Many must have read about Kermit’s visit to the vet last Saturday. Thanks to everyone for your concerns about Kermit’s condition. He’s doing perfectly well and I’m confident that his current condition will improve.
Although Kermit is still undergoing medication, he still remain active and positive. Everyday seems like a new day of adventure and he is full of surprises.
Indeed, he did surprise me again yesterday with his new mischievous act.
Notice the blue and yellow colored rings on the playstand in the picture (By the way can you spot Kiki in the picture?) on the left?
Those are actually meant to be foot toys for Kermit and Kiki. Apparently, Kermit had devised a new way of playing them. I truly adore his innovation of “Play Hard 101”. So for now, let me unveil Kermit’s new innovating way of playing the toys rings – “Splash-O-Slam Dunk”.
It’s Kermit’s own verse of Slam Dunk – removing the rings and dunk them in the water bowl. It’s fun watching him doing it and he enjoys doing it, but hard on me! He created a whole lot mess and splashes around the playstand!
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Today I brought Kermit over to the vet for consultation. Don’t worry folks, Kermit is alright and he is not seriously ill.
Just that I noticed some slight symptoms on Kermit which I found disturbing, thus I decided not to wait and bring him over to the vet immediately.
Kermit seems to be having bad breathes lately and having protruding breast bone. I can feel the keel is sharp. These are not good signs.
Bad breathes can be a sign of Yeast Infection also known as Candida, and this is what I fear most as candida is contagious and can be spread to other birds that get in contact with Kermit.
Next, the issue on protruding breast bone simply signifies that Kermit can be severely underweight. I’ve a kitchen scale and I do regularly keep weight records of Kermit. Kermit weighs an average weight of 130 grams and this indicates that Kermit is of an acceptable weight.
Based on Parrot Average Weight Chart provided on Avianweb.com, a healthy Senegal weighs around 110 -130 grams. I’m totally clueless about Kermit’s protruding breast bone when he falls in between the acceptable weight range.
I brought Kermit to Dr Kenneth Tong from Animal & Avian Veterinary Clinic located at Yishun Street 71, Singapore. It’s my first visit to the Animal & Avian Veterinary Clinic, but I’m really impressed with Dr Kenneth and his team’s friendliness and professionalism.
Back about Kermit’s check-up, Dr Kenneth did a few Q&A with me to find out more details and situation of Kermit. First, he did a weight test for Kermit, apparently Kermit weighs 130 grams. Kermit indeed seems fine from the readings on the weighing scale, but the protruding breast bone did drew Dr Kenneth’s attention. Dr Kenneth observed the feces samples, appearing that Kermit’s poops are okay without any abnormalities.
As for the issue on bad breath, Dr Kenneth did a close examination in within the beak. He noticed some mild discharge appear in within, but he added that it’s actually a small issue and not to be too worry of.
After several examinations and tests, Dr Kenneth indicated that Kermit seems to be alright and he’s also totally clueless about the protruding breast bone (weight loss) issue. He added it might be the result of stress, as Kermit is undergoing his first molting.
Kermit was provided with Multi-vitamins and Antibiotics to assist him in improving his current physical condition. In three weeks time, Kermit will be coming back for a medical review before making any diagnosis and treatment if his condition doesn’t improve.
Let’s pray and hope Kermit’s condition will gradually improve!
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During this evening, I was lucky to capture a funny video of Kermit. He never fails to make people laugh at his silly acts.
Lately I just bought Kermit a toy ball. I took nearly a week for him completely get use to it and not fear of it. This evening, I was lured by ear-splitting rings from the toy ball and I decided to take a look at what Kermit was messing about.
For a moment, he was lying on his back enjoying and playing with the ball. He did look like a seal juggling with a ball at that moment. Few minutes later, I saw him tossing madly and forcing the toy ball out of his territory.
So is that Love or Hate? Perhaps you shall be the judge.
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You Don’t Need Fancy Toys to Keep Parrot Happy
Boredom is always the number one factor contributing to most parrot behavior problems. Providing parrots with lots of toys is one way to fight boredom. Like most parrot trainers and owners always like to say, “A busy bird is a happy bird!”
I totally agree with the saying. Just imagine you are trapped in your bedroom with nothing else to do, no other items around to keep you entertained. Definitely you will be bored stiff and want to get out. Parrots are like humans, they need mental stimulant like toys to keep them entertained.
