Thomas came into our home on this day, 8 years ago. He was very handsome & photos never really did him justice.
He was possibly my best vegetable eater so he was also a very good boy! I would like to revisit one of my favourite videos of him eating broccoli:
Always in our thoughts.
♥♥♥
During quarantine, I introduced Moriarty to vegetables, with varying success. Actually, truth be told, not a lot of success! He was not scared of what I was offering, but did not really eat anything with any gusto. Post-quarantine he has expressed more than a passing interest in apple. I am hoping that more time spent with Perry & Lennie will encourage more vegetable eating.
Trying the baby corn
First bite of broccoli:
The salt lick has been popular with all birds I have introduced it to & Moriarty was no exception:
The last two Fridays, the vet has visited.
Dalai has not been himself, so on Friday 26th October, I called the vet in.
After the obligatory chase around the Silver Villa, the vet examined Dalai. He was very keen to bite her & also attempted to bite her stethoscope. Nevertheless, she managed to ascertain that his heart rate was fine & his temperature was also fine. He weighed a healthy 45g.
A few days previously, I had noticed some strange dark marks on his toenails, which I pointed out to her. She noticed a red mark on the bottom of his beak, the part underneath that the top hooked part covers. She seemed to think the two things might be related. She asked if he had been in a fight but I said Perry or Lennie would not dare to upset him. The marks on his toenails looked like bruising to her. At best, the bruising would disappear within a couple of weeks & all will be well. (Afterwards, I recalled that about a week previously, he had gone into the wall & landed on the floor, possibly due to a feather working its way loose).
Since that visit, he started moulting his little feathers & has been extra grumpy & also sleepy.
On the Wednesday morning (31st), I noticed some deposits of vomit. Dalai was particularly under the weather & sleepy this day. I kept him locked in by himself for most of the day & at intervals offered him millet, seed & baby corn, of which he appeared to enjoy the corn most. His poops were rather sludgy & not to his normal standard.
There was little change over the next two days. There was one moment on the Thursday evening when he was heaving & vomited but only one or two seeds came out. The next day, Friday 2nd November, I called the vet out again. She came in the afternoon, but that morning, I found that Dalai really fancied broccoli, so I held it up to him several times & he ate quite a lot. He also came out a couple of times & unusually, went into Perry & Lennie’s cage, where he ate some of their seed. He was back in his own home by the time the vet arrived.
Dalai was active enough to fly out the cage whilst the vet was trying to catch him. Unfortunately (for him) he landed back on the side of the cage near me, so I managed to catch him. His temperature was higher than the previous Friday but still in the normal range. He had lost some weight, probably about 2 grams. His poops were awful & he appeared to have a slight tail bob. The vet prescribed antibiotics (Enrobactin) in the water for the next 10 days. She also wondered if he has chlamydia. The trauma from when he got his bruising may have triggered it. Poop needs to be collected over the next 7-10 days for a test, if I choose to go ahead with it.
In the meantime, I continue to monitor Dalai.
After the vet visit, our overriding concern was for Bezukhov to 1) not lose more weight, & 2) put weight on.
On our return, Bezukhov ate a reasonable amount in the Manor that evening. The next morning he barely touched his food & worryingly, neither did Phineas. I held up food to them but they just did not want it. I suspected that Phinny was now picking up on Bezukhov’s stress, hence his loss of appetite too. Though they had started eating seed in the new cage (as well as the Manor) the previous day, I made the executive decision to remove the new cage & reinstate the Ferplast (originally replaced due to the medication problems). I hoped the chopping & changing would not set them back further. I began the eating log primarily for Bezukhov but obviously keeping an eye on Phineas to note unusual behaviour.
Wednesday, 21st October 2015
Barely ate in the morning. Moved new cage out & Ferplast back around 13:30.
Tried to vomit but nothing came out.
Thursday, 22nd October 2015
Throughout the day I checked to see if he would eat vegetables. He had a tiny bit of carrot, some apple & broccoli. He did not want cucumber.
Threw up a bit of apple on window perch.
