LupeTheSun
New member
Please bear with me - this is going to be a long one, but I need advice/help desperately. Thank you in advance for your patience and for reading!
My father passed away suddenly about a month ago, and I have inherited his 16 year old Sun Conure, Lupe (pronounced Lu-pay). While I'm familiar with bird basics - I had a male budgie for about 6 years, years ago - I'm not too familiar with parrot species, aside from what I saw when I would visit my Dad or what he had told me over the years. I did quite a bit of reading on how to care for them immediately after bringing her home; however, I've already gotten a couple of curveballs thrown at me.
First, let me say that she was my Dad's baby. They were very bonded and she had never been the most friendly with me. I was very concerned bringing her home, but she warmed up to both me and my boyfriend very quickly - I was blown away, actually. She doesn't care much for my 5 year old son, which I can understand - he's likely a small, strange person that moves too fast and is too loud. She has actually already seemed to lay off on the habit of screaming every time I speak to him, so that's good. Ha.
I know (now) that we have overdone it on giving her affection and attention, though. My Dad's death has been a terrible shock, and it has helped me to put energy into caring for his babies (I inherited his 10 year old black lab as well - they are the only pets I have). When my Dad got her at 2 years old, he thought she was a male, that is until she laid an egg. Well, 4 days ago she laid an egg. I remembered my Dad saying that he just took it out when she laid them. I did the same after observing her and the egg laying on the bottom of the cage. She didn't seem concerned with it (I found it in the morning on the bottom of the cage - so I'm not sure at what point she had it during the night). I did all kinds of reading all over the internet about it - about making sure she had enough calcium, about how all the affection (petting anywhere aside from the head... I had no clue what this could mean to her!!!) likely encouraged it. I've been so worried about egg binding. I'm naturally an anxious person, so that doesn't make this any easier. 2 days ago, I was sure that I could see/feel another egg, so I've been watching her very closely, keeping in mind everything (oy) that I read - I did what I could to up her calcium intake - gave her scrambled eggs and eggshells (per what I read) and even some OJ fortified with calcium. Last night, I was already concerned that she hadn't had the egg yet. She started making the strangest sound, a sound that I have yet to hear come from her - she was acting super strange and I was convinced that she was in distress - she was all fluffed up and was twitching her wings strangely. So I took her out and laid down on the couch with her wrapped in a towel. I laid a heating pad (on low) on my stomach, and her and the towel on top so that I could keep an eye on her and give her some warmth. I hummed to her and she calmed down quite a bit - she was closing her eyes and twitching less. I called an emergency vet number to see what else I could do and while it was ringing I moved the towel enough to see that she had laid the egg. I hung up and afterwards she stayed there for a few minutes, checked the egg out with her beak and laid with it for awhile and then climbed out from under the towel, looking much more like herself again. She climbed up and preened me a bit and after a few minutes, flew back to her cage and went to bed. I left the egg in the bottom of her cage, where the other one had been - wondering if maybe I had taken the other one out too soon? I've read so much conflicting information on that...
This morning she seemed okay - though for a moment I was concerned about her favoring one foot. I did see her cleaning the other, so I thought maybe that was the issue. I also observed her toddling, climbing, and perching as usual... so I wasn't sure if I should be concerned. She still wasn't as vocal as usual though. Should I still be concerned? I know that they typically have 2-3 eggs in their clutch, but can have more. I'm curious as to how to know when she's done?? I'm at work right now and she's at home...
Here are some additional/possibly helpful facts about Lupe and our current situation for anyone that might have any input:
-My Dad used to provide her with a bed - sort of a hammock of fabric hanging on the side of her cage. When he passed, there wasn't one in there, and I seem to remember him saying something about taking it out, but I couldn't for the life of me remember why. Anyway, remembering this, we fashioned her one a few days after bringing her home from fabric that my Dad had, because I wanted her to be comfortable. I was concerned with the change in environment and the lack of his presence. Now I know that if I want to discourage the egg laying, that I should remove that, but I'm worried that I should wait until she is done with her clutch... is that correct, or no?
-She eats Zupreem pellets for medium sized birds. I also give her millet and dried mango/papaya treats. I've been trying different things from the list of recommended fruits, veggies, etc - but so far she only likes the apples and also peanut butter. I'm constantly replacing her water and she has a mineral block, but she hasn't really paid that any attention...
-She's currently in a smaller cage (18x18, I think?)- because of the situation with my father's passing, we took her in the cage that he used for traveling and for when he was cleaning her regular cage (it's at least 24x24) because it was most convenient at the time. We're going back to get her regular cage this weekend.
Any help, advice and input on the egg laying, what to look for as far as her being done with her clutch and her general care would be much appreciated! I want her to be taken care of as best as possible. I will be perusing the boards here for more information, too. Again, if you made it all the way through this, thank you so much for reading!
