armchairangel

While my birds were boarding at Avian Suites, they were given Kashi, a natural whole grain cooked cereal with 7 different grains in it. They LOVED it!!! Ate the bowl clean.

You don't have to feel like a dumb@ss! This is probably the first time I've talked about Baby since you joined, so it kind of makes sense you thought she was new. She certainly acts young enough! *(Laughing out loud)*

I'll add the dark green leafies and make sure she has plenty of carrots. If I remember right, she actually liked kale, so lets keep our fingers crossed! *L* Neat, I think I will do some rearranging in her cage, just to be safe. And yes, Baby's very old. I don't have time to find a good picture of her right now, but she is my avatar. Cupid and Psyche are in my signature. I think you joined after I had to take a bit of a break from here. I've been going to vet tech school and am doing my internship at a clinic that specializes in exotics. I can talk to a really good avian vet every day! I don't, however, want to bug him every day. *L* He's been hearing a lot about Cupid and Psyche's flying mishaps lately, and since some stressful things are going on in the clinic, I wanted to see if it could be something relatively simple before I go bugging him again. *L* Eggfood is something that I haven't ever tried. I'll have to look for a recipe in the food forum. There will probably be suggestions as to how often they should get it and if it can replace any of the other stuff. They get so many different things!! Technically, I should only have seeds out at certain times of the day, but with my schedule change, its been really tough to do and stay on top of eveyrhting else too. Oh! And as far as protein goes, their seed mix has a whole bunch of different nuts in it. They have a lot of protein, don't they? Of course, do they eat the nuts? *L* I don't think our house has been terribly dry. I get bloody noses when its really dry and there haven't been any this winter. We have 5 reptile tanks with water in them all the time, light shining on it 12 hrs of the day, so I would imagine that would help keep the ambient humidity from getting too low.

That's great taht you're going to get him in as soon as you can in the morning. Feathers gave great advice about the hospital cage. Its very rare that birds catch illnesses from people, so don't worry about having gotten him sick. Good luck!!

She gets the crumbles from the pellets, not whole ones. I try to see if the powder is gone when I dump the seeds out the next day - sometimes it is, other times I notice its still there. What are some good foods that have vit A in them? I bet the birdie bread made with sweet potatoes and pellets etc would be a good supplement. I haven't given them some of that in a while. And then I look up and see Baby in Cupid adn Psyche's cage eating out of the dish that has their pellets... Maybe she is eating fairly decent afterall. *shrugs* Who knows? Neat, I was wondering if her cage furniture arrangement could be a factor. I want to say that I read somewhere that tail feathers can be damaged if the perches and toys are in the wrong places. I can't remember where though, so I haven't been sure of it. Most of her perches are 3 or 4 inches away from the walls, however, there is one large horizontal one that is more like 2 inches away. She has a lot of toys too, one which is a beaded necklace that you can hook together and wear, or hook the ends to the cage which goes across the middle. I've been wondering if its too crowded for her, but Jared has wanted us to leave it alone. However, he asked me to post about her feathers, so if it happens that her furniture is an issue, I know he'll be happy to change. I don't think I've ever seen the ends of the lost feathers, so I can't say what they look like. I suppose I could dig in her tail and see what the ends there look like.... And the shafts are flat across, white ended, kind of dry looking, no blood and the feathery parts that come off the shaft are intact, so the whole end is in the shape of a V with the shaft at the center point. The feathers don't fall out completely from her body, they break off partway down. I found 3 in my little exam just now. And her wing feathers are fine, its just the tails that do this.

That's good to hear - that it can take up to a week for them to settle into the new wings. It just seemed so odd since it hasn't bothered Psyche at all except for the first few minutes. He does seem to be as active as usual, as flirty, as good of an appetite, etc. I'll keep an eye on him though. Thanks!

I've noticed that her feet look like old lady feet - kind of like the skin seems more wrinkled and baggy than it should. It could be a bit dry too. I was wondering if it could be a nutritional thing. However, her wing feathers are just fine. She gets her seed mix and the dust from Cupid and Psyche's pellets sprinkled over it every day. Most days of the week she gets veggies in her food too (a mix of carrots, peas, corn, lima beans and green beans). The seed mix is a well rounded one (see here http://parrotisland.mainsecureserver.com/c...&products_id=15 ). They're eating Lafeber's pellets right now, but I'm going to be switching them over to Harrison's soon (as the supply of the Lafeber's gets to the end). Of course, this is what she is offered, but what she picks out from it all, I can't be sure. I do know that she eats at least some of the veggies - an empty pea shell here, a chewed up carrot there, etc. Maybe not enough though, or like you suggested, maybe her body isn't absorbing it all like it should.

