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Bioshuffle
Feb 10, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

SaNChEzZ posted:

Birds have night terrors, could have been one of them had one and set the other off?
I really have no idea what could have set them off, but trying to calm the birds down at 3am is something I do not want to repeat again. Ever. It was not a comfortable feeling because I know the birds were waking up everyone around me. I've heard an occasional peep or two while they're asleep but this was a full on shrieking like nails being dragged across a chalkboard with rusty hinges.

The way they were screaming I thought they were seriously injured or worse. I downgraded one of the birds to the travel cage for the time being and set them down next to each other (found out really quick that if you put them in separate rooms they'll start calling out for each other).

By contrast, my budgies have been behaving like perfect little angels (although that may be just parakeets in general).

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Amaya
Aug 5, 2006

Paws up!

Bioshuffle posted:

I really have no idea what could have set them off, but trying to calm the birds down at 3am is something I do not want to repeat again. Ever.

Oops, that's birds dude. Sometimes they scream for some reason. Something has gotten up Marci's rear end recently and she's been calling and screaming all day all the time for whatever stupid reason. Dogs bark, birds scream. Sometimes they'll just start screaming with nothing being wrong, there's not always a lot you can do :/

Bioshuffle
Feb 10, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

Amaya posted:

Oops, that's birds dude. Sometimes they scream for some reason. Something has gotten up Marci's rear end recently and she's been calling and screaming all day all the time for whatever stupid reason. Dogs bark, birds scream. Sometimes they'll just start screaming with nothing being wrong, there's not always a lot you can do :/

:negative:

I gave the matter some serious thought, and I don't think drastically changing their environment will be good for them. If anything it'll probably upset them more, right? I put them back together. I just hope it doesn't happen again :(

On a brighter note, I just discovered the axe wielding bird.

Bioshuffle fucked around with this message at 01:27 on May 8, 2013

Pip pip pip
Oct 24, 2010

The cutest little fascist

Bioshuffle, maybe you could try getting a night light to put near their cage? My cockatiel used to have night frights (like once or twice a year, not super common). She hasn't had any more since we got her a night light.


Birds are noisy but it's weird that they would start screaming in the middle of the night for no reason. I would guess either a noise scared them or one of them had a night fright. Either way, having a night light might help.

AvianPundit
Feb 14, 2013

Lollercide
Your corridor often has drunk people trolling it and your neighbor complained about one bird incident?

EVIL Gibson
Mar 23, 2001

Internet of Things is just someone else's computer that people can't help attaching cameras and door locks to!
:vapes:
Switchblade Switcharoo

AvianPundit posted:

I'll just leave these here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nh5xiMz3M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVH3eIVJgw0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBgJjMVKKRk

Jasper rocked out to Dropkick Murphy's earlier today! :derptiel:

On another note, Jasper doesn't seem to like his ankle bracelet. He's been chewing at it for a while. How do I go about removing that without harming the bird?

Hate to be a downer, but in the first video you can see a reflection of a person in the back doing wild movements encouraging the bird to freak out at certain moments.

Eejit
Mar 6, 2007

Swiss Army Cockatoo
Cacatua multitoolii

Yeah night terrors happen, just a thing birds do, much like kids. Heck, I had a daytime freakout today where in the middle of cuddling Teeka IMMEDIATELY DEMANDED TO BE RETURNED TO HIS CAGE wherein he went and sat in a bottom corner for three hours straight. And then everything was okay and certainly nothing unusual had occurred just after breakfast. I have no idea what happens with birds sometimes, but at least you can just write night terrors off as a well-known thing that happens. I wouldn't worry at all unless it starts happening a lot, and even then there are very simple solutions you can try (nightlight).

Chaosfeather
Nov 4, 2008

Status report: This morning I had an appointment with an exotic specialist, Dr. Levine. I don't wanna bore you folks with the details, but my first impression of the guy was amazing and I cannot stress how happy I am to have taken care of that.

