wave

[InTheAir]

Hey,

I just have to share Neles latest cuteness!

When we taught him to wave we insisted he would wave when he wanted us to fetch something he has dropped (he likes playing fetch, the opposite way a dog would). He has now decided whenever we have anything he wants the way to get it is to sit tight where he is and wave at us. If you eat a biscuit he waves, pick up your sunglasses he waves, he even waves at the bird in the mirror when he does his boydance for it!

I can't believe how awesome this bird is.

[MissK]

That is so great. I love my bird, too! RIght now he's in the living room, in the travel cage making noises. Right now he sounds like a balloon when you pull the end and let the air squeal out - got that plastic-y sound. A few moments earlier we were calling back and forth with the contact whistle series I taught him. He finally got my two-part whistle response! I think we have to add another part now, since he seems to be looking for more.

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

They are just the smartest birds. Ever since I taught Skye to turn around for a peanut, when he sees food he wants, he turns in circles. It's the funniest thing. My husband was like, what is that bird doing??? It's his form of begging. And now Nele has one too it's annoying if my dog begs, yet i think it's adorable when my bird does it.

MissK...is today the big V.E.T. Day?? Lol, I have to spell it out in my house otherwise the dogs run and hide.

[InTheAir]

Missk, that's great! What a talented little thing Rocky is. Was it 'the timewarp'?
Good luck at the vet! I'll post the reference ranges at some stage soon (i don't have a scanner at home, so it probably won't happen for a few days).
Btw that just reminded me of something; can you play song to him and see if he likes it? http://www.last.fm/music/The+Mamaku+Pro ... que+Part+2 I played it from my phone and Nele flew straight down to sit on my phone and started 'singing' along with it, while perched there right by my face (he doesn't often vocalise when he's that close. I'm curious as to whether it's ringneck taste or just his personal taste.

Skyes_crew, it's too cute, isn't it?
Nele starts adlibbing tricks too when he sees the training treats come out. He's been trying wave and wings at the same time lately... It looks like he's going to fall off the perch when he's too enthusiastic!

you could tell the hubby ringnecks don't beg after a certain age, they simply perform actions that guarantee rewards in the form of food Totally different from dogs ;p

[MissK]

If *ONLY* Rocky could actually *DO* the Time Warp!!!! Say, Claire........ You want to visit, Don't You?.......

Yes, Indeed, today was the big V.E.T. Day. We were a little late, and maybe it was that or maybe something else, but we were at the vet's for three hours. Since we spent $300, you could say we got excellent value? We were both feeling a little weak after that! I really liked our new vet. She was personable and approachable, and she listened when I talked too much. She gave me enough information to understand what was going on and opportunity to probe for more. She was very at ease with my bird. She noted he was fussing at her, but I can assure he has capability to fuss a great deal more than he did, overall. He gave her the evil eye once, but I think he liked her, too.

Of no surprise to anyone, she found him in beautiful feather and overall good health. He had some skin off his foot/ankle but she said it was an old injury and healing well. No telling how that happened. There was one surprise which boiled down to he needs to hydrate. I can't explain that, with his huge water bowl, but I'll take any excuse to buy a watermelon.......

We are to return mid July to check the hydration.

I'll play him that music tomorrow or next day, once we have recovered from the vet, the neighborhood Dumpster Day, and the bird show.

-MissK

[InTheAir]

Omg that would be too cute!
Sure, can we have meatloaf for dinner?
I've actually had the intro song from that movie stuck in my head all morning after writing that post! Guess what we are going to watch tonight...

Your vet sounds great, and cheaper then ours! I'm glad you found a good one. Rocky probably was just bring coy about how much he liked her so you wouldn't get jealous.
Is the hydration a longterm thing, or just from the stressful trip?

Nele tried charm our vet by tucking his head under his wing and going to sleep on vets hand right after the needles were done (we went in the evening).

Have fun at the bird show!

[MissK]

Sleeping on the vet's hand? That's sucking up, big time!

Rocky did stumble when she put him back in the cage. Never seen that before! It was as if he was drunk. Fortunately, he recovered in maybe a second or two, but it did feel like a long time. It was clearly more significant than I realized, because Dr. Vet actually looked a little worried. He had been a bit worked up over the towel, and there was a needle stuck in his neck. Very sleepy after that. Makes me want to pick him up and "save" him from being a sleepy bird in a cage at the vet's. But we all know he wouldn't see it the same way!

