Stories- ringneck, quaker, and gcc

[shiraartain]

I probably just rounded up for the sake of convenience.
Fajr has never been in the basement, except for when he decides to follow someone down there. The other birds were down there for quarantine, but they're also not there now as it was repainted and they are definitely not returning until all traces of any fumes are gone. (Their cage is too big to put anywhere else, though I'm working on a solution).

They're all kept on a solar schedule, but there wouldn't be too much difference in when it takes place even if they weren't, would there?

Maybe the stress from the leg injury threw him off?

[Wolf]

If it were just a matter of when they went into their breeding cycle, I don't think that there would be much of a problem. But they also need the solar light schedule to go out of breeding condition and that is where the problems begin. Without the low protein diet and the solar light schedule they remain in breeding condition and their gonads continue to grow and grow and grow slowly increasing the pressure on them as well as the surrounding organs causing increasing amounts of intense pain until at the very least the bird reaches a point that it can no longer tolerate even being touched and will lash out in its pain every time someone tries to touch it. Also it becomes a primary reason for plucking and self mutilation as it tries to find some way to ease the pain and pressure.

[shiraartain]

Wolf, I'm aware of that as that's the reason we chose to put them on one in the first place. What I'm curious about is how much difference would there be in the time his puberty took place if he weren't.

[Wolf]

Sorry about misunderstanding your question. I actually don't know the answer for it, but I don't think that the broken leg would have had much if any effect on this. It is my understanding that most of them go through puberty closer to the age of 1 year than that of 2 years old, because of that I would think that he would be finishing up with puberty by the time he was about 18 months of age.

[Pajarita]

Well, the thing is that when baby parrots are born when they are supposed to there is no conflict. They are born a few weeks after the 'good' weather starts, they go into their juvenile molt at the same time that they adults are going through their annual full one (at the end of the breeding season) and go through puberty on the first, second, third, fourth or fifth breeding season after they are born, depending on the species with the budgies doing it the following year and the big macaws doing it three or four years later and actually nesting on the one after that. It's captive breeding that screws things up because breeders, in their quest to get more babies to sell or their ignorance (and there is a lot of that, too!), keep their sexual hormones production up for longer periods or even all year round.

[shiraartain]

He was going through a thorough molt when his leg injury happened, so perhaps that was the adult molt? Regardless, I'll keep an eye on him until Winter.


Just checked the notebook where I keep his records and feathers, it says we got him on 4.16, 9 weeks before that is 3.14

[Pajarita]

Yes, it would have been his first full molt. Didn't they give you a hatch certificate when you bought him? They usually do (not that it's any guarantee because they are done by the breeders so they can put whatever they want in them).

[shiraartain]

No, I was giving an exam that day, but my father received a receipt-type paper with instructions and the date on it. That's what I referred to.

[shiraartain]

Regarding my post about giving Lemon and Clover away:

I'm not sure if I fully meant it, maybe I"m just too stressed right now. There are a lot of factors in play right now.

The two rooms (fight area and cage area) are in the middle of being repainted, so all of the birds are living in my room right now. My room is...very tiny. Think a little over three twin-sized beds. As a result, I try to study at school because the birds start getting very upset when I am in the room and not playing with them. I feel awful BECAUSE I am at school and not spending enough time with the parrots. Everyone loves Fajr, so he comes out frequently, but the other two are not to that level yet. So it's a mess.

The twins have just started middle school and are overwhelmed with the amount of homework, so they do the bedtime routine (dinner, newspaper, covering the cages), but can't manage the playtime outside of the weekend.

Also, the fruit fly infestation which manifested two weeks ago does not help. These flies LOVE the cages....we change the newspaper daily, but since there's a new plate of fruit the next morning....they keep coming back.

I believe it was Liz who mentioned giving them to a forum member earlier. The older twin actually insisted on that in the event that we do end up giving them away, but we're in Michigan and everyone else seems to be in the Northeast. The rescue seemed to be the next best place to me as their facebook page gets requests occasionally, but their birds seem to be very severe cases (almost completely plucked) and I think it would be better to just keep in touch with the owner and talk to her about any interested adopters if we ultimately decide to give them away.

The situation as it stands at this exact moment:

*I am just overwhelmed by the current situation. I'm going to look into Quaker taming a lot more as soon as I get my current pile of paperwork out of the way, and look at everything with clear eyes after the painting is done, the rooms aired out, and everyone is in their proper places again.

Update re: Fajr's puberty. He is definitely not as fond of me as he used to be

On a very minor note I'm also kind of bummed out because I would have loved to adopt one of the conures as soon as they were made available, but I am definitely in over my head right now. Gotta take care of my current responsibilities before even considering any more.

I think that's about everything, thank you for reading through my little soap opera

[liz]

You are overwhelmed at this point. Please try to make the best of it in that you have more time with your babies because they are in your room. They don't know you are doing homework or watching TV. All they know is that you are with them.

If it comes to the point that you cannot survive the situation please use this forum in "REHOME" to let the other members know. Some one may have the exact words you need to help you control your situation.

Very few members give their location in the info box. You may have a member in your town. There may also be a member like Wolf, Pajartia or me who is willing to drive a long distance to rehome a bird in need. I believe the longest trip recorded in this forum is Wolf in NC driving to NJ to rehome a bird from Pajarita. I have only done a 3 hour one way to rescue Myrtle. We now live in FL. My daughter drove to VA to rescue Gimpy for me.

You are not alone. We are concerned about your birds as much as our own.