Linus is a new man! (er, parrot)

When I got Linus back several years ago, he had liver damage, his preen gland was malfunctioning, and he had started plucking. He also was extremely anxious. Since then, he has improved, thanks in no small part to his adopted mother Ava, but he still was a very anxious fellow. Rarely did he look relaxed- if ever I saw a parrot with an anxiety disorder, it was him. After Ava passed away this past Spring, I moved Linus into my bedroom, away from the other parrots. That helped, certainly, since I was with him a fair amount, he was in a very calm environment, but more importantly (as I did spend a lot of time with him in the bird room, too) he was with me when I was relaxing and/or sleeping, and relaxation is catchy. A bit like yawning, I suppose. But still he was extremely jumpy almost all the time.

(Just a note, this picture was not taken when he was upset-

that would not be the time to shove a camera in his face.

It does show how I often found him, though.)

This summer I did another round of herbal treatments for his liver, and this time, instead of just helping his liver, they also almost totally stopped the anxiety. Really,  about a two weeks in I noticed some improvement, and a week later it was very obvious to everyone. His panic attack moments are quite rare now, and he is now showing more of his personality, playing, eating better, and demanding attention! Instead of thrashing around when I put the food dish in (even though he has outside access doors and was in other ways semi-tame) he would just wait for me to finish, and dive in. No more slamming into the bars when the door to the room opened. And plenty of time spent relaxed, with his cheek feathers fluffed out, his crest at "half mast", and singing softly. Or loudly. He does love making noise. Seriously a lot of noise.

Now, when he is afraid of something, or wary, instead of becoming what can only be described as hysterical, he visibly makes a decision to abort, by leaning back, backing away slowly, or as a last resort flying off, or even occasionally stand his ground and hiss.

I am really amazed at his progress, up until now I just wondered if he would ever be relaxed and happy, let alone really tame. I suppose his amygdala (part of the brain that handles stress response) finally decided he was healthy enough to calm down! I have felt rather guilty about him for quite a long time, since he came back in fact; as it would be for any parrot caretaker, it was upsetting for me not to be able to help him more. I could rarely even take him to another room, or even outside in a carrier, something he did very much seem to enjoy, as he loves sitting in the sun. I really had to catch him on a very good day to do much with him. And living with that can be hard, you have to remind yourself often you are not a failure, and just keep trying everyday. While Linus might have seemed like a"difficult" parrot, much too hard for a first time caretaker, in actuality, anxiety aside, he was quite easy to tame and make friends with. That is why I say what you need most when taking on a rehome is patience and some good parrot books to help you through, not necessarily a degree in parrot wrangling. 

He is even brave enough to admit his well-loved 

cage cover is bright pink with monkey faces. 

And after all that, I now have a little buddy- happy, calm, and a (sometimes annoying) attention hog!

Oh No, Hormones!

Yes folks, we are nearing that time of year again, a time when life as we know it is turned on its end and we feel our sanity seeping away, as eggs, frustration, and unbelievable volume mesh into one chaotic color wheel. Or that is what I was thinking this morning in bed, as Linus started his day-long deluge just moments before the sun came up. I am not talking a bit of happy-to-see-the-day singing, no, that is usual, and consists of a few loud calls, some beeps and tweets, and lots of (very pleasant) whistling. Who could complain about that? No, this is different- just one loud, high pitched call that will continue intermittently (but seemingly non-stop) throughout the day. This, my friends, is Spring.

Please, though, do not get the wrong idea- Linus is perhaps the best prepared, but he is certainly not the only one getting ready for the 20th. Frank and Lola are louder, more exuberant, seemingly bursting with joy, even if their expression of said joy doesn't always give me the same warm fuzzy feeling inside. Yo-yo and Miss Patty are clearly thinking nest-wise, although no sign of serious egg production quite yet. It was only about a month ago Miss Patty laid an egg (just one, she doesn't often lay more now as they tire her so) so I am hoping they will see the food abundance and decide to be fashionably late. I will take any time I can get before more egg stress! After the calling comes the aggression. Yo-yo is already started to get riled up with Linus, and, a true first, I noticed him picking on Miss Patty yesterday in a most un-pleasant manner. As of yet, they are still mostly friends, but the beginnings of another serious family feud are clearly underfoot. I can hardly wait.

Still, there is always the positive in a flock as large as mine- Claudia and Chester get hormonal in the fall instead of the Spring, as they are driven more by their inner calendar to give them the time of year to breed (fall is spring in Indonesia) rather than the changing of the season here, as is common with ekkies more so than many other species. And while that does mean I get hormone surges twice a year instead of once, I find it easier to deal with the hormones of part of my flock if the other part is still same-old same-old. Plus, Chester and Claudia are, in parrot terms, fairly mild hormones-wise. Chester is louder, Claudia starts digging on her cage floor considering the feasibility of laying a clutch, and both want more food and a bit more time alone in their cage destroying every toy in sight. Oddly enough, they also get along a lot less, so play-dates are shorter. That is really about it, though, so I don't know how I got so incredibly lucky!

