Post by carlsandclan on Feb 9, 2010 10:31:33 GMT 10
As you may know, I came home with an extra budgie the other day. She has a few primaries on one wing which are slightly deformed, so she can't fly properly. She's also different to other budgies I've ever been around as far as behaviour.
She's a funny little thing - when I saw her, she was rolling quail eggs around the bottom of her cage. She is very maternal! She's also in breeding condition! Her previous owner didn't have any luck breeding her, though. I'm not going to even attempt, even though she is absolutely beautiful. She has her own cage, and we are going to hand tame her.
I have her in quarantine at the moment, until we know what is going on for sure. I suspected that she had some nutritional deficiencies when she was young, and the vet suspects the same thing. We are still testing for PBFD and FM etc, just to make sure. However, the signs are good that it isn't either disease - she is going through a molt right now (albeit a fairly hard one compared to my other birds), and her new feathers are completely normal. If it IS disease, we can still provide her with a great life through good nutrition and lots of love.
It's secondary illnesses that kill birds with PBFD, so if we can keep those at bay, she can have a good life with us.
Her behaviour is another indication that she may have suffered some trauma or nutritional deficiency at a young age. The best way I can describe it is that she's a little 'skitzy' - but at the same time, she is really sweet and loving! It's almost like she has a twitch - perhaps like a hyper kid. Then on the other hand, she is really quiet and calm. Does that make sense? She doesn't spook easily at all, and she loves to listen to you talk to her. She was parent reared, not hand reared.
She's had preventative treatments for lice, mice and worms, which isn't a bad idea with any new bird, really! And even though she was weaned onto dry seed alone, she is enjoying the greens and sprouted seeds I give her.
That is Sandy's story. I was concerned that she wouldn't get the love and attention she deserves, just because she's a little special, and not 'perfect' like most people tend to want. I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to animals - ask my hubby! - I've adopted dogs and birds that wouldn't have much of a chance all my life! ;D If I had the resources, I would adopt cows, horses, sheep, goats.....LOL
Carls
She's a funny little thing - when I saw her, she was rolling quail eggs around the bottom of her cage. She is very maternal! She's also in breeding condition! Her previous owner didn't have any luck breeding her, though. I'm not going to even attempt, even though she is absolutely beautiful. She has her own cage, and we are going to hand tame her.
I have her in quarantine at the moment, until we know what is going on for sure. I suspected that she had some nutritional deficiencies when she was young, and the vet suspects the same thing. We are still testing for PBFD and FM etc, just to make sure. However, the signs are good that it isn't either disease - she is going through a molt right now (albeit a fairly hard one compared to my other birds), and her new feathers are completely normal. If it IS disease, we can still provide her with a great life through good nutrition and lots of love.
It's secondary illnesses that kill birds with PBFD, so if we can keep those at bay, she can have a good life with us. Her behaviour is another indication that she may have suffered some trauma or nutritional deficiency at a young age. The best way I can describe it is that she's a little 'skitzy' - but at the same time, she is really sweet and loving! It's almost like she has a twitch - perhaps like a hyper kid. Then on the other hand, she is really quiet and calm. Does that make sense? She doesn't spook easily at all, and she loves to listen to you talk to her. She was parent reared, not hand reared.
She's had preventative treatments for lice, mice and worms, which isn't a bad idea with any new bird, really! And even though she was weaned onto dry seed alone, she is enjoying the greens and sprouted seeds I give her.
That is Sandy's story. I was concerned that she wouldn't get the love and attention she deserves, just because she's a little special, and not 'perfect' like most people tend to want. I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to animals - ask my hubby! - I've adopted dogs and birds that wouldn't have much of a chance all my life! ;D If I had the resources, I would adopt cows, horses, sheep, goats.....LOL
Carls
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