|
I hate to be a downer but we lost our bird completely unexpectedly this morning, and now her mate is making her calls, and I don’t know how to comfort him. I just hope he doesn’t fade away on us.
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2020 20:40
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 14:46 |
|
|
Thanks all, we’re still disconsolate. We have a pretty tight relationship with the other bird, and he spent literally all day yesterday on one of us; we’re going to keep up with one of us always being with him during waking hours for the next few days. He doesn’t really speak words but we’ve taught each other to make some sounds (when he really wants company he’ll make a whisper sound for me) to ease communication, which I think helps. We are friends with the lady we got them both from, and I’ve already been in contact to let her know what happened and to tell her we’ll need another companion. It’s tough but I can’t let being sad keep our little dude from having companionship.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2020 13:10
|
|
|
Plant MONSTER. posted:That's great that you're close with the remaining birdy. That will make things a little bit easier for him. Haha. He’s a linnie. His name’s Alex(ander Graham Birb). I took this just last week. Alex is on the left. Hedy, who we lost, is on the right. Shut up, no, you’re cryIng.  He keeps contact calling her periodically.... mediaphage fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Jan 21, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2020 16:31
|
|
|
Honestly, though, I can’t recommend linnies enough. Properly raised, they are extremely social, and so friendly. I mean, this guy shows affections through cheek headbutts. And honestly, they’d have to work to draw blood...(I mean he’s a big boy at 53 grams).
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2020 16:39
|
|
|
Thanks for all of the kind thoughts, honestly, I really appreciate it. This has been so much tougher than I expected.  We both cried a little this morning when Alex started doing his contact calls to look for her. He’s been spending most of his days burrowing into my shoulder. 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 22, 2020 15:35
|
|
|
Captain Log posted:I feel sorry for the scared bird, but I cannot stop laughing at the circumstances. Haha this is what happens to greedy little piglets
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2020 02:28
|
|
|
Henlo i am not sleepy what are you talkin bout
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2020 18:03
|
|
|
It’s been just about a week since we lost Hedy, and I’m still tearing up when I find her feathers. Alex still calls for her on wake up and just before bed (it was funny, she used to really harass him about going to bed at the same time every night, going in and out and chirpnagging him until he relented), which is about five minutes of really loud contact calls, followed by his begging calls. Which, yeah. Heartbreaking. But we’re getting through it. Meanwhile, somebody is enjoying his blueberries:  https://i.imgur.com/8fkjXD2.mp4 mediaphage fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Jan 27, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 26, 2020 21:12
|
|
|
I just realized you guys might get a kick out of the trophies my so and i made for a local birb show    lol we’re basically the only reason the club made money last year since we did everything at materials cost To be clear the artwork is all either public domain or licensed.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2020 03:32
|
|
|
Pookah posted:
I love this. Pookah posted:These are all marvellous, and I can not stop laughing at Thanks much. I did all the prototypes with Worst Parrot 2019, which got some laughs. To be honest, I have pretty mixed feelings about bird shows. I’m not into all the ridiculous rules. And I don’t plan on ever entering Alex; he’d just be stressed and wondering why I left him alone. I don’t judge others for doing it; maybe I’m just too attached. Finches might be fun to do.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2020 12:55
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:I'm not into animal shows that judge them physically, as that gets into perfect breeding and that's a whole kettle of worms - I believe the breed standard for german shepherd dogs requires them to have busted rear end legs, which is one hell of a stupid standard. And you also can't enter in all the most perfect mutts - Apollo would win shows easily due to him being one hell of a cute dog, but he can't. I tend to fall on this side of things, too. I don’t mind physical trait contests except when breeders go insane and really harm animals (snub-nosed dogs, etc). Our breeder does it but she’s very much a bird-health-first sort of person and refuses to interbreed relatives, etc.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2020 14:28
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:Do you have an Etsy or something? I'm sure people would like their birds to receive a trophy for BEST SCREM and whatnot. Haha. I’ve thought about personalized bird things like that, but not at the moment; this is all stuff I do as a hobby or gifts. At some point if birdnerds here want, I’m sure we could come up with a few fun awards to give out. Halloween Jack posted:Is the parrot small, or just far away? Lol. Those tiles were in lieu of the rosettes last year. They’re actually Home Depot tiles but we put on some transfers and re-fired them in the kiln.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2020 18:38
|
|
|
