Louie is doing better, but he continues to have extremely high cholesterol. All signs point to atherosclerosis. In addition to his current medications, we will put him on statins next, which are largely untested in eclectus parrots. Continue reading Managing Cholesterol in Eclectus Parrots: Louie’s Atherosclerosis Journey (Update)
This is not a happy update. Yesterday, I rushed Louie, our sixteen-year-old eclectus parrot, to the avian vet. TL;DR – he has developed liver disease and also likely atherosclerosis. It’s bad news. Continue reading My Eclectus Parrot Has Liver Disease: Round 2
Louie’s 2020 mojo molt fit the year. It was a bad molt this time around and lasted around five months. Since my most popular posts are all about Eclectus Mojo Molts, I figured it was time for an update—and provide a progression photo series so others can see how these can go. We saw the first hints of it in early August, 2020: Slowly and … Continue reading Eclectus Mojo Molt: Progression Pictures
Sometimes, there just isn’t enough love in the world to undo the damage wrought by former homes. And that is the truly hard part with parrots. Continue reading Loving Vi: Health Realities of Parrot Rescue Birds
It’s been five years since Louie’s “gotcha!” day — in that time, I’ve seen him go through several mojo moults. The early ones were rather horrific; when we got him, there was a patch of his head so bald that the vet thought he must have scratched it off on the cement perch in his cage and worried that it may never grow back. He’d … Continue reading Eclectus Mojo Moults over 5 Years: Improvements in Pictures
Last year in July, I took my flock to the vet; she noticed the big ones’ nails and beaks were a touch overgrown, but this was especially true for Louie the eclectus. The vet recommended we get our parrots’ bloodwork done, because contrary to my earlier/misinformed belief, any bird who has a concrete perch in his cage (concrete, not sandpaper) shouldn’t have a problem keeping … Continue reading Holy Liver Values, Batman! How We Lowered Our Eclectus’ Cholesterol Through Diet
A little more than two weeks ago, little Beau lost 2 grams of weight; he’s really tiny (originally weighing in at 28 grams) to begin with, so any drop was concerning.
We weren’t sure what was going on, but ultimately decided not to take a chance and brought him into the vet.
He’s been fighting for his life ever since. Continue reading My Littlest Budgie has a Liver Infection
Sticky post
So — your parrot preened themselves a little too hard. Perhaps they were flying around the room and landed a little funny. Either way, you notice that one of their feathers is bleeding. What in the world…? What should you do? If your parrot is bleeding, that’s an emergency. Yes, even if it’s just from a tiny little feather. Think about how tiny a parakeet … Continue reading Broken Blood Feathers: What To Do
Oh, the holidays–friendship, cheer, the season of giving… What more could a bird want than a bit of pizza crust? Unfortunately, Louie acquired a mild case of toe-tapping to go with it. 😦 This performance brought to you by pizza: I gave Louie a tiny bit of pizza crust (standard practice when we feel like spoiling our birds.) This particular pizza crust came from Old Chicagos, … Continue reading Allergies Don’t Disappear: Mild Toe-Tapping
2020 Edit: This is my most popular blog post, so I thought I’d write a follow-up with better pictures! If you’re looking for a variety of mojo moult pictures over the years, you are welcome to also check out these images of his various moults (hard ones and easy ones) from 2015-2020.
Otherwise, keep reading to see photos of a hard moult and a mojo moult happening in one poor eclectus parrot at the same time!
2016: Is he sick? Does he have scabies? Is he dying?!!
No, no, and no.
Mr. Lou is going through the most intense mojo moult of his life right now, coupled also with a hard moult. He has to be beyond uncomfortable, but he’s still our cheerful little Lou! Our handsome boy is not so handsome.
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