For those of you that have been keeping tally, you might have noticed I have yet to mention one parrot: little Ava, the queen bee. Her "Spring Fling" is marked by a lot of napping. She is right in the middle of hormone heaven, where everything is a constant contest and every move is watched for hidden meaning. She really doesn't get into all this stress, and even if the very early morning until late at night scream fest didn't disrupt her beauty sleep, there really is only way one to get through it- sleep!

Jeffrey found a home!

I am more than thrilled to be able to report that Jeffrey finally found a home, and through this blog! I had been trying very hard to find a home for Jeffrey after his foster Mom contacted me last year, but it was an extremely hard and fruitless search for many reasons, such as the overpopulation of tiels, the fact that Jeffrey was not tame (however cute) and, of course, the distance between me and where he was in Kentucky.

The woman that had taken Jeffrey in to foster (the foster bit being imposed by her husband) had made great strides with Jeffrey in the year she had had him. However, she finally had to take him into the pet store this summer so they could find him a home, as her husband finally said that her "foster" had stayed far too long. And so there at the pet store Jeffrey stayed for two months, and was fed only seed, put in a tiny cage rather than the one he had been brought in, and without most of his toys and perches (which was not how the store said they would treat him, of course, they had seemed far nicer.) Just this past week, however, a woman contacted me through my blog about him, even though she was unsure it would reach me as my blog had not been active for so long! It did, however, reach me, and I was able to put her in touch with Jeffrey's previous foster mom. They went together to the store and not only got Jeffrey, but many many things to spoil him with!

Jeffrey, now named Tommy or Tom Tom, is happy at his new home, with a new Mom that loves him and is willing to let him be himself and spoil him rotten in the meantime. He is quickly settling in and coming out of his shell, even starting to play again! He will also be able to play with his new friend Buddy the tiel when he comes out of quarantine.

Who could ask for a better ending than that?

Odds and Ends

Pika and Pixel, along with Jezebel the tiel, were finally able to make their way home. They are now settling in, and seem very happy. I know they will be taken great care of there! I am still helping a woman in Kentucky with a tiel she took in when no one wanted him, Jeffrey. He would really like a permanent home, hint hint! He was very frightened when she got him, but he is really coming around, and becoming quite the quirky, always adorable little tiel!

I would also like to bring up Happy Endings again, in case anyone new reading this has one to share. If you have had a positive experience with your rehomed or rescued parrot, and have had them for more than 6 months, I would love to hear your story! It doesn't have to be long, or even a story! Photo essays, poems, however you want to tell it. Just leave a comment or email me through my profile.

Recently the program Trees for a Change was brought to my attention. As we all know deforestation for whatever reason is a real problem, but it costs quite a bit of money to re-plant an area! Trees for a Change allows you to "purchase" trees to be planted in one of our National Forests as a gift or memorial for many different occasions. One of the tree memorials they offer is a pet memorial. Planting a tree in honor of an animal is so very fitting, especially for birds. You get a card or certificate on recycled paper, and can add your pet's photo to their website. Plus, you actually get to see where your tree was planted, which I think is wonderful; it really makes it seem so much more personal. I am definitely going to look into doing this for Cone, my first tiel that died of a complete prolapse after attempting to lay an egg.

Update on Linus

Linus is doing much better after his "misadventure". He has really calmed down, to the point that his cage can be approached without him freaking out. In fact, his food and water can now be changed with little more than him stiffening his body with worry. A large improvement from flinging himself against the bars! He still does not play much; in fact, he has only been caught playing once, though he does also chew on a manu mud block somewhat frequently. I have filled his cage with what were favorite toys of his, so I am hoping he will "re-discover" them again soon.

He has started to sing again though! All day long he can be heard: whistling, talking, giving kisses, and imitated every possible noise he can in general! It is wonderful to hear, he was such a joyful fellow, and his long silence has was heartbreaking.

He also seems to be interacting some with people, which is wonderful. I have been told that he even gives kisses when someone comes the room now!!! I am hoping he will settle back in with Ava. When I first had him, he was very good friends with the budgies, and just loved them. Ava is quite lonely now, without a friend, and Linus I know does better with the security of another bird near him.

Edited to add: As I had hoped, Ava and Linus quickly took to each other, and are no longer the two lonely waifs! The have become totally inseparable, following each other around all day; Ava offering Linus support and confidence, and Linus simply giving Ava a good friend to confide in, as well as someone to boss around!

They wanted to take a walk

And I wouldn't let them. As Chester has a deep hatred for all birds, and the cockatiels can be incredibly annoying, they are never out at the same time. This means there are almost always discontented parrots here. To combat this irritating fact, both Yo-yo and Chester have started to take advantage of the simpler door latches on their temporary cages.

