She's here!

[Teri Ray]

That's amazing! Basically a tree on wheels! Has she checked it out yet or are you waiting until it's officially done?

no it needs to air out for a week due to the glue the melamine top was attached to the table with. Next week she'll be playing on it though! I can't wait !

 

[JoJo&Loki]

Billy is going to love the play tree! Doesn’t it make you feel good to have saved yourself a few hundred dollars too? AND it will be exactly how you want it when it’s done I made mine too- I wish I would’ve found a table like that, it’s perfect. Instead I had to enlist my father in law to make the base and attach the wheels for me. Hubby is about as crafty and good at “building stuff” as I am- which is not at all lol

Can’t wait to see it when it’s done!

 

[zoo mom]

The stand is looking good. I can't wait to see the finished project.

 

[Lupen]

Wow that stand looks awesome.

 

[Teri Ray]

3 weeks: Billy's cage sits by our front window and my husband and the dogs pass buy it on their way out to play. She watches them and excitedly calls to them and paces. We finally got a break in the heat wave so I took her on an outing in her backpack. We walked all around the yard, watching the dogs play and looking at flowers. I think she loved it because she didn't say a peep and yelled later until we packed her up and took her out again.
In other news, I'm super conflicted as to whether I'm gonna keep Billy clipped or let her become flighted. The breeder clipped her later then she usually clips her babies and so she mastered her flight skills and got use to flying as her main mode of transport. Three weeks after her clip she's still attempting to fly places. I feel bad seeing how she misses it. Without getting into detail I have concerns for her safety in our household if I were to allow her to become flighted.
On a adorable note Billy is beginning to play with us. She rolled onto her back for the 1st time and stayed thereto while wrestling with a toy hubby was playing with her with. This little one has me wrapped around her clawed foots!

 

[greys4u]

They have a habit of doing that!!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Are you more concerned about a door opening and her flying out or one of the dogs? I remember you saying one of your dogs has a very high prey drive. I love that my Ruby and Rocket fly to me. They are each in different rooms and my dogs have no access to their rooms.

 

[Teri Ray]

Are you more concerned about a door opening and her flying out or one of the dogs? I remember you saying one of your dogs has a very high prey drive. I love that my Ruby and Rocket fly to me. They are each in different rooms and my dogs have no access to their rooms.

her cage sits in the living room at the moment so she can still see us and interact with us while the dogs are out. We've been using a baby gate to block the dogs in the back part of the house while she's out. If flighted she could fly over that gate potentially. Also now because she's clipped I know where she is at all times and am aware when she's on the floor so I can be hyper vigilant not to move my chair unless I can see she's a safe distance from the wheels. If she could fly she could sneak up on me and i might not be aware if she were on the floor and roll over her. We also use our front door a lot. Its right in our living room and that's where we hang out with her at night. The room is pretty small she could easily shoot out the door if flighted. If flighted she could fly to something dangerous and it might be beyond my reach. I understand the importance of flight to a birds mental and physical health but right now the danger seems more then the benefit. I would have to work hard on recall with her to try and reduce the risks but she has to be flighted to do that which means she'd be in a lot of danger until she became reliable at it. She'll begin her molt in about 4 short months and I'll have to know if I'm gonna keep her clipped or allow her to be flighted. I really would love to see her fly but I don't know how to reduce some of these dangers. Your thoughts as to ways to keep her safe but flighted would be welcome.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Beautiful pics of you and Billy Jean! She sounds like such a special girl. Have you read the posts in the forum by @saroj12 about sprouting? I'm sure you could probably gain some tips there, green thumb I think!
Since you are wanting to take her outside some have you thought about a travel cage for her to be in to go out with you and your husband while you're there? There are many posts about birdproofing your home here on the Avenue too, I think. Thanks for sharing her journey with us.