Captain Log posted:Those awards are so freaking cool. Thanks, we were really nervous, honestly. Bird show people are very...particular...about, well, everything. But all the fancy experts liked them, so it was in all a good experience. If I do it again this year I’m definitely getting it done far in advance. I think we ended up doing over 200 individual pieces. If there is interest, I would be happy to put together something for you guys at some point. They’re kind of time intensive but it’s a fun hobby. Loudest screm? Worst cockatiel? Beepiest budgie? Easy to do similar stuff across signs, coasters, keychains, whatever. I can probably post a thread in the mart if it ever came to it. Joking aside pi cross species awards would be pretty funny mediaphage fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Jan 28, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2020 18:08
|
|
|
It’s been both weird and comforting to share grief with a bird. He still calls for her at breakfast and bedtime, then begs, and makes new quiet chirps throughout the day. He also makes her sounds a lot, which is not something he did before - but that could just be him doing audio processing in the downtime without sounds. He’s also been much needier, but how can I mind that?RoboRodent posted:I am loving all these birbs. A role call was such a great idea. Same, thus.  Name: Alex, but mostly just bird or birb. Race: Lineolated parakeet, or linnie. Age: 1.5 years Class: Level 3 lil’ buddy! Likes: SAFFLOWER SEEDS, blueberries, banana-flavoured pellets, anything that crunches, the refrigerator, chewing on sleeves Dislikes: everything if he suspects you have safflower seeds on you and are holding out Inherently suspicious of: anyone not us, the humidifier Hobbies: grinding his beak when he’s comfortable, flying in a ring around his territory (the office), preening his feathers, sitting on your shoulder, licking everything and anything, bumping his beak to yours, headbutting your cheek to show affection, preening your feathers, picking up empty soda cans to hear them drop, generalized destruction. Pros: Headbutts your cheek to show affection!! Very sweet, sociable little birb, doesn’t usually make a lot of noise, hangs upside down and wiggles during bath time, is gentle in showing annoyance (grunt, lick, gentle nip, harder nip, etc), really loves nothing more than just being with you in the same room, eats mostly the same foods I do, extremely cheap upkeep. Cons: I can’t really think of one. Most of the issues people have with birds we just don’t have with him. He’s honestly a wonderful, bright little guy. If I had to pick, I’d say that I wouldn’t be comfortable having just one, at least not without a similar sized bird friend of a friendly species, and that they have enormous poops for birds their size. Like, it’s pretty surprising, sometimes. Special skills: one of the smallest birds to exhibit ‘hallmark’ parrot behaviours, like intelligence, mimicry, eating with his feets, etc. Growing up on a farm, I’ve always clicked my tongue at animals, and he’s picked this up and uses it as a human contact call, and occasional query to other birds. mediaphage fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Jan 29, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2020 18:09
|
|
|
DarkHorse posted:You'd better pick him soon, he looks ripe! Ehehehehee HEY GUNS posted:https://www.audubon.org/news/cookies-honey-tangerines-manure-these-birds-have-some-strange-scents Neat; thanks for the share. I smell my birb all the time; he eats enough fruit that he often just smells like honey. I stopped feeding him fenugreek sprouts because he really took on the odour, haha.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2020 18:42
|
|
|
RoboRodent posted:Interesting bird news: This is lovely. One thing we try hard to do is allow our guy a fair amount of agency in determining his activities / location, and I think it makes for healthier birds.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2020 19:54
|
|
|
Rotten Cookies posted:"Cookies, Honey, Tangerines, Manure—These Birds Have Some Strange Scents" Parrot kush
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2020 22:26
|
|
|
good morning blink blink https://i.imgur.com/mhOGajf.mp4 modedit to fix link 
Somebody fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jan 30, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2020 13:53
|
|
|
subpar anachronism posted:Guys you are not helping me not get a pigeon Literally me
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2020 16:40
|
|
|
bird: *acts like he wants to go to his pellets* No it’s fine bird I can just stand here I don’t mind
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2020 01:27
|
|
|
Oh poor thing, hope everyone’s feeling better soon. Not that I’m any font of bird wisdom, but we generally have a couple of towels draping the top 2/3 of the cage, and across the room we have a hue bulb that is covered with a towel and dimmed at night to provide some gently illumination, and it seems to work out well. Traditionally our guy sleeps on a 12-hour schedule.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2020 19:11
|
|
|
It’s funny, Alex is a super heavy sleeper and if you wake him up he makes adorable grunting sounds. One day that I still feel bad about: he got left outside of his cage with it closed back when we were still making him and Hedy comfortable. The light was on and we didn’t get home until like 11pm. I checked on him and freaked out when I couldn’t find him until I saw the lump underneath the towel on top the cage so he could get away from the light. 😭
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2020 19:33
|
|
|