Yo-yo has actually succeeded in his quest, something he is quite proud of. It is not the easiest door to open, as it has to be lifted up and pushed out and down. Still, he has figured it out. This means he can not only get out when it is dangerous out of the cage (i.e. Chester is loose) but also is in danger from the door itself. The second time he tried to open it (the first time I convinced myself I had left it open, which I am sure was very amusing for all others involved) he had a very narrow escape with being choked. He managed to open it partway, and re-lock it on his neck. Fortunately, I was in the room, and was alerted to his predicament by the strange strangling noises coming from the cage. Don't worry, he was fine after being released and cuddled, and has suffered no long term damage. However, it puts a lot of pressure on me to remember to lock the doors every time; I have forgotten, though he fortunately managed to open the door safely.

Chester has yet to get the doors open on his cage, but not for lack of trying (and frustration at Yo-yo's new found ability!) He has to lift a latch to get the door to open, and is getting very close. I am beginning to wonder whether I should lock the doors now before he figures it out, but then, he is so dedicated to it, I figure a nice puzzle is good stimulation!

Of course, Frank can already get out of everything, so his doors had large locks on them from the beginning!

Ava is the only one that seems disinterested with doors. If she wants to get out (she is only locked up if Mr. Green Jeans is out) she climbs to the top corner of the cage, and curls up into a little ball, with her beak on the bar, and her feet on either side of her head. Awkward, I know! Once in this position, she alternates between pushing hard against the bars with her body, looking at me and begging (sort of, that position, you know......) and calling to be let out. Very convincing, and I must say, very effective!

Reasoning with Cockatiels

It is practically impossible. Miss Patty and Yo-yo finally decided the floor of their cage was the best place to start a family, as that was the one place I could not keep them from.

Miss Patty laid the first egg without much trouble. The second one, however, was another story. She was two days late laying, during which time she got plenty of steam baths. After the last one, she did finally lay it, but not without great difficulty. I was worried that the strain had been too much for her- for the next day she did nothing but lay on the floor of the cage. However, she has since improved, and now, a week later, seems as good as she was before. The experience, though, seems to have cooled her urge to raise a family.

After she laid the first one,I was surprised to see that she really seemed serious about raising a family. Both she and Yo-yo took very good care of that egg. She not only sat on it,but turned it regularly, and even seemed to check it with her beak for temperature. She would then stand beside it for several minutes before resuming her position on top. She also got up quite often, wet her stomach in the water dish and then went back to sitting, though now with proper egg hatching humidity.

Yo-yo would take over sitting on the egg whenever she left to eat, or just took a break. He was ever so dedicated a father, but I must say, he was not very good at it. He would spend the entire time he was supposed to be sitting on the egg, often half an hour or more, simply trying to adjust it beneath himself. Instead of watching Miss Patty, and placing the egg between his leg and breast bone as she had done, he continually tried to place it directly beneath his breast bone. Obviously, this did not work, for once it was there, his feet could no longer touch the ground, and Yo-yo would fall forward while the egg rolled backward. Needless to say,Yo-yo took the egg on some very long walks across the bottom of the cage!

For a day or so after the second egg was laid, they continued sitting. Actually Miss Patty was too tired to get up, so she sat on the eggs while Yo-yo preened and fed her. After a bit, Yo-yo even took one of the eggs to "sit" on, so she only had to sit on one. Very adorable to watch, but I am only too glad to say that a week later, there have been no more eggs, and the two that were laid are totally abandoned on the bottom of the cage. Miss Patty hopefully has laid her last, so I do not have to worry about her anymore, or replacing the eggs, as I would have had to do if she had kept up her dedication. I certainly don't need to add to the thousands of cockatiels already needing homes!

And we have arrived!

The travel day was, in general, rather uneventful. Everyone got here fine, and was very happy to be set up in their cages. Although they were all a bit stressed for a few days, and unanimously decided becoming very picky eaters was only thing worth doing, they soon got over that. Not surprisingly, separating birds like Yo-yo and Miss Patty from their food is extremely difficult!

Speaking of Yo-yo and Miss Patty, they have decided to be quite contrary to all commonly accepted rules of breeding, and in just the few days since arriving, and even fewer since settling in, have come to the decision that this is the perfect place to start a family. Again. A completely new place, and no "obvious" nesting sites available, and yet this is the time they chose. So far, they have tried the top of a picture frame, behind their cage (which is on a table, not set against the wall and beside a window) under a chair, under the dresser, and under the bed. So far, the dresser seems to be winning. Yo-yo spent over half an hour under there yesterday, whistling, talking, and calling to Miss Patty to come. She declined stubbornly, and stayed on top of the cage. As she did not seem interested in the dresser then, I was happy to let Yo-yo entertain himself under there - at least it meant I did not have to stand in front of the picture frame (the previous favorite spot) the entire time they were out of the cage! However, today he managed to convince Miss Patty to join him, so I now have another place from which to keep them. It is not easy, though. As soon as I let them out of their cage in the morning, they start flying from one "nest spot" to another, and it is all I can do to protect the furniture from being chewed or them killing themselves, let alone stop their building a nest at all! If you add that to the fact Yo-yo has morphed, seemingly overnight, into to something not unlike a ferocious 9 inch dragon...... well, you see my point.

