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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 1, 2010 20:00:21 GMT 10
Me with Coco the Nanday  Lexi ![]() sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs408.snc3/24677_413295132462_687947462_5101401_4964060_n.jpg![]() Lexi  Lexi enjoying her shower!  You have never seen pure bliss until you've seen a bird in a hard moult under a warm shower...  'oops, you caught me'  Grubs up!  Merrick's first day home!  His mansion!  On his perch  His first day in a harness!  Playing with a toy  Squibly, my little ball of perfection   Squibly with his friend Ashling, playing outside  The Lovers  They're always cuddling  |
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Post by conureowner1 on Oct 1, 2010 20:52:00 GMT 10
gorgeous pictures love the one of Lexi and Squibly cuddling together.
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 1, 2010 21:04:53 GMT 10
That last picture is priceless ;D
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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 1, 2010 21:28:05 GMT 10
That last picture is priceless ;D It's one of my favourites! The two of them hit it off a few weeks after i got her home. I supervised them out together and he would boss her around, make her preen him and then they would cuddle. I would never have put two birds with such a size difference together, but she is completely blind and I think having him as company is good for her. Though she is quite confident in everything that she does, there are times when I know having someone to cuddle with can be very comforting. I moved him into her cage about two months ago and they are cohabiting well together. |
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raven
Addicted Member
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Post by raven on Oct 2, 2010 0:05:02 GMT 10
What lovely pics...nice of Merrick to drive home. They all look so happy and healthy...you're doing something right.
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 2, 2010 8:01:12 GMT 10
Your female ekkie is totally blind??? How old is she and how did it happen and how did you come to own her?? All these questions lol "wanna see my badge" ;D My male eclectus Erik (my pet) is blind in one eye. It happened in the nest when he was 3 weeks old. I am not sure what happened exactly but I assume one of the parents jumped on him accidently in the nest......he liked to sleep on his back a lot and maybe he was in the way ......... plus he was their first chick and maybe they just were learning?? Either way he basically has no eye and it has never bothered him except when he was a baby and learning to fly......he crashed into walls, and doorways and he spiralled down ........ he never flew in straight lines. We were going away and I decided to clip him for his own safety and knew that I would teach him to fly when he was older.......... Well at 18 months old he finally flew ;D .......... he would practice on the boing and the rope I have hanging from my ceiling in the dining room........you know "running on the spot" or those "walking machines" well Erik had a flying on the spot lol ........ he did this for months before he got the courage to fly to me one day........and he hasn't looked back since. Every now and then he still clips the side of the doorway or a cupboard......or one of us if we are standing in his way lol. I have pics here of him "flying on the spot" Erik just hanging around  Erik flapping  now getting a good workout without leaving the rope ..... he would just flap on the spot while hanging on with one or both feet.  and then after months of doing this flapping on the spot he finally let go and landed on me. |
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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 3, 2010 14:42:55 GMT 10
Erik is so beautiful! I would love a male. It's on a list of 'one day' birds for us... We are at our limit right now..
Lexi was very sick as a baby. She contracted a sinus infection (i think as a result of aspirating as the breeder said she would scream as she was being fed) and it spread to swell up her brain and sometime during that, she went blind. Her eyes will move and pin, but there's no vision, it's very weird.
She doesn't let it bother her now, she's very confident. As a baby she was a typical clumsy ekkie, falling all the time but after about 7 months old she started to be a little more sure of herself and now she climbs all over her cage, once i change it around she knows where everything is in about 5 minutes.
As for coming to have her.. I met the breeder while i was at work. We started talking about ekkies and how i just lost a sun conure and she bought up the fact she had a special girl who needed a home. She bought her in to see me a week later and that was it. I was in love.
Merrick is actually one-eyed as well. If you look at the picture of him in a harness, you can see the eye looks closed, but there's actually nothing there.
His story is the breeder had incubated the egg and soon after hatching he had to splint the left leg as it was a bit wonky. Not long after that he noticed a redness behind his right eye. After he was a bit older the left eye opened perfectly, but the right one was sunken and didn't open properly. He knew I wanted an amazon and had an already vlind ekkie and offered him to me. I'm so glad I finally got the opportunity to have an amazon in my life! He will clip walls and doors too, but his flying is almost perfect. We can recall around corners, as long as he can see me walk around there he will fly to me. We have accidents sometimes, but having a special needs bird (or two) has been a wonderful experience and I wouldn't swap them for anything! They are 100% perfect to me!
