cheekfood

Many of you may have heard or seen this documentry called "The Cove". It is about the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji which have only recently been uncovered to the world through this incredible team led by Ric O'Barry, plotting secret cameras and underwater devices to catch the secret operation where 20-30 fishermen slaughter thousands of dolphins in a hidden cove in Taiji, Japan. Anyhow, I wanted to post it here because this is an absolutely incredible documentry that just blew my mind. It is a film which everyone should see. It has been nominated for an Oscar and gained success in terms of letting the world (and the Japanese people) know the kind of torturious acts going on in Taiji. There is an online petition at the moment to help save the dolphins and I hope everyone here can take the time to sign it. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/724210624 Watch the film!

Thanks for the responses everyone. It has definitely opened my eyes to see both sides of the story, and understand the sometimes painful choices vets have to make. I had another case yesterday where a pigeon flew into our shop, it was bleeding from a damaged wing and I took it to another vet this time, they said they would try their best but most likely it would be euthanized. I did ring another local vet where I take my dogs to see what they would say and they basically told me that if it's not a native pigeon, it is considered a pest and would be put down. Also, WIRES only foster cares for native wild animals, pigeons, miners, etc. have not a chance. Are cockatoos native animals?? Anyway, unfortunately I have ran into many cases like this and may run into more in the future, it is something I will have to accept, but it breaks my heart everytime I have to do it. R.I.P birdies

I've been told by another local vet of mine that WIRES don't have their own vet, they are more like a foster care group for injured wild animals. Anyway, I will try them next time I run into this kind of situation again.

I asked them if there were any internal bleeding, and her response was 'there could have been, but that requires an ultrasound or xray' I would have paid for all expenses and cared for it but I didn't think that would be an issue, I thought they would place just as much value on this one life as much as someone's pet bird or dog or cat. Has anyone tried calling WIRES before for Wildlife Rescue? I'm just concerned about the amount of time they take to get to you and if they take the animal to the vet as well? I know they aren't 24/7 so I would hate to have to take the animal back to this place again.

As I was driving home today, I saw a cocktaoo lying in the middle of the road, still moving it's legs. I quickly pulled over, and waited till there were no cars around and picked the bird up and placed it in a box i had in the back of the car. My mum was with me and she held the box till we arrived at Northside Emergency Vet Service, which are open all night for emergencies. During the car ride, the bird managed to stand up on it's legs, and even peeked it's head out once, but I could see some blood in the box and thought hopefully it's just a wing injury and nothing severe. Anyhow, we arrived at the emergency vet, the nurse took the box in, asked me to fill in a form and I took one of their cards to ring them back later to check on the bird (as they do not do callouts to people). About an hour and half later, I rang the vet and the same nurse said the bird was put to sleep because it had a broken wing. I was shocked. I asked her couldn't a bird's wing grow back with nurturing? She said no and told me that it wouldn't survive in the wild and I said what about if it was my pet, and she said no it still couldn't fly again. So I want to ask, if there are some specialists here, whether you think they did enough to save this bird's life, because to me it sounds the same as if telling a human being 'your leg is broken, you will never be able to walk again, therefore you might as well be dead.' I understand these emergency vet places must receive hundreds of injured animals, but I don't believe this bird was so ill that it needed to be put down. Would this bird have had a chance at life again if it was somebody's pet? Do vets place more importance on certain animals than others? Would love to know everyone's thoughts on this.

Yes I had a Sex determination test done on the old bird and the result was a boy. The new bird is from a breeder.

Hey all, I wanted to ask the members here for some advice: I have a bird who has been living by itself for a few months now. A couple of days ago I bought another bird to pair with it because I thought my bird needed a buddy. But they don't seem to get along. My bird is extremely dominating and aggressive towards the new bird. He pecks her when she's eating and does not like her to approach him. Should I give it a few more days before I separate them? Please help! cheekfood

Yes, it is best to use a facecloth or a towel to get the budgie out of the cage. This way your budgie doesn't associate your hand as the big bad monster grabbing it. l usually put a towel or cloth over the cage while traveling to the vet. It will help calm your bird. Also l always put a small blanket over the traveling cage when it is cold outside. Thanks birdluv, definitely going to use a cloth.

