For Caroline and Kim (and, of course, me!)… it’s time for some bird pictures.
This weekend, Rusty got his truck washed for the first time in years:
Shiny!
Also, we went down to the bird fair in Forest Park and got two new zebra finches. They are named Puff and Stuff. The girl is Puff, because she’s bigger.
I’ll post more (and closer-up) photos soon. I didn’t want to disturb them too much while they’re still getting adjusted to their new home, so I haven’t been hovering around their cage with the camera just yet.
This morning I found Max, my adorable, beautiful little Florida Fancy zebra finch, lying dead beside the water dish. :( His mate, Erma, seemed distressed, understandably.
More often than not, it’s a shock when zebra finches die, because they hide their illness so well. If Max was sick, I had absolutely no idea. He seemed fine last night. I hate that he might’ve been suffering and I didn’t know it.
Zebra finches are tiny birds with big personalities. Max definitely had his. He was very mellow and laid-back. He liked to eat, swing, peck at his cuttlebone, and sing to Erma.
There will be a makeshift funeral for him when I get home from work tonight. And I hope Erma isn’t too upset. *sigh*
FYI… 5 finches still need a home… here is the (updated) ad on Craigslist. I had a few leads that looked promising but they all flaked out, dammit.
It’s sad, but true: when I move at the end of March, I am going to have to get rid of all or most of my birds (the most I could conceivably keep is two). I’m going to be moving to a smaller, loft-style place (I don’t know exactly where yet, but all the places I’ve been looking at fit this description) and I just won’t have room for them. Truth be told, I barely have room for them now. I’ll be very sad to part with them, but I just want them to be happy, and I don’t think they’re as happy as they could be right now. Their cage is large, but there are 7 of them in there, making for somewhat cramped quarters even for such tiny little birds. Lately they’ve been fighting a lot - too much to really have the peaceful and happy existence they deserve.
If I have to, I’ll put an ad on Craigslist; but I’d rather have them go to someone I know or a friend of a friend. So if you know anyone who wants all or some of them, please email me!
Here’s some information:
There are 7 birds total; 3 females and 4 males. They are all zebra finches. The boys are Franny, Zooey (the two oldest), Max, and Elliot; the girls are Tricky, Eleanor, and Erma. Ideally, I would like to keep the “established couples” together - Franny and Tricky, Zooey and Eleanor. Max and Erma (yes, named after the restaurant) were supposed to be a pair, but never really hit it off; Elliot is a widower (and a bit of a ladies’ man) who came to live with my flock after his mate died (he used to live at Cari’s).
Franny, Zooey, Elliot, Tricky, and Eleanor are the standard gray variety. Max is an adorable Florida Fancy. Erma is an English zebra finch, so she’s slightly bigger than the others; I can’t tell what variety she is exactly, but I think Lightback is most likely.
I have a large cage - 30″ x 33″ x 17 - and a cage stand with wheels (almost 24″ high), as well as a variety of perchs, toys, food dishes, a bird bath, etc. Cari also has a smaller cage (suitable for 2 birds) that Elliot and his late mate used to live in, which she might be willing to sell.
I posted a few more pictures here.
If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment here. I’m not looking to make much money or anything; I want my birds to have a good home!
Such a sad night. I can’t believe that in the past two weeks, I’ve lost two finches. As you know, I just got Penelope on Sunday. If she was sick, I had no idea — but then, they are very good at hiding illness until it’s really serious.
Shortly after writing that last entry, I went into the bedroom to check on the birds and found Penelope sitting on the floor of the cage, all puffed up and eyes half-closed. I tried not to panic. I thought she might be eggbound. I reached in the cage and picked her up — she didn’t even resist, so I knew it must be bad. :( I massaged her tummy a little, but I couldn’t tell whether she had an egg in her or not. She wiggled a little but not much. I put her back in the cage and went to the computer to look up avian vets — but it was already 8:00, so I knew everywhere would be closed. I went back in the bedroom and she was lying on her side this time! I was crying by then. I didn’t know what to do. Finally I found a number for a 24-hour emergency vet clinic, and called them. They said they didn’t have an avian vet on staff tonight, but I could bring her in and they could do everything possible to keep her alive until tomorrow, when they could get an avian vet in. So I put Penelope in a small cage and set off for the clinic — it was 15 miles away in Marietta, but it was my only option. I was crying and trying not to get too upset.
