since ive been MIA...

[DallyTsuka]

figured you guys who remember me... yeah i know been a few months, but it is totally normal for me to disappear every once in awhile... you may want an update.

problem? not much has really happened thats really interesting to talk lengthily about lol

the fids are all doing good, munch's laying has settled down to a random single egg every few months (she has only laid 2 eggs in the last 6 months. wayyyy better than her 21 eggs last year. she was laying clutches last year while this year its just single eggs she just ignores or breaks. so i'll take it over the clutches since she wont stop completely. of course, she gets handfed every time she lays because she loses a bit of weight from it plus it gives an extra boost of calcium too. she loves being handfed as well so makes it a bonding thing as well. but, she plucks every time she lays even though its been twice. shes got a few bald spots (her undertail coverts especially are thin) that have not grown back and lack down. *sigh* she wants to be a bald chicken. next i'll be making sock shirts for her haha

mango continues to be super adorable no matter what he does, and since his cage has been located next to our chinchillas since moving to our new home, hes absolutely in love with them. he has to see what they are doing all the time they do something, he gets all excited when they get treats (so we give him a share too--just goji berries and rice puffs). and they like him too. well, they like his toys. any time he gets a new toy, they go nuts in their cage trying to get at it and play along lol

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9xcooL6w6g"]the chinchilla girls want Mango's toy! - YouTube[/ame]

tsuka has been very moody. he wont bother with us unless he wants to. which is fine with us, but still. he only likes to fly to our heads and play with our hair. otherwise he asks for scritches then chomps the heck out of your fingers. we are working on at least keeping him handlable. he is fine if you handling him for awhile, he settles down, but at first he gives a fuss and likes to lunge at the cage bars and run away when its time to go back into his cage for bed time.

dally is still snuggly. nothing changed with her, aside from her being in a super heavy molt right now so shes like a porcupine.

we've been growing a garden this year and we grew marigold for the birds and tea for ourselves (and the birds, which dally especially loves). so theyve been loving fresh marigold. but its getting cold so soon its time to collect the remaining flowers and dry them for the winter :/

as for myself, ive gotten my fourth tattoo a couple months ago as well

some photos (more will continue in second post)









dally enjoying some marigold and honey tea





more next... in a few minutes.

 

[DallyTsuka]

aaannnd the rest








most evil face i have EVER seen mango make, and it was at a flower. explain that.













one more post....

 

[DallyTsuka]

and then the tattoo. its a bat. bats are my all time favourite animal, if anyone didnt know it takes up a good portion of my calf. but its not finished, but im still deciding what i want to add to it.









thats all

 

[RavensGryf]

Casey, that's great news about Munch! Whatever you're doing to keep the egg laying at bay is really working! Good to hear after all the struggles earlier this year.
I love Mango's evil look haha. It always cracks me up when parrots focus both their eyes straight ahead lol.

Sounds like all the birds and animals are doing well Cool tattoo too, and good to hear the update!

 

[Terry57]

Casey, I have missed you so much, Sweet Pea! It is so good to see you flock again and your wonderful photos
Great news about Munch, finally you can breath a bit without having to worry so much.

Great tat, Wendy is going to go crazy for that, she LOVES bats! Can't wait to see it if you add to it

 

[Betrisher]

Thanks for the update on all your birds, Casey. I'm so glad to hear Munch hasn't been laying so much and I really, really loved all the pics. Mango is so cute!

I also think your tatt is just great and will be interested to see what you add to it. We have Rather Large bats over here (they're about the size of a large cat), so I'll think of you next time I see one.

 

[DallyTsuka]

well, what we do... is she is strictly not allowed to see any of the other birds. period. not even a glimpse of mango. the tiels shes okay with though, but she attacks them so she cant be around them or housed in the same room as them either. she has to get let out of the cage separately from the others. tricky. her cage is beside mango so she can chat with him, but his cage has a white towel on the side blocking her view of him. so she cant see him. if she does see him she instantly does the wings spread and tail up pose, and eggs come days later. so thats a NO NO NO! lol shes not allowed any shreddables. this includes anything she manages to shred into a nest. includes: millet, leather, soft plastics, natural materials, wood, rope, fabrics, fleece, etc. basically, shes only allowed toys made from hard plastic, stainless steel... very very very hard to make her toys now. she cant even have polyrope or cotton twine as a stringing material. not even leather either--she shreds that.

i give her a lot of kinderegg toys, any safe ones without metal bits or tiny parts. her favourites are the little people doll things and the toy cars. she freaking loooooves the toy cars. theyre a favourite of hers. she bashes them around and chases them. plus shes got various other toys. it keeps my mind active too. so any time i see something suitable for her specific needs that i can recycle, i snag it asap lol like thick bottle caps, the plastic empty roll of receipt paper, things like that. her recent favourite is an empty "Yop" drinkable yogurt container. i try to give her new things like that regularly to keep her happy.