My father passed away suddenly about a month ago, and I have inherited his 16 year old Sun Conure, Lupe (pronounced Lu-pay). While I'm familiar with bird basics - I had a male budgie for about 6 years, years ago - I'm not too familiar with parrot species, aside from what I saw when I would visit my Dad or what he had told me over the years. I did quite a bit of reading on how to care for them immediately after bringing her home; however, I've already gotten a couple of curveballs thrown at me.
First, let me say that she was my Dad's baby. They were very bonded and she had never been the most friendly with me. I was very concerned bringing her home, but she warmed up to both me and my boyfriend very quickly - I was blown away, actually. She doesn't care much for my 5 year old son, which I can understand - he's likely a small, strange person that moves too fast and is too loud. She has actually already seemed to lay off on the habit of screaming every time I speak to him, so that's good. Ha.
I know (now) that we have overdone it on giving her affection and attention, though. My Dad's death has been a terrible shock, and it has helped me to put energy into caring for his babies (I inherited his 10 year old black lab as well - they are the only pets I have). When my Dad got her at 2 years old, he thought she was a male, that is until she laid an egg. Well, 4 days ago she laid an egg. I remembered my Dad saying that he just took it out when she laid them. I did the same after observing her and the egg laying on the bottom of the cage. She didn't seem concerned with it (I found it in the morning on the bottom of the cage - so I'm not sure at what point she had it during the night). I did all kinds of reading all over the internet about it - about making sure she had enough calcium, about how all the affection (petting anywhere aside from the head... I had no clue what this could mean to her!!!) likely encouraged it. I've been so worried about egg binding. I'm naturally an anxious person, so that doesn't make this any easier. 2 days ago, I was sure that I could see/feel another egg, so I've been watching her very closely, keeping in mind everything (oy) that I read - I did what I could to up her calcium intake - gave her scrambled eggs and eggshells (per what I read) and even some OJ fortified with calcium. Last night, I was already concerned that she hadn't had the egg yet. She started making the strangest sound, a sound that I have yet to hear come from her - she was acting super strange and I was convinced that she was in distress - she was all fluffed up and was twitching her wings strangely. So I took her out and laid down on the couch with her wrapped in a towel. I laid a heating pad (on low) on my stomach, and her and the towel on top so that I could keep an eye on her and give her some warmth. I hummed to her and she calmed down quite a bit - she was closing her eyes and twitching less. I called an emergency vet number to see what else I could do and while it was ringing I moved the towel enough to see that she had laid the egg. I hung up and afterwards she stayed there for a few minutes, checked the egg out with her beak and laid with it for awhile and then climbed out from under the towel, looking much more like herself again. She climbed up and preened me a bit and after a few minutes, flew back to her cage and went to bed. I left the egg in the bottom of her cage, where the other one had been - wondering if maybe I had taken the other one out too soon? I've read so much conflicting information on that...
This morning she seemed okay - though for a moment I was concerned about her favoring one foot. I did see her cleaning the other, so I thought maybe that was the issue. I also observed her toddling, climbing, and perching as usual... so I wasn't sure if I should be concerned. She still wasn't as vocal as usual though. Should I still be concerned? I know that they typically have 2-3 eggs in their clutch, but can have more. I'm curious as to how to know when she's done?? I'm at work right now and she's at home...
Here are some additional/possibly helpful facts about Lupe and our current situation for anyone that might have any input:
-My Dad used to provide her with a bed - sort of a hammock of fabric hanging on the side of her cage. When he passed, there wasn't one in there, and I seem to remember him saying something about taking it out, but I couldn't for the life of me remember why. Anyway, remembering this, we fashioned her one a few days after bringing her home from fabric that my Dad had, because I wanted her to be comfortable. I was concerned with the change in environment and the lack of his presence. Now I know that if I want to discourage the egg laying, that I should remove that, but I'm worried that I should wait until she is done with her clutch... is that correct, or no?
-She eats Zupreem pellets for medium sized birds. I also give her millet and dried mango/papaya treats. I've been trying different things from the list of recommended fruits, veggies, etc - but so far she only likes the apples and also peanut butter. I'm constantly replacing her water and she has a mineral block, but she hasn't really paid that any attention...
-She's currently in a smaller cage (18x18, I think?)- because of the situation with my father's passing, we took her in the cage that he used for traveling and for when he was cleaning her regular cage (it's at least 24x24) because it was most convenient at the time. We're going back to get her regular cage this weekend.
Any help, advice and input on the egg laying, what to look for as far as her being done with her clutch and her general care would be much appreciated! I want her to be taken care of as best as possible. I will be perusing the boards here for more information, too. Again, if you made it all the way through this, thank you so much for reading!
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