Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[Pajarita]

Most likely it's not the name and she is just being ornery. Mine all know their names and respond to them but, sometimes, they don't and I know they are doing it on purpose (like Sweetpea that likes to hide and doesn't come out or answer when I call him).

[liz]

Little Andy goes back to the vet today. I wish he was doing better. He only opens his eye when I wash off the crust that builds up.

He does not like picked up but comes to the side to tell me off after I put him down.

Can't wait until I can give him back to Jackie.

[Pajarita]

Are you providing enough betacarotene with dark leafy greens and yellow/orange veggies? Or giving him a muiltivitamin? How about keeping him real warm? I know it's hot down in Florida but if you have A/C on, it might not be warm enough to help him get better...

[liz]

I have been putting vitamins in the water. I slice dark green celery small enough for the cockatiels to pick up and eat. I also give them romaine and frozen mixed vegetables with their softened grain.

Took him to the vet again yesterday. He has not gained weight but has not lost any. He is eating non stop and dives right into new dishes given to him.
The swelling in his eye has gone down but gets crusty. I have to wipe his eye with worm water before putting his med in.
He does not like his meds and fights back now. Which means he is feeling better. He does not hold it against me and will come to the side of the aquarium I am at to tweet to me.

When I go to the vet I always look in other peoples carriers at their cats or small dogs. The other people do the same. They all get a big laugh when they go to look at my cat and find a tiny bird instead.

Jackie has stopped calling him and Andy seems to have resigned himself to being an only bird.

I got him at a rescue with a seizure bird. Wolf named them Amos and Andy.

[Pajarita]

Liz, lay off the celery for a while - it's just water and salt. Good for fiber and entertainment (they certainly like it!) but to be given once every two weeks or so because you don't want to fill them up with stuff that adds nothing to their health. If you have to give them the same thing almost every day, give them raw broccoli instead. And give them some cooked sweet potato or any yelllow squash (like calabaza, butternut or spaghetti - they all love the spaghetti squash 'noodles'). And give Andy some white rice and good quality multigrain bread (try Arnold's Health Nut or a sprouted wheat one) instead of the soaked seed to get him to gain some weight.

[liz]

I have raw broccoli, sweet potato and cooked rice on hand. I will give it to him today.

I had only been giving the birds really green celery thinking that they could use the green.

I had been chopping their Romain but found they prefer to take bites out of a whole leaf.

Thanks for the info.

[Pajarita]

White rice and white bread are not good for healthy birds but they are great for birds that need to gain weight in a hurry.

[liz]

I gave him the foods you suggested but he did not eat any of it. I will try the bread next.
He has been eating some seed but not sunflower seed.

He is the same weight as he was when I first took him to the vet. My son weighs him. He has a digital scale that he uses for his snakes.

He is much more active now. It is even getting hard to give him meds and takes two of us to do it.

[Pajarita]

Mix the rice with millet seed and see if he eats it this way.

[liz]

He did not eat the bread.

I added frozen peas and carrots to the grain. He ate all the peas and most of the carrots.

I will give him some scrambled eggs today and some millet.

He has not gained weight but seems to be feeling better.

When I wash his eye he will open it and try to use it to see me.

He does not like being handled but does not hold it against me. As soon as I put him down he comes to the side and gives me sweet tweets.

Rambo has been sleeping under his step stool for a few nights now. I don't get it. He goes back to his cage to eat but that is all. The rest of the time she is under the step stool that I put in a cardboard box for him.

I really need to get her to the vet for a check up but with Andy needing medication 4 times a day, spending 3 hours a day with Aunt B and our well pump burning out then destroyed by pump man (we cannot find anyone to clean up his mess ) I just don't have time for anything else.

Rachel is hauling drinking and washing water and I am collecting rain water for everything else. Summer is our rainy season so rain water is easy to collect.

I could use some prayers from the believers in this group.