My Pat

[drj130]

Greetings to everyone. I became the proud owner of Pat last Saturday. This young bird is doing great in it's (don't know the sex yet) new home with me. Pat has taken to things here pretty well, even with only being about 3 months old. At least that is what the paper that came with him(?) state. Still trying to get him to eat veggies and fruit as well as working to get him off an all seed diet. Here are some photos of him.

I think that he's adjusting well. I did have one of those triangle shaped houses in his cage, but after reading here they were bad, I took it out. Also working on getting him to take a bath. I've also noticed that he'll hunt me down. lol

David

 

[MrsKay]

Awww, he is awesome! My Larry 'hunts me down' too hehe. Sometimes when I leave the family room to go to the bedroom he finds me, which means he goes through the family room, the kitchen, down the hallway, and into the proper door. He hears where I am
Have fun

 

[RavensGryf]

Pat's a real cutie! I love the name SNL?

 

[Allee]

Hello there and a warm welcome to you and Pat. He or she is just adorable and looks bright eyed and healthy.

The happy huts and tents can be a safety hazard, but if Pat isn't offered one in the first place, he or she will never miss it. You should be able to get Pat to try a variety of foods without too much trouble at three months old. Don't give up if Pat refuses to try something, sometimes it takes several attempts before the bird recognizes new items as food.

Most birds love baths, offer a shallow dish of water, splash and wiggle your fingers in it while Pat's watching, hopefully Pat will get the hint and get wet. A lot of birds prefer to bathe in their water dishes. Simply turning on the vacuum cleaner causes a spontaneous beach party in my bird room. It's good to keep a new mist bottle handy for when your bird decides he doesn't need to bathe so often. Spray the mist above your bird and let it fall gently, most birds enjoy or at least tolerate mist baths. When Pat does choose a favorite method, reward him or her with enthusiasm. Have fun with your new friend as I'm sure you will.

 

[TessieB]

Looks like he's taken over already! Congratulations on your new bird!

 

[drj130]

Thanks everyone.

RavensGryf, I decided on Pat because no matter what sex Pat may turn out to be, it will be a safe name either way . One of my co-workers made the same reference to SNL.

Well, surprised me this morning. After giving him fresh food and water, he decided to use his water dish for a bath. I think he got mad when I tried to give him something bigger to splash around it. Going to be an interesting life with him around. Never will be a dull moment again.
One question (of many to come I'm sure) afterwards, he started to rub the front of his face on the bars. Kind of normal I'm hoping?

 

[Allee]

Pat's not wasting any time finding his own way of doing things. Yes, that's perfectly normal, just drying his pretty face.

 

[Ducatimom]

Thanks everyone.

RavensGryf, I decided on Pat because no matter what sex Pat may turn out to be, it will be a safe name either way . One of my co-workers made the same reference to SNL.

Well, surprised me this morning. After giving him fresh food and water, he decided to use his water dish for a bath. I think he got mad when I tried to give him something bigger to splash around it. Going to be an interesting life with him around. Never will be a dull moment again.
One question (of many to come I'm sure) afterwards, he started to rub the front of his face on the bars. Kind of normal I'm hoping?

Welcome to you and Pat!

I caught Ducati trying to bathe in his water dish one morning. It's obviously to small so I got him this: PT616 Caitec Sure Lock Bowl 20 oz - CAITEC SURE LOCK
He loves it!

Ducati rubs his beak on his cage all the time. I was told when I got him that is his way of "marking" essentially. He's saying that's his cage. I'm not sure how true that is.

 

[drj130]

Thanks Ducatimom. I'm going to look into getting that later this week when I get paid.

Pat has an appointment tomorrow for a check up and to get the DNA sexing done. I think that I planned this appointment just in time because I think that Pat might be sick. He sneezed, I think and a clear discharge landed on my arm, plus he's been, well it looks like he's been scratching or picking at his left nostril. Never seen him do this before today. I don't keep the temp too cold in here. 79f is what the thermostat is set to. Any ideas?

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm glad your vet appt. is tomorrow. Good to get a new bird exam, blood tests, and check out that discharge right away.
Could it be maybe Pat had just taken a drink of water when you didn't see, and the droplet that landed on your arm could have been excess water still in or around the beak when 'he' sneezed?

Please keep us posted

(I added text and accidentally duplicated the last post) - if a mod sees this, can you please delete the previous one? Thanks.

 

[drj130]

I'm glad your vet appt. is tomorrow. Good to get a new bird exam, blood tests, and check out that discharge right away.
Could it be maybe Pat had taken a drink of water when you didn't see, and the droplet that landed on your arm could have been water?

Please keep us posted

I'm very sure it wasn't water. He'd been out of the cage for at least a good 10 minutes. Still full of energy and everything right now, though he's taking a break and putting more fuel into the tank. lol

 

[Terry57]

Pat is beautiful! I hope his vet appt. goes well tomorrow and that he isn't sick. Sending you both hugs and healing thoughts

@Julie, deleted that post for you

 

[Ducatimom]

Always a good idea to get a wellness exam with any new pet. I wasn't sure when Ducati had his last so we just took him last week. I'm with RavensGryf on the sneezing. Ducati cleans out his nostrils all the time and sneezes. I pointed that out to the Doc when we were there and he said he could just be clearing out some food that got stuck in there or something.

 

[drj130]

I really hope that is the case. I brought Pat from PetSmart on the 19th, and the paperwork I got from them said he's healthy. I might just be worrying too much like any new parent. He only did the sneezing thing twice, so you all more than likely are correct.
Right now, Pat is kind of dozing on his rope perch. Makes you wonder how they don't fall over more ofter just using one leg. lol

 

[Ducatimom]

I really hope that is the case. I brought Pat from PetSmart on the 19th, and the paperwork I got from them said he's healthy. I might just be worrying too much like any new parent. He only did the sneezing thing twice, so you all more than likely are correct.
Right now, Pat is kind of dozing on his rope perch. Makes you wonder how they don't fall over more ofter just using one leg. lol

Lol. I love watching Ducati sleep. Sometimes he'll be on one leg then his head is all the way back resting on his back. Amazes me how that can be comfortable. I debated on getting him a cozy hut but he's never used one so I think he'd just chew it up which would be no good.

I'm always leery about the health of animals bought at Petsmart/Petco. We bought at Chinese Water Dragon from Petco last year and he passed after only two weeks. We were gone on vacation the when he died so we're not sure if he was in bad health when we got him or if it was because our roommates at the time neglected him. Either way, we should've taken him to the vet when we got him so I try and encourage people to do that, especially when bought from a pet store.

 

[drj130]

Well, other than those two sneezes, Pat seems to be ok. He has been very active the whole time that I've had him, so I can only think that he's healthy.
Might sound strange, but I picked up some balls from the cat toy section, and watching him with those is just so funny. I'll see about posting a video on here with him doing that.

[ame="http://youtu.be/rhqALwjw7go"]Pat playing - YouTube[/ame]

 

[drj130]

Got back from the vet and the doctor fell in love with Pat. She was smothering him with cuddles from the moment she got her hand on him. lol. Pat is in good heath. Current weight is 60gms. RavensGryf, the doctor said the same as you about it being from the bath. She asked me to hold off for now on the sexing and get it and some other blood work done at the same time. She wants to wait on the other tests until Pat is on an all pellet diet for about 2 months. 1 month to do the changing, and one month on nothing but pellets. Pat was hanging from the top of his travel cage a bit, didn't want to get out of the cage both at the Doc's and back home. Silly bird. lol