Okay, this is my girlfriend’s cat, Liebchen. He’s an exotic shorthair. Runt of the litter (she’s always had a weakness for the runts, afraid that nobody else will take them). When she got him, he had some kind of feline herpes virus, and within a short time, he very nearly died from a respiratory infection in his lungs. Also, he had only one functioning nostril, which required surgery to open the other one, as he had difficulty breathing. The vet bills really added up there for a while, but he’s fine now.
And this is my cat, Buck, at age 18. Got him as a six week old kitten, and bottle-fed him for a few weeks. He’s just a mutt, but we get along great.
Hal9000
1622
Hahaha, Giles, I LOVE that cat! I love smashed-face critters, anyway, which is why I have my Pups! I will gladly share more photos of my awesome cutie patootie! But be prepared, he can also look like quite the terror!
Also, he LOVES being bathed in sand, and what’s more, he loves fishing! Perfect dog.
Thanks Hal, just what the doctor ordered!
That sand thing is just too cool. First we’ve ever heard of such a thing. He looks totally blissed out there where she’s throwing sand on him!
I find it pretty strange that he loves sand…but he does detest water. I haven’t met any other dogs that enjoy it like it does, but he loves to have it poured on him and to go grubbing around in it. Unfurls his little piggy tail in happiness when he gets to play!
fire
1625
My kid and I got a new pet today!
Her name is Pepper. She’s a parakeet. I’ve never had a pet bird before.
RichVR
1626
Welcome to the Owned by Birdies Club, fire! She’s a beautiful baby.
fire
1627
Help, Rich! She’s not happy yet. How do I up her happy points?
fire
1628
Also, for those who missed this amazing announcement, now your pet can grace herself (and you) with a selfie.
RichVR
1629
For the first few days she will no doubt be nervous and skittish. Change her water every day and make sure she gets healthy food. Some foods can be dangerous. Here’s a good guide:
Also, watch out for non-stick pans!
That site is good for other info as well. If you have any questions, just ask. I’ve been doing this for a while. :-)
Edit: They can learn to talk. Be careful what you say around her.
A friend of mine recently joked that their bird had learned to say the word “country” but wasn’t very good at pronouncing the final syllable.
fire
1631
Yay! Pepper is eating some millet! First thing she’s eaten since we brought her home.
RichVR
1632
Very cool. She will come around. They are intelligent birds and will eventually adapt completely to your environment.
More food ideas.
Eventually she’s going to take a bath in her water dish. At that time you might decide to use a shallow bowl for this. Of course, depending upon the size of her dish, this is certainly acceptable. There is a difference between a parakeet and a cockatoo bathing in a water dish. We give Beaker baths in the shower. I wouldn’t necessarily do this with a keet. A strong spray of water might knock her down and hurt her.
While a lot of people don’t like to let their little birds out of the cage, you might eventually consider it. There are a lot of rules for this. Mainly. do you have ceiling fans? If you do, turn them off. Nobody wants “shredded tweet”. Then there is the door issue. Both of my birds were let out of the house by people who didn’t know better. Luckily we found them, both. The odds are actually against this. So have doors between doors closed. Assuming you want to do this. My suggestion is have your birdie out in an inside room at first. Get her to know to come to you when you call. This is a later stage of training and not appropriate right now.
The first things you teach her is “step up”. Hold your finger at chest height but don’t touch her chest. Birds have a few no-go zones. The chest touch, at first, will get you a nip. Later they may not care at all.
Oh, god, then there is the part when they are around two years old and the hormones kick in…
More about that later.
fire
1633
Okay, I’m confused. She won’t come down off the perch to eat or drink, but she’ll eat out of my (and my son’s) hand. What’s up with that?
fire
1634
AN EGG JUST FELL OUT OF MY BIRD.
fry it sunny side up, I say!
RichVR
1636
She’s older than I thought.
https://avianandexoticvets.com/my-bird-laid-an-egg/
You have to be careful. Is she protecting it? You can let her do the nesting thing for a short while. But eventually the unfertilized egg will go bad. At some point you have to take it out of the cage. UNLESS, she was fertilized by a male when she was in the pet shop cage. In this case I have no idea what to do. I guess you’re a mommy. Hard to tell.
Pictures please?
fire
1637
Well, she was up on the high perch when it fell out. It landed on the rails of the cage bottom, and cracked. I picked it up with some toilet paper and tossed it. It had a yolk inside. Sorry, no pics, because I was mortified.
RichVR
1638
No that’s okay. You did the right thing. Your birdie laid an egg. She did what birds do. Obviously she really didn’t care about it and that’s a good thing. Birds can lay an egg and then protect it like it’s a baby. Then they can have issues if you take it away. You did the right thing by removing it as soon as possible. Some birds never lay eggs. Some do it all the time. And sometimes the bird will protect the unfertilized egg as if it is a real baby.
There are actually fake eggs that you can buy to put in the place of unfertilized eggs so as to calm the bird when you take the real one away.
Birds are very caring about their eggs in many cases. So you don’t want to upset them.
But you’re a doula, right? Now you’re a birdie doula. :-)
RichVR
1639
I have never said shut up Tim before. But Tim, shut up.
fire
1640
At least now the “why are you puffy?” conversation Pepper and I had makes sense.
