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Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Chat about general parrot care and parrot owner lifestyle. Bird psychology, activities, trimming, clipping, breeding etc.

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby Pajarita » Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:59 am

Yes, legs and feet are, pretty much, the only clue we have when a bird is old [well, eyes more sunken than normal is another one but much harder to tell, if you ask me]. The skin on their legs and feet gets more scaly when they are older but diet has a lot to do with it too so you can have a bird with more protruding scales on its legs and feet and not be real old.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby liz » Sat Sep 22, 2018 5:59 am

So the ones with pink smooth feet are young?
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
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Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby Navre » Sat Sep 22, 2018 8:49 am

We have had 30ish-year-old macaws who look like they're young.
Midnight, the macaw who was abandoned at our facility "looks" young to us, something about the eyes, but I guess we will never really know. No band, no chip.
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Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby Pajarita » Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:59 am

Well, if you think about it, a 30 year old macaw IS a young bird, still. The thing is that birds are not supposed to 'show' their age. They are supposed to look pretty much the same all their lives until they die. The 'usual' signs of aging don't happen to birds, no white feathers, no wrinkles, no bad or missing teeth, no change in body shape or fat deposits, etc. I mean, they can be ancient and still have perfect plumage, perfect beaks, perfect everything AND produce healthy babies! It's captivity that messes them up and older birds end up with fatty tumors, bad plumage, chipped/cracked beaks and scaly feet and legs. It's not nature that does it, it's us.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby liz » Tue Sep 25, 2018 5:54 am

Yesterday morning when I went in the Tiel room with fresh food, Phoenix was again the first to the food. Tommy was hanging behind the others. He wanted kisses. He always wants kisses. The difference is that he also lifted a wing toward me for me to kiss his pit. Then he turned and lifted the other wing to kiss his pit.

I don't know what that meant but I kissed pits until he had enough and was ready to go eat.
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liz
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby Pajarita » Tue Sep 25, 2018 10:14 am

It's a sexual caress, Liz. As to Phoenix always being so eager for his food, it might be liver malfunction so, if I were you, I would start putting milk thistle and dandelion root extract in their water. You are putting a multivitamin/mineral supplement in there, too, right?
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby liz » Wed Sep 26, 2018 3:46 am

I have not put anything in their water. Where do I get the thistle? What vitamin?
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Location: Hernando FL
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BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby Pajarita » Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:28 am

Liz, when you lost the tiel hen to eggbinding I told you that you NEED to add a multivitamin/mineral supplement to their water. I use one that is made by ABBA but you can get any sold in a pet store and meant for birds. Birds don't get everything they need from grains, seeds and water, they need a supplement. Are they, at least, eating a different leafy green every day? Not that it would be enough even if they were but it would help with betacarotene...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby liz » Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:17 am

I put frozen mixed veggies in with their grain but they don't eat carrots. The only fresh veg they will eat is celery. I don't know if they eat it or chomp bites out while playing with it.

I will contact Fosters and Smith right away for the vitamins and thistle.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

Postby Pajarita » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:43 am

Well, the frozen veggies might not be completely thawed out by the time you serve their food because my tiels used to eat the whole thing -not like the budgies for which I have to carefully measure their gloop because, if I give them too much, they will eat only the grains and corn and leave the rest. I don't know what frozen veggies you add but try adding butternut squash - it comes frozen in bags and it's cut into small cubes so even the little budgies eat it [and it's as good as carrots when it comes to betacarotene]. And try adding baby pureed carrots to the grains [it's pretty liquidy and will stick to the grains covering them so, when the birds take the grain into their beak, some pureed carrot will end up getting swallowed, too]. Give them raw broccoli, too - very nutritious. BUT even when they eat all the veggies and greens, they still need the vit D3 in the multivitamin supplement.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

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