Baby Broccoli

[onamom]

Argh, argh ARGH. Well, Little Man MUST be going through puberty, because he is being an @#(hole! Pardon my language, but I just had to peel him off Kirby's cage twice in a row, because - get this - HE was biting KIRBY'S toes!!!

I swear to Christmas little guy. You're cute but you're turning into a terror!

Any advice appreciated. Hoping he loses interest in this new game of his. For now I'll just keep shooing him off Kirby's cage; it's officially a No Fly Zone.

Uh oh sounds like he found a new curiosity! I think Conures are so curious that sometimes they get themselves in trouble and can be naughty exploring what we don’t want them to! My only advice is to keep doing what you’re doing - get him off Kirby’s cage and put him somewhere you want him instead. It can also help to do practice “landing zones” to teach them where you want them to go. Just let him perch on your finger, walk around, put him down where you want him to be, step up and repeat. We did this with Ona and she mostly goes in the good places; though she has a knack for wanting to be on the stovetop which we try to discourage…

 

[ravvlet]

Yeah, removing him repeatedly by hand or with a perch seems to have done the trick for now, but geez. Poor Kirby. I have to watch Brocc anytime he’s near Kirby’s cage because sometimes he just wants to chew on the grass mat, but sometimes he gets a ‘tude and squeaks/fake lunges at Kirby, which has the old man very baffled.

He will glance over to me like, “he knows he’s tiny, right?!”

Kirby gets out time first still and he shows no interest in getting on Broccoli’s cage - he is content to sit at the top of the play tree and nap or groom himself.

 

[ravvlet]

So far so good on the fly front. I am going to change the top soil out of the plants in the bird room and add gnat traps inside the foliage (where the birds do not venture) and let that sit for a few days to a week before I get the garden running again - the life cycle for those little flies is about that long, so I’m hoping if I wait to be sure I’ve eliminated the adults I can safely restart the garden.

 

[ravvlet]

Well, heck. The sticky trap plant stakes came in and both plants have gnats. Darn it. They’re outside for now, waiting for me to repot them. I am going to try adding a bit of sand to the potting mix this time to see if that helps.

 

[ravvlet]

Broccoli is 25% sass and 75% pinfeathers. Fortunately he’s saving all his tude for his big brother, who has graciously chosen to completely ignore him.

Can…can birds get pimples?! I noticed a little red spot on his eye area yesterday and it’s still there today. I am going to call the vet (and apologize for my last email) tomorrow.

It honest to god looks like a pimple, which had me giggling a bit - he looks like a disgruntled teenager.

 

[LaManuka]

Broccoli is 25% sass and 75% pinfeathers. Fortunately he’s saving all his tude for his big brother, who has graciously chosen to completely ignore him.

Can…can birds get pimples?! I noticed a little red spot on his eye area yesterday and it’s still there today. I am going to call the vet (and apologize for my last email) tomorrow.

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It honest to god looks like a pimple, which had me giggling a bit - he looks like a disgruntled teenager.

That spot looks a bit like milia, or more accurately a "milium" as there's only the one. I get them under my eyes occasionally, they're caused by dead skin cells trapped on the surface of the skin. Hopefully that's all it is cos they are harmless and generally resolve by themselves. Good thing to have it checked out by the vet though, just in case it's something else - which I hope it's not! 🙏

 

[ravvlet]

Well, we had the kids back to school orientation today and…I totally forgot to call the vet! I will tomorrow for sure. Today Broccoli got to meet one of my friends who also keeps birds, and he was so good! He stepped up for her several times for banana chips and was very polite.

Kirby was jealous, so she gave him banana chips too. It’s too bad they can’t be out at the same time but given how feisty Brocc has been it’s not a good idea.

His eyes are noticeably lighter! It’s so cool to see them change.

 

[ravvlet]

I sent the vet a photo of Brocc’s little pimple and am waiting to hear back! In the mean time, she did actually respond about the chest feathers and felt confident it’s likely molting - especially since he’s now got pinfeathers and a few fuzzies in places like the top of his head where he couldn’t reach.

Also, he’s finally warming up to the mist sprayer. I misted him some while doing Kirby and he stayed still for it, and then followed it up by using his bath bowl. I bet it gives him some relief from the itchy molt!

 

[MFajardo86]

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Visited the new baby today at the store and put in an order for a DNA test to determine his or her sex. She’s still being handfed but is only on one feed a day, and isn’t very enthusiastic about it, so they think she’ll be done by July sometime!

I drew a sticker to put on her cage label in the meantime.

She is still a baby baby, so she steps up and when she flies off just does so to land on my head, haha. She also lets me gently hold her to my chest when it’s time to go back to her cage. We hung out for about 45 mins and she was happy to sit on my shoulder and play with foot toys and chew wooden blocks.

I forgot how sweet baby parrots are, goodness gracious!

What a beauty broccoli !

 

[ravvlet]

My mom is in town to visit my kids, so I've been sparse!