In addition to taking time to come down to the clinic (apparently he lives about 30 miles away) he happily discussed all of the things that could possibly have set Ivan off and what I can do about it. Most of it was pretty basic, but some of it was new material and I'd like to test these things out. Stuff like having a specific time-out spot in place of pushing down on the tongue for a bite punishment. At least from I can tell the Doctor was very knowledgeable concerning parrots and had some experience with hawkheads.

He suspects that the changes happened to occur at the same time as a testosterone spike in Ivan, which would be the one-two combo of why he would bite and show no fear. We drew blood for sexing to check this and will act accordingly. In addition, he pointed me to the West Los Angeles Bird Club to find a behaviorist if I needed one, but felt we would do just fine with time and patience.

In the meantime, Ivan has been taking treats from my hand and rarely steps up, but at the vet office he was back to his old, cuddly self.

Thanks for renewing hope.

As a side note, he also stated Ivan was the most well behaved Hawkhead he has seen, even with the damage he inflicted last week. :tinfoil:

Chaosfeather fucked around with this message at 01:42 on May 9, 2013

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

Chaosfeather posted:

Status report: This morning I had an appointment with an exotic specialist, Dr. Levine. I don't wanna bore you folks with the details, but my first impression of the guy was amazing and I cannot stress how happy I am to have taken care of that.

In addition to taking time to come down to the clinic (apparently he lives about 30 miles away) he happily discussed all of the things that could possibly have set Ivan off and what I can do about it. Most of it was pretty basic, but some of it was new material and I'd like to test these things out. Stuff like having a specific time-out spot in place of pushing down on the tongue for a bite punishment. At least from I can tell the Doctor was very knowledgeable concerning parrots and had some experience with hawkheads.

He suspects that the changes happened to occur at the same time as a testosterone spike in Ivan, which would be the one-two combo of why he would bite and show no fear. We drew blood for sexing to check this and will act accordingly. In addition, he pointed me to the West Los Angeles Bird Club to find a behaviorist if I needed one, but felt we would do just fine with time and patience.

In the meantime, Ivan has been taking treats from my hand and rarely steps up, but at the vet office he was back to his old, cuddly self.

Thanks for renewing hope.

As a side note, he also stated Ivan was the most well behaved Hawkhead he has seen, even with the damage he inflicted last week. :tinfoil:

Hey! We're members of WLABC! The meeting is tonight at 7:30 if you're local. Glad to hear you got some good advice as well, we've also asked our vet about the biting however maybe I could give your guy a call for further information.

electricgoat
Aug 17, 2009
Happy news! Saturday evening was not good roommate-Bird time at all. It was actually the worst yet, to the point I was in tears. My boyfriend was my wonderful support through it, and he reminded me that my roommate is actually a giant pussy, and although he doesn't want me around the bird, he likely doesn't actually have the balls to stop me or say anything if I'm around the bird. So I made the decision that I don't give a poo poo, and will visit with Bird however much I want. On Sunday, Bird decided she accepts my roommate. She is still terrified of him, but she freezes as soon as he puts his hand in the cage. This is great because since she's not biting, he's not blowing air at her. I think that her acceptance will eventually move on to liking him, so this might work out after all.

The other good thing is that my roommate is now seeing how I interact with Bird (and like my boyfriend said, he hasn't called me out on it). He at one point called me a "bird whisperer" because I can get Bird to go basically wherever I want in her cage by pointing and saying, "Pretty Bird, Pretty Bird, come here!" (I do this to get her over to her calcium perch and other important places she doesn't go too often.) He is starting to spend more time just watching her, and not trying to touch her, and is also even talking to her a little bit, yay!! I think he just needed to see that being kind to Bird makes her happy. His whole goal is to have Bird love him, and I think he now has a better understanding of how to do that. Bird is getting more and more comfortable with him each day, which is awesome!

And for some bonus adorable, Bird sometimes goes to her highest perch and stretches her head up high with her mouth open. I eventually figured out that she was doing this so I would offer her my finger. She then does this funny move where she pulls my finger down and then stretches her neck out so that my finger rubs across her head and neck. It's funny because I had no intention of touching Bird unless she made it very clear that that's what she wants, and it looks like that's what she's doing!

