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Jun. 27th, 2006
The Bird/Gabriel was trying to sit on my hand and was having trouble. I saw it was b/c he had large nodules under the skin of his feet (just like how Peeper had gout at the end, though hers were white and his were skin-colored). I got really worried, and hoped he'd survive until his vet appointment this afternoon, but didn't think I could get an earlier one.
</dream>
He's sitting on a picture frame now. When he's not on my shoulder chewing my necklace, he's a twitchy, and flies around the whole room, high up, until he tires and lands on something - this time a picture frame. I hope clipping his wings doesn't upset him too much, but it's for his own safety - I have ceiling fans, and he could easily fly into cooking food, or break a wing on a wall or mirror (he doesn't understand them when he's flying), and so on.
</dream>
He's sitting on a picture frame now. When he's not on my shoulder chewing my necklace, he's a twitchy, and flies around the whole room, high up, until he tires and lands on something - this time a picture frame. I hope clipping his wings doesn't upset him too much, but it's for his own safety - I have ceiling fans, and he could easily fly into cooking food, or break a wing on a wall or mirror (he doesn't understand them when he's flying), and so on.
Trip to the vet was fine. She said he's probably male - T$ asked "probably?"
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 shefelt 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.
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
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.
Me - trivia!
Jun. 27th, 2006 05:46 pmDid you know that...?
Ten Top Trivia Tips about Zandperl!
- Zandperl can smell some things up to six miles away.
- Zandperl has only one weakness - the colour yellow!
- Some birds use zandperl to orientate themselves during migration!
- If you don't get out of bed on the same side you got in, you will have zandperl for the rest of the day.
- Europe is the only continent that lacks zandperl.
- If you drop zandperl from more than three metres above ground level, she will always land feet-first.
- The pigment Indian Yellow was manufactured from the urine of cows fed only on zandperl.
- In Vermont, the ratio of cows to zandperl is 10:1!
- The porpoise is second to zandperl as the most intelligent animal on the planet.
- On average, women blink nearly twice as much as zandperl.