On a different note, I just came back from taking Ava on a walk, which both of us greatly enjoyed. It is odd, though, ever since I got her, she has been extremely sensitive to heat and/or the sun. She starts panting and holding her wings out almost immediately, and if you don't get her to a cooler place or spray her with some cool water, she quickly looks like she is about to pass out. It has always bothered me, none of my other birds do this. Because of this, though, when I take her out, I cover the top of the carrier, and take a spray bottle with me. I also try to take her out on cooler days, or when there is a breeze, of course, as there was today. As I said, despite her heat issues, she did really enjoy the walk and the fresh air, studying all there was to see outside. When she came in, I gave her a spray bath, which she also loved. After all that excursion, along with the effect of a couple of her favorite treat, sunflower seeds, she is now taking a nice long nap.

Claudia is gaining surprising new knowledge already from this trip - she has been practicing all day the frog calls she hears outside. It is quite funny, actually, watching her while she works so hard to perfect it. Although it is an adorable sound, I don't think she quite has it yet - her voice is too high!

Frank and Lola are simply loving the fact that they have an entire new backyard to yell at out. I take them out on the porch, and they stay happy all day, chattering with each other, playing, and telling the local squirrels and birds exactly what is up and what is not!

And, for those MCS readers, the air is so much better here off the Potomac in the woods, I am really enjoying being able to go outside! Combine that with the fact that the air in the house is so much better, too, and it is a win-win situation. Being able to take deep breaths is simply wonderful!

Linus came back

For political correctness, I will simply say that Linus left the home I adopted him out to, and ended up in one which was not the best for him. This past weekend, fortunately, I got him back, much worse for the wear, poor little guy. When he left me, Linus had finally started to really gain confidence. He was adopted by a very nice family, and I know he was very happy there, but things happen. I am glad I was at least able to correct them, and I hope none of my birds will ever have to go through this again.

Skipping ahead now, Linus is back here. He is a mere shadow of what he was when he left here. He is thinner than when I got him, and far, far more mentally stressed and panicky. His feathers are dark and greasy, and he had some green discharge from his cere. His feet, which had been arthritic when I got him, but had improved with a good diet and a cushioned platform to sleep on at night, are bright red, very inflamed, and obviously painful. He has also started plucking. He has pulled all of the feathers on his legs, under his wings, and quite a few on his back and upper wings. All over his body, although he has no other bare spots, he has pulled out down feathers, so that he has only a thin covering of contour feathers left. If these move even a little, you see bare skin, very inflamed, and in places, bloody, bare skin. Fortunately, his plucking has not gone as far as a bare chest or anything, but was enough to get him back here. I am hoping he will stop now, and can grow back in all his beautiful feathers.

As I said, his mental state is pitiful, too. Not only does he go into a blind fright, spastic state if his cage is touched, or if you move too quickly, or appear to be thinking about touching his cage, he is obviously fearful almost all the time. After adding back a comfy platform and hiding places in his cage, he did relax some, but he still seems very upset, scared, confused, and depressed. And yes, that is anthropomorphizing, but sometimes, it is necessary, so please forgive me!

Before he left, he was quite the singer (talker, yeller, whistler) and could imitate absolutely everything he heard. He never stopped talking, whistling, singing, and imitating, in fact. He had even begun to speak in context, and always called for me by name when I left the room. Since he has been here after his "adventure" he has never sung, whistled, or spoke. Not once. Every now and then, he will start the tiel contact/fright call when he is panicking, but other than that, nothing. It is so sad.

As to food, he is iffy on how much he will eat. He is eating millet,some lettuce, but he only eats little bits of his other seed and fresh food. I am hoping that will improve, as it already has. He refused to eat almost anything for the first few days.

Although he is not really handlable, I did manage to get him in the shower. He loved that. Absolutely loved that. He had been here 2 days, and I finally decided I just needed to get him cleaned off fully. I am glad I decided to, for while he did not play or spread his wings, he did run from one side of the shower perch to the other, to sit in the full spray of the water. He sat there, seemingly in bliss, with his eyes closed, occasionally turning his head or body to get a different part in the direct spray. After many minutes, he moved out of the full spray, and I turned off the shower. It was after that shower and cage renovation that he seemed finally to let down his guard a tiny bit, and relax some in his cage.

Needless to say, he is not going anywhere.

Aging birds

There is a down side to rescuing, especially with the parrots that naturally have shorter life spans. It is not only a matter of how old they are when you get them, but how good their care was for the first part of their life.

Some of my parrots are quite young, like Yo-yo, Frank, and Claudia. Yo-yo had a very rough early life, but as I got him when he was around 6 months old, those health effects were easily reversed (although he is still "underweight"from being starved, even if he gets a stick of millet a day.) Claudia's liver is a little weak because she was weaned far early, but she also escaped any other major, health-affecting, abuse. Frank has just plain avoided any bad homes, his only problems are behavior wise!

