Spotty's vetcheck up & results

[momo]

As some of you may know, I now have a second lovie Spotty. He came home with psittacosis and has been on treatment ever since. I only found out he had psittacosis because of his first vet check up.

I was having a chat with the vet about how Spotty has been throughout his medicine time. His tail bobbing has nearly ceased. He has become alot more vocal through the day. Spotty had a nice big morning poo to show the vet. The vet said that Spotty's poo now is perfectly normal and he didn't take a gram stain. Last time he wasn't happy with Spotty's poo because it wasn't forming properly. But I was so happy to hear it's all good now.

It's time for the physical exam. I have to say, Spotty made the vet look like an amateur in catching fids!! He had to have the lights flicked so he could grab Spotty. :rotfl Once he had hold of Spotty, he was having none of this and was what I could only consider to be yelling birdy naughty words! The vet said it was good that he was being highly vocal.

We had some blood taken, alot more birdy swear words were said. And off he went to check the blood sample. It's the longest most horrible wait for results. It just flooded back all of my emotions for the first test. I started to wonder; have I done enough throughout Spotty's medicine time? Did I mix it right? Did he get enough of the mixture? Should I have kept him away from the window? Or should I have kept him closer to get more sun?...
.... But the vet walked back in with the thumbs up. I could have collapsed to the floor! Previously Spots white blood count was at 25,000. 3x what it should be; this time he was at 6000. perfectly normal. I don't think I have ever felt so much joy in a while!!

We had a chat about the fact that Spots feathers look a bit bad, but because he is pastel/dilute fid he said that they have weaker feathers due to the melanin(sp?) That after his annual molt they will begin to look better.

We also had a chat regarding diet and I asked the debatable question regarding seed and pellet. He agreed with what Linda's vet says and that an all pellet diet is dangerous for such small birds due to the ratio of protein in the pellets and the damage it can do to the gun and that seed was better to offer. I told him that with Elmo I have a seed bowl and I have a pellet bowl and he said that was the best way to offer it because they can judge for themselves how much they need of each.

Now it's time to begin to introduce the two fids together! That sounds like fun.. :x

We are all sitting in the same room together. Everyone in their respective spots. There was alot of yelling in the beginning but both now are doing their own thing in their cages. If one peeps, the other one will follow.

[Pips mom]

Awww, congrats on the great results! and I see you've found a name too! I hope your two get along great and become good friends!

[Enko_chan]

Hooray! I'm glad to hear Spotty's feeling better and has got the feist back in him. He's a real cutie pie!

[bbslovie]

Hi, so happy to hear about the good results at the vet. Here's to success at the two becoming great buddies!

Barb :)

[LovelySydney]

Glad to hear everything went well - I hope they become fast friends!!!!

[LauraO]

I'm glad to hear Spotty is one healthy fid! He's lucky he found his way to you.....I can't wait to hear about Elmo and Spotty's birdy adventures:happy:.

[momo]

Thanks everyone! :) I too and just so glad that Spots is healthy now and we can begin to integrate him into our family properly.

Elmo is being as obnoxious as they can get. I thought I would try my hand at taming spotty. I realised that when I do let them out together if I need to grab Spotty I need to be able to do it swifty.

Anyways.. what started as a step up training session.. ended up being a 40 minute scritch and sleep session!! He really does enjoy a good scritch. For a while I thought maybe I was scritching too hard as I am new to this because Elmo doesn't enjoy a scritch.. I thought I was going too hard because his beak ended up resting inbetween my two fingers (he was standing on my pinky finger) And then I realised that he had voluntarily put his beak there and when he began to close his eyes.. awww.. I just fell in love with him! His white feathers are as soft as they look!.. SOFTER!!