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

gimme demmmm scritchessssss. Also, yay for headway! Just keep feeding him info that we give you, but in alternate methods that he won't figure out are actually helpful info!

Chaosfeather
Nov 4, 2008

SaNChEzZ posted:

Hey! We're members of WLABC! The meeting is tonight at 7:30 if you're local. Glad to hear you got some good advice as well, we've also asked our vet about the biting however maybe I could give your guy a call for further information.

Not quite local! I'm in central Orange County, so it might make a good trip, but not today. It is nice to know that I wouldn't be the only goon there if I decided to attend.

A quick google shows that Dr. Bruce Levine is well known enough that you could probably find a way to contact him closer than Southern OC. I believe he lives in Huntington Beach, but you can make appointments to see him at hospitals ahead of time.

Electricgoat I'm glad to hear that Bird's owner has at least enough grey matter to see that she likes what you are doing. Hopefully this will lead to good things, like more scritches for Bird.

I also really hope Bird gets a better name, otherwise that poor bird is going to be so confused one day.

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

Chaosfeather posted:

Not quite local! I'm in central Orange County, so it might make a good trip, but not today. It is nice to know that I wouldn't be the only goon there if I decided to attend.

A quick google shows that Dr. Bruce Levine is well known enough that you could probably find a way to contact him closer than Southern OC. I believe he lives in Huntington Beach, but you can make appointments to see him at hospitals ahead of time.

Electricgoat I'm glad to hear that Bird's owner has at least enough grey matter to see that she likes what you are doing. Hopefully this will lead to good things, like more scritches for Bird.

I also really hope Bird gets a better name, otherwise that poor bird is going to be so confused one day.

There's lots of great people, very knowledgeable as well. Dr. Spira is the board vet, although she's retired, and Karen (lastname) is also on the board, she's got like 30 years of experience or something crazy.

Eejit
Mar 6, 2007

Swiss Army Cockatoo
Cacatua multitoolii

Chaosfeather posted:

Status report: This morning I had an appointment with an exotic specialist, Dr. Levine. I don't wanna bore you folks with the details, but my first impression of the guy was amazing and I cannot stress how happy I am to have taken care of that.

In addition to taking time to come down to the clinic (apparently he lives about 30 miles away) he happily discussed all of the things that could possibly have set Ivan off and what I can do about it. Most of it was pretty basic, but some of it was new material and I'd like to test these things out. Stuff like having a specific time-out spot in place of pushing down on the tongue for a bite punishment. At least from I can tell the Doctor was very knowledgeable concerning parrots and had some experience with hawkheads.

He suspects that the changes happened to occur at the same time as a testosterone spike in Ivan, which would be the one-two combo of why he would bite and show no fear. We drew blood for sexing to check this and will act accordingly. In addition, he pointed me to the West Los Angeles Bird Club to find a behaviorist if I needed one, but felt we would do just fine with time and patience.

In the meantime, Ivan has been taking treats from my hand and rarely steps up, but at the vet office he was back to his old, cuddly self.

Thanks for renewing hope.

As a side note, he also stated Ivan was the most well behaved Hawkhead he has seen, even with the damage he inflicted last week. :tinfoil:

That makes sense, Ivan is just a few years old, right? When parrots sexually mature, the males in particular can get fairly aggressive. If he's just hitting maturity, then it would explain why this is the first time you've seen this behavior as juveniles don't exhibit hormone-driven aggression. In addition, it occurred in the spring, which is when most boy birds go postal on hormones. I can't speak for anyone aside from cockatoos, but it was a mild phase we worked through as well and sometimes he still gets a bit aggressive in the spring, although at this point I can read him well enough to really avoid serious bites altogether. Hawkheads might be similar, and they have a reputation as fairly aggressive (if not awesome-looking) birds.

Just glad you're making progress on that issue, I know how frustrating it is to want to cuddle dat burd and all he can manage is being a bitey rear end in a top hat.

