Merlin & Charlie update thread!

[Mayden]

BAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!! Those pictures are AWESOME!!!! LOVE IT!!

Hehe, thanks Charlie has really come out of his shell with us and has even started playing with his toys recently

He does however attack Andrew to the point that Andrew is refusing to be in the same room as Charlie when he's out and stuff. Something I'm actually really annoyed with Andrew about, but he is working on building up trust and stuff. So we'll see how that goes.

 

[Mayden]

Also, here's a video of him tottering about trying to get down to get under the laptop! (The was him aim after all, video was taken before the 'nesting')

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doiThIOIGCA"]20131031_145014.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]

You can hear my Trouble playing with his toys in the background too Both been such good boys today.

 

[Mayden]

 

[thekarens]

Love it! Your sennies are adorable

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wow Cat, they've come a LONG way together, haven't they? LOVE that piñata!!! Both Merlin and Charlie are GORGEOUS!!!!

 

[Mayden]

Wow Cat, they've come a LONG way together, haven't they? LOVE that piñata!!! Both Merlin and Charlie are GORGEOUS!!!!

They're rarely out together at the moment due to Charlie attacking Andrew, Merlin attacking me and Andrews anxiety over them being out together.

But all four of us hung out today. Merlin is being much better with me, so I'm happier with him being out around me and Charlie is improving with Andrew... so tada!

Merlin only went for Charlie the once, lots of wing flapping but Charlie dodged the attack and then all went back to 'normal'. Charlie is still terrified of Merlin, but sneaks up on Merlin... then as soon as Merlin eyes him, Charlie runs back to me haha. They're both very good out together though. I can honestly relax a fair amount when out together. Still gotta work on Merlin vs Charlie, but it's definitely improved.

Had a great time with both!

 

[Mayden]

Pardon the chubby spotty face, I've just worked a 7 day week and look like a red blimp haha!

Got them out together on each shoulder right now. Both being very sleepy and a bit defensive... not so much offence today.

Charlie decided my hand is comfier... me less so as I cant lean back/put hand down, etc!

More, they swapped places

 

[Mayden]

Merlin preening me whilst Charlie keeps a watchful eye on him

 

[Mayden]

Hoping to get them both out again today when Andrew is home but I'm too tired right now. They're both making adorable sleepy whistles now. So lovely

 

[Mayden]

Both been so good recently. Had Charlie on my knee and Merlin flew over. Charlie went to attack (because he's so anxious of Merlin and thought he was coming to attack) Merlin did a lap, then waddled down my leg to go and grab some crisps that had been left on the table. Merlins aggression has significantly reduced and Charlie is getting less skittish (although still very skittish!) I think exposure is key. Easiest thing to do is give them both food whilst they're near each other so they're busy being happy with what they've got and a beak/foot full so no attacks can happen!

 

[thekarens]

Sounds like they are really doing well and you're doing a great job. In not sure my sennie would put up with another sennie.

 

[Mayden]

Sounds like they are really doing well and you're doing a great job. In not sure my sennie would put up with another sennie.

We expected Merlin to be really awful. But so far he's been jealous but for the most part, he's doing really well as long as he's my 'main focus' of attention, he's with his daddy, or he has food!

We've had Charlie for 5 months now though, so it's been a very slow process of them getting used to being around each other, caged, etc.

 

[thekarens]

I can tell you've progressed really well. Keep up the updates!

 

[Mayden]

I can tell you've progressed really well. Keep up the updates!

Thanks, nice to know someone's reading them

Both went to vets today. Charlie for a microchipping, Merlin for nailtrim and poop check.

Merlin has big awful morning poops, and I don't just mean "they're foul" I mean, I literally almost vomit. They're huge, they're stinky, they're watery, they're just awful. So I rang the vets about it a while back, but I just presumed it was normal (he's always done this) but after comparing with Charlie's poops, we decided it was not quite right. We said we'd consider sending a sample off. After altering his diet slightly, they improved slightly. Vet wasn't worried by the sounds of things, but said we can send a sample in if we were worried - we wern't as it's how he'd always been (had him since 8 weeks) so we decided we'll see how he gets on.

So, today they took a swab of his poop and checked it "in house" for any obvious nasties in there. All clear. My vet basically explained that because Merlin refuses to do his morning poop in his cage, he's holding it in for however long he has to. Whether he's out at 10am (today) or 6pm (most others). It's not good for him, his cloaca expands holding it and eventually it'll just stop going back to it's normal size, causing him all sorts of problems. So, new plan: Get Merlin out as soon as someone is awake, tell him to 'go poo!' then put him back in his cage. "Problem solved." But his actually poop is not a concern

Charlie got chipped, he was a good boy. Handled it all well, little bit disgruntled about his feathers being ruffled, but alls well!

Both birds got a full check, weight, body/feather condition, etc.

Both were 140g last time (eeek!) and Charlie is down to 122g (Hurrah!) and Merlin is still a chubby man at 135g.

Charlie 'ideally' should be around 120g, and Merlin should be around 125g (he's a 'larger bird'). So we've still got a bit of work to do on Merlin but so far, they've both lost weight, yey!

So today was very happy, productive and educational, as per usual with my wonderful Vet team! <3

Both birds are napping in their travel cages so I'm hoping not to disturb them until I have to.... peace is a rarity in this house

Very proud Momma today!

 

[Mayden]

& my vets just tweeted me "Gold Star awarded!". Hehe. :21:

 

[thekarens]

I might be biased since I have my own sennie, so I love hearing about yours. When I weighed Sammie a couple months ago she weighed 142. I'm lucky in that she's a very quiet sennie.

 

[Mayden]

I might be biased since I have my own sennie, so I love hearing about yours. When I weighed Sammie a couple months ago she weighed 142. I'm lucky in that she's a very quiet sennie.

I wish mine were quiet

My vet said 140 is overweight for my two. Especially for Charlie as he is so slender, and especially for Merlin as he only has one weight bearing foot, so wanted to reduce the excess load on that as much as possible. So we're trying to slim him down. I'm surprised Charlie has lot so much, probably the "I'm scared to death" slimming regime of being afraid of Merlin

 

[thekarens]

Lol! I'm going to put Sammie back on the scale to see if she's changed any. I had to talk my partner into letting me get Sammie. Her one requirement was that it had to be a quiet bird. Good thing I lucked out.

 

[thekarens]

So I had to go back to my notes and re weigh Sammie. She's 124, not 142.

 

[JamesC]

Sidney maintains his weight around 135 to 140. He has a nice veggie and pellet diet with the occasional bit of fruit. When I brought him to get his nails clipped at the store I used to go to in Florida I was able to compare his size to a pair of Senegals they had out on a perch. I held him up in his travel cage so he could see them and was surprised to notice he was easily half a head longer than they. My vet there, who is a very very good avian specialist, thought he was a little larger than normal and was unconcerned about his weight. I really miss being able to go to her but I'm 1000 miles away now.

My first Senegal had an issue with holding her poops. She would go hours between drops with resulting massive poops. I was fairly ignorant about bird care then and never really realized that it was not normal and could cause a problem.

Glad to hear that your pair went through the vet visit easily. Sidney is female aggressive and the vets that I go to are women so it can be a bit wild. His body posture is pure "I'm gonna HURT you!" when the vet comes into the room.