Predicaments!

I'm beginning to think my bird room is jinxed or something.  Lately it's been one predicament after another!  I'm officially proclaiming, "Enough Already!!!" ;-)

Predicament #1 (this past weekend)

There are currently 20ish occupied cages in my bird room, and every day I check over each cage while I feed and water the birds, replacing cuttlebones as needed, fixing perches that may have fallen, etc.  Well, I finished up the first wall of cages, and went to work on the next wall, where the crested male's cage is.  I was shocked to find him dangling by his leg!  He'd somehow managed to get his band hung between the cuttlebone holder and one of the cage wires.  There was blood everywhere.  I thought he was a goner, but he suddenly he fluttered.  I got him unhung, and checked him to see exactly what was wrong.  In his struggles, he'd pulled his band about halfway down his foot, squishing his toes together, and he'd injured his wing from fluttering around.  The blood was from his wing, but thankfully it looked much worse than it actually was.  I tried to push the band back up onto his leg, but it wouldn't budge.  The band is a closed breeder band, so there was no way to take it off.  Now what? Ack!!!  I decided that perhaps putting his foot into some cool water might help.  Maybe it would make his foot and leg slippery, as well as make his slightly-swollen foot shrink a bit.  It worked!  The band slid right back up into place.  MAJOR WHEW!!!  I gave him some NV Powder in his water and a heat lamp, and by the next day, he was relatively fine.  I imagine he's a bit sore, still.  His mate was soooo sweet to him, cuddling up, preening him, and trying to help him feel better.    I hope this is the last "adventure" we have with him for awhile! LOL!  (He's one of the birds that escaped at the bird fair. Did I write about that?  I can't remember.  If I didn't, I'll do so soon.)

Predicament #2 (today)

I was just in the bird room a few minutes ago, turning the lights on and doing a quick food/water check.  Cloud and Domino hopped out of their nest when I opened the door, so I peeked in and checked on their two youngsters while they were out of the nest.  One of the youngsters was laying on its side which is strange at their age.  I didn't think a whole lot about it, but after I checked on the other birds, I peeked back at the sideways youngster, who was still on its side.  Something just wasn't right.

I removed the nest box from the cage, and immediately saw the problem.  The parent birds had "wallowed" around in the box so much that they'd pushed the nesting materials out of the center leaving about 1/2" circle of the plastic box exposed.  Normally that little bit of exposure wouldn't be a huge deal, but the baby had managed to get its leg caught in the vent opening in the plastic box.  That's why it was laying on its side.  It was stuck all the way to its thigh!  I gently pulled his leg back through, and put more nesting materials in the box to cover the vent hole up (not enough to block the circulation, but enough to keep the babies' legs from falling through.  The baby seemed a little disoriented at first, but seemed better after a couple of minutes.  I left the room so the parents could feed them (they were anxiously waiting on their babies to be brought back!), but I'll check on them again in a little while.  That was an Abba nest box, too ... the "Cadillac" of nest boxes!  I'll have to come up with something a little more permanent, but breathable, that the birds can't "wallow" out of place.

Predicament #3 - (March 30 and April 1)

What a weekend!  We went to the little bird fair in Chattanooga on Saturday morning. I needed 3 female zebras to pair up with 3 of my males, another 30" cage, and some various supplies. Shopping list in hand, off we went.

I selected 3 female zebras right off the bat. The vendor put them into a wire carrier and twist-tied the door closed. We bought the rest of the stuff we needed, then at the last table, I spotted not one but TWO crested zebras! I've been looking for cresteds for a year now! YIPPEE!!! And for just $10 each, close-banded. DOUBLE YIPPEE!!!