Baby has been having issues with her tail feathers. The long ones don't grow out well and when they do, they break off, leaving her with no long ones until more come in. It doesn't seem to affect her. Does anyone have any ideas about why this could be happening? Its been going on since about December or so, when the vet said she might have an encysted tail feather. After being on the meds, a tail feather grew out with several bends in it. After that, the feathers seem to break off easily. Yes, they break off rather than fall out. The other day she had one sticking straight up at a right angle to how it usually lays - you can see where it specifically breaks. Jared also seems to think that her tail is getting 'thicker'. I'm not totally sure what he means by that, unless he thinks the tail base itself is getting bigger, like its swollen or something. He wanted me to make a post here and see if anyone has any suggestions before we bother the vet about it, in case its something simple we can do that doesn't involve medical care. Like I said before, it doesn't seem to bother her in any way, she is acting like her usual cheeky little self, she just has a short and stubby tail. *L*

Elly, how long did it take for Merlin's wings to settle down? We did the clipping Sunday evening and now its Tuesday afternoon and he's still being bothered by them. He does it almost constantly, as opposed to just after using them. Psyche doesn't seem to be bothered at all.

I can understand the differences between dogs and cats seen in budgies. Cupid is very okay with stepping up when he's out of the cage now. Psyche will readily eat millet when I hold it up for her. I'm trying not to push her and give her any reason to not trust us. She seems more wary than usual. Not her stand up thin and tall scared, but there's something different about her. Heh maybe the difference between a scared cat trying to hide and a scared dog that wants loves. Both of Cupid's wings are being held up and are twitchy now. I'm wondering if having them held out for the trimming irritated them or if he tried too hard to fly the first couple of times he was out and overworked them. I just hope that it isn't something from flying into the window taking almost a week to show up.

Yeah, Cupid has come out a couple of times already and he's still getting used to his new wings. Its kinda funny, but after several mad, barely controlled hops about the room, he's glad to be picked up and brought back to his cage. He's even up for kisses already! We'll see how Psyche goes; I haven't had a chance to work with her yet.

Cupid and Psyche are now members of the clipped bird club. I finally decided with the help of people here (thank you!) that we have looked at the situation from all angles and that clipping IS the lesser of all evils for the time being. I'm not sure who had a worse time of it, Psyche, or Jared. *(Laughing out loud)* She was screaming like we were killing her, but she also was chewing on his fingers mercilessly - drew blood in a few places even. She had a blood feather, so I couldn't get a totally symmetrical cut on her, and unfortunately, we'll have to check her soon to see if we can cut them (the blood and the one I left to help protect it). Cupid was kind of afraid, but a trooper about it. They both were kind of freaking out afterwards, preening like mad, like "What happened to my wings? Where are my feathers?!" They have relaxed now and are both sleeping. I thought it was really sweet though - Jared almost started to get teary eyed when we were done! But after I talked to him about everything that everyone has said, he felt better. I think he'll appreciate it even more when the benefits are shown. I didn't want to work with them too much or stress them out even more tonight, but they did feel safe enough to eat some millet from my hand. I didn't push it though.

I agree with Elly. There is no way that any of us or you can tell if he's just old or if he's sick. Birds do their very best to make it look like they're not sick, so when they start showing definite signs, its often too late. When you notice things like sleeping more or being fluffy or a personality change, its important to get them checked out as soon as you can. Our 16 year old parakeet is about as lively as our 1 year olds. She has gotten run down a couple of times and would sleep more, not make as many of her usual noises and not be as in your face obnoxious as she usually is. We do our best to take her in to get checked out when she changes like this. She has ended up having infections and when she starts antibiotics, she turns right around and is back to her cheeky little self. Would she beat the infections on her own? Maybe. But maybe not. She's our most precious animal and we have chosen not to take the chance of losing her if we can help her stay healthy. Another thing to consider when you're asking about if you should keep him in the aviary is the health of the other birds. I would remove him in case its something contagious. Get him checked out with an avian vet and they should also be able to tell you if its safe for the other birds to be with him. Good luck!!