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 3, 2010 15:36:00 GMT 10
yes I did notice Merrick's eye but just assumed it was the camera catching him when his eye was closed. Wow 2 special birdies .... I was always worried if Erik lost vision in his good eye......but you are not the first person I have spoken to who has a totally blind bird (also a female eclectus) and they seem to cope fine apart from not being able to fly. Erik's head is actually crushed on the blind side but now with the feathers it is not as noticeable but in some pics you can pick up the different shape of that side of his head. I was worried he might have brain damage and the vet said we wouldn't really know until he was older.........but he is "perfectly" fine ;D apart from the clipping of cupboards and us and walls etc. This morning he hit the glass door.......which surprised us as he has not done that since he was a baby and learning to fly.....we think he must have been going a bit too fast and just not taking as much notice because when goes crazy when first let out of his cage lol ........ he "screams/flaps/flies" all over the place in excitment lol   this was Erik at 22 days when I decided to pull him from the nest. By this stage I realised he was badly plucked (being my first baby eclectus I wasn't sure how fluffy he was supposed to be.....but he should have been a little black/grey ball of fluff not a half plucked chook) and by the time I saw his eye damaged.........I just couldn't risk any more damage to him........so we are the only family he has ever known.  if you look closely at the 3rd pic you can see the good eye and the rounded shape of the eye and his head on that side....but the indented side of the blind eye and the eye socket. here he you can clearly see his good eye.......he would sleep on me like this right up until he was about 9 months old .... then he thought he was a "big" boy lol (he was actually lying down my shoulder...I think I had a tea towel on my shoulder by the look of it)  These are all baby pics of him too. |
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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 4, 2010 21:38:13 GMT 10
Erik is just gorgeous, i can't stop looking at that pic of him with his wings spread on the boing. You are NOT helping my MBS! lol!
It's funny about him spiralling down as a baby and falling as it seems to be such a common thing for ekkies at that age. Lexi used to scare me so much when she fell as she'd flap while upside down on the ground. i'd scoop her up and calm her down but I would worry she was going to always be that way. now i let her climb because that clumsiness i'd attributed to her blindness was just a baby thing.
Is Erik a 'thinker?' I find Lexi will not freak out at loud noises like the others will. She's quite calm and hasn't tried to fly in a long time. She'll spread her wings and flap, but as she won't take off, i feel no need to clip those pretty wings.
Still can't get over that photo, lol. i keep scrolling up! aaah, i'm in love! <3
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Post by indigo on Oct 4, 2010 23:20:30 GMT 10
BEAUTFUL birds you have!! Lovely mix!!!
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 5, 2010 12:20:23 GMT 10
lolwutbirds.........Ithink all eclectus are "thinkers" ;D and with the spiraling........I have only seen it in Erik. None of the other baby eclectus or alex's did it so I put it down to him only having one good eye. All other babies flew well......but crashed into things until they learned more control. Baldini is now learning control and can land better where she wants to land. Alex has yet to take flight......probably in the next week.
Erik now flies well since he has now learned to cope with one eye and is familiar with where I put everything........he does get a bit "miffed" when I change things around lol
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Post by Laraine on Oct 5, 2010 14:28:05 GMT 10
Nice collection of birds lolwutbirds, they sound like they all have characters. Love the last one of them cuddling......so cute. |
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Post by meandem on Oct 6, 2010 16:40:57 GMT 10
Suddenly I don't feel so alone anymore. I too have my fair share of "special" birds. And just like you - they are 100% perfect to me. |
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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 7, 2010 19:04:08 GMT 10
Suddenly I don't feel so alone anymore. I too have my fair share of "special" birds. And just like you - they are 100% perfect to me. Lol, you can't say stuff like that and not post pictures! i am a picture-junkie. hehe can't get enough! |
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 7, 2010 20:02:41 GMT 10
Ellen has a beautiful female eclectus she handraised from about 7 days??? Chuckles and Erik are the same age.......Erik is about 5 days older and we were showing pics of our "pidgeon pair" at the same time chuckles is missing a few toes.........and the internet "lovers" finally met a few months ago lol This is pic of Chuckles and Erik (sitting in a tree....k i s s i n g lol ;D ) at my place a few months ago. She is the nicest female eclectus I have met.  Oh and Erik was checking her out with his good eye lol |
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Post by meandem on Oct 7, 2010 20:39:05 GMT 10
She is the nicest female eclectus I have met. Thanks Tracey, that is very kind of you to say.  Chuckles and I both love Erik. ;D |
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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 12, 2010 12:00:47 GMT 10
Ellen has a beautiful female eclectus she handraised from about 7 days??? Chuckles and Erik are the same age.......Erik is about 5 days older and we were showing pics of our "pidgeon pair" at the same time chuckles is missing a few toes.........and the internet "lovers" finally met a few months ago lol This is pic of Chuckles and Erik (sitting in a tree....k i s s i n g lol ;D ) at my place a few months ago. She is the nicest female eclectus I have met. Oh and Erik was checking her out with his good eye lol They look adorable! BUT.. you guys haven't met Lexi. She would definitely give Chuckles a run for her money. The way she snuggles into you, holding your finger gently like a dummy and makes her 'oooh' sounds. You'd melt... lol... everyone does. |
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 12, 2010 13:30:41 GMT 10
well treasure your girl Kali.......the nice ones are very special indeed  |
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Post by meandem on Oct 12, 2010 13:39:13 GMT 10
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Post by lolwutburds on Oct 12, 2010 15:38:27 GMT 10
haha, not much  no, i'm sure Chuckles is amazing ;D There's something very special about a female ekkie. I would have more if space and funds would permit. |
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