Jinxie Monroe
Apr 9, 2007

No really.
Thank you.
Hey bird thread, I'm hoping you can help me out with some weird behavior. I was making great progress with my little hand-phobic linnie and introducing him to my budgies went smoothly, with one of them gluing themselves to his side constantly (seriously, there were even under-wing cuddles I failed to get pics of). Eventually I just moved Cilantro (linnie) into the giant budgie cage permanently and gave him a couple days to acclimatize to flock life since separating him from his budgie buddies (even when they could see each other)was stressing him out. Also linnie flock calls are LOUD.

Overall the move went well, and I expected a few steps back for training step ups, but I don't understand his new behavior at all. He will try to avoid stepping up (expected) but will give in pretty fast and usually jumps off almost immediately (also expected). The weird part is that after he steps up onto my finger and doesn't immediately hop back off, he has a little freak out dance like he can't stand touching me and bites the crap out of my finger, no matter how steady I hold it (I don't react, and it's not hard bites - just lots of bites). He is so fixated on his freak out dance and bite routine he'll often fall off my finger and doesn't notice any treats offered, even if it's his favorite and the budgies are calmly "helping" him eat it while perched beside him. He does it when it's just him on my finger and when I get his budgie buddy to step up first.

While I'm sure that a few successful step up and reward cycles happen it'll solve itself, but I'm wondering if anyone has some insight as to why the freak out dance is happening and if there's anything I can do to help him get to the positive parts. Before the cage move he was stepping up for treats without any hesitation and he sometimes did a little freak out dance (WHAT ARE YOU DOING UNDER ME HAND?! :supaburn:) he would quickly decide the treats were worth it and never fell off.

Right now the cycle goes:
Get both budgies to step up in front of him -> treats for budgies -> get him to step up -> freak out, ignore treats and fall/jump off finger. Sometimes he lifts one foot to step up and then immediately starts the freak out dance and falls off the perch before any step ups have happened. I've also tried using a perch instead of my finger but he freaks out way worse, even when it's a perch he sits on regularly. I've also tried offering treats for when he steps up and jumps off right away just to get some positive association wherever I can, but stepping up means he is now in freak out mode and won't accept treats.

Only thing I can think of is that his previous owner got rid of him because he wasn't a good fit with her (very) young son. In my head it would make sense if he's used to stepping up only to have the finger yanked away and a kid squealing/shrieking with excitement. Of course this is just a scenario I can imagine and I have no evidence one way or the other.

I'm out of ideas, I've been stuck at this stage for a month now of getting him to step up and offering treats while he freaks out and ignores them. I was hoping he'd get used to the finger being a stable perch through repetition, but something just isn't clicking and when he freaks out enough to fall off I'm sure it doesn't convince him I'm a safe perch.

EVIL Gibson
Mar 23, 2001

Internet of Things is just someone else's computer that people can't help attaching cameras and door locks to!
:vapes:
Switchblade Switcharoo
Putting the Linolated with the normal budgies could be causing the issue.

So with the case of the Linnie we know that it loves the normal budgies.

Here is how the two scenarios work out IN THE MIND OF A BIRD.

In separate cage
Hey, you are going to get me out to meet those cool guys over there. I will not cause problems.

In the same cage with the budgies
WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU TAKING ME AWAY FROM THESE COOL GUYS??? YOU MONSTER


The problem is the linolated has bonded with the budgies waaaaaay more than compared to you.

Suggestion would be to get another cage with the linolated and spend time with that guy alone.
Or if you MUST keep the linolated in the same cage, take the budgies out first. If the linoated is still nippy while taking it out, leave it in the cage away alone without the budgies. The budgies can hang around the cage but the linolated will not like being away from them (if he seems okay with that situations, take the budgies out of the room)

Use his love of those budgies to teach him that biting prevents him from being outside with the budgies.

Jinxie Monroe
Apr 9, 2007

No really.
Thank you.
I'm not half so worried about the nipping as the panic dance where he falls off. He does it even when his bff is on the same finger with him.
So far I've tried his own cage in the same room (no change), his own cage in separate room (this only lasted ~4 days due to the house turning into a stressful scream hole for everyone), and the current everyone in the same cage. Right before I made this morning's post I tried letting the budgies into the bedroom (they love it there and usually aren't allowed) so I could work with Cilantro out of their sight. Still got the freak out dance and afterwards he screamed until his buddy Honeydew flew back for him.

