Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Jan 21, 2014 13:59:30 GMT -7
Hey Gang so I'm just hitting all categories here on my first day of posting. LOL So Gary's upbringing at the breeders in a flat baby cage caused his tail feathers to be rather ragged. When he was weaned and we brought him home, his tail was a little lack-luster and beat up looking. No biggie I know they molt but now that he's a rough and tumble toddler (flighted) and he's into everything and plays hard and rough, his tail has had a lot of breakages. The longest fan of red feathers are all a mess now. There's only about 4 long ones left and the rest are either missing or broken down half way, leaving a jaggedy rough broken edge. We had a recent earthquake last week which woke him up and sent him into a panic in his cage. I woke and rushed to his aid, but it took me over 20min holding him and trying to calm him on the kitchen floor before he settled down. In the excitement flopping around in his cage before I got there, he lost 3 feathers entirely. They'll grow back yes, but how quickly? And should I do anything about the remaining broken ones? Some are still hanging in there, albeit raggedy but still in tact but the broken ones, are still poked in his tail. Should I just leave them be? Or? he doesn't appear to be a plucker, just rough and tumble. You can see in this shot that they're pretty beat up  The lost  |
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chickabee
Baby Bird
Joined: December 2013
Posts: 16
Pets: Rexley 3years Quaker, Molly 3years Quaker, Maggie 6years Dog, Joey 1year African Grey
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Post by chickabee on Jan 21, 2014 14:24:41 GMT -7
My little joey had no tail when I rescued him and he now has several new red tail feathers. I have had him for about 6 weeks. When I first brought him home he looked like a mess, missing, broking and stripped feathers. His wings were sad to look at as they looked like someone did a hack job on them. Now 6 weeks later he looks so much healthier yet his wings are still far from good. I am so happy that the feathers do grow back and it only takes a few months.
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Post by Adele on Jan 21, 2014 14:58:40 GMT -7
I wouldn't worry too much about the tail feathers. Sometimes they can take up to a year to grow back. It may be even longer because if there is no support, then the feathers that do grow back will break easily. Still, he is young and probably quite playful. Manzi was always breaking feathers and scratching up his face when he was younger.
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Jan 28, 2014 16:44:53 GMT -7
yeah...I've been taking peeks each time he's preening on my lap to see if I see any baby red feathers...none yet. I've found another broken bit of one of the raggedy ones....Out with the old in with the new I guess. Hurry up and grow!!!! The little oil gland above the tail looks very healthy. Its fascinating learning their anatomy. All these nooks and crannies you never knew about before having birds. I raised chickens and whatnot and never knew half this stuff about birds until now.
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Feb 7, 2014 11:47:53 GMT -7
Sooooo Gary was sitting close during his preening session last night, and I glimpsed 3 sturdy dark things in a row that he was poking at. Took a closer look and sure enough, 3 red tail feathers growing in all in a row and tightly wrapped in their casings still. But I'm surprised how fast they're growing in. Maybe that's why he's been an extra grumpy gus lately. The rest are still in sad shape but there will be 3 brand spanky new ones soon!!!LOL
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Feb 7, 2014 11:49:49 GMT -7
He's got grey body feathers that are growing in all over the place and they're growing in almost black...it that usual for them to be darker? the sheath is mostly off the feathers in question so its not just appearing darker they really ARE a lot darker than the surrounding grey feathers on his upper back.
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Mar 18, 2014 13:57:38 GMT -7
Ugh, so we had another Earthquake in SoCal yesterday morning and of course, it happened after we both left the house for the day. My boyfriend, who works closer than me to home, didn't have his car - in the shop, and I'm 35mi away...so we couldn't check back in on Gary. Since he had the total freak out during the last earthquake, I'm concerned with subsequent EQs and how he'll react and us not being there to calm him down. So I fretted all day, and raced (safely) home and he was alive and well, thank goodness but it was obvious he DID freak out to some degree. A few of his flight feathers were worse for wear and ragged along the outside edge on both sides and a very sturdy toy that was mounted on the bottom half of the cage wall was disengaged from the cage. He came right out when I opened the cage, and he did his usual whiney puppy dog routine at me, and seemed fine for the most part. Immediately leaped on my head but he was extra bitey when I tried to pick him up or asked him to step up. So I assume he banged himself up a bit. I had him fly and tried (with little success and a lot of bites) to check his wings for any obvious signs of injury. His feet were red but they smelled like strawberries so it was just the treats I left in there in the morning before I left. Fortunately he hasn't lost any more feathers as a result of the thrashing around in his cage.
whew.....I don't know what to do about this though. We're bound to have EQ's. We're in an area known for them. I can't pad his cage and I can't race home for every tremor.....
What do you guys think??
Here's a funny video of a local news anchorman freaking out over the quake.
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Post by stef on Mar 18, 2014 18:41:45 GMT -7
I put a drop camera in my house so I could check Hector during the day. Now I can check on my phone whenever I want and you can actually talk to him through the camera.
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Mar 19, 2014 10:57:09 GMT -7
what's a drop camera?
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Post by stef on Mar 19, 2014 18:46:39 GMT -7
It's a brand name, it's a wireless camera that you can plug in anywhere, connects to your router and just log in and see what's going on. I have an app on my phone so I can see what's happening live and if you log in from the computer you can watch whatever you want for a 7 day period if you have continuos recording. You can set it to be on when you're out of the house.
I thought I left the cage door open one day, I work pretty far from home (an hour and 20 minutes at best) and made a friend go over and look in the window to make sure I shut the cage door. After that I got the drop cam so I can check in and not look like the crazy bird lady.
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Mar 20, 2014 9:17:04 GMT -7
is it audio based? Can you login to your app and say, talk to your bird? Almost like those 2 way baby monitors? Or can you hear your bird?
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Post by stef on Mar 20, 2014 20:50:44 GMT -7
Yes there's an app for your phone and you can listen and talk to your baby! If I use it Hector does not look impressed but the cat will run in and start looking for me!
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Post by Adele on Mar 21, 2014 6:48:28 GMT -7
I have a camera set up as well. I can't talk through mine, but I can listen to the birds. I keep it on all day while I am at work and have it connected to a free webserver. It is pretty handy and helps me worry less. I used to check it many times per day, but now I only check it about once per day. I do love it when I am traveling cause I can see them at any time (it has night vision so it works in the dark as well).
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Aquakittie
Weaned Todd
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 86
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Post by Aquakittie on Mar 21, 2014 11:36:08 GMT -7
Yes there's an app for your phone and you can listen and talk to your baby! If I use it Hector does not look impressed but the cat will run in and start looking for me! does it also have a website you can login to? does the app and/or site cost any monthly fee to access? I have a camera set up as well. I can't talk through mine, but I can listen to the birds. I keep it on all day while I am at work and have it connected to a free webserver. It is pretty handy and helps me worry less. I used to check it many times per day, but now I only check it about once per day. I do love it when I am traveling cause I can see them at any time (it has night vision so it works in the dark as well). Same question Adele. The website doesn't cost? And what brand is yours? Do either of you have free standing cameras? I'm interested in one that doesn't have to be connected to a computer that's turned on. |
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Post by Adele on Mar 21, 2014 11:54:54 GMT -7
Mine is free standing. I don't have it connected to my computer. It is wireless, but does have a power cord. I also don't pay any monthly fees for the webserver/site. I use noip.com to host the camera.
I will look up the brand when I go home. I bought another camera which had two-way sound and was controllable (I could rotate it around), but it didn't give me the capabilities I was looking for, so I send it back. I will eventually set up another one to give more views, but maybe not till my next move.
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