Urgent Rat Attack

[Pippa]

Ya that little chatter that kinda sounds like a mad chicken or dying chihuahua. I got Pippa a finch nest today. She's been playing with grass and sticks a lot and outside the birds are prepping their winter roosts. I put a little timothy hay in to start it up but now I have her out in my living room so I don't know how she likes it.

 

[Pippa]

Good news she likes her nest! I put in a paper towel after I discovered she liked them. I think she thinks they are dust baths or something. She lays down and preens like nuts on em. And plays with them a lot. She moved the one in her nest off to the side though and was on the side when I came in to take her into the living room. Freaked out when I didn't see her and she wasn't hiding under the newspaper like she has done before.

Other good news is her feathers are coming back in very well

 

[iamwhoiam]

Sometimes I look in Spee's cage and he's nowhere to be seen. I will find him hiding under the paper towels that line the bottom. What color are those new feathers? Is she definitely a female?

 

[Pippa]

IDK! I thought she was but she's losing the feathers around her neck. Her chin feathers came in and looks a LOT like a beard but it's the same buff color as the rest of her chest. The ones outside seem to get the black feathers very last and Pippa is having a very slow molt. I've been getting very impatient with my little brat She got a lot of crabgrass in her tupperware today since it's seeding time. Very happy little bird. The timothy hay in her nest seems to have made her fairly itchy and she's been kicking it out so I added a bit for paper towel. I think we're going to another pet store Sunday to get the dog shots and I'm picking Pippa up some more cuttlebone (she doesn't like the mineral rock with grit in it and the poor cuttlebone deserves to be retired) and some nesting fluff and maybe coconut fiber.

 

[Pippa]

So she looks like she might have some black coming but I think it's just pin feathers coming in. I hope for a girl because even if she's a he he will be Pippa, just what she/he knows but at the same time, a male has a better chance of talking and 0 chance of becoming egg bound.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I didn't name "Spee" until I knew what he was but "Spee" is very generic. His complete name is actually "Spero Spee Sparrow".
You could always rename him Piper or Peppy.

BTW, post some new photos when you get a chance.

 

[Pippa]

Well her original name was Pip (When she was just a teeny little wee bald thing) but it just sorta morphed into Pippa and that's what she replies to when you talk to her. The closest to a full name she has is actually a pet name *no pun intended*- Monkey Bird (aka Silly Little Monkey bird and My Silly Little Monkey Bird). Spee is a pretty generic name with just a hint of very cute masculinity thrown in.

I thought about posting pics today since the cage was clean and had a new setup! But Pippa is a very.... kinda bird. So now the cage will not be nearly as clean as it was today and not even as clean as it was when I put her to bed as morning is her "Wreak Havoc On Everything I Possibly Can Before Mom Wakes Up Time" so I'm sure the pellet crumbs will be scattered and the bee pollen I'm still trying to get her to like will be with it, grass will be strewn and poo will be aplenty. Come to think of it, maybe morning isn't the crazy time it's just slightly crazier than normal time and I've gotten so used to the craziness of normal time that it seems very crazy


Totally off topic but why does the have an upside down horseshoe? Right side up catches luck and upside down lets it all run out. Late night thoughts presented by Laura-When you want to read something but then it goes on and on and you hope there is something good at the end but it's just udder chaos. (Like mother like daughter)

 

[Crazy4parrots]

Pippa is a he
http://www.psmicrographs.co.uk/_assets/uploads/male-sparrow-sparrow-l.jpg
Female sparrow
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Female_House_Sparrow.jpg

 

[Pippa]

Well right now she still has the buff stripe by the eye and her head is brown not grey. The little beard she has is buff still too but the males in the flock around our house seem to get black very last. Pretty funny seeing little birds look all scruffy with just 2 little black feathers on the chest.

 

[Crazy4parrots]

Beak is it black? Or horn colored?

 

[iamwhoiam]

I don't remember how long it took Spee to molt out from juvenile to adult feathers. I remember seeing most of the brown feathers "floating away" and slowly being replaced by grey, white, and black ones. From a pretty unknown to a very handsome boy.

 

[Pippa]

Horn colored.

Pippa is very aggravating. I brought in some leaves from white millet that grows by our bird feeder outside to make a softer nest for her since the timothy hay was very pokey and she's doing a pretty good job but..... She brings a piece into the nest, then picks up a lot of the other pieces *already in the * nest, argues and fusses with them hopping in and out with the leaves in her beak and then drops them all in the nest. She's just leaning and it's really cute but she chooses now to become camera shy and sits with a grumpy looks on her face if I bring the phone out. I did get pictures of the cage today though and I'll try to get a video of the nest building. She's started palying with her toys more which is nice.

 

[Pippa]

He he heh I got a quick video. Pippa's biggest nest building "problem" is not seeming to know to pick grass up off the ground, that and kicking out grass once she's put it in. But that's okay because she'll learn. Or not. Doesn't really matter. She seems really clutzy in the video. And that's because she's being a clutz today. Crazy bird.

And the cage setup is the first pic. I added some more crabgrass seeds since the setup (Pinned up at the top) but you get the gist of it. And a grumpy Pippa in the rest of them. We had a sorta chilly morning with no sunshine. That makes for an angry birdie, and it's not just for an hour or 2, she'll be a bit mad all day.


Anyone notice I finally got the photos to be straight? ^-^

 

[Pippa]

Is it normal for a bird to bob a little when they breathe as they sleep? Particularly the tail but also her whole body just sorta, bobs. She's always seem to done it if she's sleeping flat, not on a perch but I just want to make sure it's not anything.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Very cute photos & video. Spee does bob a bit when he is sleeping. Can't compare that, though, to what Pippa does since I haven't seen that. He does sleep on the bottom of the cage or in his bowl and is always sleeping "flat" due to his inability to perch.

 

[Pippa]

I only notice it for Pippa when she's on my shoulder or the sofa. What all do you feed Spee again? I'm thinking of getting Pippa some Quiko egg food and some Goldy (the insectivore food) but should I get the Exotic Egg Food for finches or the Classic? I feed her mainly Roudybush right now but it's also mixed a little with a sample size of Harrison's HiPo and some bee pollen (which for some reason she doesn't want to eat) plus fresh veggies and a constant supply of grass and some sort of seed. I think I'm going to get some sort of insectivore food for her to boost her protein a bit though. Am I going overboard here? I tend to do that a lot

 

[iamwhoiam]

Spee gets Volkman Avian Science Super Finch and Mazuri Insectivore. He also gets apple and cooked corn. He doesn't like other vegetables or fruit. I used to give him egg biscuits but the brand he was getting was discontinued. There are other biscuits available but I didn't like some of the ingredients they contained. He likes cashews, egg white and oatmeal cookies (only gets a very, very small piece of one).

 

[Pippa]

Where do you get the Mazuri?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Used to buy Mazuri Insectivore from Exotic Nutrition but due to some concerns about the expiration date on the bags (they rebag the product) and inconsistent information regarding this I switched to buying directly from Mazuri. The only thing is that the smallest Insectivore is 3 lbs. and I only give Spee a small amount. However, the expiration date is usually about a year after you get it (actually after it's been bagged) and through refrigeration it maintains it's freshness longer.

 

[Pippa]

I figured out why she likes to nest with paper towels! Duh! It's because she was newly hatched when we found her so she grew up on paper towels, tissues, and toilet paper, not grass.