is very bad! The company of a fellow sugar glider cannot be replaced by a person. His diet recomendations are bad... it's all BAD!
He is funded and supports the leading Sugar glider Mill of the US, Perfect Pocket Pets. Their tactics and information are just as false and smiliar to what this vet says.
I have to wonder if he really is a vet. If so, what true vet would support a mill breeder? Give out such awful advice? And bash rescues? I also wonder if all the "clients" are imaginary.
All comments submitted are screened and only good ones are put up on the web site.
What are your thoughts on this? Any info? I fear people buying into all the crap he says!

Just wondered, does anybody else find their parrot only likes to have a bath when a hoover is running, or is that just our nutty pionus?

I suspect I already know the answer! :P

Taking care not to awaken the sleeping people and critters in my apartment, I quietly snuck into the kitchen to have a quick snack before bed. Oops, I dropped a spoon onto the counter... cue Bonsai with his newest phrase in proper context: "Who's that?"



/'splodefromcute :)

Hey guys! I'm here to ask a few questions about diet. They're probably kinda stupid, but bear with me. Google's being mighty unhelpful. Or maybe my Google-fu's off. :(

I'm currently trying to convert my birds to diets of veggies (from an all-pellet diet), and they're slowly starting to eating some. We give them carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and jalapenos every morning, and sometimes spinach and other random things when we have it. But I'm worried that those and pellets might not be meeting their dietary needs fully. Is there anything else they should be getting? I know sweet potatoes are supposed to be good for them, but they won't even touch sweet potato chips, let alone the potato itself. They love things like rice, pasta, and bread, but I doubt those are good for them. Or does it depend on the type? We never buy white bread/pasta/rice, if that matters. I'd love to convert them to a mash diet that I can make myself, but... they're cockatiels. They'd probably be terrified. They're already terrified of plain ol' cooked vegetables.

My family also eats a lot of nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, cashews...). Is it alright for cockatiels and parrotlets to eat these? My mother won't give any to them because she thinks they'll poke their eyes out on it, or stick their tongues, or something bizarre like that. But isn't that what beaks are for? Breaking seeds and nuts open? Or is she right in fearing that?

And while I'm here, can anyone recommend a good, powerful air purifier? We have an Ionic Breeze right next to the cages, but it's absolutely no match for the combined might of 6 cockatiels and a parrotlet. It's kind of sad how bad the birds kick it's butt. There's dander everywhere!

 So, there's a kitty in my parking lot. Very friendly, but very cold (I live in MN). She has tags. Yay.
I call the owner, who is seriously annoyed with me. "She's an OUTDOOR/indoor cat, I'm so sick of these calls!" Um, how the hell am I to know that? She could have just gotten out, and it's 9 degrees out. Not to mention, this kitty lives over a mile away from my place. I ended up convincing the owner to come out here, as it is so darn cold out, but she was visibly pissed at me. Sorry for caring about your chilly cat. :(

I've kept birds for the last 5 years, almost without lapse. I have had experience as a quarantine home before we owned bids of our own, and later as a foster/rehab home for many parrots. I have shared my home with quite a diverse selection of parrots. I am currently home to 4 of my own and 2 of my roommates, mostly small parrots.

( Description of past and breathing issues )

I currently have no insurance and no ability to see a specialist to confirm. Even the idea of losing my birds breaks my heart. I cannot find consistent information on which birds are "safe" and which aren't except the eclectus. I have been looking for a list of birds that are higher or lower on the risk scale. Obviously cockatoos, greys and cockatiels are highest on that list, but what about the others? Pionus are very dusty birds as well. What about my roommate's lovebirds? My husband is interested in caiques, but I cannot find any information about them either. It's frustrating and heartbreaking. If anyone has any experience with this or any knowledge of the less dusty birds, please let me know. You guys are life savers.

http://www.straydogsjourney.com./Home.html


what an idiot. be sure to watch the video, it will make you want to punch a baby.

On the phone with a client, letting her know her puppy's fecal sample had tested positive for giardia: We hadn't heard back from you [three days after the initial call], so we wanted to make sure you got Dr. J's message about the fecal results.

Client: Oh, I did, but since Fluffy isn't acting sick I didn't know if she really needed medication or not. I think it's gone away. I think she pooped it out.

After I explained what giardia is and does, she agreed that treatment was a good idea (future reference: "eventually causes explosive diarrhea in both dogs and humans" is a very effective line). I tucked a print-out from veterinarypartner.com into her meds bag. I hope she washes her hands a lot.