And then I decided that we would move to my bed because I wanted to be able to do something while I was with Spotty so I began reading my uni lecture notes and Spots then fell asleep on my chest while I was scritching him.

here is a small video. he woke up while I was trying to take photos and videos. I couldn't resist though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb-tyhhhZzM

[michael]

Spotty sure is cute!......:)......Hopefully him (is he a male?) and Elmo manage to get along just fine. ..... When I first started introducing Beebs and Goof, I kept a squirt bottle nearby just in case one tore after the other. That way I was in less of a position that limits my ability to separate them. So far, i've never had to use it. ........ Give that Spotty a scritch or two for us, and Elmo too, whether he likes it or not!............:D

[bbslovie]

Aww, that video of Spotty is just adorable! Spotty sure loves the skritches and his new forever home! :D

Barb :)

[Enko_chan]

AWWW AWWW AWWW!! Looks like Spotty LUUUURRRVES his Mummy!

Benny is my snuggle-bug. Freyja and Odinn are tame but they don't like being scritched around the head. Over time I've learned exactly where and how they all prefer their scritches and snuggles. Sometimes Benny's leg will shake like a dog when I scritch him behind his ears!

[momo]

Enko Chan i totally agree with learning how they enjoy scritches the most.. Spotty seems to enjoy.. going straight up the head and straight back down. He isn't really into much of a under the beak or ear rub, whereas I can see that when Elmo gives herself scritches with her toys thats how she enjoys it.

Elmo has been soooo naughty!! I had some millet on Spotty's cage and i had it pegged to the side. Fatso elmo goes over and tries to eat the millet on the side of the cage. Poor Spotty.. I've had to move the millet so elmo wouldn't be a pig. The funny thing is.. when I put the exact same millet from the exact same bunch in her own cage. She doesn't eat it.. or will only take a few nibbles here and there! Such a child...

If Spots goes to eat some of his gum trees, Elmo will race over and try to eat some of the gumtrees too.. I swear it's as if Elmo is the 2yo toddler and I've just brought home a new baby and Elmo has gone into self destruct mode!

I definitely will give Spots a scritch from everyone! oh man.. I think I enjoy scritching him more than he enjoys it himself! hahahaha.

Spotty is so placid; I'm not sure if its because he's a masked face. But I hardly hear any noise from him; he has his afternoon chirp along but when Elmo is trying to argue/talk to him. Spotty just looks like he couldn't care less. Spotty has a swing and that's all he cares about.

----

Am I right to let Elmo out and keep spotty in his cage? Elmo climbs all over Spotty's cage yelling obscene words at him. Spotty doesn't get phased he will eat, preen play on his swing when Elmo is yelling at him. Sometimes Spotty does yell back but I believe it's a.. 'Shut up would you??' yell. Elmo tries to bite Spotty through the bars..

When I keep them in their cage side by side; they don't seem to care about one another.

[michael]

...........Am I right to let Elmo out and keep spotty in his cage? Elmo climbs all over Spotty's cage yelling obscene words at him. Spotty doesn't get phased he will eat, preen play on his swing when Elmo is yelling at him. Sometimes Spotty does yell back but I believe it's a.. 'Shut up would you??' yell. Elmo tries to bite Spotty through the bars..

When I keep them in their cage side by side; they don't seem to care about one another.

I think as long as Spotty continues to avoid the toe bites, all should be well. ... Whats not good, is if you have two aggressive birds who are willing to constantly make physical contact. .... I would hope though, that eventually Elmo begins to loose some interest in sparring with Spotty, or at the least creates some sort of amicable boundary. Complacent as Spotty may be, even he could get the urge to suddenly defend himself. Should that happen, whether ones caged or not, its hard to say who will suffer the most damage. .... Supervision is the key.

In our home, while Goofy is the main aggressor, B.B. is by no means an unworthy opponent. I also consider B.B. stronger and more capable of inflicting serious harm. Most the time when their out together, they do quite well. Other times I have to give one or the other a "little rest"..........:)

[momo]

Yeah you are right Michael.. the other night Spotty had enough of Elmo's mouthing off and bit her toes.. It wasn't sever.. its more like a cut. All is well with Elmo's toes but since then Elmo has calmed down with her aggressiveness near Spotty. She's still interested in Spotty.. but she no longer yells at him for hours on end. She still looks at him from the top but no longer tries to beak fence or yells.

