upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

I've not wanted chicks for a decade, so there are no nest boxes here. But many of my couples have frequent sex loudly and happily. I always know to expect an egg when a couple begins playing under newspaper rather frenetically, scrambling in search of a nest site. One couple has been doing this for the last couple weeks without an egg though. I watch the female very closely whenever that happens for any sign of straining. One of my older hens, a joyous newlywed, was blinded by egg-yolk stroke last spring. There's nothing I could have done to prevent or treat it, but I like to know what's going on with my "babies" even when it's not good news.

In this picture, she's got her groom on her right and their lover on her left. They take good care of her

what a beaut picture!!!

And to go back to your previous post................I don't think you have offended anyone and I do fully agree with you, if a pet is sick, no matter what type of pet, take it to the vets!
It is a shame though that where I live, there aren't any close enough but luckily my "normal" vet who has only fairly recently migrated from South Africa to Western Australia, knows his stuff and happens to loooooooooooove birds
And good to hear (well, NOT actually ) that vets are expensive in the USA as well
I tell my kids they should become vets when they grow up

Claudia wrote:...I tell my kids they should become vets when they grow up

Gosh, wouldn't it be terrific to have a vet in the family?!!!!

I had a vet in the family once (my ex) Naturally, the only times my bird needed immediate attention, he was out of town. Wasn't a promlem, though. We lived 6 blocks from the vet school

BB...I lost a very special bird to yolk stroke several years ago. It was just awful, and it seemed to me that she suffered terribly! I hadn't heard anyone else mention that happening since, until your post.

I have an up and coming vet in the family. My step-daughter plans to be. And I like to think that a lot of the reason she has made that choice is because she grew up with roos and koalas and penguins etc..... because I was doing wildlife work while her dad and I were married. She was the best co-rescuer I ever worked with. She and I didn't even have to talk. We could just go into a situation and know exactly what each other would do. I just have to wait and be patient for her to finish her schooling. I also have a step son in his third year of auto mechanic training...and another that works in the fast food industry. Think I've got all my bases covered....lol!

Avian vets are indeed very rare here. Just out of curiosity I did a yellow pages search for my nearest metro area and there are 422 listings for vets in an area with more than a million people...none of which are avian specialist. That seems really odd to me as common as aviculture is here in OZ....I often walk into our little town, and take a different route each time. I use my ears and know that there are many many houses with various types of parrots. I guess that since early settlers worked out fairly early on that parrots were better as pets than they were as a meal (I know several older ppl who have eaten galah and cockatoo) most vets see them as a regular part of their practice and don't opt to go for the additional formal training to actually be a specialist.

Edit: BB...what sort of branch is that in your photo? Is it Crepe Myrtle? Just curious because I am always looking for new browse for the birds and have a crepe myrtle here, but wasn't sure if it was ok.

Yes, it's crepe myrtle and my birds all love those seed pods that the spent blossoms leave behind.

Your children sound WONDERFUL! You should have had one more, a plumber

ooohhhhhhhhh Patti you make me soooooooooooooo jealous with your stories of wildlife rescue!
That is still my biggest dream and I will one day volunteer in a wildlife park, I just gotta!!!!
There is a bit of Steve Irwin in my kids and myself Wasn't he just one of a kind

BB....I had plumber way up on my preference list when I was single...lol....ended up with a concretor instead. But...he builds really nice aviaries....so....I guess he's a keeper....lol!

Claudia....I have never found anything as satisfying to dedicate myself to as wildlife rescue. And I really love the adreneline rush of those 2 am rescue call outs. Or working with the fireys at bush fires. But to be honest...it is a huge drain on finances as well as emotions too. There have been a few times when it's taken me to the brink physically and emotionally, and it took me a long time to work out that in the end those few animals that I am able to save aren't really making a difference in the big picutre because it's not about the individuals, it's about their habitat, human encroachment, etc... I used to think Steve Irwin was a bit of a nutter, but there was this one interview he did that made me understand where he was coming from, and I could sooo relate to his passion. I just wish I had the energy that he had, eh? I am sure you would love doing some volunteer work in a wildlife park, but a word of warning....the park I worked at....and others I have heard about....tended to take advantage of their volunteers. So just be sure you know when to say no.

thanks Patti
and yep a nutter Steve was but a great one hahahahhaha
It's always after famous people die that you find out more about them........especially the good things as the media is quite quick to show the bad side of people first
I was shocked to hear his family and him lived in a simple modest 3 bedroom house, he spent most of his big bucks on animal rescue! Good on him!

Eblake,

One thing you can observe perhaps, is the day before she lays, she will have a pronounced hump in the same area as the uropygial gland, and if you have scales, a quick jump of up to 5-6 grams can also indicate an egg is forthcoming. One thing that I have noticed is many people who are afraid of egg binding may have birds who are not flighted or very active, or caged for long periods of time. Out of the two clutches Missy has produced, I've never once been worried about her being egg bound, as she is flighted, very active, and eats like a pig, but she also burns it off too. At any rate, the huge poop starts happening about a week or so before she would lay, which coincides with the amount of time she stays in a box, but it's nothing to see a good tablespoon of poop when she does unload. The males will do the same thing as well when they are incubating.

HTH

Sam

A couple of you have mentioned "yolk stroke". What is that???

These two articles mention it briefly:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Cockatiel-Hen ... id=1553066

http://www.funnyfarmexotics.com/IAS/200 ... ll_hen.pdf

My 14yo tiel who was blinded by a stroke last spring apparently didn't have the strength for the pressure of laying her 2nd egg in many years. The ophthalmologist said the stroke seemed to "hit" her ear, rather than her brain, causing her to run in tight circles to the left when scared. She's scared much less often 7 months later, but still does her circles several times a week. The most dangerous time was about 2 weeks after the stroke, when her body was trying to clear the egg particles. Many die during that time. My little girl was lucky.

My experience with yolk stroke was with a Lorikeet..... long story....but I had had a bit of a personal crisis and had to put several birds into boarding for 3 months. This hen, and her mate were returned to me in a deplorable state. I could see that they were underweight from across the room, and they had to be treated for cocci. I thought I had everything under control and that they were on the mend, but one day I could hear Willow screaming as if she were in great pain. As I watched she would act perfectly normal and then freeze and scream for several seconds at a time. I rushed her to the vet (the same one who saw her when I got her out of boarding in such a poor state) and he immediately diagnosed yolk stroke, and told me that it was a matter of unfortunate timing because I had been working to get some weight on her and had increased her protein intake at just the wrong time. Apparently the spike in protein after being nearly starved just as she was getting ready to lay was the cause. To me it seemed as though she was experiencing similar pain to a migraine, but only intermmitently. We lost her within a matter of a couple of hours.

I know this is a bit off topic in regards to Steve Irwin. It was a bloody SHOCK to find out he was done in by a stingray !?!?!? I am a scuba instructor and I have been diving for almost 3 decades. I've dived with stingrays MANY times. Last summer I went diving with giant manta rays and whale sharks. You would think with all the nasties Australian waters have you would think it could be ...hmmm....sea snakes, blue ringed octopus, cone snail, a big ol' salty, bull shark, tiger shark.......?
Every time I see a pic of the Crocodile hunter I feel sad