Wednesday Welcome!

[Sue]

Hi Everyone :wavey:

Lovely sunny day here but we had ice overnight:eek: , is it May or have I slept through the summer:roflmao2:

My boss is being OK with me now thankfully, he is even prepared to sell my "office" (computer, printer, phones etc) to my new boss and to let the new company take over the phone lines and internet account. In return my new boss has offered to take all my brochures/stationery etc back to them after he visits me, that will save them a packet in shipping.
I am so pleased it's all amicble now:wub:
Also it means I won't lose the internet for long, my last weeks notice is holiday so I may have a week with no connection :(

[Islandzoo]

Hello
Here I am. Good news for your work then :)

It's not very warm at all at the mo is it?! it's sun and cloud here and quite breezy, and about 12 degrees.
what happened to 20 degrees??? !!!

I am sure I'd feel bit better if it was warmer.

[Majj]

GoodDay to all....


Well its great to hear that the "BOss`s" are all being grown up and civilized about it now Sue ...AWEEK with out you here thats a bummer...:( :shrug2: ..

It was a nice day here too bad I didn`t get to be out side , spent the morning on the computer and then went grocery shopping YUK !!! after putting it away it was time to play with the boys ...They like tomorrow they help me most of the day with the cleaning its FUN :dance: Mum gets all hot and sweaty and they get to sit and poop all over me and it doesn`t matter cause its anice hot tub at the end of it ....

Hope you all have a nice day off to bed to read , Joe went to Sydney today and is not home yet 10.30pm , should be arriving soon though...

Take care Chat tomorrow ..:wavey: :wavey:

[Bill]

Good Morning! It is raining here today! It poured Monday and showered on Tuesday...and now it is raining again! The farmers are concerned because they have not been able to get out in their fields; however, they are pleased that we have received the moisture. We would need to have it rain like this until September before we would be over our drought. My first client is not until after lunch but I have things I need to get completed before then. I think I have a couple evals to do on Thursday plus a couple of therapy clients in the afternoon. As of right now I am going to be doing paperwork on Friday. YEAH! I want to get it caught up before July.

Hope everyone has a great day!

[Shirley]

Good Morning!

Great weather here all week so far! Must be the sunshine the boys brought in with their visit!! :cool:

Skyler saw Dr. Cook yesterday b/c he started feather-picking a bit again :confused: at night, and started wearing his lovely collar "at night only" last week. She said he produces as much powder as her M2! and to give him a soaking shower all the way soaked to the skin 1x/wk with daily spritz, which I've been doing, but not getting him thoroughly soaked enough. She also instructed once a month super dilute Dawn dish soap (2-3 drops in a 1/2 gal water) to be sure to get the excess powder and grime off his skin. He isn't plucking badly at all this time; as we are nipping it in the bud. Hopefully, he'll be out of the collar soon. He only wears it at night. He doesn't mind wearing it, still says "Good night".

http://shirleymorgan.com/sjm/Skyler-collar.jpg

[Sue]

Hello
Here I am. Good news for your work then :)

It's not very warm at all at the mo is it?! it's sun and cloud here and quite breezy, and about 12 degrees.
what happened to 20 degrees??? !!!

I am sure I'd feel bit better if it was warmer.

I know Kristie, it is really cold here:agree: Did you see on the news where people were scraping ICE off their windscreens this morning :eek:

[Sue]

Good Morning!

Great weather here all week so far! Must be the sunshine the boys brought in with their visit!! :cool:

Skyler saw Dr. Cook yesterday b/c he started feather-picking a bit again :confused: at night, and started wearing his lovely collar "at night only" last week. She said he produces as much powder as her M2! and to give him a soaking shower all the way soaked to the skin 1x/wk with daily spritz, which I've been doing, but not getting him thoroughly soaked enough. She also instructed once a month super dilute Dawn dish soap (2-3 drops in a 1/2 gal water) to be sure to get the excess powder and grime off his skin. He isn't plucking badly at all this time; as we are nipping it in the bud. Hopefully, he'll be out of the collar soon. He only wears it at night. He doesn't mind wearing it, still says "Good night".

http://shirleymorgan.com/sjm/Skyler-collar.jpg Poor little Skyler, give him a big hug from me:tighthug: :heart:

[vmtwriter]

As I finish my yogurt, I think about all of you in your cold, rainy, snowy places and look out my window at all the sunshine. Wish I could send you some.:confused: :scratchch

Poor Skyler, I hope he feels better. :eek:

I have a hair appointment today to get it cut. Just a trim actually. Nothing major. I get it trimmed every 5 weeks.

Wednesdays are great days, it's over the hump and sliding into the weekend. :dance:

[amazing greys]

Today is grocery shopping for me. Been too busy to get it done, and now a must, lol. Not much going on here, just the normal cleaning and stuff.


Shirley, that's a major bummer Skyler needed a collar again :( I just can't bring myself to do that to Sinbad since he's so nervous. I think it would do more damage than good. Actually the little guy is looking better, got some fuzzies on his chest :D I've noticed the more I do a light misting, the less he picks. I spray that herbal 3x a day and have made it a habbit after that spray, comes the water/aloe mist. He kinda gets into it, and knows its coming after the herbal. He will even come down off of his top toy hanger on the play top to play w/his hanging toy, I think it gets him spunky after spraying, so I encourage that play and then he comes to give me kisses :wub:

Do you notice him picking soon after he goes to bed? I wonder if a light misting b4 bed might help him?


