Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Quick Thoughts

Which really should be several long posts, but I am letting life get in the way of that, whether I should or not.

Good news with Lola! She has slowly been re-growing her feathers in the years I have had her. She has had a few set-backs, but that is to be expected. I was never sure how many of her feathers would grow back,as the follicles had clearly been very damaged. Still, they have recovered slowly, a few at a time. The first time a few of them really started to recover, and grow sickly little yellow or black structures that in no way resembled feathers, Lola clearly had a lot of pain, and began mutilating herself again. Those follicles eventually, and much later, produced real, if weak, feathers, and later follicles followed similar patterns, although I did learn ways to help with the pain, and therefore mutilating, so that was not always repeated. It really is amazing. I keep thinking she might have reached as many feathers as she will get after it has been a while with no new growth, and then she surprises me again with a sudden feather spurt! I have learned several things that help, supplements that boost her, etc., so they are offered in cycles. I am still holding out hope, even though she has been through a lot and is showing her age (or more than her age, rather), that she will one day be fully feathered!

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Just for the sheer cuteness of it, I thought I would post these pics of a squirrel that finally succeeded in getting the suet bell all for himself! And for anyone that says wild animals don't play with toys, this suet bell was well wrapped in a wicker shell. After getting the wicker part off, the squirrel did not immediately take his prize, but instead played with the wicker for a bit, and destroyed most of it alternately chewing, tossing, and waving it around. I got that on a vid, but unfortunately am unable to get that on the computer here with the slow internet! Very frustrating.

The prize, fresh down from the tree.

Taking the prize away! It was at least half the size of the squirrel;
he looked so funny running off with it!
He even tried to get up a tree, and failed, before going out of my view.
I am not sure what he ended up dong with it, though nosy me would love to know.

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The parrots are all well, all up to their usual antics, both sweet and not. I will leave it up to you to decide which parrots weigh most heavily on which side of that spectrum!

Ava in her favorite "secret playhouse"
between the two Aussie cages.

Yo-yo in the hospital (or maternity) cage,
sitting up on his perch after Miss Patty hissed
him off the floor for the last time.

Miss Patty, featuring a (well-deserved) angelic aura
around her thanks to the camera, while giving her toy what-for.
And in answer to the caption from Yo-yo's pic, despite
a few very close calls, she still lays a few eggs every couple of months,
whatever I do to convince her otherwise.

Linus, who likes is baths form the floor of the shower
for some reason. He really does love them, though.

Frank in the shower, clearly about to say something,
though I have no memory what.

Lola again, because she is so special,
this time after a bath and getting a bit sleepy.

Claudia, a bit blurry, who would a walking go,
now begging to be picked up.

Chester, playing peek-a-boo after a bath.

(Apparently I have an obsession with taking bath pics,
as that is the4th one.Maybe I should get help,
and learn to take eating pics or something!)

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On a sadder note, you never know what is going on in someone's life until you have been there; it seems mine just keeps getting more and more complicated. For those without MCS, finding a home that is safe for them to breathe in, where they can heal and thrive, may not seem too difficult, but I sometimes think I might never get that.

P.S. So much snow this winter!!

11 comments:

malteser1987 said...

What beautiful pictures! Especially good to read that your quaker is growing her feathers back. I had a senegal in recently who had spent most of her time giving her feathers a very severe snipping; it's good to see when they're settled and happy and finally getting back to how a healthy bird should be.

Anonymous said...

Lola is beautiful! She is getting there slowly but surely but I have full faith, bless her ;) love your blog btw :-D

Meg said...

Thanks so much, both of you!

HungryBird said...

It's very nice to see pictures of all your birds. I would love to see a picture of them all eating! How do you feed them?

Meg said...

It is usually rather an elaborate feeding process, actually! Regular dishes that rotate around the cage for wet food, as well as floor dishes and hanging dishes. These are sometimes covered with paper and or mixed with little toys. Then skewers, foraging toys acrylic and natural, the list just goes on! What each bird( or birds) is using varies, depending on mood (mine) and what is clean and not already in use for someone else.

Anonymous said...

BTW meant to say in my earlier comment, I am a bit obsessed about birds bathing too! I find myself watching Monts when she has a bath and only realise that I have been staring once she has stopped! Perhaps we both need some help? LOL! :-D

Meg said...

Maybe so!

Coco said...

I adoooooooore your budgie... SO cute and puffy!!!

Also... I didn't know you had MCS! I hope you have a really great quality air purifier!! I love my Austin Air to pieces, and it is a fantastic unit, but I've heard that the best of the best of the best is the IQ Air. It's ridiculously expensive though (why I went with Austin) but I have heard it has seriously changed the lives of many with MCS.

Meg said...

I try to have the MCS thing "out in the open" so it stops being so unknown to people. Hard, though, most people have never heard of it! I am surprised you have; do you have it? I have to admit when I read you used Seventh Generation I was wishing we lived closer!

I have an Austin Air as well! A couple, actually, sand a whole house one although I can't remember the brand of that one at the moment. I also a mini aerox for the car, although I don't like them quite as much, having tried a large one room one. I visited another MCS person that had a huge one, of a brand I don't know, that was simply amazing! I wonder if it was an IQ Air. It is definitely the one I am getting next, though.

Coco said...

I don't have MCS but have a friend who does and learned a lot more about it in my air purifier research, actually. I will definitely be interested in knowing as well what type of one your friend has! IQs are used in hospitals a lot. They make a lot of commercial ones alongside their residential use ones, and they have a whole house one I believe. An IQ Air is the dream... one day!!

Meg said...

When I find out I will be sure to let you know! Now I am off to look at the IQ and see if it is the same one.

I hope your friend is doing well now!