We're planning on keeping Baby flighted, so we'd have a mixed flock too. She's not a very strong flier, so even if and when she does fly into stuff, its not hard at all. She's just so much an interactive part of our family I couldn't imagine not having her fly over to greet me when I come home. Its also very reassuring to hear that there are people out there who are for clipping everyone. We get a lot of birds in the clinic for wing trims, but we haven't done a parakeet since I've been there. Now that I think about it though, there are plenty of birds who are flighted that come in for nail and beak trims. To each his own I guess.

Thank you for the consideration of companionship and that there are differences in WHY someone has a bird and how that influences the decision. I have always had companion animals, with the exception of an anole in high school, and there were times when I felt SOOOO sorry for him cuz he was caged all the time. I have learned that my husband wants a large collection of reptiles as a conservation sort of a thing, as a display sort of a thing, rather than as companions. Its been tough for me to wrap my mind around as I'm always wanting to play with the snakes, but I'm starting to get the idea and that its not a bad thing. I have always considered our birds companions rather than something pretty to look at and listen to and a wild animal we don't interact with much. We're closing on a house on May 15th. I'm not sure if there will be an appropriate bird room there where they'll get plenty of people contact too. We're planning on having them in our large living room again, but Jared is creating plans to build a large aviary type of cage to house them in. Our view of them as companions may end up changing, especially as we start a family, but with a giant place for them, I won't feel as guilty. This is a GREAT point to consider! Thank you!

As some of you may know, Cupid had an issue with (what we now have considered with recent events) a wing injury a few months ago. He's been doing great lately. Last week, my husband and I went on vacation and had our birds boarded while we were gone. They had a great time, we discovered some new healthy food they LOVE, and Baby evidently spent a LARGE amount of time with Cupid and Psyche. Since we've gotten home, Baby has become even more outgoing and attached to us, in addition to wanting to spend a lot of time with Cupid and Psyche. She even let Cupid feed and woo her!! So we've been trying to accomodate her new friendship with them even when we're not immediately in the same room with them. We thought it would also be a good opportunity to reconnect with C and P since they haven't had as much interaction since I started my internship. This has been met with disastrous results (well, not TOO disastrous, but certainly not fun). We have never had a problem with Baby flying into things. Cupid and Psyche are another matter though. Just a mere day after we got home, Psyche flew into a wall and started holding her wing like Cupid did. The very next day, Cupid flew into Jared's office and at full speed, flew straight into the window. He didn't get seriously hurt (just injured the skin of his cere and got majorly stunned for a few moments), but he scared the heck out of us and made us realize we have to do something different. I'm seriously considering clipping Cupid and Psyche's wings. I've really liked that we've been able to let our birds fly around as they please. Until recently, they haven't gotten in trouble at all. I think that they've been happy and well adjusted and we've even had decent success taming them. It has worked well with our lifestyle and our current house layout. But now, I don't know how much we can trust them to be safe and I certainly don't want to risk a serious injury. We could certainly only let them out in a completely bird safe room, however, it would take a lot of work on our part to do this. We don't have a room that they can live in that is safe for them that we would also be spending a decent amount of time in, and for us to take them into the bathroom for flight time is something that would be very difficult for us to do on a regular basis. I would feel very guilty keeping them in their cage all the time because we don't have the time or space to let them out. Also, we tend to spoil Baby since she's so old and such a little character. It would be much more ideal for her if she could visit Cupid and Psyche as she wished, instead of depending on us to let her in and out of their cage. There have been many times int he past where we leave their door open too, and they mainly stay inside and Baby will visit them and then leave when she gets sick of their attention. When their door is closed, we feel obligated to watch them closely and take Baby out when it seems she's being harrassed too much and needs a break. When they were at Avian Suites, both doors were open the whole time and i think that she was much more comfortable spending time with them when she knew she could get away from them if necessary. I can only imagine that she enjoys time with other birds. So we're thinking that if Cupid and Psyche's flight is limited, they can safely have out of cage time without complete direct supervision and Baby can continue to enjoy their close company as she wishes. Not to mention the benefits of easier taming. Talking to the vets about the situation and my hesitancy to clip, they said that no situation is ideal. Which leads me to believe its a matter of weighing the costs of each scenario. I'm thinking that I'd rather give the birds more freedom and interaction (with us and Baby) at the cost of full flight than have the risk of serious injury always be there. I don't want to start a huge debate full of arguments, but I'd like to hear the opinions of other parakeet owners on this hot topic. If your flighted birds had to spend most of their time in their cage so they can be safe, would you clip them so they can have a little more freedom to come out of their cage safely? I know that there are many many flighted keets here. If their safety were at risk, would you clip them so they can still play out of their cage?