Sue, so glad to hear things are falling into place!! I bet that's a relief ;)

Everyone..........http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/superbirdie/haveagreatday.gif

[Shirley]

About Skyler's picking, Vicki, he feels fine... he's not sick.

In general... he does it when he's kinda powdery/sweaty -- well, birds don't sweat... but tacky-feeling... and it can become an OCD behavior with him.

Yes, I could mist him at night, even though that's the wrong time to do it... but he'd be dry before long, and wake up at 5 a.m. and could do quite a bit of damage by 8 or 9 a.m., even by 6 a.m.

If he takes a notion, he can have his floor covered with downies in 20 minutes! :eek: At least he's not doing this during the day and he's playing with his toys and talking, unlike last Nov through Feb. :eek: :eek:

If you lift his lower abdomen feathers just above his legs... he has a bald spot. That's miles better than what he had last winter. So, caught it early this time and I think we can divert the behavior, too.

Dr. Cook has found that plain water works as well as the aloe vera mix, although it's fine to dilute a little of that in the mist if we wish.

He even flies with his collar on. I might add... he HATED the collar at first. making him wear it is the best thing we could have done under his circumstances... torn skin, infection, WAY over-preening... downward spiral, and that's when we started the clicker training, at Dr. Cook's advice, and it helped tremedously too at getting his attention off his body and onto other things, while his collar was off.

Thanks!
Shirley

[amazing greys]

So he only does this at night? I wonder if he has some seperation anxiety going on there, besides the over powder?


I mist at night (the last spray) but mist him lighter than I would in the day. Just enough to wet the feathers a bit not to soak him. He doesn't pick/preen when wet, so it works here......so far.

I know it can be heartbreaking. Sinbad was feathering so good, even on his back, then he started picking at his chest, but the more I sprayed, the less he picked so I will continue what is working. He has issues w/his chest for some reason, I think that will be the hardest to break. His back looks wonderful though, even w/a few barbered feathers, there's not much of any bald spots there!!

[Jean]

Good Morning Everyone! It is cold with several dark clouds. We may get more rain today.


Thought I'd share this heart warming picture of two of our most precious things in life.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/jeanaskins/graphics/babyandhatchingbird.jpg Enjoy their wonderful beauty. The baby face and bunny costume reminds me of some porcelain bunny babies I made when I made porcelain dolls.


Shirley, the collar looks like a well designed one. How old was Skyler when he first started wearing it? It would be wonderful if we could come up with the magic bullet to cure their desire to over preen
Sending Skyler extra :wub: today.

Bill, I know what you mean about the drought. We are so behind in our national water levels it will take a miracle to pull us out of this drought this year.

Sue, it is nice to hear things are working out so well between your bosses. That shows maturity and a good quality they both share. It makes it more pleasant for all of you to part as friends.

Barb, Your little Sinbad is such a sweet timid little guy. He's the sweetest natured CAG I've ever seen. He was so scared and shaking when he was in the rescue. When I saw him there he was shaking terribly at all the noise of the larger macaws. He seem'd a little better when ever they quieted down. Please, give him :wub: from me.

Majj, have a good night's sleep. Hope to see you later when you get up.

Kristi, burrrrr that is way to cold for comfort. Try to keep warm and don't catch a cold.

Vicki, enjoy that beautiful Florida sunshine. How long have you lived in Florida?

I hope everyone has a nice day.

[vmtwriter]

Hi Jean. The picture is so adorable. I've lived in Florida since 1994, so I guess 11 years. It doesn't seem that long. Sigh. Where does the time go?

[Shirley]

So he only does this at night? I wonder if he has some seperation anxiety going on there, besides the over powder?

No, he's really well-adjusted... they all used to sleep in their regular cages upstairs... well before this happened last October. Dr. Cook made home visits to see if there was anything possible that could be bringing this on... nothing any of us could pinpoint at all. We do pretty much know what started the initial problem... wrong cage floor covering and needing more showers, thus the bacterial skin infection, etc. (I've gone over all this in another thread) and that's been corrected, but you know, once a behavior begins... sometimes it can start up again for any number of reasons or lack of reasons.

She recommended the basement sleeping for total uninterrupted sleep, and that's been working quite well. He never resists, he's certainly not alone (other birds are there, plus his regular buddies from upstairs), and they have nightlights down there... it's a finished basement.

Thanks for your concerns and thoughts... I don't believe this is going to last long... he's a happy camper and playing with all his toys, talking, etc. All normal behaviors he DID NOT DO last time, and he's not picking during the day. He feather picked only two nights last week, and I opted to start the collar, which Dr. Cook 2nd'ed when I emailed her, and then saw her yesterday. For all I know, he wouldn't be continuing, but we aren't about to take chances. We'll wait 'til his tummy feathers return, then see what happens sans collar... :)

Meanwhile, he isn't fighting it at all... having it put on or wearing it. :)

:wub:

[Shirley]

Jean, Skyler was 20 mos old when he first picked. He began the collar 2 wks later, and wore it for 3-1/2 mos 24/7, and another 6 or 8 wks nights only.

It wasn't hormonal... he hasn't discovered he's male yet. ;) All his feather-picker blood tests came back normal, too. :)