I did use Honeydew as my helper to get Cilantro over his initial hand issues since he's such a laid back bird, and that was what got Cilantro to let me near him at all in the first weeks. I knew they would probably end up bonded more to each other than me, but I guess I figured it was worth it in better quality of life for Cilly. I just really want him to be able to handle step ups so I can reliably get him in and out of his cage without relying on stressful towelling or only letting him out if I have all day free to wait for him to go back to his cage by himself.

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

These last couple days I've gone out with a friend after work and so Ama's barely seen me. Today he spent the whole afternoon cuddling.

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

LITERALLY A BIRD posted:

These last couple days I've gone out with a friend after work and so Ama's barely seen me. Today he spent the whole afternoon cuddling.

So jealous of the cuddly bird owners. WHY RITZ WHYYYYYYY :negative:

Battle Pigeon
Nov 7, 2011

I am dancing potato
give me millet


SaNChEzZ posted:

So jealous of the cuddly bird owners. WHY RITZ WHYYYYYYY :negative:

This so hard. At least Steve will sit quietly, all cutely puffed up and clicking his beak, on my knee. Once out of his cage, Ohtori never stops moving. I've only seen him asleep once since we got him.

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

Battle Pigeon posted:

This so hard. At least Steve will sit quietly, all cutely puffed up and clicking his beak, on my knee. Once out of his cage, Ohtori never stops moving. I've only seen him asleep once since we got him.

Ritz slept on me the day we brought him home, but yes, my sentiments exactly.

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

Look at it this way, guys. It's Ama's unquestionable, unconditional love that tipped me from "bird lover" to "bird crazy." I have two-going-on-three bird related tattoos, a gang of Facebook friends who re-post anything vaguely bird-ish to my wall, and regular customers at my shop that gift me feathers they find on nature hikes, take photos of wild toucans in South America to show me (I'll repost these once he gives me copies by the way, they're incredible), and ask what new phrases Amadeus has picked up with what appears to be genuine interest.

I have paid a high price indeed for my cuddly parrot. :derptiel:

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

LITERALLY A BIRD posted:

Look at it this way, guys. It's Ama's unquestionable, unconditional love that tipped me from "bird lover" to "bird crazy." I have two-going-on-three bird related tattoos, a gang of Facebook friends who re-post anything vaguely bird-ish to my wall, and regular customers at my shop that gift me feathers they find on nature hikes, take photos of wild toucans in South America to show me (I'll repost these once he gives me copies by the way, they're incredible), and ask what new phrases Amadeus has picked up with what appears to be genuine interest.

I have paid a high price indeed for my cuddly parrot. :derptiel:

There's a portraitesque picture of the jerk on my desk at work and a wall of photos at home, I don't buy it :colbert:

:respek: BP for uber hyper birds

Battle Pigeon
Nov 7, 2011

I am dancing potato
give me millet


Ohtori used to sit on my shoulder and cuddle next to my neck, or rarely he'd nest in the crook of my arm while I watched a film or something, but he never slept. Then puberty properly kicked in and welp. :v:

He'll be two at the end of this month, so I'm hoping that as he settles into adulthood proper, he'll calm down a little bit more-maybe enough to again hang out on shoulders for more than half a minute.

Pip pip pip
Oct 24, 2010

The cutest little fascist

LITERALLY A BIRD posted:

These last couple days I've gone out with a friend after work and so Ama's barely seen me. Today he spent the whole afternoon cuddling.



Ozzy had pretty much the same reaction to us being away from our apartment most of the time for a couple weeks:


Sounds like the rest of you guys should have gotten green-cheek/green-cheek hybrids :colbert:

Agent355
Jul 26, 2011


My budgie isn't exactly cuddly but he loves being on or around you. He also thinks head scratches (and more specifically beak rubs) are the BEST THING EVER and will gladly take all that you'll give.