 

[BeanieofJustice]

her cage sits in the living room at the moment so she can still see us and interact with us while the dogs are out. We've been using a baby gate to block the dogs in the back part of the house while she's out. If flighted she could fly over that gate potentially. Also now because she's clipped I know where she is at all times and am aware when she's on the floor so I can be hyper vigilant not to move my chair unless I can see she's a safe distance from the wheels. If she could fly she could sneak up on me and i might not be aware if she were on the floor and roll over her. We also use our front door a lot. Its right in our living room and that's where we hang out with her at night. The room is pretty small she could easily shoot out the door if flighted. If flighted she could fly to something dangerous and it might be beyond my reach. I understand the importance of flight to a birds mental and physical health but right now the danger seems more then the benefit. I would have to work hard on recall with her to try and reduce the risks but she has to be flighted to do that which means she'd be in a lot of danger until she became reliable at it. She'll begin her molt in about 4 short months and I'll have to know if I'm gonna keep her clipped or allow her to be flighted. I really would love to see her fly but I don't know how to reduce some of these dangers. Your thoughts as to ways to keep her safe but flighted would be welcome.

You do what you feel is best but, a clipped bird can very much still fly, so the front door is very much still an issue as is the baby gate. Tibs was clipped by the store and he can get to all kinds of places even when he first came home. As for her being out of your reach, can you teach her to step up onto a stick or a rod of some kind? Just as I said; she may be clipped and unless you're doing a severe clip, she'll still be able to fly. We have all kinds of videos on here of clipped birds flying.
Just food for thought. Recall training would be a good idea to try and prevent some of these issues, clipped or not.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

her cage sits in the living room at the moment so she can still see us and interact with us while the dogs are out. We've been using a baby gate to block the dogs in the back part of the house while she's out. If flighted she could fly over that gate potentially. Also now because she's clipped I know where she is at all times and am aware when she's on the floor so I can be hyper vigilant not to move my chair unless I can see she's a safe distance from the wheels. If she could fly she could sneak up on me and i might not be aware if she were on the floor and roll over her. We also use our front door a lot. Its right in our living room and that's where we hang out with her at night. The room is pretty small she could easily shoot out the door if flighted. If flighted she could fly to something dangerous and it might be beyond my reach. I understand the importance of flight to a birds mental and physical health but right now the danger seems more then the benefit. I would have to work hard on recall with her to try and reduce the risks but she has to be flighted to do that which means she'd be in a lot of danger until she became reliable at it. She'll begin her molt in about 4 short months and I'll have to know if I'm gonna keep her clipped or allow her to be flighted. I really would love to see her fly but I don't know how to reduce some of these dangers. Your thoughts as to ways to keep her safe but flighted would be welcome.

I don't know if you can install a screen door in front of your front door or not but there is an option of one of those screens that close by a set of magnets as seen here:
Magnetic Screen Door - Heavy Duty Mesh & Super Strong Velcro & Magnet Fits Doors Up to 34" x 82" - Walmart.com

In the back part of the house where the baby gate is you could put a tension rod between the walls and put curtain panels up.. sheer like I do to keep my birds from flying out or a more solid fabric. I know if it's a solid fabric your dogs may feel more left out without being able to see into your room. Hypothetically, if she landed on the floor opposite of that gate... would your dogs jump the gate or knock it down to get to her? The other thought in her not being flighted, if she was to land on the floor or a level where a dog could reach her, she wouldn't have a chance to fly away from any danger. Food for thought.

 

[Teri Ray]

A month and a half since Billy came home- We couldn't be more pleased with Billy Jean. She loves to cuddle with me and play with my husband. Husband is now telling her he loves her. Something so cute about a 6ft 270lb man telling a 67gram bird "yes, daddy loves you too little girl" as she plays in his beard. She's sneaking into our plates now at dinner time on a regular basis and eats our vegetables. Dinner time has now become a bit chaotic as she tends to step in our other food too get to the veggies, even at times poohing in my plate. OIY! Occasionally I cheat and give her a few bites of pizza or vanilla ice cream. Lol she's getting very good at step-up these days. This morning she had apple, Brussels sprouts, carrots, zucchini, sweet peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, a few nuts and some Ceylon cinnamon sprinkled on top of her chop. She loves cinnamon and paprika on her food and refuses to eat her veggies if I don't put a little fruit in her chop every morning. Lol The whole food diet seems to be going well. she is gaining weight and is now 67 grams. Is active, sassy and well mannered.. Well most of the time. she bit me for the 1st time. We've been trying to teach her how much pressure is too much by telling her no bite and if she continues to be to rough put her off us somewhere safe. (We very rarely have to do this as she seems to respond to the sound of a lowered voice and stops). She's started to play with foot toys and rolled onto her back for the 1st time yesterday to to play with her ball with her feet. (A moment I've been secretly hoping for). It was so cute made my heart hurt! She did it again this morning so I'll try to get a video to share with you all cause you guys haven't seen enough conures play on their back. No dancing yet though I hope it happens soon because at the moment she sings along to the music.. Conures have terrible singing voices. My husband says she has her momma's singing voice. She continues to make new vocalizations. She has this one she does now that sounds like my husbands big laugh. At bedtime when she's cuddling I'll talk softly like Donald duck to her and she will look up at me so sweetly making soft little quacks, mumbles and trills back till she falls asleep. We take her out regularly on walks in her back pack but I ordered her a harness from leathers4feathers this week. I did a lot of research and they look like the least traumatic to put on them. She loves it outside so much. I'd like to have my husband build her an aviary in the next couple years.
That's all I have folks! She's such a darling little bird. She has stolen our hearts in such a short time so you'll probably keep getting these rambling posts! Lol Long story short we are spoiling her rotten!

