I'd like you to meet Mickey
About two months ago we had a death in the family. My lovely, yellow budgie Letitia fell off her perch, literally and metaphorically. When budgie's get sick, they are usually on the verge of death before they actually show any symptoms. Apparently this is a survival thing. Anyway, poor Letitia died.
So, feeling sorry for Albert for being all alone, we decided to get another budgie. So we traipse off to the budgie breeders house to look at the birds. We decide on a big, fat, green bird so we give the guy 15 bucks and take the newly christened Mickey home in a shoebox. He's a lovely bird but when we put him in the cage he's about three times the size of Albert.
Within a week, Mickey started looking a bit unwell, he had his feathers all fluffed up and was very quiet. So Handsomest, fearing the worst, took Albert and Mickey to the bird specialist vet. Which was very successful and well worth it. Apparently Mickey had a bacteria in his first stomach which meant he wasn't able to absorb what he was eating. So the vet gave us some special bird antibiotics. Mickey also had a few bird lice which he brought with him from the aviary. So the vet gave us a spray to fix this. Albert has a benign tumor on his stomach about the size of a life saver. The vet can't do anything about this. We also learnt that Albert is actually an Alberta. I know, I know - I feel pretty stupid about this one.
We also learnt that you shouldn't feed budgies bird seed - it's the bird equivalent of eating nothing but McDonalds. You are meant to feed them these little bird pellety things which are the birdy-equivalent of dry dog food. Very nutritious but not particularly tasty so you have to ween them off the bird seed and on to the pellets over a month or so.
So the good news is that Mickey and Alberta are looking much better and they were singing when I left home this morning.
*PS. That's Mickey as in the pikey from Snatch not Mickey as in Mouse or Mickey as in Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, Hey Mickey.
So, feeling sorry for Albert for being all alone, we decided to get another budgie. So we traipse off to the budgie breeders house to look at the birds. We decide on a big, fat, green bird so we give the guy 15 bucks and take the newly christened Mickey home in a shoebox. He's a lovely bird but when we put him in the cage he's about three times the size of Albert.
Within a week, Mickey started looking a bit unwell, he had his feathers all fluffed up and was very quiet. So Handsomest, fearing the worst, took Albert and Mickey to the bird specialist vet. Which was very successful and well worth it. Apparently Mickey had a bacteria in his first stomach which meant he wasn't able to absorb what he was eating. So the vet gave us some special bird antibiotics. Mickey also had a few bird lice which he brought with him from the aviary. So the vet gave us a spray to fix this. Albert has a benign tumor on his stomach about the size of a life saver. The vet can't do anything about this. We also learnt that Albert is actually an Alberta. I know, I know - I feel pretty stupid about this one.
We also learnt that you shouldn't feed budgies bird seed - it's the bird equivalent of eating nothing but McDonalds. You are meant to feed them these little bird pellety things which are the birdy-equivalent of dry dog food. Very nutritious but not particularly tasty so you have to ween them off the bird seed and on to the pellets over a month or so.
So the good news is that Mickey and Alberta are looking much better and they were singing when I left home this morning.
*PS. That's Mickey as in the pikey from Snatch not Mickey as in Mouse or Mickey as in Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, Hey Mickey.
posted by Laziest Girl at 8:17 am
3 Comments:
Sorry to hear about Letitia, but congrats on the new family member.
I completely understand the Albert(a) gendere confusion issues. We have a cockatiel who was named Cecil when her first family thought she was male...then she started laying eggs.
Stupid birds are just too shy to lift their feathery skirts and show you what they've got.
they sound so cute :)
sorry about Letitia, though
Glad you are back to the land of the living, sorry about Letitia. :(
Cecil, or Miss C as I call her, is a picky eater. We mix about 5 kinds of bird stuff together and she picks out the seeds first, then demands a refill. I refuse, she picks out her 2nd favorites, demands, I refuse, and so on. In between the power struggle she gets tortoise greens (spring mix for our tortoise, Mr. T) which she enjoys.
I keep telling CK that we need another bird to keep her company, but he doesn't think another pet with a 20+ year commitment span is a wise choice. (Mr. T could live 75 years!) I suppose I agree, but don't let him know. Now, a puppy for Christmas is another story!! :)
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