Some of my parrots are older, though, and from not-so-great homes. I do not know Chester's age, other than that he is at least 10, but I do know that the last eight years of his life before I got him were very, very rough, for both his physical and mental health. I am hoping that his young age will help him eventually recover from the physical (and mental, of course!) health effects; he has already greatly improved. Peter and Ava are both a minimum of 5, easily more, and are both showing their age. Even though budgies should be able to live 10-20 years, most of today's modern budgies (i.e, the "bin-o-budgie" or "box store budgie") are bred with such bad bloodlines, and often live is such poor conditions, that 5+ is not a very young age anymore, unfortunately. Yaz seems to be doing the best of these older birds; he is around 10, but still seems to be going strong (aside from his very closely shaved chest!)

The ones I notice the age and care factor in most are Miss Patty and Lola. I have no idea of Miss Patty's age, but she certainly does not seem very young. I know she has had many homes, and I strongly suspect in the first she was a "battery hen" breeder. When I got her, she was not doing well and seemed very sick and very underweight. She greatly improved with better care, but has slowly declined again in the past few months, and now seems rather fragile though happy.

Lola is over 12, really not that old for a quaker considering they should be able to live to 30 or 40. I do not know much about the care in her first home, other than that she had heavy metal toxicity when I got her, and smelled of cigarette smoke and laundry detergent (shower, anyone? She actually had to be "aired" with open car windows on the way home.) She also greatly improved, but this winter and Spring she has really started to show her age.

Both Lola and Miss Patty went to the vet in March, and were declared very healthy, all things considered, so at least I know that much. I try to give them lots of supportive care, which helps.

Despite all you do, all the good care you may give them, or be prepared to give them, some things can not be changed. I would not trade taking in these birds for a minute; giving them even a week of a better life is worth it, but it is so very sad. To see how wonderful these birds are when given that chance. To think that no one has before stopped to notice this, to even learn what some of their most basic needs are. And that these birds will pay in years for that neglect and abuse.

Miss Patty is none too easy to get pictures of!

I do sometimes manage to get some nice ones, though. While she is not specifically scared of the camera, she is definitely not too fond of it either. I suppose she is more of a private diva!

Show off those wings!

She is a very dedicated chewer. Once she finally settled in here,
she decided life was worth living, and she was going to
dedicate her life to the bird-worthy cause
of destroying everything she could (or couldn't)!

However, destroying things can get a bit tiring for the
wizened-by-years tiel, so it is always a good idea to
take a little relaxation time, even if you do
have a strange silver object being pointed at you.

Eggs

Yes, I know you are bored of that title, but apparently Miss Patty doesn't know that. Two days after the last post stating I thought she was done with eggs, she laid another one, and yesterday she decided to lay one in the food dish of their playgym, while they were watching tv with me in the evening. She is laying them just fine, and that is wonderful!, but I wonder how long her body can hold this up. She is fairly old, I believe, and she does have many health problems. I am not sure what else I can do to encourage her to stop, since she doesn't care to sit on the eggs, and her diet/environment is already not conducive for egg laying. Lupron is the only other thing I know, but her egg laying is not bad enough for that, and I hope it doesn't get bad enough!

On a funny end note, I know you all having been worrying about this, my camera is still acting up. Obviously, as is evident by the photos in a few recent posts, it does allow me to put new photos on the computer. However, it still is refusing to upload the pictures I took before, that are new photos, whatever the fancy pop-up sign says!

Update on Miss Patty's clutch, and a budgie injury

Miss Patty has laid four more eggs, one the day after the first one, and the rest a day apart. None of the later eggs received any more attention than the first! After replacing the first two, and having her ignore the fake eggs, I decided to leave in the real ones, just to see if she liked them any better. And it turns out that she doesn't! She sits on them dutifully from when she lays them until breakfast arrives, but after that...... they are left to fend for themselves! Usually the tiels go out to the sun porch to their flight cage for the day, but a few days were just too cold, even on the sun porch, for them, so they stayed inside. On the days she can go out there, she jumps off the egg and runs out of the cage so I can take them out. And on the days it is too cold for them to go out, she still jumps off the egg for breakfast, and then proceeds to completely ignore it, even at night. It has been a few days since the last egg, so I am hoping five was all she was planning on laying.


On top of this, a few days ago, I had Ava out in the bird room. She was the only bird out, and it is usually very safe to leave her out alone, as she is a very good bird, and does not get into trouble. That was not the case this time. I came into the bird room to find her sleeping on the playgym, and did not think anything of it. After I had been in there a bit, she did remove her head from her wing, which is when I saw the blood caked on the tip. Needless to say, that really gave me a start! My first thought was that she had stuck her beak in the quakers cage, and gotten it bitten. However, I decided that was most likely not the case, as the quakers have been very friendly to her lately, and did not even seem to mind her sitting on their playgym when I was in there. On top of that, I have seen what Frank will do to a bird he is mad at, and if he had attacked Ava, he would have removed her beak. After studying Ava, I noticed she also had a line of blood where her beak meet her cere. She also was acting a lot like she had had a minor concussion, as she was sleeping a lot, and acting very quiet.

I finally decided she must have flown into one of the windows. This is not a characteristic behavior of hers at all, she is a wonderful flier, and knows perfectly well what windows are. All I can figure is that a hawk or something at one window must have scared her into flying into the other, or some other similar scenario.