       Over Christmas break, my husband and  I took my two dogs and headed down to South Carolina to visit my mom's side of the family.  They've never exactly been my favorite relatives ever, (they all live in one giant trailer park. I mean, literally, every single trailer in the trailer park contains more relatives.)  and I have a younger cousin who is pregnant and fourteen, and so on. So these recent displays of stupidity should not have suprised me, but they did.
   ( Read more... )
     We ended up leaving early. I've actually been really sad, because I've realized that I don't really want to be around these people anymore. ;(

Took Her to scales and tails on Monday, Greg stayed home to go with me,
She did not have a egg. (When I got home I found it under her cage, Still glad that I went Just to be sure she was OK, She has held that egg for about 3 days.)
The vet is doing a full blood pannel He had to clip her nail for blood, Snuggles had been complaning about pain, and we were suposed to ger a pain med for her but they for got.
He gave cipro for her.
She is complaining about her foot and belly. The vet is 3 hr round trip away.
Is there any thing that I can do for her now? Cant get any one to go with me till tomrow.
She sais about the vet "Never again!" I want to minimize the trama as much as I can.
Now that the last egg is gone she is acting more like her old self. She is eating better talking and watching TV.

Does anyone here feed their cockatiels Roudybush pellets? What is your experience with pellet size? The Windy City Parrot website recommends that I feed them the "mini" sized pellets but I believe that was what I was feeding before I switched to crumbles and I had a lot more food waste (Dusty was the only one who has ever figured out how to eat with his "hands" so with the other two most of the pellet goes flying). What about feeding them the "nibbles" which are supposed to be fine for finches so are even smaller. I switched over to the canary sized Zupreme fruit blend (not the main food) a while ago and had great results with less food waste. What are anyones thoughts on this? I'm trying to waste as little as possible but I don't want to get anything too small for them either.

Also, I remember someone posting a recipe for birdy bread that involved pellet dust a long while ago. Does anyone remember it and/or could they give it to me please?

When did your Quaker settle into their adult personality?

thx!

Hi everyone! I just bought 2 heaters today, but I am having trouble finding out if they contain any PTFE [teflon]. I am hesitant to use these until I know, or someone who already has one quells my anxiety! It is very, VERY cold in my house right now and I am desperately hoping that someone has some experience with this model.

The heater in question is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Bionaire-BH3950-U-Micathermic-Adjustable-Thermostat/dp/B000I0WQR2

I am using one on the main level of my house right now [no birds are on this floor and there is no shared airflow..] and it is working great, and I really want to replace the old oil heater that is in the bird room with one of these tonight.

Thanks in advance!


EDIT: Well, while I am still curious to know, I ended up bringing another Oil heater I had in storage [and didn't even know it >___>] down into the basement and it is pleasurably warm down here now! The bird room is at a very comfortable temperature -and after I put plastic over these windows tomorrow [I should have done this in October, Lazy me.] it'll be a variable paradise. :3

Lenore is just over four months old now, and she seems to be going through a heavy-duty molt. I was told I shouldn't expect a molt for quite some time, so this was a bit unexpected.

What is a basic time frame should I be looking at for her molt? I'm assuming with small birds (she's a linnie) that it takes less time. She's had pinfeathers for about a month, maybe a month and a half now, but there's a lot more of them now than there have been in the past. What is a basic time frame for budgie/lovebird sized birds?

Any tips on keeping her socialized? She has been adamant about biting anyone who comes near her who isn't me, and in the past few days she's been biting me if I try to do more than give her scritches (and even then she's temperamental) and doesn't want to come out of her cage. We're still spending time with her, but whenever I get near her she goes nuts. I've read that some birds don't like to be touched at all when molting, and their owners typically respect that. How will this affect her sociability?

Thanks for any advice--this is my first molt, so I'm totally a nooblet here.

Hi gang! Our oven element popped on Saturday and it's possible we need may need to buy a new stove if we can't find a new element. What would you consider to be a bird safe electric stove? My husband wants to get a self cleaning stove, but I don't know. To be honest, I haven't cleaned the stove for all the years we've lived in our house because of the birds :-D It doesn't get that dirty anyway inside.

Second, I'm working on a college entrance art portfolio and I have thought about getting monthly made service just to take some of that pressure off (no self cleaning houses yet :-D). I don't know what questions to ask - I'm going to ask on the LJ community for my city as well, but I just don't want Lysol or anything bad being used around Muffin.

Sorry everyone about the oversized picture I posted.