One of the biggest complaints from parrot owners are that parrot toys and accessories are expensive and many feel that it’s not worth buying them. Well I totally agree that these toys are expensive, but toys are necessities. It’s worth investment to keep parrots busy and happy, it’s one solution to prevent behavior problems.
Seriously you don’t really need to buy fancy toys just to keep your parrot happy. You can make them out of any household items. It’s economical and parrots love them too!
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Tags: Bird Toys, Parrot Toys
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Weather has been bad lately. Either it can goes as hot and humid than usual or rainy and wet throughout the whole day.
The big phenomenon in the climate does bring some worries whether Kermit and Kiki can really handle the change.
Yesterday was just another hot and sunny afternoon. Kiki will just perch on the playstand enjoying her usual day meal while I’m working on project and returning email from my work desk nearby.
About 45 minutes later, I noticed a complete silence in the activity room. Surprisingly, I spotted Kiki tugging in and napping on the crock cup. I tried to capture at that very moment, but apparently the “clicking” sound from the camera had woke Kiki up accidentally. I felt really apologetic for causing the disturbance.
Talking about bird sleep, I’m sure almost all bird owners have noticed that birds are very sensitive to surrounding even they asleep. The slightest sound or movement of the surroundings can alarm and work them up immediately. The interesting part, birds don’t really close both eyes during sleep. I noticed Kermit and Kiki while napping they tend to open their eyes on one side, perhaps to maintain vigilant to watch out for any dangers.
Guess it’s just their natural instincts!
Related Post:
To Cover or Not to Cover?
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What I Hate About Commercial Seed Mixes
Previously I wrote about ethoxyquin found on some of the commercial seed mixes that can posed dangers to parrots’ health. Although there are some commercial seed mixes are free from ethoxyquin, naturally preserved and truly organic, but they still have one thing in common that I hated most.
Sunflower Seeds! Well not the sunflower seeds that rose the hatred but just that commercial seed mixes are flooded with too many sunflower seeds. The picture of the big pack of sunflower seeds, are actually sunflower seeds extracted from 1.5kg of quality commercial seed mixes and I stored them in Zip-lock bags as treats for future training purposes.
Reasonably amount of sunflower seeds can be healthy in providing the required vitamin E and fatty acids that are essential to parrots. Anything that are excessive or too much can be unhealthy. We all know that parrots are programmed to love seeds especially SUNFLOWER seeds. Parrots just “worship” them.
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Tags: Bird Food, Bird Health, Bird Seed, Parrot Diet, Parrot Food, Parrot Health & Diet
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Back to the basics again. This round no fancy props, but common empty paper towel roller that can be found in almost every household. So what Kiki going to perform this time with the empty roller?
Just like what the title says, it’s her own Tunnel Trick. A relatively simple trick, but interesting and fun trick that able to kill any boredom and motivating her to continue to learn new things.
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Tags: Agapornis, Bird, Bird Training, Bird Tricks, Bird Video, Companion Parrot, Kiki, Lovebirds, Parrot, Parrot Training, Parrot Tricks, Pet Bird
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Make Careful Considerations Before Getting a Parrot
Lately I received emails seeking for my opinion on which parrot is better and quiet. They were planning of bringing home a parrot because they were impressed with the abilities these parrots can do. Furthermore, having a parrot is so entertaining and fun.
True, I do admit that parrots are really cute and fun companions. Many people only see the positive state of parrots but they failed to see the negative state of parrots. They failed to understand that parrots aren’t domestic pets like dogs or cats. Even parrots that are captive bred, hand-fed by humans still have their own wild instincts within their blood. There are time these cute fellows can go cranky or even turning to real devil which turned the whole house upside down.
It’s pretty sad whenever I read articles of parrots had been abandoned, re-homed or even sold away just because their owners don’t love them anymore. Just because they screamed, go cranky and totally out of control. It’s really heart-breaking.
Why do parrots have to stuck in these scenarios and going through these pains? In fact, the owners are to be blamed for bringing their parrots into these scenarios. Only if they had made serious considerations, understanding and accepting the possible problems of the parrots, these scenarios can be prevented.
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Tags: Bird, Companion Parrot, Parrot, Pet Bird
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