Little Noah

[Teddscau]

Last summer I lost Noah. He’s always been my healthy spunky little boy. But one day in August, I saw him on the door of the cage with his eyes closed, with Sunshine teasing him. However, he didn’t throw a tantrum like he normally would’ve. I let my parents know he was in crisis, then I rushed in the aviary. He was already on the floor in the short time it took me to tell them. I scooped him up in my hands, but he didn’t yell at me or hit me. I thought he might’ve had an infection or disease that I failed to notice, but then I saw that someone had peeled off some of the top layer of skin on his feet. Well, it wasn’t brutal like you’re imagining. Just that dry layer that they’ll pick at and remove little pieces from when they’re preening. I became hopeful, thinking he might’ve just had a stroke, and that one of the others had gently nibbled at his feet to try to get him out of his stupor.

I tried to syringe him sugar water and feed him tofu, but he‘d fall asleep after a few seconds. I was praying that he’d had a stroke, but then I found a small amount of blood on his side, still a bit sticky. He’d broken a blood feather on his side. Not a flight feather or a tail feather, just a regular body feather. I’d found him within an hour of the accident, but he had already lost too much blood. There was hardly any blood in the aviary, yet he couldn’t stay awake. There was nothing that could be done. The vet wasn’t open, and I didn’t have any experience force-feeding birds.

He’d grind his beak every now and then, tucking his head into his back. I was hopeful. He felt well enough to grind his beak and tuck his head in, and he was nice and warm, so maybe if I kept him warm and let him sleep, he’d be okay. But as time passed, his urates started looking off. Like his kidneys were starting to fail.

Rosie came over to us to check on Noah. He had been on my forearm thus far, but she went over to him and started preening him. The she started touching his wing and was trying to preen his flight feathers. I knew he didn’t like it, but he was too tired to tell her off. So I put my hand between her and Noah. I could tell she was angry, but she seemed to understand that I wasn’t trying to be mean.

I had him step-up for me, then I put him on my left shoulder against my neck, and covered him with my hair. This is how we used to snuggle before I adopted Rosie and they decided to pair up. We snuggled together in the aviary for over four hours, with Rosie coming over to check on him every now and then. I softly played his favourite songs on my iPad for him. Then I put him in a carrier, and sat him on the table near me as I forced myself to eat. He was a bit perkier, so I got him a plate of soft tofu and a bit of juice, and I encouraged him to eat and drink. He’d get excited for the food and juice, but he’d fall asleep before he could swallow. I’d call his name, nudge him, and rub his head, but he couldn’t stay awake. I brought him up to my room, and cranked my heater out. It was hot in there and I was sweating, but it was a great temperature for sick birds. I put him on my dresser and I stayed up until 3 am, peeking at him every thirty minutes to make sure he was okay. It had been well over ten hours and he was still alive, so he might make it.

My dad came in at 9 am and woke me up, telling me that Noah had died sometime after I fell asleep. I picked up his stiff little body, and carried him to the aviary and placed him in the middle of the floor, and left him there for a couple of hours. I took him out, and Dad buried him.

For the next few months, Rosie stayed awake until as late as 4 in the morning, calling for him. Whenever she heard a sound, she’d get excited and start calling, thinking it might be him returning to her.

He was only 8 when he died. He‘d lived less than half of his expected lifespan. He’d been healthy his entire life, until one day when a tiny little blood feather broke. He was fine one moment, then was dying the next because of a stupid, unpreventable accident. He was my best friend, and we were supposed to be together for many more years. I miss him everyday. I’m just glad I found him so quickly after his accident, otherwise I‘d be blaming myself for the rest of my life. If I wasn’t able to save him even though I noticed what had happened so soon after he hurt himself…then there was no way I could’ve saved him unless I had been there right when the accident occurred. I didn’t have a matter of hours to save him, I only had a few minutes.

 

[StormyPica]

I'm so sorry, fly high little Noah

 

[Laurasea]

I'm so very sorry for your loss. I'm glad you were right there and got to spend time together.

 

[Teddscau]

Thanks guys . I’m glad he wasn‘t scared or in pain. He was just sleepy and wanted to be babied.