The vendor captured the female crested first, and put her into the wire carrier along with the other zebra females from the first vendor. Then he captured the male, put it into the carrier, and fastened the twist-tie back so that the door couldn't accidentally come open. Well, I don't know if it didn't get fastened correctly, or if it came undone somehow, but as we started to pay for the two cresteds, I looked down and to my horror, my birds were escaping!!!  Both of my precious cresteds were gone, along with one of the female zebras from the first vendor. I was so, so disappointed, especially since the building is actually a sports arena with VERY high ceilings (probably 30'-40' high). We could see them flying around, but there was no way to catch them.

Suddenly the female crested flew back down and landed on the table besides us. Together, we and the vendor cornered her, and managed to catch her. YES! One down, two to go.

We waited and waited, but the other two didn't come back. Finally we had to leave (we're on a 3rd shift schedule and were already 3 hours late going to bed). We asked how much we owed, and it was $10 for the female crested. The vendor we bought the crested(s) from wasn't going to be there on Sunday, but all the other vendors said they'd be on the lookout for the remaining two escaped birds, and would call us if they were able to catch them.

We went home and got some sleep. No phone call. :-(

We hadn't intended to go back on Sunday, but thought we better, just in case they'd lost our number or something.

We got there, and were disappointed to hear that the birds hadn't turned back up. The doors to the fair are open most of the time, so most likely the birds found their way out.

I picked up a few more supplies while we were there. Some items had been discounted since it was the last day of the fair, so I saved a bit of money.

Then we went back home. We'd just laid down to go to bed, and the phone rang. It was one of the bird fair vendors. They'd caught the male crested! It landed on the table of the cage vendor, and they managed to catch it. They immediately gave it food and water, and it ate like a little piggy.

Robert threw his clothes on and hurried back to pick the little guy up. Robert normally doesn't care for cresteds, but thinks this one is adorable. (He paid one of the vendors for him, and they're going to pass the money along to the original vendor.)

So after a year of searching and a major mishap, I finally have two cresteds. YAY!

The little female from the first vendor never turned back up. I hope she at least made it outside where she might have a slight chance of survival, instead of being stuck in the huge empty building with no food or water.

Predicament #4 (April 1)

I bought some female societies, to pair up with some of my males. I'd bought 10 unsexed societies at the bird fair in Atlanta last time, and although you'd think roughly half would be male and the other half would be female, NINE of the ten turned out to be male. Gee!

The new female societies needed their toenails trimmed badly, plus I wanted to band them, so I started doing so when I got them home. On the very last one, I went to trim her toenails (DH was holding her), and I had the excess length in the clippers. Just as I was pressing the clippers, she suddenly jumped, and a second toenail managed to get inside the clippers just as they closed. It happened in just a split second. The second toenail got cut clean down to the toe, and blood was pouring everywhere! I FLEW to the kitchen to get some flour, and managed to stop the bleeding. WHEW. Both she and Robert's hand were covered in blood by the time it was over with. I felt so horrible! :-( I gave her some NV Powder just in case, and left her in the cage by herself to recuperate. This evening she seems no worse for the wear. :-) We moved her in with the other new societies a little while ago so she'd have some buddies. What a way to welcome her home, huh? Poor little thing.

Predicament #5 (around May 6)

One of my society babies got its foot tangled up in the nesting materials.  I normally use paper towels for this very reason, but bought some fibers specifically for birds at the bird fair, figuring the parents would like to build their own nests (at least partially).  No problem, right?  Well, these fibers are NOT safe for birds after all.  By the time I found the problem, the baby's foot had already had the circulation cut off for too long and it eventually lost its foot.  Grrr!  It'll adapt ... birds are very good at that, and it's doing fine ... but it's so unfair to the little guy/girl.  The package the nesting materials came in was just a plain plastic bag, so I don't know who manufactured/packaged it, and I don't know the seller's name, but they've been at several bird fairs.  You better believe I'll be having a discussion with them if they're at the next fair!  :-/  This isn't the first time I've had problems with "made-for-birds" products, either.  It seems that the things I make for my birds are so much safer!  I'll be trusting my own instincts and my own self better from now on.

No more predicaments!!! Sigh!!! ;-)