I sped up I-75. When I got to the clinic, Penny was still alive, but just barely. I rushed her inside and they immediately took her back. A minute or so later, the doctor came to talk to me. She said Penny was still alive, but in very critical condition — she was barely breathing and her heart barely beating. :( The doctor said they could do CPR and whatever else, but her chances weren’t good. She recommended euthanasia. :( Of course I just wanted Penny to be at peace, so I said go ahead. Afterward they wrapped her up and gave her to me to take home — they had drawn a heart on the outside of the wrapping.
Poor little thing!! I know there’s nothing else I could’ve done, but I just feel so bad. I hope my other birds are okay!!
Tomorrow night I’ll have to go back to Petco with the vet receipt, since their policy says they’ll cover any expenses within 15 days — and of course I’ll have to take Penny, too. :( They might try to give me another finch for free, but I don’t think I’m going to take another one from that store. In fact, I don’t know if I’m going to get another one at all. I might just stick with five.
Not a good night at all. :(
P.S. I took several pictures of all the birds yesterday and managed to get this one of her.
Today I went to Petco and bought 3 new zebra finches — 1 male and 2 females. I figured that while I was there getting a new mate for Zooey, I might as well get another pair, too. I’d debated for some time over whether to get another pair for a total of 6 birds. They say 6 is the ideal number of finches to have together. The male is really beautiful; I don’t know much about all the different mutations, but as far as I can tell he’s a Florida Fancy. I named him Max. The 2 females are regular grays, unless I’ve overlooked something in all their fluttering. One has a band on her left leg, so that’ll be an easy way to distinguish her. Her name is Eleanor. The other female, who is quite large, is Penelope, or Penny for short.
So we shall see how things go. Currently they’re still getting to know each other, so there’s been some pecking and hissing and chasing and mounting (dominance behavior), but hopefully they’ll settle down soon and I’ll have a peaceable flock. I’ll take some pictures after they’ve been here a while and are more comfortable with their surroundings.
I didn’t mention it before, but Friday night Chris called me in DC to tell me that one of my female finches — Tilde, aka Tillie — had died. She was fine when Chris got to my apartment that night; but about an hour later, Chris went back into the bedroom to cover them up for the night, and Tillie was in the bird bath, dead. :( Poor little thing. We had wondered if there might be something wrong with her; she was pretty small, and recently she’d been tilting her head to the side a lot (moreso than is typical for curious looking around or coaxing for grooming). The other finches seem fine, although I think Zooey is lonely and feels like a 3rd wheel now, because Franny and Tricky are definitely a pair. I’ll probably get a new female this weekend. I hope Zooey is nice to her. Still debating over whether I should get another pair, for a total of 6 birds altogether. I just hope they all stay in good health… I know they’re just birds, but it’s so upsetting when one of them dies. At least I know that Tillie was well taken care of and happy during her short life.I have my 2 girl zebra finches now! :) I named them Tilde and Asterisk (Tillie and Tricky for short). Right now they’re in a cage together, and Franny and Zooey are back in a cage together (although Franny and Zooey started antagonizing each other again almost immediately). I’m going to keep the boys and girls separate for a few days, so that everyone can get acquainted, and then pair them up so they can set about establishing their households in their respective cages.
As mentioned previously, Chris also got 2 new finches tonight. One boy and one girl — a long-term couple (Asterisk is their daughter, actually). They have been named Olivia and Elliot (after Law & Order SVU, of course!)
Very tired… must sleep now! Will post pictures of the new birds soon.
In case you’ve been wondering (and I know you have), here’s a picture of my new haircut, as of Oct. 9th. (Not the best lighting or angle, but you get the idea.)
Tomorrow I’m getting 2 new zebra finches! Chris is also getting 2. A girl from work is giving away 3 (one baby [well, teenager now] and the parents) — I’m taking the baby, which is a female, and then buying another female from the pet store, so Franny and Zooey will have girlfriends. Chris is taking the parents, as neighbors for Bianca and Charlie. So cute!! :)
I’ve decided to buy a new scanner. My stupid HP All-in-One thing is just a piece of crap for scanning. I’ve decided on the Epson 2480.
Things I like about winter: comfy sweaters; flannel sheets; hot chocolate; seeing your breath. Things I dislike about winter: not enough daylight and too freakin’ cold.
Busy day at work tomorrow (though hopefully not as stressful as today). Writing CSS-only pages is challenging! I like it; but I don’t like project managers breathing down my neck. Anyway, must shower now and head to bed.