She did not eat for a day after this, even though I offered her plenty of wet, mushy food. She did go down to the dish a few times, but after dipping her beak in, would shake her head, and go back up onto her perch to sleep. Just when I was getting desperate, and planning on feeding her some baby food with a syringe, she started eating. Yay! She is now much better, and is sleeping less, and playing more. She is eating plenty now, and her beak looks much better! I would have taken a picture to post here, but as I suspect she had had a minor concussion, I did not want to stress her with a flash.

Miss Patty laid an egg!

Talk about something in the air....... it is not like it is particularly warm here in the winter, rather, it is much colder than in the summer, even inside. I do put a heater in their room when I know they are about to lay an egg, but still.

I have known for about three days she was probably going to lay en egg. And this is with their going outside to their flight cage all day, and just coming into to a little sleep cage at night, and of course no nest box anywhere. So not exactly optimum conditions for egg laying! Still, Miss Patty has always had a haphazard quality to life, you might say. I believe she was a breeder bird in some previous life, so she is probably used to continually laying eggs in less than desirable conditions.

The last egg she laid with me, she ate shortly after laying. As horrible as that sounds, birds do eat their own eggs if the egg is not fertile, the conditions are not those which would allow the chick to flourish, or the mother is not healthy enough to take care of them after depleting her system of those nutrients. As she laid that egg after I had her only a few months, she was still not very healthy, and did have a lot of trouble laying it. So, overall, I think it was very wise of her to eat it.

I am very happy that she laid this one with no problem, though. Pearl mutation tiels are known for having more trouble laying eggs, plus my first tiel was a pearl. Obviously, just because she had trouble does not mean every pearl does, but it is still very worrying for me. And fortunately, tiels do not take nearly as long to develop their eggs as ekkies do, so a lot less worry time for me!

This egg she laid last night, and when I went in there this morning to take them all out to their flight cage, she happily jumped off it to go outside. Apparently, the lure of motherhood is not there for her! I do have fake eggs for tiels, so I have already replaced it, just in case she does become interested in sitting on it.

Isn't it pretty?

It has very interesting stripes in the shell,
not sure if you can see them.

And the egg in the cage, where she was sitting on it
(before happily hopping off). I change the paper every
evening before they come back in,
but by morning it always looks like this.

The beautiful Miss Patty, carefree egg mother.

The proud egg father, Mr. Yo-yo!

Happy New Year!

I hope 2009 is a wonderful year for everyone, including Planet Earth and all her creatures!

Watching TV last night, like every year, I got my year's dose of many types of music, you might say. Nothing against them, what music you like is very personal, but most of what I heard last night really wasn't for me. So, as I wondered why anyone could go through an entire song without saying an intelligible word, I got to thinking about what type of music my birds like best. Their taste really varies, in fact, the only way I know some of their favorite song types is by soundtracks. Soundtracks are big pleasers around here! On the average soundtrack for the average happy movie, you usually have orchestra music, an upbeat song, and a quiet/sad song, along with whatever else they felt the need to throw in. The whatever else is where I find out the distinct tastes for music types some of my birds have!

Peter- Peter is tricky. He loves any happy, bouncy music, but what he really likes is Latin American music, or something electronic, with very fast words in funny voices. Not very many songs here fit that, but again, soundtracks can be amazing crowd pleasers!

Ava- Ava usually prefers nature sounds, or soft piano music, though if she is in the mood she will also sing and dance along quite happily to the same fast word songs Peter likes.

Yo-yo- Yo-yo loves music! I believe this is because he is actually a composer in disguise. This is evident by the whistled concertos he composes, and his favorite Patriotic mix, an original blend of Yankee Doodle, 1812 Overture, and several marching songs. He loves listening to happy, bouncy music. However, his favorite type of music to listen to are big Orchestras. As soon as I put on a CD of waltzes or Beethoven, for instance, he immediately starts whistling along right with the music, in the most remarkable fashion. You may have heard of the dancing Snowball, but the whistling (and dancing the whole time, of course) Yo-yo has him beat!

Miss Patty- she is a tuff one. I have not found a song she really seems to enjoy, though she does calm down quite a bit with the nature sounds. She is not very fond of any music Yo-yo likes, as she doesn't seem to like the way he starts dancing around, walking away, and then walking back to whistle right in her ear!

Frank- Frank likes anything, absolutely anything, though he prefers it to have words he can sing along with. Lacking words, he will hum happily away, or add his own words (usually a mixture of "Fraaaaank, Good Booooy, Frank!" and "I'mmmm a sweeeeet Fraaaank! Good Birddddd!" None of these phrases is usually true, however much he wants to sing them!) He loves singing along to just about anything, though he usually prefers female voices, with a few exceptions, since they are easier for him to sing with. Or easier for him to think he is singing with, Frank is pretty much tone-deaf, though no one has the heart to tell him.

Lola- Lola loves Christmas songs best, hands down. It doesn't seem to matter whether it is a piano, a choir, or just one person singing happily, they are her favorite. Besides Christmas music, she likes anything with a strong beat she can dance with.

