DNA test results

[Finnysmommie]

Well it is official......
Finny is a boy :D I am so happy to know that since I was resorting to calling him pretty boy/girl instead of just pretty boy.
Now that I know for sure I am ordering him a girlfriend:happy:

I do have one question..... ok make that 2 or maybe three....

1. Finny does not like to take a bath at all. He avoids it completely. I have been using a spray on him to keep him clean and somewhat fresh smelling. Any ideas on how to encourage this dirty birdie to bathe???

2. The Girlfriend that I am getting for Finny is going to be a young birdie. WHat if Finny tried to mate with her while she is too young? Will she let him or just blow him off? What should I do to discourage him from trying with her if she does not blow him off? How old should she be before they do the "birdie dance"? I would really like them to live together after the initial seperation period.

Ok so that was more than 3..but when do I ever keep it to one or two??? :rofl:

Thanks in advance for any and all help!
Cindy aka Finnysmommie

[Mummieeva]

Congrads on knowing Finny's gender. This next line is my opinion. I would not allow Finny and the girl friend to share a cage til she is over a year old. That will help cut down risk of them mating. A to young hen can become egg bound and have alot of troubles. After the 60 day quarintine you cna stick their cages near each other and then see if they get along. She might decide she does not like Finny or vice versa. You can let them have supervised visits but I would watch them closely.



Steph

[bellarains]

Hey Cindy,

YAY!!!!! Finny is Mama's Boy:D

OK, now on to bathing. Running water usually get my birds attention. Both Bela and Cappie like to bathe in y hands under running water. Although we like warm baths, they tend to like cold ones, but you can play with the water temp some till you see what Finny likes best. I cup my hands under the running water, and after a few seconds they work their way down my arm. Cappie jumps right in, where Bela seems to think his feet are supposed to get wet, so he dips his head under the water, and then proceeds to stick each wing in. In the end, we both get a bath:lol

You can also try a bowl of water, and let them hear the water trickle into it as you fill it up. After full, use your hand to make the water trickle, and in general just swish it around. Leave it out for Finny to explore when he pleases. Sometimes it takes awhile, but curiosity usually gets them, and they will check it out. Barb here uses a ladder, and makes kind of a water park for her lovies. I think she has some pics somewhere of her lovies going down the ladder to bathe.

How old is the young lovie you are getting? After quarantine, and introductions you will have to watch them closely to keep them from mating. About the only thing you can do is keep them in seperate cages if they are intent on mating, that is until she is at lease one year old. It may take them awhile to bond, but then again, they may hook right up. You'll just have to play it by ear, and see how all goes before you make any decisions, but I would keep that extra cage handy.

Oh, you know I want some pics of that little girl when you get her home, right???:lol

[Janie]

"It's a BOY!!!" Congratulations! :D

I agree with Steph and Lori about caging them separately till she is old enough to mate. As to the bath question......my older boy, Oliver, never took a bath other than to stick his head in his water dish. He has one little area (left side of his vent) that he picks and I figured a bath would really help but he was afraid of the spray bottle and wouldn't get near the sink when the water was running so.....I hold him gently and I bathe him. I fill the sink with about 5 inches of luke warm water, never letting the water get above his neck, and swish him around so that the rest of his body gets a good soaking. If he's molting or picking at his vent, I bathe him twice a week but otherwise, once a week. While I don't think he loves the idea of me bathing him, he is very good about it and there is no doubt in my mind that he feels much better and less itchy afterwards. I dry him off a little in a soft hand towel and then he preens/shakes/flaps for about 30 minutes inside his cage.

If your new bird likes to bathe, you might see Finny doing the same! My younger two love to bathe in a larger bowl and after watching them, Oliver jumped right in with them! :D The first time I put the three of them together (after quarantine) that's what they did....took a bath together! :D

[Angelwing]

Congratulations! It's a boy!

I agree about caging them separately for now, as well. That doesn't mean they can't have supervised playtime, though.

My birdies love taking baths in big margarine containers. Some of them hop right in! If your new bird enjoys bathing, and once Finny sees her in action, he might want to try it out, too. In the meantime, you can try using a spray bottle, but to my knowledge, most birds don't particularily enjoy that (at least my small birdies don't). Using the tap if the water is safe is also a good idea. They're usually curious of running water. This was how my budgie used to take baths, until the Flood, I believe, and there was a change that e. coli could be found in the water. So he doesn't bathe that way anymore. :(

Anyhow, good luck, and definitely show us pictures of the new little girl when you get her!

[Kathryn]

The Finny MAN! Good news.

Have you thought of what you are looking for in a female...color etc. I have a list of qualities I mentally check off for little mates...Match maker, Match maker...:rofl:

[Finnysmommie]

I do have a color etc. in mind... Actaully I am in contact with someone who breeds now on the west coast. We are waiting for her to get the results of the dna tests back so I can get a little girlie. I saw "Milo" and absolutely flipped for him, soooooo I am getting a little "Milo" colored lovie. I really liked the lupino and cremino's as well but after much debate (inside my head), I decided I have to have a "milo" (funny I still dont know what the actual names of this species is, DF violet????).

Anyway, As soon as the dna tests come back and we are sure the breeder has a girl we are going to be having her shipped via airplane. I could not find any breeders in my area at all that had any of the 3 types of lovies mentioned above, in fact I could not find very many that even had available lovies for sale.

I am excited and anxious to bring a littel girl home and check my email several times a day awaiting results :-)

Cindy

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Oh lordy, another Milobird ... :happy: To answer your question, Milo is a whiteface double violet with one dark factor.

[mjm8321]

Hahahaaaa! Yet another Milo Birdy. I have a Milo Birdy too, named Tater that is a Single Dark Factor Violet...they can be hard to find at times.

Cindy, I've sent you a PM.

[Mummieeva]

I have a Milo bird too. Baggy is a Whitefaced violet.



Steph

[Janie]

Yep, Milo started a real stampede to the "Darkside"....:rofl:

I got me one of them "Milo" birdies, too! :D