 

[Teri Ray]

7.5 weeks - We had a scare this week. Billy was sitting on my knee while my husband and I spoke and as I watched in horror opened her beak wide and bobbed her head then shook it side to side flinging green liquid from her mouth. I've learned much since my first bird passed years ago including the difference between regurgitation and vomiting in a bird. She vomited and I immediately lost my mind with fear knowing it was a Friday night and that Billy was not yet set up with an avian vet. I called several wrong numbers before finding a full-fledged avian vet but they were closed by a few minute. Ugh! I left a message while watching my baby bird uncharacteristically sit quiet puffed and sleepy on my knee. I contacted a parrot first aid group who assisted in reminding me of basic supportive care. We hiked the thermostat to 80 and turned the humidifiers on high. After about an hour she perked up. A little less rambunctious then usual though. We had a couple incidents of her clearing her throat but no more vomiting. (The parrot first aid lady told me to put her in her cage but she just got agitated and wanted to be with us so screw that!) She seemed almost normal the rest of the night and fell asleep on my chest about 10 but I was terrified to put her down. Hubby slept in the recliner while I sat up holding her as she slept till sometime after 1am. Her breathing was fine and she was resting well but I found myself bargaining with God and praying that her little eyes be looking up at me the next morning. I barley slept. When we uncovered her in the morning she was quiet but looking good on Saturday. Got her into the vet as an emergency appointment ($75 vs $125 but peace of mind vs worrying till Monday morning was worth it to me). I didn't realize till we arrived that this was the same vet I'd rushed my poor lovebird to during her last hours of life. I was fighting back tears, painful memories and anxiety as we checked in. The receptionist remembered me, must of felt like dejvu not that many moments in life when you run upon a disabled bald girl with tears in her eyes. We checked in and they immediately took Billy Jean back without us and the waiting began. It was an excruciatingly long hour of waiting. I'll admit it I was just losing my mind and thoroughly annoying my husband with grumblings about why I couldn't be with her. At an hour and 15 minutes they called us into an examination room, STILL NO BILLY. They asked me more question about behavior and history and we were told the vet would be in soon. An hour and 35 mins. the vet comes in WITH NO BILLY and tells me she's absolutely aadorable and that her physical exam suggests she's a very healthy baby bird (yay! Now where's my bird?!) BUT throwing up is not normal for a bird so she could be hiding symptoms of illness and suggested we do tests on fecal, blood and crop as well as swab her nasal cavity. Another hour and 15 mins went by. I took hubby for breakfast as he was getting cranky having gone till 11:30 with nothing to eat and I was driving him nuts waiting impatiently to see my baby girl. At 12:15 I'm finally reunited with Billy after being separated for 2 and a half hours. You would think she'd be over humans after all the poking and prodding.. Not my sweet lamb she jumped on us and immediately began to stroke her head and beak against our cheeks. She was so happy to see us and I couldn't help but beam with pride. Her tests all came back negative. The vomiting is still a mystery. The doctor told us to watch for and journal about any more episodes, she also taught my hubby how to palpitate and check her crop to ensure its emptying properly and there is no gas building up. I felt really good about how thorough they were. I've seen many vets who basically only do a physical exam and fecal test to check for most things. Not reassuring when birds can get serious so quickly. The whole thing felt terrifying. She went from playing and acting normal to puffed and sleepy in two seconds flat. No warning! I'm so grateful that there's an avian vet only 45mins away. I've seen some desperate people who have no avian vet within hours. I can't imagine the fear of knowing there's no help if something happens and they are Injured or fall ill. I was aggravated there wasn't more then one avian vet in the area. It's all over though.. I still held her on my chest till midnight Saturday night just being grateful for the bundle of feathers. Now finally RELIEF! And confirmation Billy is a healthy baby girl!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