Do you put a cloth over the cage?

catch the bird with your hand and put it in a shoebox? what's the best way, or how do you guys do it? also, I been going easy with my hand in the cage the last few weeks so she can get use to me jus changing the water, food, etc. is this going to undo all that and leave me back at square 1 in terms of her trust with me? :'( maybe I should use a cloth so it doesn't see it as my hand grabbing it...

If I cover her up in the study room where I am, there will be a little noise from me working at the desk, and it's not pitch dark. Also in the mornings I don't get up until 8am and there's lots of light and bird activity outside already....maybe I should just not cover her up and try and leave the study room by 10pm :\

Hey all, I am unsettled about the number of hours of sleep my bird is getting and what to do that would best suit my me and her both. At the moment, her cage is in my study room which is where I am pretty much all the time when I am home. I come home at around 7pm which is dark by then, sometimes later around 11pm. I've been trying to remember to switch on the light in the room before I leave for work in the morning so that when it gets dark at night the light is on and she doesn't get as much of a shock from pitch dark to light when I come home later and need to turn the light on. This however means that she sleeps when I sleep which is around 11 or 12pm and wakes up when the birds start squeaking outside around 7 or 8am. Is this enough hours? Is it also extremely bad bad bad if I forget to leave the light on in the morning before I go to work and she gets a shock from dark to light suddenly when I come home at 7pm or 11pm? Tonight, I tried covering her at 7.30pm and she's just sitting in the bottom half of the cage where it is lit from my desk lamp, at the perch closest to me. Should I persist? Also the issue with covering the cage is that I won't be up until 8.30 or 9am and it is already bright outside / birds chirping away, so will she get a shock from the sudden light? Sorry if I sound like a looney, I really want to get this right!

Thanks Kaz, I will ring the vet tomorrow and ask him.

I have a heater for the room but I don't turn it on for too long because I'm afraid it will dehydrate them. I bought him one of >>these<< but he hasn't gone in yet. Just found some wheat grains and hulled oat from the health shop, couldn't get the triticale in grains - they only had it in flakes, so I'm soaking the wheat and oat grains in water at the moment, should be ready in another 1-2 hours, hopefully he'll eat lots of it.

He's in his own cage, the parrot is in another cage next to him.

Thanks for the responses. Triticale, wheat and hulled oats, are these usually available from Coles or Woolies? I bought some crumble mix but he isn't eating that, nor is he eating any small chopped up carrots, celery or apple, I tried putting them in his food and separate as well but no good. He only eats the larger seeds inside the seed mix, they look like Triticale or wheat. He looks like he wants to eat, but whether that is him trying to cover his sickness or not, I couldn't be sure. I took him to my local vet where I take my dogs, but the vet is trained with birds. He tested his droppings and confirmed bacteria in there which suggests liver disease, whether it is a liver tumour or liver disease he cannot confirm. He said he could do blood tests but if they did find out what the illness was there wasn't much they could do for him anyway. I think he gave him a general antibiotic and crop fed him for 5 days. I still have the needle thing from the vet. How do I crop feed him? He hates being handled, but if its the only way I could try it. Unfortunately Cheeky was always given an all seed diet only until a few months after I had him, I fed him some celery and corn which he ate. When I asked the vet how Cheeky could have gotten liver disease, he said that it is hard to say exactly, but most likely due to some sort of bacteria infection. I'm going to try the triticale, wheat and hulled oats option and see if he eats any more. And also learn about crop feeding. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys. edit: just did a search about crop feeding...I feel a bit scared already...this will be a last resort.