Franny and Zooey have been separated, again. Franny is in the smaller cage, and Zooey is in the bigger one, although I took the treat out of the bigger one, because neither of them is totally innocent. They’ve been chasing and antagonizing each other again, and tonight it just got out of hand, so I had to separate them again. They look so pitiful now, all settled down for the night in their separate cages. Poor little things! But I have to keep them apart until they learn their lesson. I keep telling them that soon I’ll be getting girlfriends for them (I think it might be sexual frustration) but apparently that’s not soon enough!
In other news, I still don’t feel 100% better, but I think I’m well enough to go back to work tomorrow.
I would like to make meditation a part of my daily routine (inasmuch as I have one). Not necessarily every day — but several days a week, in the same way that I have been successful in walking to or from work several times a week (though we’ll see what happens as winter approaches). Nothing fancy — no complicated yoga positions or "om" intonations — just, say, 15-20 minutes of sitting quietly and thinking about nothing in particular, perhaps with some incense or candles burning. Maybe when I overhaul the layout of my bedroom, I’ll make a little corner with a big pillow on the floor or something, and a place for the aforementioned candles and incense, and it can be my “meditation corner.”
And I will be overhauling the layout of my bedroom. For one thing, I’ll probably have 2-4 new zebra finches in a few weeks, so I’m going to move Franny and Zooey and their new neighbors into the bedroom, since there’s more room there than in the living room. I also might break down and finally buy the desk I’ve had my eye on for the past 4 months. If so, that will also go in the bedroom, probably along the left wall. And I need to pry my Master’s degree out of the tube it’s stuck in and have it framed, so I can hang it on the wall opposite my Bachelor’s degree. Oh, and I also want to get one of those fancy-shmancy air purifiers from The Sharper Image. Can’t decide which purchase takes priority — that or the desk.
God, I sound like such a consumer. But I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. I don’t fill a void by buying all the extraneous stuff that so many people do. ("Where’s my stuff??") <– Jenny and Niki will get that; just one of our many inside jokes.
We are in mourning for Chris’s female zebra finch, Madison “Maddie” Rhea. She passed away earlier today. :-( Poor little thing.We have no idea what caused her death, but speculate that it may be related to whatever caused her birth defect of not having toes on one of her feet. However, we can console ourselves with the knowledge that during her short life, she was always very happy and well cared for, because Chris is such a wonderful parent. She is survived by her cagemate, Charlie, who is confused and upset at the moment, but will surely bounce back in typical zebra finch fashion soon. Maddie brought us a lot of joy, and surely she is looking down upon us from bird heaven.Other newsworthy events of the weekend: Chris got 2 zebra finches. Also… we went to Athens Saturday for some shopping, and on the way, Chris bought a lottery ticket and won $75! Woohoo!
I’m worried about Franny and Zooey. This afternoon I saw a little bit of blood (I’m pretty sure that’s what it is, I don’t know what else it could be) on top of their nestbox where they sleep. I looked at both of them and didn’t see any blood on either of them, nor anywhere else in the cage. I’m hoping it was just a one-time thing, like one accidentally scratched the other or something. I got the crazy thought that maybe they ingested some of the cotton and it made them sick? I don’t know. They both seem fine — fluttering about and cheeping as usual — but I’m still worried. They’re my little babies after all!
My DSL modem finally came today, so I am all set up with that. Yay, no more dial-up! Now I just have to set up the wireless router so I can move my iBook around my [albeit small] apartment at will. I’ve never had DSL before and apparently it is PPPoE, so I hope that’s not a problem for the router.
On the 27th (next Wednesday) I will finally be connected to the “master satellite” on the roof of the building, so I can actually watch something other than the handful of DVDs and VHS tapes I own on the brand new TV I bought. In the meantime I am having a hell of a time getting in touch with DirecTV to cancel my order and get my money back. (I had thought that I needed to go through them and get my own little dish, because nobody in the leasing office bothered to tell me about this master satellite situation… thankfully my next-door neighbor did.) It’s always something…
Work is work. There is still a substantial amount of information I need that I don’t have. Some server passwords, for example. It irritates me a bit. I hope I get that stuff soon, since I need to install some software on a whole lab of machines. How thrilling!
I put some cotton balls in the bird cage to see what Franny and Zooey would do with it. One of them (can’t tell which from over here) is holding some cotton in his beak. :-) I hope they build a nest with it in their nestbox. :-)
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