Broccoli and Kirby seem to be getting along today. I didn't give them coordinated out time, but Broccoli has been hanging out on Kirby's cage today and "talking" to him. They also sat next to each other on the cage wall and chatted and didn't bite at each other, FINALLY. I'm a little relieved, haha. It was a crazy day today because we got a new mattress & bed frame and had to deliver the old one to a friend, so them hanging together means my bird time is significantly less dramatic!

 

[ravvlet]

Dang it to Betsy, the vet asked that we monitor his little eye pimple and that she was hopeful it was just that - a zit. Unfortunately it’s looking bigger today & yesterday, so we will be phoning the vet in the morning to have it examined.

His nails are ridiculous right now - so we will also get them trimmed. Could be that the pimple is bothering him, and scratching at it with his nails is making it more irritated, but either way eyeballs are important! The red around his mouth on the other hand is almost definitely because I added a lot of red bell pepper to their chop this time.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Dang it to Betsy, the vet asked that we monitor his little eye pimple and that she was hopeful it was just that - a zit. Unfortunately it’s looking bigger today & yesterday, so we will be phoning the vet in the morning to have it examined.

His nails are ridiculous right now - so we will also get them trimmed. Could be that the pimple is bothering him, and scratching at it with his nails is making it more irritated, but either way eyeballs are important! The red around his mouth on the other hand is almost definitely because I added a lot of red bell pepper to their chop this time.

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Adolescent acne, perhaps?

 

[LaManuka]

Dang it to Betsy, the vet asked that we monitor his little eye pimple and that she was hopeful it was just that - a zit. Unfortunately it’s looking bigger today & yesterday, so we will be phoning the vet in the morning to have it examined.

His nails are ridiculous right now - so we will also get them trimmed. Could be that the pimple is bothering him, and scratching at it with his nails is making it more irritated, but either way eyeballs are important! The red around his mouth on the other hand is almost definitely because I added a lot of red bell pepper to their chop this time.

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Any chance you have an aloe vera plant that you can cut off and apply a little of the gel from inside the leaf? It has anti-itch as well as anti-bacterial properties that may help your little guy?

 

[wrench13]

re:claw length - put him on a flat surface. If the claw is long enough to lift his toe off the surface, its too long. The whole toe should be in contact with the flat surface.

 

[ravvlet]

Any chance you have an aloe vera plant that you can cut off and apply a little of the gel from inside the leaf? It has anti-itch as well as anti-bacterial properties that may help your little guy?

I wish, but I don’t! I have every other kind of succulent/fleshy plant, haha.

It’s ok - the vet is gonna squeeze us in Wednesday for a drop off exam. Poor little fella.

As for his nails, they’re going to take a look and trim them as needed also.

 

[ravvlet]

Little man's nails are all trimmed!

...And he's on x2 daily dose of an eye drop and an oral antibiotic. Our theory is it began as an impacted feather follicle and he scratched it with his goblin nails and introduced foreign bacteria. He has hardwood perches in his cage & on his playstand - we went over all that! So the vet suspects he just has fast growing nails for some reason. Otherwise his body condition is great and he was alert and playful.

And expensive. Never forget expensive! 🤭

 

[LaManuka]

Little man's nails are all trimmed!

...And he's on x2 daily dose of an eye drop and an oral antibiotic. Our theory is it began as an impacted feather follicle and he scratched it with his goblin nails and introduced foreign bacteria. He has hardwood perches in his cage & on his playstand - we went over all that! So the vet suspects he just has fast growing nails for some reason. Otherwise his body condition is great and he was alert and playful.

And expensive. Never forget expensive! 🤭

Awwwwwwwwww, poor (expensive!) little guy! We made another payment on my vet's Mercedes for him the other day, and the lady in front of us shelled out four times as much as we did! But it's well worth it, and what else are you gonna do? Glad you've got a diagnosis and a treatment plan and I hope the eye comes good for him real soon! 🙏🙏🙏

 

[ravvlet]

Awwwwwwwwww, poor (expensive!) little guy! We made another payment on my vet's Mercedes for him the other day, and the lady in front of us shelled out four times as much as we did! But it's well worth it, and what else are you gonna do? Glad you've got a diagnosis and a treatment plan and I hope the eye comes good for him real soon! 🙏🙏🙏

Yep! My vet has exotic pets so she does not drive a Mercedes either, HAHA, but yeah. Not looking forward to figuring out how to get little man to take his meds and let me do eye drops…

 

[ravvlet]

Best boy took his meds like a champ. He did accidentally poke himself in the eye with the eye dropper (whoops, at least it’s sterile!) but otherwise I didn’t need a towel - just gently held his head in place and gave him meds; then let him recover for a minute and did the drops after.

 

[ravvlet]

I can tell the med routine is decaying his trust a bit - he didn’t want to sit with me as much today, but he still let me do them without a towel and with only a little bit of following him around the room.

However, he still climbed into my lap for our evening wrestle session, where he rolls around on his back and chirps and chews on my fingers! It’s incredible to me that such a small, fragile creature can possess such a great well of trust. I can only hope I’m deserving.

His eye is looking better and his eyelid is no longer swelling to the point that he’s squinting. Hopefully whatever it was is getting taken care of by all the meds.