Bad luck with birdies

Well, let me see... I'd better write about yesterday first.

Not much happened for the bulk of the actual day. Mom volunteered to give the quail a ride down to Becky's at 8 PM, so meanwhile I worked on getting it hydrated and well fed. It refused to eat on its own, so I pretty much had to forcefeed it for quite a time. Well, at 7:30 PM I was in the room with the quail, and for no apparent reason it flipped over on its back. I thought it just lost its balance, because it only had one usable leg, but when I picked it up it turned out it had gone into seizures. :( I have no idea why. So, I held it for a little while, hoping it would be okay but doubting it would. About forty seconds later, it died peacefully in my hands. I really don't know why it died, but I have a feeling I couldn't have prevented it.

Well, we still had the sparrow to trade for the finch and the tanager, so we got ready and headed down to Yuba City anyway. Mom and I argued pretty much the whole way there because Mom was mad at me for some tiny, random reason, and that always escalates into her going on and on about every character flaw I have. Anyway, once we stopped arguing and arrived in Yuba City, Mom dropped me off at Becky's for about an hour. I played with her kitten, she showed me how to feed the baby quail when they're actually healthy, and introduced me to the birds I was going to be taking. I put my sparrow in with her sparrows, and he seemed very confused (probably because he was in a new place and I woke him up from sleeping to put him in said new place) but eventually calmed down. I put the house finch she gave me in the box I brought the sparrow in, but Becky was extremely unwilling to give up the tanager and spent a long, long time with it sitting on her leg. In the end, Mom brought up that we're going on vacation in a week, which was the deciding factor in Becky saying I couldn't take the tanager because she loves it too much.

Well, Jacqui called this morning and I told her Becky didn't give me the tanager, and she basically said we really do need to get the tanager up here at some point soon because it doesn't belong in Yuba City. So she's going to talk to Becky about it, because not only does it belong up here, Becky is way too attached to that bird and it's not good for it. That's why she wanted to send it to me in the first place--because she's too attached. Oh well. Jacqui said she'll watch it while I'm gone if we can get it up here, along with any other birds that need watching.

Today, mostly all that happened that was eventful was I got yet another bird. I was told it was a finch, which was the only reason I took it, but when it came, it actually turned out to be a grosbeak (which looks nothing like a finch, by the way). I really like grosbeaks, so I was happy nonetheless. I got some antibiotics into it immediately because it's cat-caught and wasn't looking the greatest. Before I even did that, though, I had to douse the poor thing in water because the lady who found it fed it--get this--peanut butter and honey. In short, the little grosbeak was a mess. I managed to get out a lot of the peanut butter, but he's still a little sticky. I've been caring for him since I got him, and truth be told, I'm really not convinced he's going to make it. :/ He's behaving almost exactly like the other cat-caught grosbeak I got, who died the next day. He seems feverish, he just sits there with his eyes closed all the time, he has yet to make a single sound, and he's uninterested in eating anything. A bird his age should be jumping around and being inquisitive and very hungry, and he just...isn't. But, we'll see if the antibiotics kick in. He might still make it--you never know.

Yet another bird thing is that my male house finch (the one I raised from a pinky, who was previously known as "swallow/mystery bird") might have a case of conjunctivitis in one of his eyes. I have no idea how he could have caught it, as he hasn't left my house in a while and very few new birds have been introduced since I've had him, but if that is what it is, it's extremely contagious. I mean, it goes away and it's far from fatal, but it'll be a bit difficult to work with if that is what he has. He might have just poked his eye on something, but it seems too inflamed for that.

That's all for now.

Bad luck with birdies

Well, let me see... I'd better write about yesterday first.

Not much happened for the bulk of the actual day. Mom volunteered to give the quail a ride down to Becky's at 8 PM, so meanwhile I worked on getting it hydrated and well fed. It refused to eat on its own, so I pretty much had to forcefeed it for quite a time. Well, at 7:30 PM I was in the room with the quail, and for no apparent reason it flipped over on its back. I thought it just lost its balance, because it only had one usable leg, but when I picked it up it turned out it had gone into seizures. :( I have no idea why. So, I held it for a little while, hoping it would be okay but doubting it would. About forty seconds later, it died peacefully in my hands. I really don't know why it died, but I have a feeling I couldn't have prevented it.

Well, we still had the sparrow to trade for the finch and the tanager, so we got ready and headed down to Yuba City anyway. Mom and I argued pretty much the whole way there because Mom was mad at me for some tiny, random reason, and that always escalates into her going on and on about every character flaw I have. Anyway, once we stopped arguing and arrived in Yuba City, Mom dropped me off at Becky's for about an hour. I played with her kitten, she showed me how to feed the baby quail when they're actually healthy, and introduced me to the birds I was going to be taking. I put my sparrow in with her sparrows, and he seemed very confused (probably because he was in a new place and I woke him up from sleeping to put him in said new place) but eventually calmed down. I put the house finch she gave me in the box I brought the sparrow in, but Becky was extremely unwilling to give up the tanager and spent a long, long time with it sitting on her leg. In the end, Mom brought up that we're going on vacation in a week, which was the deciding factor in Becky saying I couldn't take the tanager because she loves it too much.

Well, Jacqui called this morning and I told her Becky didn't give me the tanager, and she basically said we really do need to get the tanager up here at some point soon because it doesn't belong in Yuba City. So she's going to talk to Becky about it, because not only does it belong up here, Becky is way too attached to that bird and it's not good for it. That's why she wanted to send it to me in the first place--because she's too attached. Oh well. Jacqui said she'll watch it while I'm gone if we can get it up here, along with any other birds that need watching.

Today, mostly all that happened that was eventful was I got yet another bird. I was told it was a finch, which was the only reason I took it, but when it came, it actually turned out to be a grosbeak (which looks nothing like a finch, by the way). I really like grosbeaks, so I was happy nonetheless. I got some antibiotics into it immediately because it's cat-caught and wasn't looking the greatest. Before I even did that, though, I had to douse the poor thing in water because the lady who found it fed it--get this--peanut butter and honey. In short, the little grosbeak was a mess. I managed to get out a lot of the peanut butter, but he's still a little sticky. I've been caring for him since I got him, and truth be told, I'm really not convinced he's going to make it. :/ He's behaving almost exactly like the other cat-caught grosbeak I got, who died the next day. He seems feverish, he just sits there with his eyes closed all the time, he has yet to make a single sound, and he's uninterested in eating anything. A bird his age should be jumping around and being inquisitive and very hungry, and he just...isn't. But, we'll see if the antibiotics kick in. He might still make it--you never know.

Yet another bird thing is that my male house finch (the one I raised from a pinky, who was previously known as "swallow/mystery bird") might have a case of conjunctivitis in one of his eyes. I have no idea how he could have caught it, as he hasn't left my house in a while and very few new birds have been introduced since I've had him, but if that is what it is, it's extremely contagious. I mean, it goes away and it's far from fatal, but it'll be a bit difficult to work with if that is what he has. He might have just poked his eye on something, but it seems too inflamed for that.

That's all for now.