Post by santinoandmondo on Mar 12, 2014 19:25:46 GMT
We've had such a long, bitterly cold winter here that I really did not want to take the birds outdoors. Fortunately, we finally had a mild day yesterday and I booked an appointment the day before. It has been 2 days since Santino's last egg and 5 days since Mondo's first and only egg.
First of all, the foyer of the building had two entrances - "cats" and "dogs" so I chose the dog entrance
. The receptionist desk was circular so you had to walk around part or half of the circle to go into an exam room. I thought the vet was very thorough, giving each bird an exam and we talked about their diet, exercise, etc. He listed to their lungs, extended their wings, and had his assistant hold each bird carefully in a hand towel as he trimmed their nails. He even weighed each bird as they were wrapped up like a burrito on a little scale. Mondo was 37 grams and Santino was 43 grams. I told him everything I had done since Santino started her egg laying in late September. I went back to my calendar and had counted 30 eggs over 3 clutches! He gave her a lupron shot and thinks that she may need a second one in two weeks since she was producing so many eggs.
He also suggested that we have less interaction with her for a couple of weeks. He said she may be infatuated with one of us, almost like a mate and she feels that she needs to produce eggs to impress. He said that essentially, we have to "break up" with her like a boyfriend/girlfriend would! He told me the story of one client's macaw who fell for his client's fiance when he moved in. He was playing with her a lot, rubbing his cheek with hers, etc. and she started laying eggs non-stop. After the vet suggested that the fiance basically stop paying so much attention to her, the egg-laying stopped. He said that birds have triggers that may seem illogical to us humans - toys, mirrors, or even people.
While planning for our visit, in addition to waiting for a break in the cold weather, I searched high and low for two small cages to get the birds to the vet. Checked pet stores online and Craig's list. I really didn't want to buy two new cages. A friend had an unused big rectangular hamster cage but it had only one door. I made a quick visit to the hardware store for lightweight hardware cloth. I unhooked the small piece that was like a balcony, turned it sideways to use as a divider, cut two pieces of hardware cloth, and wired it with recycled ties to swing from the center. To control which direction to move the divider, I added straps (velcro) at the top to pull from either direction and cording that came out at the bottom of the door. Voila! Free multiple bird transport cage and only spent only $1.50 on a foot of hardware cloth! yeah!!!
I am hopeful once again that we may FINALLY be able to Santino end her breeding condition.
Cherry
First of all, the foyer of the building had two entrances - "cats" and "dogs" so I chose the dog entrance
. The receptionist desk was circular so you had to walk around part or half of the circle to go into an exam room. I thought the vet was very thorough, giving each bird an exam and we talked about their diet, exercise, etc. He listed to their lungs, extended their wings, and had his assistant hold each bird carefully in a hand towel as he trimmed their nails. He even weighed each bird as they were wrapped up like a burrito on a little scale. Mondo was 37 grams and Santino was 43 grams. I told him everything I had done since Santino started her egg laying in late September. I went back to my calendar and had counted 30 eggs over 3 clutches! He gave her a lupron shot and thinks that she may need a second one in two weeks since she was producing so many eggs. He also suggested that we have less interaction with her for a couple of weeks. He said she may be infatuated with one of us, almost like a mate and she feels that she needs to produce eggs to impress. He said that essentially, we have to "break up" with her like a boyfriend/girlfriend would! He told me the story of one client's macaw who fell for his client's fiance when he moved in. He was playing with her a lot, rubbing his cheek with hers, etc. and she started laying eggs non-stop. After the vet suggested that the fiance basically stop paying so much attention to her, the egg-laying stopped. He said that birds have triggers that may seem illogical to us humans - toys, mirrors, or even people.
While planning for our visit, in addition to waiting for a break in the cold weather, I searched high and low for two small cages to get the birds to the vet. Checked pet stores online and Craig's list. I really didn't want to buy two new cages. A friend had an unused big rectangular hamster cage but it had only one door. I made a quick visit to the hardware store for lightweight hardware cloth. I unhooked the small piece that was like a balcony, turned it sideways to use as a divider, cut two pieces of hardware cloth, and wired it with recycled ties to swing from the center. To control which direction to move the divider, I added straps (velcro) at the top to pull from either direction and cording that came out at the bottom of the door. Voila! Free multiple bird transport cage and only spent only $1.50 on a foot of hardware cloth! yeah!!!
I am hopeful once again that we may FINALLY be able to Santino end her breeding condition.
Cherry
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