also, her cage is situated in a high traffic spot to keep her both socializing in her "isolation" and to keep her distracted from being nesty every time someone comes into the room be it me, my husband, or the cats. shes happy as she looooves new things and isnt afraid. she loves human interaction so shes very happy to always have us giving her lots of attention, though my husband has to be hands off with her.

men have to keep away. she gets hormonal and instantly displays to them...


also she cannot have those cute plastic measuring spoon sets. dont know what it is about them, but she is in love with those too. no mirrors either.


food dishes are too small for her to sit in and too high up to sit under. stainless steel because she shreds plastic ones to bits. we use those stainless steel hamster dishes that hook onto the sides of the cages, but shes figured out how to throw them out so theyre both zip-tied to the side of the cage and clipped with a heart or star shape to keep her from knocking the dishes out (she does it purposely to watch her food spill. not out of spite, but out of her own amusement lol)


she doesnt have a cage grate or cage bottom, just a slide-in acrylic sheet.

her cage is spaced from the wall on the back and spaced from mango's cage so the outside doesnt look like a nest to her either.

she can have all the scritches she wants, unless she starts asking for our hands to feed her by regurgitating (somehow she thinks our fingers can do that.). then its back in cage time and no hands on interaction for a few hours.

all perches are placed at the top and mid level of her cage. nothing low. no low large toys either as they will be seen as something to nest under or beside.


basically, her care is extremely specialized in the ways we have to prevent the hormones. its working but im sure people must think im nuts who dont understand a hormonal monster lol

 

[DallyTsuka]

actually the last egg she laid a few weeks ago, almost a month ago now, she had trouble laying. she was straining for quite awhile, seemed lethargic, we could see the egg but it wouldnt come out on its own. so a dab of almond oil and it popped right out and everything was fine and she went back to normal as if nothing happened. took two seconds to pass the egg with the oil but heck it scared the pants off me.

 

[RavensGryf]

You've really done a great job at pinpointing the sources of the hormonal behavior, and have taken responsible measures to assure that it's kept to a minimum. AND... all that while still successfully making sure she's not being deprived *big applause* as all this took a lot of work and effort over time to get these these things as good as they are today . Impressive. Your birdies are very lucky to have you

 

[DallyTsuka]

but now i have a new challenge with her.

feeding time.


she waits for me on that calcium perch each morning, ready to nab me as i try to grab her food dish LOL


just like this photo, waits allllll innocent too. then CHOMP lol its a game to her.

also you can see how her food dish is set up. she has two like this, one for seed and the other for pellets. both are clipped so she cant dump them.

 

[JerseyWendy]

and then the tattoo. its a bat. bats are my all time favourite animal, if anyone didnt know it takes up a good portion of my calf. but its not finished, but im still deciding what i want to add to it.









thats all

Casey!!! SO nice to have you back!

I :smile015: your Tat. Terry is right, I go Ga-Ga over bats, too. I have 2 bat houses in my yard, both are pretty full, too. Best bug control ever.

Looky, here's a photo of a big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) exiting my smaller bat house at dusk.

 

[thekarens]

I agree, gorgeous tat! I also love bats!

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Casey! It's wonderful to hear from you. I absolutely love reading about Munchlax's latest antics. Terrorizing the poor tiels and such, lol! Her personality reminds me of "little satan," aka: Trixie.
What a great job you've done with getting the egg laying under control.

Mango's is such a cute, little fluff ball and your tiels are as beautiful as ever. Cool tat, btw. Bats are awesome!

 

[Allee]

Casey I'm delighted you've returned. I've missed you and your beautiful flock. Very nice to hear all your dedication has made such a big difference for little Munch. Can't wait to see more of your photography.

Love the tat! Bats are a favorite of mine too.

Awesome photo, Wendy!

 

[DallyTsuka]

hehe the tattooist thanks you for the compliments on the tattoo though i am still learning, i am getting better with it.

wendy! i looove the photo. i wish i could have a bat house here, but in an apartment complex. one day i will! i think bats are just super adorable and theyre just the most interesting creatures on the planet. only mammal that can truly fly, they dont know the intermediate ancestor of bats but theyve been around since prehistoric times, they dont have the hollow bones that birds have to enable flight... theyre not blind at all with eyesight as good or even better than humans, theyre more closely related to humans than to rodents, etc.

munch has always been a handful. always always always. keeps us on our toes lol shes also a major people bird. she loves people.