My cockatiel is pretty cuddly and is always demanding scratches and cuddling up with my neck. His favorite thing is to take naps on my head whenever I'm taking a nap.

Malalol
Apr 4, 2007

I spent $1,000 on my computer but I'm too "poor" to take my dog or any of my animals to the vet for vet care. My neglect caused 1 of my birds to die prematurely! My dog pisses everywhere! I don't care! I'm a piece of shit! Don't believe me? Check my post history in Pet Island!

Pip pip pip posted:

Ozzy had pretty much the same reaction to us being away from our apartment most of the time for a couple weeks:


Sounds like the rest of you guys should have gotten green-cheek/green-cheek hybrids :colbert:

Older picture but pretty much the same deal.

:)


Battle Pigeon
Nov 7, 2011

I am dancing potato
give me millet


Pip pip pip posted:

Ozzy had pretty much the same reaction to us being away from our apartment most of the time for a couple weeks:


Sounds like the rest of you guys should have gotten green-cheek/green-cheek hybrids :colbert:

We were going to, but Blue-throated conures were just so beautiful and rare and awesome sounding, and they're all Pyhurra so same difference right? :downs:

Official Bizness
Dec 4, 2007

wark wark wark



If it makes anyone feel better, the lovebird I lovingly raised from egghood wouldn't sit still for cuddles even if I could duct-tape her against my face. BIRDIES GOT poo poo TO DO, THINGS TO POOP ON.

Chili
Jan 23, 2004

college kids ain't shit


Fun Shoe
So Bubbles and Kima, my cockatiels have been potatoing around just fine but I do have some questions for the more experienced of you guys.

Do people generally take their birds in for check ups? I know that some birds have certain kind of health risks but if everything seems to be smooth sailing (thankfully for me, that seems to be the case) is there much of a benefit to taking my birds to a vet for a state of the derpion?

Also, I need a bit of advice with Kima. I somehow managed to get a picture of what I'll be asking about :



So, is that a broken blood feather? I tried touching and she did not seemed pleased at all with that, so I'm guessing it's pretty tender. It's been there for at least a couple of days and I imagine it's probably causing her some discomfort. If it is a blood feather, is this something that I may be able to handle, either on my own or with the assistance of a friend? I did a little reading and it seems like removing them isn't that big of a deal and totally possible. But, obviously, the last thing I would want to do is hurt Kima or exacerbate the problem. Getting her to a vet wouldn't be terribly difficult, but I'd much prefer the bird budget for the month go to fun toys for her to destroy.

Battle Pigeon
Nov 7, 2011

I am dancing potato
give me millet


So after my bitching about him yesterday, Ohtori sat on my shoulder quietly this morning while I was shaving in the shower. He didn't even try to investigate the razor. It's not quite what I meant, but it was still kind of nice!


Chili posted:

So Bubbles and Kima, my cockatiels have been potatoing around just fine but I do have some questions for the more experienced of you guys.

Do people generally take their birds in for check ups? I know that some birds have certain kind of health risks but if everything seems to be smooth sailing (thankfully for me, that seems to be the case) is there much of a benefit to taking my birds to a vet for a state of the derpion?

Also, I need a bit of advice with Kima. I somehow managed to get a picture of what I'll be asking about :



So, is that a broken blood feather? I tried touching and she did not seemed pleased at all with that, so I'm guessing it's pretty tender. It's been there for at least a couple of days and I imagine it's probably causing her some discomfort. If it is a blood feather, is this something that I may be able to handle, either on my own or with the assistance of a friend? I did a little reading and it seems like removing them isn't that big of a deal and totally possible. But, obviously, the last thing I would want to do is hurt Kima or exacerbate the problem. Getting her to a vet wouldn't be terribly difficult, but I'd much prefer the bird budget for the month go to fun toys for her to destroy.