I adopted a new husband for Rosie a couple of months ago. I introduced them after putting Rosie on anti-AGY water for a month, and they’re now living upstairs in the same room as Jasper (Jasper is fascinated by them and talks to them and shows off for them). They we’re screaming at each other for the whole month (Rosie in the aviary in the basement, Jaybird in the room by the kitchen) of quarantine, which was starting to drive us insane since they’re so loud and shrill. Then I had Rosie in a separate cage from Jaybird for less than a week before we’d finally had enough of them shrieking their contact calls.

I let her out of the cage and tried to convince her to go into the flight cage with Jay. The two of them were too excited to realize the door of the cage was open. After a lot of chaos (i.e., I looked away for a second and suddenly two overly excited lovies were out of the cage and wreaking havoc and were trying to play with Jasper who I had locked in her cage and covered with a blanket), I wrangled the little devils and locked them in the flight cage together.

They’ve been madly in love since I introduced them. I became suspicious when I saw Rosie feeding Jay all the time, rather than Jay feeding her. Then I caught Rosie humping Jay a week ago. Then again a few days ago. My suspicions were confirmed when my mom spotted two eggs in the nest they’d been building on the bottom of the cage out of shredded newspaper. Turns out I actually got Rosie a new wife. They both laid an egg in the nest together, and they’re now incubating the two eggs together. I’ve been dreading having to shake the eggs to prevent any chicks, so it’s a relief knowing they’re both girls.

 

[Terry57]

I’ve been dreading having to shake the eggs to prevent any chicks, so it’s a relief knowing they’re both girls.

If your birds are a pair, please do not shake the eggs rather than boiling them. Babies can still hatch after being shaken and they will most likely have issues. My friend did that and 2 of the chicks hatched, and they had major issues.

 

[Teddscau]

Thanks for the tip, Terry. I’ve only ever read about shaking eggs, even on a parrot rescue’s website. I’m confident they’re both girls, unless Rosie somehow managed to lay two eggs in less than 18 hours.

Man, they’re so cute. They really love each other. Rosie saw me giving Jasper her supper and asked me if I was gonna give her and Jaybird something, so I had to give the lovies a piece of birdie bread. I held it outside the cage against the bars and Rosie nibbled on it, and Jay scurried right over as well and seemed fascinated by it. I had to toss it into the cage through the side door before Rosie could attack me. She’s a gentle kid, but she goes feral whenever she’s nesting.

 

[BirdyBee]

I am so sorry for your loss

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

So Sorry to hear about Noah . But glad Rosie has a new buddy! My green cheek conure pair turned out to be two hens after I checked the nest several times and counted 12 eggs. Twelve! Too much for a single hen to lay! Unfortunately i've been forced to since re-home them. I miss the girls horribly, as I'm sure you miss Noah.

 

[Chrissiejingles]

I'm so sorry for your loss. He would have felt very loved before he left which is a blessing.
My thoughts are with you at this sad time

 

[Teddscau]

Thanks guys. He was so freaking cute. He was such a little brat and was such a nightmare to “tame”. He was such violent kid when I adopted him. My fingers were full of holes for the first three or four months I had him. He ended up becoming such a sucky little momma’s boy. Everyday’s just been so hard since I lost him. He really was my baby and my best friend. I’m just glad he felt safe and wasn’t in pain or scared when he died.

I’ve since moved the lovies to a different room since there was an “incident” with them and Jasper. She got spooked, launched, and ended up behind their cage, and when we went to get her, she decided to climb their cage (always a bad idea when there’s tiny birds in said cage). Long story short, it ended with Jasper screaming bloody murder while I pulled two tiny devil-birds off of her toes. Her toes were completely fine and she wasn‘t limping or anything afterwards, so I think she was more startled than anything.

The girls are enjoying their dummy eggs, and they haven’t had anymore eggs since I put them in. They’re getting pretty grubby from smearing newspaper ink all over themselves, so I’m gonna have to forcibly bathe them the next time we change their newspapers.

 

[HeatherG]

So Sorry to hear about Noah . But glad Rosie has a new buddy! My green cheek conure pair turned out to be two hens after I checked the nest several times and counted 12 eggs. Twelve! Too much for a single hen to lay! Unfortunately i've been forced to since re-home them. I miss the girls horribly, as I'm sure you miss Noah.

Aha. My question has been answered, you did have two girls.
It’s sad that you had to rehome them.