Questions & progress

[cheryl]

When i got daisy may she was just over a year old, i only had her 5 or 6 months, she shead some feathers everyday but never did a molt.
As far as i can tell sweetypie is not 2 1/2 months old, for one thing no black on her beak, for another her forhead looks like a pic i saw that showed a 4 or 5 month old lovie described as 'first molt looking like measles'. is there anything special other than a bath that i can do to help her feel better, do i need to keep her warmer during the molt? also should i use a hair dryer on low to dry her (remember i'm the one who has to keep the home temp at 68 degrees year round).

anyway the other question i have is about the paper tearing, daisy may already seemed to be doing the tearing correctly but she couldnt tuck to save her life the second she let go the paper would slide out.
sweetypie just tears v shapes out of the edge of paper and makes spitballs, does this mean she is a he? or does she just need more practice, or do i ! :omg: have to figure out a way to teach her to tear and roll the paper the way daisy may did it?

the progress is sweetypie will come out of her cage and jump to my shoulder:happy: , will walk down my arm and stand on arm or hand -hands are ok as long as they dont have fingers.
fingers :( are to be chomped on at every oppertunity, even fingers that are being helpful and holding food or paper to be torn.

i read the 'wont eat millet' thread with great interest because i had the same problem, sweetypie acted like it was something from another planet:eek: ! just today i got her to try it by giving it to her in a clear spoon with saflower seeds which she loves best, she still dosent seem to think the millet, {bought yesterday (experation date in 08?) so it should not be stale} is all that great.
as long as i was on a roll i gave her coconut on the spoon, she tried it and the broccoli i tried next :whistle:, i then quit while i was ahead.
i think ill try carrots tommrow, and maybe corn

nother question, if she dosent take to any other vegies is it ok to use the cornbread every day to get veggies into her, she does eat that, but i was unsure from what i read if it was ok for it to be an everyday thing.

last ones >o, for now i may have been doing daisy's food wrong.
is it ok to give her just veggies first thing in the morning and then put in the seed an hour or so later or would that be considered starving her?
fresh fruit needs to be tossed in 3 hours, what about veggies and the bread?

thanks to whoever answers all these questions:grouphug: .

[BarbieH]

Hi Cheryl;

I'll try answering your questions. If I miss one or two, please let me know. :)

When your bird molts, its not really got feather loss going on; new feathers are coming right in behind the old ones. There's no need to keep Sweetypie warmer, because it's normal feather replacement. Also, do not use a blowdryer on her. If she ever does need a little extra warmth, a heating pad would be better. You don't even need that right now; 68 degrees will be comfortable enough for your bird.

Some birds are better at shredding and tucking than others. It doesn't mean necessarily that Sweetypie is a male, though the spitball thing is usually seen more in males. You don't need to teach Sweetypie a thing; I can't imagine you would be able to demonstrate tucking paper strips into your rump, anyway. ;)

Sounds like your lovie is making good progress in the food department. Sweetypie might be willing to give millet a try if you pretend to be eating some. If she doesn't recognize it, she might not know that it's food. If you pretend to be eating it, she might at least touch it with her beak. That's the first step before actually tasting something.

Yes, it's okay to give her the cornbread every day for her veggie consumption. Still, she will get more nutrients from uncooked veggies, so keep trying. :)

I don't think you are starving Sweetypie the way you are feeding her, so long as you remember to put in food that she will eat after an hour or two, as you have been doing.

Best wishes,