The issues is uric acid level higher than expected. His value was 14 - she expected 10 or less. Turns out 11-15 is cause for concern, and 16-20 is cause for alarm. It could indicate need to hydrate or it could be kidney trouble. OR it could be he just has a high value naturally. I guess the re-test will tell. He might have been underhydrated due to the fast, though he did have water at the time.

I'm expecting he will turn out to be fine - he's so far fine in every other way. She even commented that his wing muscles were very good.

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

Poor rocky did she give you some ways to increase his hydration? Were there any symptoms she said to look for? One of my biggest fears is a sick bird. They hide their illnesses so well. Other than the hydration though, sounds like rocky is doing great!!

I always give in to the need to cuddle them because I hate needles and so I transfer my own fears and guilt for hurting them Into a need to comfort. That's when I usually receive my nastiest bites it's good that you have better control. I'm a blubbering mess at the vets office. Usually I need to be cuddled afterward lol.

[MissK]

I'm OK as long as they're not hurt, and if they are hurt, as long as I have a clearly defined action to take. Watching helplessly does me in. Before she drew blood, vet asked me if I could handle seeing blood. I said "As long as it's not Mine."

The only way to really increase hydration is to feed wet food, which Rocky doesn't like. Seems a paradox to run into a parrot who doesn't like messy food! The more I think on it, more I think he was just upset by the evening before and probably off his routine. I fed him in the middle of the night (because of the fast) and stuffed him into the travel cage before I put him back to sleep. Also, it was a long, hot car ride, and a long wait to see the vet, not to mention that the tech stuffed him into a pot for weighing. I asked if that regurgitation might contribute, and she felt it would not.

I'm not concerned about it. I think it was situational and I think his kidneys are probably just fine. The bile acids test came back good. He's a healthy bird! I feel better, actually. I had been more worried than I realized about his liver and lungs, from his Pre-MissK lifestyle. Now I can relax and start expecting him to live another decade or two.


-MissK

[kanundra]

So hope he's better soon.

Played the song mentioned above. And my bobby went crackers. lol.

Just getting him used to some clicker training, he's started to come down for a piece of carrot (his fav) We've only had him three weeks though. He's about 14 mths.

[Skyes_crew]

Well if I had to endure that I probably wouldn't be routine either. What we put our poor pets through for the sake of keeping them healthy. My doc tried to diagnose me with hypertension. I told him to go to the bottom of the parking lot, run a 1/4 mile up hill, and navigate three flights of stairs and then take his blood pressure. Pets, as well as humans, get stress induced oddities. When I take my one dog to the vet, you would think she lost use of her back legs and was one paw in the grave already with the amount of howling she does.

Ill have to try that song...I'm intrigued now

[MissK]

Hahaha! The same thing happens to me every time I go to a new doctor. It's so funny. One of them even put me on medicine - I took two doses. Next time I went in, I told her I never took the medicine and she finally believed me about it. When I go to my GP, who I've known since I was a kid, he tests me and always says "I'll take that any day!".

I bought a clicker. We'll see how that goes. Later.

-Missk

[InTheAir]

Nele knows how to work people, I challenge anyone not to be charmed by him after 5 minutes in his presence.


On top of the stress of the vet poking and prodding them, our little birds don't have much blood in them... Even taking 1ml is actually just under 10% of a normal sized ringnecks total blood (if i calculated it right).... Freaky, eh... It makes me feel a bit faint just thinking about it...

That's great that Rocky has such good flying muscles and is over all pretty healthy.

Kanundra, I'm glad your bird liked the song too. It sounds like your making good progress with him too.

[InTheAir]

Wow, mr mischief (aka Nele or, his own words, 'goodboy doing') has started waving the mirroring foot spontaneously. I have, only taught him to wave his left to the cue from my right hand. He now waves his right foot if i do a left hand wave. I'm well impressed! He's definitely 'Goodboy doing' !

[MissK]

What a smarty-pants!

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

Self taught...I like it.

[InTheAir]

Here's a video featuring his ambidextrous wave, and a pretty rough training session!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=m-jg8a5srl0

He's still only young, and we haven't trained much this week, so he is ultra hyper!

[Skyes_crew]

He is simply amazing

[InTheAir]

Aw, thanks. We think he's pretty awesome, even when he's being a bit of a brat.