Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,800
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Post by Marianne Marlow on Feb 6, 2023 8:18:23 GMT
How nice that you have a good relationship with Dexter. I can't believe it's been a year since Dean Stockwell passed, it doesn't seem that long.
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Post by Loz on Feb 6, 2023 9:23:00 GMT
Thanks Hezz and tweetiepiesmom . He spends more time talking to me than to his little peacock so I feel honoured that he likes me that much now! He talks to her when I'm out of the room as she's usually on the floor when I come back in. Remembering how beloved the peacock is, this is a big deal, Criswell. Delighted for you!
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Post by criswell on Feb 6, 2023 12:22:46 GMT
Thanks Marianne Marlow and lozDexter just came to sit with me while I was talking on the phone to my mum. He was very unsure about it but he stayed, and did a couple of chirps just before I hung up. He stayed with me while I put the phone down too and then got on with some serious chattering and nose bashing. I'm so proud of him!
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,800
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Post by Marianne Marlow on Feb 6, 2023 12:53:18 GMT
Aw. That is so nice
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Feb 6, 2023 15:54:58 GMT
If you decided to get his blood tested, I heard on a recent webinar from an avian vet that budgies regenerate blood very fast and the hole also closes up very quickly. Apart from the expense and having it done by an experienced vet, I wouldn't worry too much if you decided to do it.
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Post by Hezz on Feb 7, 2023 1:13:16 GMT
Thanks Hezz and tweetiepiesmom. He spends more time talking to me than to his little peacock so I feel honoured that he likes me that much now! He talks to her when I'm out of the room as she's usually on the floor when I come back in. That sounds like Loki and his Froggy Blue. She cannot be “attended to” in his box, she must be thrown out either onto the floor or the floor of the cage. He drags her out of the box and unceremoniously drops her.
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Post by criswell on Feb 7, 2023 18:15:53 GMT
Dexter has definitely accepted the phone as part of our routine. He joined me again today when I was talking to my mum and he stayed for much of the phone call and got quite chatty.
Hezz Dexter doesn't deliberately drop her but during the process of preening and pretending to feed her she usually gets pushed on to the floor. I've seen him try to fly with her which I wouldn't think was possible if i'd not seen it for myself as she is almost as big as him. He's never got very far before dropping her. Criswell absolutely loved chucking things on the floor though. It was his favourite game. tweetiepiesmom That's really good to know! It's the expense that is stopping us at the moment as we've had quite a few demands on our spare cash the last few months.
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Post by Hezz on Feb 8, 2023 0:51:52 GMT
If you decided to get his blood tested, I heard on a recent webinar from an avian vet that budgies regenerate blood very fast and the hole also closes up very quickly. Apart from the expense and having it done by an experienced vet, I wouldn't worry too much if you decided to do it. Yes, this is what I had heard as well. They don’t have much so can’t afford a big bleed, but they do replace it quickly if they do lose any.
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Post by Ira on Feb 11, 2023 8:23:28 GMT
Criswell goes to the same vet as me and he's very good. When he was discussing the risks with me one of the main ones is that the bird may have a heart attack just from the stress of being handled, unfortunately. Though, of course, one presumes this is not an especially frequent occurrence as otherwise offering to take blood would be basically pointless. But yes, I trust our vet a great deal. He's a nice person, really knows his stuff, and is always willing to answer questions.
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Post by criswell on Feb 11, 2023 16:03:30 GMT
I agree with everything Ira says about our vet. I trust him too and he is such a nice person. He's had hold of Dexter quite a few times over the past few years so I'm sure Dexter won't mind the vet having hold of him again. I've been looking for budgie friends for Dexter and not found an older budgie for him yet so I don't think we've missed out on a friend by not getting him tested sooner. If I wasn't at home all day I would have made sure we'd had him tested sooner but he's rarely on his own for more than an hour and I can hear him singing away when I'm out of the room. The only tends to call for me when he wants me to fast forward over the TV adverts!
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Post by Hezz on Feb 12, 2023 0:47:30 GMT
He definitely sounds as though he is enjoying his life, but could you let the vet know that you are looking for a friend for him? Sometimes they are approached if a person has to rehome a pet. I should have clarified the situation of Loki with his Froggy toy friend. She must be on the floor (hence the unceremonious drop) for Loki to do his jiggly dance and feed routine. When he starts dragging her out of his box, its like “uh, oh. Froggy Blue, you are going to get it!”
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Post by criswell on Mar 15, 2023 13:09:06 GMT
I only just saw your post Hezz. That's a good idea about the vet. It's really made me smile thinking about Loki with his froggy.
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Post by criswell on Mar 15, 2023 13:15:08 GMT
Dexter just stepped up on my finger!!!!!!!!!!!!! It requires so many exclamation marks because he hasn't done that since 2016. He was sitting on his cage door so I went over to talk to him and waggled my finger at him and said 'hi budgie'. He didn't want to chat to my finger so I just held it out to him and said 'step up' and he did! We were both really surprised and neither of us knew quite what to do. It made me very happy so I chatted to him but didn't dare move and then he flew off up to the top of the cage and had a long chat to my finger nail which is his new favourite game.
Dexter's breeder had trained him to step up and he was very good at it until I introduced him to Criswell. He continued to step up for a while but got very put out when he stepped up and I put him back in his cage, so he stopped stepping up. It didn't help that Criswell was scared of hands so Dexter got wary too.
I will wait to see if he steps up again but won't be disappointed if he doesn't.
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Mar 15, 2023 15:12:36 GMT
I love it! Buddy is similar in that he was trained to step up but stopped when I put him with Tweetie Pie. Buddy has now bonded with both me and Tweetie Pie and will step up sometimes if I give him my finger and he wants to sit on me and play. I hope Dexter continues to step up and play on/with you.
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Post by Loz on Mar 15, 2023 15:23:55 GMT
Good boy Dexter!
Have a word with your friend Gurgeh, will you. Grumpy boy now refuses to step up!
(Been tricked into his cage one time too many I guess.)
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