Yaz- Yaz is not picky about his music, period. He likes strong beats, but lacking a strong beat, he will create one. He dances to anything and everything, and makes his snapping noise along with the music. The only problem for onlookers would be Yaz's inability to keep the same tempo to save him!

Claudia- Claudia loves just about any music, as do most of my birds. However, she does have some definite favorites. For one, she calms down considerably, and sometimes even softly sings along with, nature sounds and soft piano music. She also sings along wildly with waltz music. This annoys Yo-yo no end, as Claudia, sweet as she is, is the "worst singer" here. Beeps, whistles, words, and any other noise she can make are all over the place, at all different volumes, with the occasional fire alarm thrown in for good measure. She is so joyful, it is hilarious to watch her sing, and even funnier to watch Yo-yo get all huffy trying to correct her!

Chester- Chester really shows very little preference. I think I might have heard him singing along with some of that ever favored happy, bouncy music, but I cannot be sure. As with most my birds, he does calm down listening to nature sounds and soft piano music, but not to the degree the others do.

Really a great variety of tastes!

Post without much point

Previously, I was planning to do this post on the budgie/tiel flight cage move and renovation, complete with pictures. I could still do that, minus the pictures. However, being a stubborn person, I am going to refuse to do that post until the camera decides to start working again, and finally puts the pictures on the computer instead of pretending they have disappeared. I am not fooled at all by that sly little message that pops up, "No pictures/videos found." They are still on there, who does this camera think it is kidding?!

Anyway, the Aussie birds recently had their flight cage moved from the bird room to the sun porch. I still have a sleep cage for them in the bird room, so they can come in at night. They really seem to enjoy the new space, especially with all the (bird safe) plants around!

I did have the sliding glass door behind the cage open yesterday (it has a screen), which was a big mistake, as I had known deep down it likely was. The fumes outside may be barely noticeable to others, but they are very bad for me. I think the horrible reaction I had will keep those doors closed for a while!

Also, to give this post some point, despite the title, Claudia laid yet another egg yesterday afternoon! She was a day late on this, and had a bit more trouble with this one. After over an hour of her straining and moaning, I put her in a warm water bath. That seemed to help some, and two hours later she laid it! Still, after three eggs, she has another one in her. When is she planning to stop?

Miss Peppermint Patty

Miss Peppermint Patty, also known simply as Miss Patty, came to me as a foster bird in a group of three cockatiels. Being a fan of Peanuts, I decided to name them all for characters in that cartoon. Woodstock was all yellow (not sure whether he was a true lutino or not) except for his orange cheek patches. He was very bumbly, partially due to his very sweet personality, and partially due to his poor feet, that bent and twisted in funny ways, almost as if he could not fully control them. Linus was an almost normal grey, save for a patch of pale yellow on his nape, that was shaped, oddly enough, like a teddy bear. He was very shy, and always trying to be brave, so we named him Linus, hoping that if he found a "blanket", he would be happier, too. Peppermint Patty was a cinnamon Pearl, who also had, and still has, very poor feet, similar to Woodstock's. They also had been in with a lovebird, that was separated from them before I got them, as she was attacking them.

They had been owned by a vet tech, before she left them at that vet's office to get rid of them. She said she had received them all separately from different people, and caged them together in one cage. She left them at the vet's office in a cat carrier, so I do not know what that cage was like. They were wary of people, though Linus was the worst, with his terrible fear of people and hands.

Woodstock was the tamest, and really seemed to love human company. However, he was also the sickest. One week after I got him, despite the best efforts to get good food in him, supplements, and anything that might help, he died of malnutrition. Poor little guy, he was so sweet. I don't know what he had been through in previous homes, but by his condition, I don't think it was very good. Sometimes, working with rescues can be very hard.

After Woodstock died, I continued taming Linus and Miss Patty in the same manner I had tamed the budgies, save for the fact I had to cover my hand with a sock, so Linus would not be as afraid of it. I noticed that Linus and Miss Patty were not really thrilled with each other's company, and were happier when apart. I decided that after quarantine, I would separate them.

When quarantine was over, I allowed Yo-yo to finally meet them. He had been listening to their calls for so long from upstairs, he was really getting desperate. As soon as he was through the doorway, he flew over to their cage, where they were sitting on top, and began whistling and talking to them. First a few chords of Yankee Doodle, then "Whatcha doing", then a few chords of the 1812 Overture, then "Peek-a-boo", and so on. He was soo excited! Linus immediately flew to the top of the curtain rod, and refused to come down, looking nervously at Yo-yo. Miss Patty played coy for a few minutes, but soon let Yo-yo preen her.

As Linus was now away from Miss Patty, I took him into the bird room and put him in his own cage. He soon came out of his shell, and became a very lovable little tiel. He was extremely vocal, and could imitate anything, words, other birds, and sounds, and did so all day long. He also came to love playing. After I had had him a few months, and he was getting pretty tame, even calling for me when I was out of the room, I found him a wonderful new home where he could get all the attention he wanted.

