Vet

[asterroc]

Trip to the vet was fine. She said he's probably male - T$ asked "probably?"

zandperl: can't be sure. birds don't have external genitals, color's even harder to tell w/ luntinos than grays, but the color seems maybe male, and his calls sound male

He's probably around 6-7 years old, she can tell from the bald patch behind his crest that he's definitely in the 5-10 year range, and she thinks on the younger end of that. They're running a fecal matter test - his droppings didn't look like Peeper's to me, and he's soiled around his vent. Apparently birds that've spent some time outdoors sometimes pick up intestinal worms, or it could just be stress and diet and he's a slob. If they find anything they'll let me know w/in a couple days, or "no news is good news." His torn left nare (nostril) is at least 2-3 weeks old, and considering that there's good weather, he could've escaped at least that long ago, so it won't work as an ID for past owners, though it will for me in the future.

The vet's scale read at 86g today (mine yesterday said 90g) - change is more important than absolute number. When she felt him up palpated his torso though, she said he's a good weight - apparently 80-120g is typical for 'tiels, and they do vary a lot. She suggested I not push the seed-to-pellet conversion yet, give him another week of solid eating before I do so. She (or someone else, it was in the back) clipped his nails further and his wings - first 5 feathers on each wing. He's non-plussed at his sudden lack of flight. I warned her when she first started dealing with him that he likes to fly a lot (one of the brochures they gave me on my way out said that lutinos not only have the bald spots on their head, but also tend to be more nervous and have various hearlth problems). He apparently is pretty well-behaved though in that he doesn't bite hard, he just does warning nips as Peeper did, and test nips when he's about to step up on something.

He doesn't like to be scratched yet. I'm trying to train him on the commands "up," "down," and "shake" (never tried the last with Peeper) - he steps up well with physical cues, but doesn't know verbal ones at all.

Yay, bird geekery! I needa take more pictures of him as he settles down for icons. :) "Gabriel" is growing on me.

Comments

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

Yah! (And Verona says "Yeep!" but that may be to the Crows across the street)

He is a pretty bird. Good luck with him.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Hee! :) Peeper used to be really terrified of crows - she had both wings clipped, but would fly nearly to the ceiling if she saw a crow. Since I moved two years ago though, I haven't seen many crows, so I don't know yet if Gabriel is freaked by them too.

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

Freaked out? No! She gets excited and dances around. The only thing better is seagull calls.

She likes them big and dirty.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Peeper also used to type IMs and send them. So far Gabriel's only said "p" and didn't send it. :-P

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

My keys must be too strongly sprung for Verona.