I think that when birds have a foot or leg that is bothering them, they usually let it dangle, rather than tucking it up tight against them. Let's hope that since he seems fine now that he was just trying a little stunt of hopping on one foot!!

I think that this is just about the only flight picture we have of our birds. I think I might have posted it elsewhere before, but I'll do it again cuz I love it and people can then see it again. And actually, after going after the link for it, I found more than just one. Yeah, they're probably more qualified as bath pics, but they do show her pretty wings all stretched out as if in flight. And my husband is quite the nature photographer and has taken quite a few pics of birds in our backyard. I'll include one or two of his best of birds in flight. I hope nobody minds!

Awww, she's adorable!!! While the splint looks pretty awkward, you can tell she's being a trooper about it and getting along just fine in spite of it. And Andante is quite the looker himself!

Oh wow... I'm sorry to hear that her leg is broken! But, like it was said earlier, its MUCH more treatable than other issues that could have been causing the lameness. I'm really so glad you were able to figure out a way to get her to the vet in spite of your schedule! She's lucky to have such a caring mom. So many people would have waited till the weekend, and that's just not good. You're doing a great job of taking care of her. Keep it up and she'll be good in no time! Best of healing wishes...

Right, I was planning on doing both. The dr didn't seem too concerned about his wing lifting yet again because it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. It was pretty much back to normal this morning too. I think i'm gonna play it by ear and see if it becomes something bigger, and then I'll probably try the clipping.

Hmmm... I never thought about a smaller room. I'll have to give that more thought to see if its something feasible in our house. I'm also not totally excited about continuing to medicate him. I'm thinking that too much of it can be hard on the liver and kidneys, or cause other long term side effects. I'm hoping Dr. Larry will have a good idea. Otherwise, maybe smaller amounts of exercise will have to suffice for now. Also, clipping is a somewhat temporary thing, so it can be something to try and I can just let the feathers grow back if it doesn't work out.

Hopefully it won't be a kidney issue! I'm not sure if its reserved for older budgies though because it was also a possibility when I brought Cupid in. He's not very old either. Lets keep our fingers crossed that its something simple and very fixable!

Poor Cupie's wing is bothering him again now that he's been out and flying today. Its so hard to figure out how to deal with it. I don't want to limit Pysche's out of the cage time and i don't want his treatment to be too stressful for her too (like separating them was). They seemed to be so happy to be out of the cage again today. Hanging out on the playground and foraging etc. They did spend a lot of time not flying, but of course, once I thought they should go back in, it was chase the budgie back and forth across the room and back, which aggravates his wing more. I'd love to be able to put him in the cage and keep Psyche out longer, but I'd have to close the door, and then she couldn't go in when she wanted. Of course then when I'd go to open the cage again, she'd fly away and Cupid would come out. I'm gonna talk to the vet again tomorrow and see if I can give him his antiinflammatory (I kept what was left *L*) as needed. I'm also considering clipping his wings entirely. That way, he and Psyche can be out as much as they want and he won't be able to irritate things by flying. I would just feel bad for him. But then I feel bad for him when he's hurting too.

There are many possible causes of her bad foot. She could have banged it or something during a night fright (Did she have one recently?). She could have wrenched it in a toy. Parakeets are known to get kidney tumors, and that can affect how the hind limb works. My Cupid was holding his wing and foot funny a few weeks ago, and the vet couldn't figure out what was going on - something neurological most likely. Rest and meds helped him. As you can see, there is a wide variety of possible causes. As for bandaging, unless you can see that something is certainly wrong, I would leave her foot alone. And if you can see that a toe is crooked or whatever, take her to an avian vet to be sure its bandaged correctly. But I'd just leave it. Bandaging a bird can cause them stress, which can make them more susceptible to illness, and they can pick at the bandage and possibly make things worse. Not to mention I've heard of birds chewing their foot off because a bandage was put on to tightly. I would try to keep her quiet so she can rest her foot, maybe give her a soft padded perch (a little towel around a ladder laid horizontally for instance) and just see what happens. If she changes her behavior in any way, I'd definitely take her to an avian vet. If it doesn't get better in a day or two, or gets worse, I'd take her in too. i hope she's feeling better soon and good luck!