Merlin has a growth

[texsize]

What a fiasco.

I got to the veterinary office only to find their power was out…. .

They wanted to rush me out the door with another appointment. After the trauma of getting Merlin in the carrier and a 20 minute car ride I did not want to duplicate it.

I told them I just wanted the Dr to look at his foot and tell me if he has bumblefoot or not.

I got my way and the Dr used a lighted headband and toweled him and… and.. there was nothing on his foot.
It was all gone.

But I did get his nails trimmed and a blood sample for a DNA test.

I hope it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle with the power being off and all.

But good news. No treatment or surgery required.

 

[nkrbkr]

That’s great news. I’m sorry to hear it was an ordeal!

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Oh my @ the ordeal to get him to the vet and the power being out! But glad things are looking okay . **HUge hugs**

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I wonder what the mysterious foot thing was. It would seem that a parrot would groom it off. Great news anyway! Did you get a chance to tell them that he was having trouble flying lately?

 

[texsize]

I wonder what the mysterious foot thing was. It would seem that a parrot would groom it off. Great news anyway! Did you get a chance to tell them that he was having trouble flying lately?

No, I didn’t mention flying.
I don’t know how good of an overall exam he could have given in a dark examination room.
Lighting up his feet not so hard but….

They couldn’t run even basic microscopic tests for bacteria n stuff.

I tried to look at his feet this morning and I admit I had a hard time seeing anything there.
The seed mix that I give them does have raisins in it.
It has dried fruit and I was always looking for that cuz it Was Bingo’s favorite.
He would close his eye and chew slowly with such an expression….. but I digress.

Sometimes the raisins come stuck together in a chunk.
Normal I would break them up.

But.
Post Bingo I haven’t been screening the food very closely. No need to pick out the dried fruit and so.

That must have been what it was but how it got so stuck on his foot I can’t guess

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It did look like a raisin.

 

[rheashard2]

Excellent news. Is it possible there's a bit of joint irritation? Enough to cause pain but with little visible signs. A strained to the joint or something. I've accused raisins of a variety of things including rodent droppings.

 

[texsize]

I guess I can figure what happened.

I don’t write much about Merlin/ Luna interaction and their personality. I don’t like typing a lot, it’s difficult with my shake hands.

Luna is the dominant bird when it comes to food.
She always gets there first and well .
Example.

Two almonds one in each food dish.
Luna makes first move goes to first bowl and drops almond on floor. Goes to second bowl and eats second almond.
Goes down to bottom of cage to retrieve first almond on. Merlin is not good at climbing up cage with food in beak so it’s good odds for Luna to score both almonds with this strategy.

So you see if Merlin is eating somthing he likes Luna sometimes tries to take away. This would probably make Merlin “hold on tightly “ to whatever treat he is eating.
We all know just how much force a bird can exert with their feet.

I think the picture is clear.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Poor Merlin! Maybe you should let Luna out first then close the door so Merlin can enjoy some nuts in peace.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I hope you got a discount for a partial exam in the dark!

 

[texsize]

Poor Merlin! Maybe you should let Luna out first then close the door so Merlin can enjoy some nuts in peace.

They have a complicated relationship.
Finding out Merlin’s gender may help.
If Merlin is a girl it might explain their behavior towards each other.

When Luna displays her “I want to mate “ moves for Merlin she literally gets him in a corner of the cage.
Merlin just acts like she is getting in the way and he sometimes climbs over her.
Climbing over her just stimulate her all the more but Merlin is not interested.

I have a whole jar of almonds and I always give enough to foil Luna’s greedy ambitions.

 

[Macawdamia Nut]

This is a crazy story! So happy that your parrot’s “tumor” was a raisin! My bird avoids dried fruits like the plague. I suppose if I see something like this on my bird it really is time for a vet visit!

 

[texsize]

This is a crazy story! So happy that your parrot’s “tumor” was a raisin! My bird avoids dried fruits like the plague. I suppose if I see something like this on my bird it really is time for a vet visit!

It wasn’t a wasted visit.
Nails got trimmed and I should find out Merlin’s gender.
I still think Merlin is male but ….well it’s pointless to speculate when I will know next week sometime.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'm still thinking about Merlin and Luna and the almonds. Have you tried giving them slivered almonds instead of whole ones? They're sold unsalted for baking and cooking. Put a teaspoon of slivered almonds in each bowl. That way the equivalent of two almonds can't get hogged by Luna.

 

[Macawdamia Nut]

It wasn’t a wasted visit.
Nails got trimmed and I should find out Merlin’s gender.
I still think Merlin is male but ….well it’s pointless to speculate when I will know next week sometime.

I had my bird 30-some odd years before I had him DNA tested. I told my vet I needed to be sitting down when she told me in case it was a girl! I had always assumed he was a boy, but science doesn’t lie. They made me a cute card along with the lab results. He is officially a boy!

 

[rheashard2]

Excellent. Did you give Merlin something blue to destroy?

 

[texsize]

Excellent. Did you give Merlin something blue to destroy?

The results aren’t in yet, I will make a separate post.

The seed mix comes with almonds in the shell but there is not enough for 3 birds (Bella likes them too) every day. I prefer giving them in the shell almonds cuz it makes em work for it.
But when my handful of seed mix comes up empty of almonds I add two nuts to each food dish.
The Twins have two food dishes (three actually but never mind) so no mater how fast Luna gets to them Merlin does get his nuts.

But this makes giving medicine in food tricky.
I managed by putting them in separate cages until they each ate the treat spiked with medicine.
I didn’t want Luna to end up eating both shares of medicine.

I’ve seen the slivers of almonds but never bought them. I order the shell-less almonds on Amazon and in Christmas time (coming soon) the bags of in the shell almonds are easy to find.