I'm very glad to hear everything worked out for you and Billy. I would only suggest having a culture swab ( sterile in the package) on hand so the next time she ( hopefully she doesn't) vomits anything collect that sample on the swab and take it to the vet to have it analyzed. Years ago when I brought Lola home she was on one hand feeding a day. I bought her from a breeder here locally, I visited her home and watched her hand feed. I also watched her on one occasion wash shrimp in her kitchen sink and this is the same area she prepared bird formula. It is extremely difficult to completely sanitize a kitchen when you wash any raw meats or other foods that potentially have contaminates. Lola would vomit after her formula. I saw it once when I was at the breeders house and she dismissed it as giving too much formula... she did have a very full crop when she would feed her. But... when she continued to do that at my house.... nah uh... something wasn't right so I took her to the vet and we cultured the vomit. It was a pseudomonas bacteria. She had to be on antibiotics. I did call the breeder to let her know, she offered to take her back and do the antibiotics but I declined and chose to do that myself so I would know it was done as it should be. This breeder had been raising for at least twenty years but, in her defense she did suffer three brain aneurysms so I think she wasn't on top of her game with cleanliness around the area she prepared food.

I know you feed fresh foods.. just make sure you wash thoroughly and avoid any contact with contaminated surfaces. I've watched on the news the whole thing about " to wash raw chicken or not". The result was 'not' as you may not be able to clean away any bacteria that may have been on the raw chicken. You may not be a chicken eater but I had to throw that out there in case you are. What we do in our kitchens may not be as harmful for us as it would be for our birds.

 

[Nikomania]

So glad to hear that Billy is okay! How terrifying!

I agree with @Mockinbirdiva post that when prepping any food, whether it's for you or for your flock, you must only use a cutting board that's not been used to prepare chicken or meat. In the food industry they actually color code their cutting boards in order to help prevent cross contamination.

Fresh veggies need to be thoroughly washed in a suitable solution: retail veggie wash solution, vinegar-based solution, etc.

Our birds have such delicate systems. Having systems in place for safely preparing their food is of utmost importance to help keep them healthy.

 

[Teri Ray]

That's excellent advice. I looked for the vomit when she got sick but could not locate where it landed. We have many sterile supplies due to my medical needs and could easily sample the liquid if it happens again. I have used a glass cutting board that we've used to cut both raw meat and billy's veggies on. We clean in between of course but i think I should get her her own cutting board now. As far as washing the produce. I've been just rinsing thoroughly but I've read that that's not enough to kill giardia. I don't like the idea of bleach water. What would you recommend?

P.s. So far no more vomiting and she's acting extremely normal again. Eating very well

 

[Nikomania]

Apple cider vinegar solution to wash your veggies in works great! Some make a lemon solution as well. You can also purchase veggie wash solutions.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

That's excellent advice. I looked for the vomit when she got sick but could not locate where it landed. We have many sterile supplies due to my medical needs and could easily sample the liquid if it happens again. I have used a glass cutting board that we've used to cut both raw meat and billy's veggies on. We clean in between of course but i think I should get her her own cutting board now. As far as washing the produce. I've been just rinsing thoroughly but I've read that that's not enough to kill giardia. I don't like the idea of bleach water. What would you recommend?

P.s. So far no more vomiting and she's acting extremely normal again. Eating very well

As @Nikomania mentioned for the rinses. As much as I love kale it's one of the vegetables most likely to harbor bacteria.. @Lady Jane posted about it a while back. A separate cutting board for Billy would be a good thing to do. Glad she is back to normal and eating well.