Elmo now is more interested in us humans than Spots. Whereas spotty on the other hand is more interested in his new found interest in his chew toys.

Elmo is a notorious chatter; she loves to go to the bathroom and look at herself and chat to herself and she's quite loud. Mum and I are used to it; but every once in a while Spots will yell at her. Mum and I think it's telling Elmo to shut up. hahahaha.

[FuzzyAga]

The way your two, Spotty and Elmo, act around the gum tree is exactly how my two, Juanita and Petey, will act around anything to eat. I think it's the flocking instinct that says what one has found to eat, we all must eat, for we may starve tomorrow. I've observed this with sparrows, crows, gulls, etc. Plenty of fights over food, too!

If Juanita is eating something, Petey will fly right over and eat it, too. If I'm offering Juanita some sips of rice milk, Petey will make a single cheep that I now know is his way of saying, "Me, too! I want some!" If I'm not quick enough to offer him the cup, he'll make his way to the cup and start sipping, but he's wary of Juanita's bite. Juanita will determine when he can eat, sometimes. I don't tolerate this and will usually have two of everything. Petey can always go to another food bowl, or the other end of the kale.

The dynamics of two or more birds is interesting, and your Elmo and Spotty are certainly proof of this. :) If your two ignore each other when they are in their respective cages, maybe having more in-cage time will let the two relax and enjoy the security of their cages, and allow them to decompress from the stress of the OTHER BIRD, especially when it's all so new. It's my theory that sometimes they, like people, need to get away from things.

This is what I do with mine. Even though they're Mr. and Mrs., they seem to need separated time periodically, and I'm happy to oblige as it gives me peace. :rofl:

Could Elmo, by her behaviour, be trying to interest Spotty in her? It's certainly hard to tell with lovies, but this could be the other explanation for Elmo's peskiness to Spotty.

Anyway, it's good to hear that Spotty has recovered from Psci-whatever.

[LauraO]

Am I right to let Elmo out and keep spotty in his cage? Elmo climbs all over Spotty's cage yelling obscene words at him. Spotty doesn't get phased he will eat, preen play on his swing when Elmo is yelling at him. Sometimes Spotty does yell back but I believe it's a.. 'Shut up would you??' yell. Elmo tries to bite Spotty through the bars..

When I keep them in their cage side by side; they don't seem to care about one another.


I would consider letting them have out of the cage time together especialy if you want them to be friends. Lovies are generally more territorial when they are in their cages. Just keep a close eye and over time they should be able to be out together. There may be some initial spats, but will work through it.

Spotty is a cutie! I'm glad he's taken to scritches so easily! Wasn't he an aviary bird?

[momo]

LauraO Spotty was an aviary bird. I was so amazed that seemed to take to scritches. He will sit in my hands as long as I scritch him but if he sees his bedroom (I don't like calling a cage.. sounds.. jail like! haha) he, of course wants to run back to it.

I am still a bit scared of having time out, ever since Spots bit Elmo's toes. She's after revenge. Last night while the highest rating TV show in Australia was on!!.. yes they had to fight when the good parts are on TV.. throughout the whole day neither of them cared for one another. Elmo tried to bite Spotty's toes back.

I am also weary of letting Spots out.. because he doesn't stay in the play gym or enjoy any of those toys. I just put it down to him being an aviary bird. He won't even stay in one place even if there is millet there. He just tries to fly and fly.

Fuzzy; I still can't decipher Elmo's intentions. I know Spotty couldn't care less. He has a swing and food. Elmo sometimes is really intrigued by him, other times couldn't care less. I just wish I could speak bird or english to them and tell them to get along! hahaha.