We took Ohtori to the avian vet here in the week we got him, and she was mostly confused why since there was nothing wrong with him. She gave us some general advice, petted him some, and we haven't been back since. We didn't take Steve either. Yearly check ups can be nice, especially if you get bloodwork etc which could catch something underlying, but it can also be expensive so it's up to you.

I can't see the feather well enough, but if you think it is a blood feather that stopped bleeding, it could be an idea to pull it so she doesn't bump into something and start it bleeding again. They're easy to remove-I've done it twice for Ohtori. Get the little needle nose pliers, grab it as close to the skin as possible, and support the wing when you pull it out. I would recommend having someone else hold her while you pull, it will be rather awkward otherwise. She'll squeal and it will hurt but it's better to remove it than have her keep bleeding.

Chili
Jan 23, 2004

college kids ain't shit


Fun Shoe

Battle Pigeon posted:

So after my bitching about him yesterday, Ohtori sat on my shoulder quietly this morning while I was shaving in the shower. He didn't even try to investigate the razor. It's not quite what I meant, but it was still kind of nice!


We took Ohtori to the avian vet here in the week we got him, and she was mostly confused why since there was nothing wrong with him. She gave us some general advice, petted him some, and we haven't been back since. We didn't take Steve either. Yearly check ups can be nice, especially if you get bloodwork etc which could catch something underlying, but it can also be expensive so it's up to you.

I can't see the feather well enough, but if you think it is a blood feather that stopped bleeding, it could be an idea to pull it so she doesn't bump into something and start it bleeding again. They're easy to remove-I've done it twice for Ohtori. Get the little needle nose pliers, grab it as close to the skin as possible, and support the wing when you pull it out. I would recommend having someone else hold her while you pull, it will be rather awkward otherwise. She'll squeal and it will hurt but it's better to remove it than have her keep bleeding.

Yup, everything you said was what I was hoping for/expecting. I know the picture ain't great but I'm pretty sure it's a broken feather. With time, I assume it would work its way out, but Kima is a very ambitious climber and she loves nothing more than finding random things in my house to slide down, so yeah... probably best to yank it. Thanks.

Eejit
Mar 6, 2007

Swiss Army Cockatoo
Cacatua multitoolii

It doesn't look broken to me? Feathers have quite a bit of blood inside them when they're first coming through, it looks more like it's just sticking out the wrong way. Is it attached to a wing? If it is, it's probably a flight primary that she just got stuck the wrong way. Wouldn't be surprised if she groomed it back into place, but it's probably bugging her because it's the wrong way so she doesn't want to touch it either. My cockatoo sometimes has over an inch worth of blood in his biggest feathers when they're growing in and honestly your tiel's feather looks like a normal, growing feather to me.

Uhhhh yeah, after doing some research, that does NOT look like a broken blood feather. I would strongly advise you not to pull that unless you can see blood on the bird or surroundings or if the feather actually looks broken and not just like a new feather growing in. Kinda hard to tell from that picture, but that's my guess.

e: And if it is, please PLEASE keep some sort of blood stop/clotting agent on hand. Those things bleed like a bitch and birds can't afford to lose much blood.

Battle Pigeon
Nov 7, 2011

I am dancing potato
give me millet


Chili posted:

Yup, everything you said was what I was hoping for/expecting. I know the picture ain't great but I'm pretty sure it's a broken feather. With time, I assume it would work its way out, but Kima is a very ambitious climber and she loves nothing more than finding random things in my house to slide down, so yeah... probably best to yank it. Thanks.

I don't have a photo of when it was in his wing, since he was bleeding all over the place and we had to remove it, but this is one of Ohtori's blood feathers after it was pulled.





See how it's snapped, looks like a tube/straw at the end, and is all dark where the blood was inside it? If her feather isn't like that, then it probably isn't a blood feather. Is it a snapped feather with a pale quill? Is there any casing on it at all?

E: Oh, and the very end of the quill here, is rounded/bulb-like. If you ever have to pull a feather, that's what you want to see, to be sure the end isn't left in the skin. Shouldn't be a problem if you pulled it from close to the skin, though.

