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We just had our checkup!


Guest TeGz

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Guest TeGz

When Merls went to the vets last week, he weighed 39grams. Now he weighs 40 grams, so he has put on 2% of his body weight, which is really good.

 

We saw a new vet, and gawd she is funny. Her surname also happens to be Fowler :D When she lifted the lid of the box, Merlin was shrieking at her, so she said "Oh dear, he's swearing at me again!" as she'd treated him a bit in hospital.

 

He got some cuddles, and then got his big needle. The normal course is 6 injections but because he's so little, a course of three is required, and this was his second shot. So back we go next week. If he still is a bit under the weather, we can go back for another. He has to stay quiet for the next 24hours, because the needles apparently really stress them out, and she said he'd vomit on the way home, but nope, he just played with his balls from the second he was in his box! :blink:

 

He has goopy feathers as he's had a bit of nasal discharge but she said that's clearing nicely. He's also apparently just started moulting according to her, so his moult was obviously on hold since he got sick, and he started to moult in Feb! :) But he lost a big feather today, so thats good.

 

 

Now onto his diet!

We got told a nifty trick to get him to try his pellets and veggies. To put some of them on a mirror, and he'll see his reflection in it which will look like another bird eating the veggies so he will eventually learn to try it. Persistance is the key. We also have to take his conversion to proper seeds really slowly too, over a month or so because the stress of a sudden swap could make him stressed and maybe get sick again. We currently have a broken up bean on the mirror and he is down on the floor fascinated by it hehe.

 

He is doing so so well now, we are really pleased, and so is the vet! We've never seen her before, but she is so good with him, she doesn't just grab him out, she gave him cuddles too. The fact that she called herself "Auntie Anne" was awfully funny too :(Laughing out loud):

 

Anyway, thats our update! We learnt so much from the vet I can't even think where I would start, plus I'd bore you all, so I won't!

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Guest TeGz

Well I'll tell you what I can remember....

 

When the vet mentioned Merlin had just started moulting, I vehmently insisted that he HAS indeed been moulting since January. She started mentioning how the birds need heaps of protein and calcium to moult, and so if they don't have enough which can happen on all seed diets, that sometimes their systems shut down as they don't have enough protein to moult properly. It's likely that Merlin stopped moulting about a month ago because he started to get sick. He was still moulting but not like he should be as his protein was being used to keep himself alive even though he felt sick. The last few days he's had about 12 new pin feathers pop up.

 

She asked how he'd been going, and my first thought was "Oh he can fly properly now!" Up until he came home, every time he'd fly he could never really get the height and would only go about 10m. He just couldn't do it. Now he can zoom around nicely. She mentioned that in the wild birds hide their illnesses so well (as we know) and that about three days illness for us is a week for a bird, and eventually the wild bird just gets so tired and feels so crook they just can't fly anymore so they drop out of the sky. Merlins decreased ability to fly over the last month will have been due to him being sick, as he could fly pretty well before that. So he was gradually stuffing up as he got sicker

 

Umm there was more but I've forgotten :(Laughing out loud):

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Great news about Merlin - what a brave strong little boy I bet your soooo relieved.

 

You seem to have a really good knowledgeable vet there would appreciate you sharing what you learn with us all.

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Guest Julie

Yes thanks for that,it was really interesting as I'm concerned about Budgy2 feather quality and flight ability but both the breeder and vet say it's a poor moult and should improve.I must bulk up his protein anmd calcium I think.

Julie

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Guest TeGz

Yeah I thought that was interesting too. I might research it further when I'm not snowed under with school assessments! If the vet had listened to me in March we could have saved all this nastiness.. never mind, the new lady is awesome :blink:

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Guest Trikkivix

Auntie Anne sounds brilliant.. Im so glad the checkup went well.. He'll be back to normal in no time :blink: :(Laughing out loud): :(Laughing out loud):

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I wish i had a funny vet. :(Laughing out loud): It's great that Merlin is on the mend. :blink:

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Great news!

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Guest TeGz

He's positively glowing this morning :P He has never ever ever been as chirpy and hyper as he is today :D I have just spent the last half an hour having a conversation in shrieks :P He was so nuts zooming everywhere, I figured I'd open his door, and he willingly climbed out of the cage by himself :D! He hasn't done that since forever :(Laughing out loud): He also got poked in the beak by the bean i Put in, so he's not too friendly with that at the moment.

 

My mum had to come home from work, and the first thing she heard was Merlin, and she raced into the room, to see him bopping back and forth just having a conversation with me. She couldn't believe how happy he is!! You could hear him out in the garden even :P

 

 

Oh and we hope to have him put another gram on this week before his next checkup, as back in March he weighed 42grams. Ideally he should weigh about 45gm but we're happy with whatever we can get at the moment.

Sooo thrilled :D

Edited by ~Budgie_Babe~
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