Another two vomiting episodes although nothing was thrown up. He attempted to carry on eating through the 2nd one.
Poop note: I only noticed 3 solid-ish poops from Bezukhov during the day but overnight poops 22nd/23rd were much better.
Friday, 23rd October 2015
09:50
Every-other-morning medication at 12:00, though started the chase around 11:30.
Continuing in the VeGducating Thomas series, I am happy to report that Thomas loves a vegetable medley! These photos show Thomas & Phineas tucking into a medley of broccoli/sugar snap peas, baby corn & grated carrot:
(Click on photos to enlarge)
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Here are Thomas & Phineas in action:
In the first of the VeGducating Thomas series, I reported that Thomas tried a little carrot & broccoli. I am now happy to report that Thomas is definitely a fan of broccoli. Here he is in action:
Thomas, as the new boy, most probably does not have much, if any, experience of eating vegetables or fruit. My hope was that he would simply copy the others when they are eating their vegetables. That budgie need to “have what the others have” can come in handy some times. 🙂
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The first vegetables he encountered were carrots & broccoli. This was in the days before he ventured out of the Ferplast. I pegged up a little carrot & on one of Bezukhov’s visits to Thomas’s cage, he nibbled on it & that was enough to get Thomas interested & he soon had to try it for himself. The same thing happened with the broccoli. Result!
Much of my effort recently has been spent smoothing the path for the toyboys & Phineas to get together. My other mission has been to introduce vegetables to Phineas. As far as I know, in the past, other than seed he has only eaten apple. I thought that when they are all together he will be inspired to eat whatever the toyboys are eating.
So far, Phinny has been too excitable to think of eating anything new. I had put some baby corn on the landing platform & Cagney desperately wanted to eat it but Phineas just kept running back & forth across it, trying to get Cagney’s attention. The same with broccoli.
At the weekend, I tried a different tactic. This time, I put some broccoli on a skewer & hung it in the (safe) loft area for the toyboys to eat. Above this, on the roof, I pegged a small broccoli floret for Phinny. Initially, he just ran around it, on his prowling mission, monitoring the toyboys beneath him. However, he did notice the toyboys munching their green stuff & decided to peck at the broccoli in front of him. He pecked a few times & ran around a few times. Eventually, he pecked & ingested a bit! It did not kill him so he ate some more! What an achievment this was! I got it on film to share here!
Well done my little grey man!
Some time ago, January 2011, I posted that Bezukhov likes to feel food beneath his feet. Old habits die hard. He still likes to feel food beneath his feet, especially a broccoli floret.
Atilla has not been well.
Last Wednesday, her poop did not look right. I gave her antibiotics in water & she slurped it. However, since then she has not wanted to eat or drink & has become very lethargic. Her poops have not improved & have been sticking to her lump. I took her to Mr Exotic Vet on Friday.
He examined her & said that the skin on the top part of the hernia is red & inflamed & will be causing her discomfort. It will be caused by the weight of the hernia dragging the skin down. The top part is the area she can reach which means she may be aggravating it by preening & rubbing her foot against it.
He prescribed antibiotics in water during the day & Critical Care formula in water during the night. I am to report back on her progress tomorrow, Monday.
Since the vet visit she has eaten a little broccoli & occasionally has a few seeds. Unfortunately, even though I hold the water up to her, she has not been drinking it. I have been dunking the broccoli in it & hoping she consumes some through that. Cagney still feeds her though I doubt that much food gets through as most of it seems to land up dribbling down his chin!
At the beginning of the week, things in the Manor were rearranged again, this time to put seed/water pots up another level to save Atilla having to climb down for food. I know it is normally suggested that perches are lowered but as Atilla appears to think the Manor floor is made of hot coals I have moved everything up to her.
Atilla spends most of the day sleeping though she is still very aware of all going on around her. Mr EV thought Atilla looked very alert, despite her problems. She was studying him intensely, especially when he was typing up her notes & even chirped loudly at him a few times.
I continue to keep my eye on her, keep offering her food & water & making sure she is as comfortable as possible.
Puddings & Toyboys 