Captain Log posted:Aaaaw that’s adorable. Ahaha. Me, trying to sneak a picture: https://i.imgur.com/kqkgi4P.mp4 modedit to fix link Somebody fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Feb 1, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2020 20:18
|
|
|
Caedes posted:We joined the bird crazies club today with a new addition to the family. If he’s in a room where he can’t get into too much trouble, it might be okay. But mostly I’d wait to leave him open and unaccompanied until he’s comfortable with you - if for no other reason than when he inevitably ends up someplace weird you’ll have to get him. Even if it’s just you spending time in the same room as him so he can get used to his new flock faces would probably help.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 2, 2020 12:55
|
|
|
We don’t put mirrors in our cages. He doesn’t seem to care much about them; I’m not prepared to say he passes the mirror test, but he definitely doesn’t think it’s another bird. Speaking of which...you, uh, gotta a little something...all over, buddy.... 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 3, 2020 17:37
|
|
|
I am glad that our guy is so quiet at night. We are lucky enough to be able to close a door on him, but it’s right off the kitchen so it’s not super duper quiet. Even then, he basically doesn’t make a peep until the light turns on at 7:30. It’s about a 50-50 chance of small screm or clicks as I’m making coffee.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2020 12:02
|
|
|
...henlo....me am (wet) stegosaurus
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2020 21:13
|
|
|
redgubbinz posted:Wanna scritch that stegosaurus Just had to use my nose to do it, hehe
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 00:49
|
|
|
HENLO 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2020 18:48
|
|
|
Kitfox88 posted:What is it with pets and walking into stuff you shouldn't walk in? I dunno; I do it enough, myself.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2020 04:28
|
|
|
Perfect. https://i.imgur.com/pZmGta3.gifv mediaphage fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Feb 22, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2020 21:00
|
|
|
Captain Log posted:Isn't...isn't that sorta...stimulating the bird? That was kinda my first thought, but if they're just doing quick taps, it's probably fine. Lots of birds like to burrow. Also, did something change in terms of forums or imgur? I used to be able to just timg some mp4s, but now the only thing that appears to work is linking the gifv?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2020 21:16
|
|
|
Obviously I don’t have a ‘tiel but we like Hagen’s Tropican. We buy the one with this bird on the cover they’re the smaller pellets: He gets unlimited free pellet feed, unlimited free chop of whatever produce I have that day (I try for one green, one veg, and one fruit in every bowl at a minimum); we also do sprouts for him sometimes. He gets a small bowl of guilt seeds when I have to leave for a while, and we give him single seeds off and on most of the day. He’s been stable in weight for the last year or so. Also, tonight he needed to clean his teeth after the pellets. https://i.imgur.com/w7KYGj1.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2020 01:33
|
|
|
We cheat by putting his seed on the scale and he jumps right up after it. I am hesitant to correct a vet but I don’t believe for one second that coloured pellets do anything at all for a bird’s stool. I have to say I always feel a bit blessed with our little dude because he’s really no trouble. Eats all his pellets, always eats a little of everything in his chop dish, almost never bites (and is very careful about it) or screams, etc. I feel pretty birb spoiled tbh. In re sprouts: if you’re going to be feeding sprouts to your birds regularly, I would like to suggest that you just do it yourself. It’s very easy and quite cheap, and you have less risk of bacterial contamination, which is common with sprouts. Plus it makes functionally infinite amounts. If anyone wants any help getting started doing that I can link the stuff I do.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2020 07:09
|
|
|
he really loves the fridge
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2020 22:18
|
|
|
Captain Log posted:The Calmest Finch. Lol my so said the same thing, we were amazed.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2020 22:01
|
|
|
Cyber Sandwich posted:
My dude just climbs on us while we eat. Usually though when I/we start to eat, it makes him want to go eat his food, too.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2020 12:10
|
|
|
That's pretty cute although I will say we try not to bother birb in the cage as much as possible; I let him keep it as entirely his territory.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2020 19:54
|
|
|
Captain Log posted:If you leave a lady bird to her own devices when that happens, you’re gonna get eggs. A whole host of problems comes with egg laying. For sure, before we had to put Hedy down I was always suspicious of some of her chirps when she was exploring extra-cage areas.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2020 20:15
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 14:46 |
|
|
Plant MONSTER. posted:Mayo bit me once but she was feeling cornered, I think. Same. Alex is very cognizant of bite strength - if you bug him, he'll first tell you no by touching your finger or whatever with his beak and doing a lick. If you keep going, the bites get harder. He's never had to try to draw blood, so I'm not sure if he can, precisely, but neither would it surprise me.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2020 22:21
|
|