Chili
Jan 23, 2004

college kids ain't shit


Fun Shoe

Eejit posted:

It doesn't look broken to me? Feathers have quite a bit of blood inside them when they're first coming through, it looks more like it's just sticking out the wrong way. Is it attached to a wing? If it is, it's probably a flight primary that she just got stuck the wrong way. Wouldn't be surprised if she groomed it back into place, but it's probably bugging her because it's the wrong way so she doesn't want to touch it either. My cockatoo sometimes has over an inch worth of blood in his biggest feathers when they're growing in and honestly your tiel's feather looks like a normal, growing feather to me.

Uhhhh yeah, after doing some research, that does NOT look like a broken blood feather. I would strongly advise you not to pull that unless you can see blood on the bird or surroundings or if the feather actually looks broken and not just like a new feather growing in. Kinda hard to tell from that picture, but that's my guess.

e: And if it is, please PLEASE keep some sort of blood stop/clotting agent on hand. Those things bleed like a bitch and birds can't afford to lose much blood.

It's hard to get a proper picture but it may in fact just be a feather that isn't growing in the right way. I doubt she'll take care of it on her own, she preens all the time but isn't going anywhere near it. That being the case, I guess it would just be best to let it be? I mean, I assume this kind of thing happens all of the time in the wild and, more often than not, they can fix these sorts of things themselves, right?

I should also mention, and I don't know if this matters, Kima is utterly incapable of flight. She's never been able to do much except fall slightly slower than a bowling ball. I don't know if that matters, but I'm guess her wing feathers are screwy anyway.

And thanks for that reference, BP. Basically, the feather looks like it's hosed. I don't think it's going to keep on growing, it just sort looks broken at the tip, not necessarily near the base.

I don't know. Generally speaking, I like to think that if you don't know, it's probably best not to go plucking things out of the bird. It doesn't exactly seem like this is worth a trip to the vet, especially if it will work itself out.

Deadly Chlorine
Nov 8, 2009

The accumulated filth of all the dog poop and hairballs will foam up about their waists and all the catladies and dog crazies will look up and shout "Save us!"
... and I'll look down and whisper
"No."

If it isn't actively bleeding, usually the bird will pull it out after a while, no need to worry. If it's actually causing her pain you might want to bring her to a vet/yank the feather, but these things happen a lot, and they're usually harmless.

Karma Comedian
Feb 2, 2012

Not to be outdone;



My coworker fell in love with Mickey, and we eventually managed to find her her own little dinosaur. So, during a birdy playdate this happened.

And then this happened.



:3: birds :3:

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

It's really ridiculous how snuggly and affectionate green cheeked/black capped (and presumably maroon tailed, blaze winged, etc... I love Pyrrhura names :3:) are. People are always amazed at how affectionate Amadeus is with me, and my coworker, too, is in love with my bird. I have to be careful when she's handling him because she's a total sucker for adorable conure antics and will give him whatever he wants as she's wrapped around his little toe LAB says as if she herself isn't.

ETA: This is a tattoo I got above my ankle a couple days ago:

It's not uncommon on GIS, but it seemed pretty accurate. :3:

LITERALLY A BIRD fucked around with this message at 20:38 on May 10, 2013

electricgoat
Aug 17, 2009
So, it happened. My roommate is very bothered that Bird likes me more than she likes him. He says it's because the breeder who raised him was female. I pointed out that Bird goes absolutely bonkers for my boyfriend, but he says "that's different." (Who knows how, as he didn't expand on this.) So, my roommate bought a smaller cage that he will be keeping Bird in from the time he gets home until she goes to bed, that he will be keeping in his room. I guess this is good because hopefully they will start to like each other if they spend time together, but I worry he'll just ignore her in there. I don't know. Do I need to drop this and stop being involved with this bird? Should I just leave him to do what he thinks is right? Maybe I am just meddling at this point. :(

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Official Bizness
Dec 4, 2007

wark wark wark



What a childish piece of poo poo. I'm completely boggling that he's petty enough to hoard his bird away from social interaction it enjoys. :psyduck: When it starts to scream without any company or you lie about it screaming he'll hopefully change his mind.

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