How close can you get?

Shinki & Tofu: YES🥀

“Human, I’m not letting you leave now”

We discovered the bathroom sink. This is 4yo Piper.

This is my baby Kiki she around 5 months, she is my little devil from heaven 💚and yes her wings were clipped by the breeder but I’m hoping for a full grow back, she is in molt right now been collecting feathers left and right lol

The way kiwi (yellow-sided) has embraced this ladder has surpassed my wildest hopes. Turqey (turquoise) doesn’t quite get it but she’s always happy to jump in as a background performer 😂

Today was my 26 year old sun conure’s annual vet visit. He is overall in excellent health but two things have me concerned:

He’s developed cataracts in both eyes and the vet said his vision will decline over time and that the cataracts are normal with being such an old birb. My concern is that he has free roam of the house with the exception of when someone is cooking or it’s bedtime. I’m now worried about him hitting walls, etc. and getting hurt. Obviously clipping his wings is not what we’d do, but I wish we could bubble wrap him.

The scary development is the vet sent the following follow up email:

One thing I did want to highlight in writing, as I mentioned during your visit, is that I noticed Opie's grip strength in his left foot seemed slightly weaker than his right. You mentioned you haven't noticed this at home, which is reassuring. That said, I do want you to keep an eye on it because in older parrots, decreased grip strength can be a sign of atherosclerosis, a common type of heart disease. With atherosclerosis, plaques build up in large blood vessels preventing blood flow to the extremities. Atherosclerosis can lead to a variety of clinical signs such as lethargy, weakness, decreased grip strength, falling off the perch, fainting, disorientation, seizures, increased respiratory rate/effort, and reduced appetite. Unfortunately, atherosclerosis can cause sudden death without warning.

The important thing to know is that if you notice at home that Opie is gripping with his left foot more weakly than his right — for example, when he perches on your finger — please reach out to us. If we confirm this is happening at home, we would consider starting a medication to help improve blood flow to his extremities. There is unfortunately no way to reverse atherosclerosis once it is present, but medication can help manage signs associated with it.

Anyone have any experience managing atherosclerosis?

Pic of the old man for head scritches…

Thank you!

Finally got Chabela in for her wellness check today. Dr. David Jeffery said she’s recuperating greatly compared to the photos I showed him from when I first got her early last month.
She’s currently 59g and about 7 months and 3 weeks old. He said she’s developing nicely and recommended a feather/beak supplement to help support healthier feather growth and recovery of her damaged beak.
We also talked about the sudden head jolts she gets sometimes when she’s stimulated by whistling. He said he hasn’t seen that in a GCC before, but based on what we discussed, he wasn’t too concerned and thinks it may just be a little tic she has for life that won’t affect her quality of life. I’ll keep an eye on it, obviously, and I already have her next wellness check scheduled for six months from now to keep track of her development.
She did great with the vet. No nipping, no hissing, nothing. Dude called her a charmer lol.
He also approved of her diet, which is good to hear. She’s eating Roudybush California Blend with fresh collard, mustard, and turnip greens, yellow squash, occasional bell pepper, and a little apple here and there.
Pretty happy with how far she’s come since I brought her home. She wasn’t in the best shape when I got her, so it’s good to hear she’s making solid progress.
Anyone else with a GCC ever notice head jolts or sudden movements triggered by whistling or excitement? Not looking for a diagnosis, just curious if anyone’s seen something similar with their bird.
Bonus pic swipe left

Poppy Pickles aka Papas Fritas aka Popalopagus looking quite proud after finding the highest branch in the house 😏

Hes 4 months old and he have these bald patches under his wing as shown in the picture its my first time raising a bird so i don’t know if its normal

Anyone else's bird start mumbling late at night? I'm a bit of a night owl but the bird goes to bed before me. Sometimes (like tonight) he just starts mumbling/whispering from beneath the cage cover. Very soft and cute. It's 1230 pm, all the lights have been off, I'm trying to finally sleep, and I start hearing him making little kiss noises and 'I love you's. It's so freaking cute but just curious if others experience this. Do you think he might be sleep talking? Or just waking up for a few minutes?

First time owner posting here. I have a green cheek who‘s roughly eight months old. When I first got him at three months, he wouldn’t leave my side. He would constantly cling to me and never go off on his own. While it was difficult to have a baby permanently attached to you, I appreciated being able to pick him up and put him where he had to go, like back in his cage or a carrier.

Fast forward four months and he is more independent now, which is great, but he also won’t let me grab him anymore. Returning him to his cage has become a game of tag, and I usually end up having to bribe him or trick him. he isn’t afraid of my hand. He comes into my palm for cuddles and bites my fingers when he feels like it. It’s just me who isn’t allowed to touch him. I wonder if I did something wrong while raising him. Was there a point when I had to instil a certain discipline that would make him accept being handled by me? Did I make a mistake and gave him the wrong signal? I’m really at the end of my rope as, for example, I can’t put him in his bath anymore to get clean. I’m seriously considering clipping his wings so that at least when he flees, he doesn’t go to dangerous places and potentially injure himself where I can’t get to him.

Any advice is appreciated.

I’m a new conure owner/caregiver. Anyone have a good recommendation for sprouts and/or foraging ideas?

I wish I also could have named her Peanut because she knows the sound of the can, Bean Bag because of how she squats in my hand making sure she’s nothing but fluff, or Conair because she definitely wanted to be carried instead of fly. When molt season happened she had everything on her legs fluff in a way that made her look like she was wearing Pajamas, but I’m pretty sure she thinks her name is “I’m the baby” So I’m smitten.

So I have a conure, and she is about..Gosh...6 or 7 years old. She lives in her cage with a couple of budgies, they all get along. The question I have is, my conure has a fascination with licking my nose. No matter the time, what we're doing, any time I hold her, if she can get to my nose, she's licking it. Why? She's so weird.

Picture tax

So recently my conure has been pushing her way between pillows and cushions of my sofa. She did this when I first got this new sofa but then she stopped. She was also hiding under the sofa, but I blocked her from going there. The other day I spent about 15 minutes trying to find her by looking under all the furniture, in closets, in high places, finally flipped the right cushions and she flew out.

So is this just something these birds do?