Hey everyone, I've had Cheeky for about 9 months, previous to that he's always lived at my boyfriend's place in a big cage outdoors with a bourke parrot which they rescued. In total Cheeky has been around for about 4-6 years, we're not exactly sure how long. Anyway, recently Cheeky started behaving unusually. His feathers were constantly all fluffed up, he was very lethargic - eating sleeping eating sleeping. So I took him to the Vet and they looked at his droppings, checked his beak, etc. and told me he most likely has some form of liver disease, the darkish patch on his beak also suggests that he may have injured his beak somehow and his blood didn't clot properly, also Cheeky is extremely light 35grams I think he said which means that he may be feeling sick / nauseous and so haven't been feeling like eating. The vet told me I had three choices on what I could do: 1. Take the bird home and hand feed (force feed) him antibiotics and food so he can gain some weight to get better. 2. Leave the bird at the vet and they will do it and I pick Cheeky up after 5 days. 3. Don't do anything I chose 2, because Cheeky is not a tame bird and it would cause a lot of stress for him with my unexperienced hand trying to inject antibiotics into his beak. So the vet took him and did all this and after 5 days I rang and they said he is doing great and I can pick him up. I do so, get home and Cheeky still looks the same to me. I'm not saying they didn't do as they said - but when I asked the vet about it a few days later, how he still looks the same, he said there's not much more they can do for him. Anyhow, its been a week or so now since Cheeky's been back and he is still the same if not worse. He doesn't eat properly, he picks at the seed and I'm thinking maybe he is having trouble eating the seed because his beak is not completely normal. What foods do I have to buy or prepare that can be eaten without him having to do anything to it? And has anyone else had the vet tell them about liver disease, if so, any experiences to share?? He looks very sick - his wings are down, he's always fluffed up and either sits sleeping or peck at the seeds - all the seeds look untouched except the larger seeds in the seed mix which makes me think he can't eat the smaller ones because of his beak maybe. My boyfriend says that just before one of their other budgies died a while ago it was always fluffed up and it became unafraid of people for an untame bird just days before he passed away..and Cheeky is the same at the moment, he is not afraid of me. What can I do to help him eat more...Desperately need help!!

Hey everyone, This Saturday I will be hunting for a new budgie cage. I've already visited some of my local pet shops and although there are some cages that are quite suitable, they are WAY overpriced, charging around $250 to $350 for decent sized ones. Is there anyone who knows of a good place in Sydney to purchase bird cages? Thanks.. x

He's about 5-8 years old, never been handled before, I've had him living with me for about 8 months and during that time he seems to be quite comfortable with me being in the room and changing their water / food. I am thinking about taming him a little bit more but don't want to frighten him too much because he's older. Is this a good idea or should I leave him be? Could I try putting my finger near him for 10 minutes or so everyday?

Hey guys, thanks for all the posts, wow. These two birds have been living together for well over 1.5 years. They have only moved to this new cage at my house for about 6 months. Their previous home was at my boyfriend's house. What I've noticed is that when they use to live at my boyfriend's house in a bigger cage, the blue budgie use to always bully this white bird, but since moving to this new cage, it's been the reverse. The colour of the bird looks more like the Light blue Bourke's Parrot, but everything else looks pretty exact to the cinnamon blue red rumped parrot. I will try my best to get a better picture of the white bird without the bars.

Hey guys, I've had this white bird in my cage with my blue budgie for a while now, and I was wondering if I post a picture if anyone can tell me whether it is truly a budgerigar or not.. This bird was rescued from a tree, it was being attacked by wild birds. I feed it budgerigar food and it seems to enjoy it.. http://dreamyeyedclementine.wordpress.com/.../03/29/budgies/ It's about the size of a cockatiel, it doesn't have the yellow thing on it's head though...it whistles slightly different to my blue budgie...

okay shall give it a go tomorrow, thanks everyone for all your help! :rofl:

3 days Should I give them a few more days before trying the blankie? :budgiedance:

My blue budgie only moved into his new cage two/three days ago. When he sleeps, he's angled forward like he's going to fall forward almost. Is this quite a common sleeping position? Also, he use to live in an outside aviary where he wasn't covered at night time, but now he's inside in a smaller cage with more distractions, I tried covering the cage once before but he was really scared and fluttered his wings around, so I'm wondering whether I should cover the cage at night anyway and may be he'll get use to it, or leave him as it is.

Hi everyone I have inherited two birds from my boyfriend. They're moving out of their house and can't keep them so I have adopted them. One of the birds is a blue budgie, but the other I'm not so sure of (it was rescued from a tree after being attacked by magpies). I'll post some pictures in a few weeks after they've settled in. Looking forward to it!