As Miss Patty and Yo-yo had become inseparable, I obviously had to keep her, not that I minded. She is such a sweet girl, and quickly became close friends with Ava. Yo-yo went through a period of not being very tame, and very protective of his new girlfriend, but he soon got over that, and was back to his usual sweet self. Miss Patty, despite my efforts to make friends, does not want to have too much to do with people. She loves spray baths and showers, and will happily eat treats out of your hand and talk to you, but that is about all she is interested in. I am fine with that, as long as they are all happy.

Poor little Woodstock, rest in peace

The three of them together, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, and Linus.

Peppermint Patty, enjoying the window view.

Yo-yo preening Miss Patty

Yo-yo and Miss Patty in the morning.
Yo-yo is actually eyeing the food dish I have

And a cute pic of synchronized preening.

Kyoto

Also know as Yo-yo. Named for the Japanese city that hosted the international meeting to form the international environmental treaty known as the Kyoto treaty (may I mention the U.S. did not take part?) Anyway, to introduce him.....

After Cone died, I started looking for another tiel, because I could not imagine living without one of the happy little fellows. After a little over a month of looking, Yo-yo came up on Petfinder, around 8:00 in the morning at an SPCA about an hour away. Needless to say, we jumped in the car, and got there a little before nine, which is when the SPCA opened. Before I go on, let me say this story in no way should represent all SPCAs, and I will not mention where this one is. The one near us now, after we moved, is very good.

To continue, when we walked into the new, very large facility, they had Yo-yo in the cage he had come in, sitting in the middle of the room. As I found out reading his "papers" he had been left in an apartment for 5 days without food or water, until the SPCA was called in. They kept him in quarantine for 8 days, to give the person time to come claim him. After that time, they moved him into the main facility and listed him. As I stood there, watching him, I noticed that he had one perch in his cage, a swing made from a bent cloths hanger, and two toys, a hanging rawhide one and one with a bell. The paper in the bottom of his cage was newspaper, that looked very wet and mildewed, with plenty of poop. (Later, when I cleaned it, I found out there were moldy pieces of bread down there, too) I also thought he looked very skinny and sick, close to death, and very nervous. I assumed that was why he was singing, to try and make himself not look as sick as he was. When someone noticed we were looking at him, they did run over and throw some seed in a dish and put it in there. (so kind)

When they called us over to start the adoption, we had to sit through 2 hours of lecturing by a girl who could not remember what species of bird we were talking about, and was simply reading from a sheet. A sheet that said things like "feed only pellets" and "use only unbleached brown or white paper to line the cage." Not sure how they bypassed their own information not to even change his cage paper since he had come in. Anyway, we did adopt him.

After getting him home, we put him in quarantine, of course. He was about the weight of a budgie, with such dry skin and feathers, that his down feathers were literally in "dreadlocks," so he was constantly itchy. He did not ever even move around in the cage. I noticed that he was not eating, even the millet hung right in front of him, so there was not going to be any calm taming like there had been with other birds. I immediately got him out. I replaced the "swing" with a short perch, and soon realized he would step up on the swing, so I could easily get him out. I spent hours lying on the bed next to the cage (he was in a guest bedroom) with him next to me, offering him different types of seed, millet, any thing. He did start eating when he was out with me after a day.

We went on like this, my getting him out a couple times a day to eat, his getting used to having me around. I also started spraying him with Kaytee bath spray, to help his feathers. After about two weeks, he started singing for me to come back. I decided then, since he was gaining weight, that I really needed to change his cage (I already changed and cleaned the tray, of course) to something larger, and more importantly, cleaner. I also decided to try giving him a shower, which he LOVED! Once he was in his larger cage, with some more toys and much cleaner feathers, I kept taming him until quarantine was over. I also switched him over to healthy foods, including his new favorite treat, dried papaya. Then, as he had an ok from the vet, we put him up with the other birds. He almost immediately became friends with the budgies.

When I got him, he still had all of his "baby feathers," meaning he still had grey on is face, and a striped tail. (The tail, by the way, had been cut with scissors to be short, like a parrot's tail, no clue why.) Now, however, he is very healthy, with such bright feathers, and so tame he will let me rub him all over, and comes flying whenever I seem the least upset. He eats everything and anything I give him, and has become a destroy bird on a mission, any toy, must be tested and destroyed. Unfortunately, that includes woodwork....

Yo-yo, shortly after I got him, still with some baby feathers even after one molt.

Yo-yo's "pleeeease pick me up"!

And his "Any particular reason WHY you are photographing
me when I want to sleep?"

A Short Memorial

My first cockatiel, Cone, a beautiful, and very large, pearl female, was only 4 years old when she died. I had had her for only a year, when she started getting nesty, and looking for a mate. Unfortunately, though her previous owner said she had layed eggs many times with no problem, that was not the case this time. She became eggbound, and when she finally layed her egg, due to its huge size and soft shell, she had a complete prolapse. Despite our best efforts, she died 4 days later. My budgies morned for a very long time, as did I. She was such a friendly, albeit bossy and demanding, little girl. Since then, I have made sure I know as much as I can about eggbinding, other egg complications, and what to do in an emergency.