Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:00 pm Post subject: New kak owner, Advice needed
Hello everyone,
I'll start off by saying this is a great site full of very useful info I've put to good use so thanks!
About a week ago i purchased a kakariki from an idiot who had him caged with 2 Alexandrines and 4 lorikeets in a pretty small cage. After experiencing how awesome these little guys are i felt i had no choice but to buy him and give him a chance at a better life.
Since he has been mistreated, he has no trust at all and the first day i brought him home, he was hiding in the left corner most of the day. Now he seems a bit more relaxed with a lot of chirping and seems to be eating non stop, but is still scared when anyone approaches the cage. I give him about 2-3 hours a day outside the cage where he spends it doing his own thing. Any advice or tips i can use to help him trust me? or is it a time thing and give him a lot of time to trust me on his own?
Majority of his right wing has been cut off and the other wing has only 2 feathers and the rest seem to be torn off. He has a few tail feathers missing and the rest seem to be in poor condition. How long would these take to grow back and any advice on what to do in the meantime?
oh my goodness..... poor thing looks in a bit of a state.... i cant answere everything fully but you can search things on here theres lots of info about lots of stuff.... but you gotta know what to search right!!........
firstly........ if you can.... take the grill out of the bottom of the cage or if you cant line it with news paper/old cardboard box or something and put some shavings/sand (serch this for more info) in... basically think of kakarikies as forest loor type birds (like chickens/chooks) they like to scratch about and forage on the floor and are not too happy hopping about on wire floors!!
Seconly...... Id surgest reading up on mites/worms (search this too) and start a program to eliminate any prob and prevent its return.....
Most importantly..... read up on food.........!!! start feeding a good diet with pleanty of protien and veg.... loads to read on that here
there is lots on here about taming.... again ... search n read your going to be a bit busy!!!
Feathers will improve after the next moult if you get the feeding right and eliminate possibility of worms n mites .... but... i cant give you a how long answere.
Im not sure on the sex thing.... initially it looked like a girl to me... but one pic sorta lookes male....... and im a bit rubbish at it think im going to have to post some pics myself for help deciding on the sex of some of mine.....
Good luck with you new birdy sounds like he/she is having a better life allready
Taming is about trust, and the 1st step to that is watching and learning body language....spend a lot of time near the cage....so he gets used to u...not a threat...ignor him.
Then read a book with hand motionless in the cage, hold a treat, bit of apple , kiwifuit or mint...let him come to u.
Like May 1 oic looks female others male, a good front on pic
And yes very important on the worms/mites...dose of invermectin, couple drops on the skin back of the neck.. repeated 10 to 12 days later
And vinegar...search on that
And diet..he needs calcuim and phosphors for feather growth....calcuim is not absorbed into the body unless phosphorus is prent in the diet...again the quick search block on the left....
find a thread "what do you feed....
Cheers
Steps _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Thanks for the replies, they're definitely leading me in the right direction!
I've tried taking front on pics, not sure if they're good enough cos he didn't like it.
I've been feeding him alot of veges including brocolli and cauli stems and plenty of fruit as well as his seeds and he seems to be eating well now.
As for the floor grill, I've been using newspaper since my girlfriend suggested it and he loves eating off it then later shredding it to bits.
I'll look into the mites drops, but up close his feathers look like they have been torn off by the bigger birds.
I'm taking my time with the trust side of things, but this morning he did sit on my hand picking out sunflower seeds so i guess it looks promising.
At times he looks male but sometimes he looks female and i dont want to name him till im sure!
Yep male
And from reading between the lines of your post, yes u have done a lot of reading.
Quote:
I'll look into the mites drops, but up close his feathers look like they have been torn off by the bigger birds.
Any reputable breeder or shop will dose birds be for saelling, and if not done any reputable bird keeper will dose and isolate before introducing into flights.
yes I agree the damage definately looks from being baddly bullied...
This then effects the over all health of the bird/animal and makes them very suspectable to their enviroment. By dosing or at least the vinegar/ apple cilder vinegar as decribed in many posts...ensures basic good health and fast recovery.
Last thing u need right now is looking good then get hit with mites or worms whatever, and regress due to secondary conditions.
If he is responding the veggies and u so soon, I would not be suprised if he has been a good pet before. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
You make a very good point about the mites and i will treat him just incase he has anything. I will be taking him to the vet as soon to get him checked out and ill get them to treat him for mites while im there.
I have been reading a lot on the vinegar/ apple cidar and i will be using it soon, just want to make sure his eating well before introducing anything new.
Been reading on this forum heaps, especially for my girlfriends kak who was ill and passed away a month ago and learnt a lot a long the way, but still have plenty of learning!
Personally i would rather take it to a kak breeder before i take it to a vet. Some of the answer some of you experienced members have given on here is much more then what a vet has offered.
would i be able to take my kak to Cattscapes for a visual and opinion?
When u are logged on the right in the log on block a link to the membership list appears....u can sort by country and stuff...frankly the code behind that is not exactly user friendly..sry..I did have a go a long time ago as to improving but never figured it out
Anyway Catts can be contacted thru there as PM or email
He also has an album in the gallery. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Hi Sam i think he has been used as a chew toy by the Alexandrines or is there a chance his wing has been clipped ? He doesn't look like he has mites but maybe spray him anyway. Most of my birds are starting to moult now so a good diet should bring him back to good health. Remember to if he is an adult aviary breed bird it will take him a while to get used to living in a new environment.
One of his wings has been cut right off, but the other wing when u look up close (pictured above) looks like it's been ripped off and I agree with him being a chew time because his got torn feather on his neck and head also.
I've been following steptoes food thread closely and he's starting to accept most of the veggies so if he begins to moult soon, i know he's getting a good diet.
He seems young to me? I think his just living in fear at the moment so I'm going to give him all the time in the world to get used to his new home and know his safe and feel comfy with me.
Thanks for your phone convo kevin, you gave me a lot of good advice which I'll be using!
Steptoe the info you offer on here is priceless, I'm sure i speak for a lot of people on here when i say you make owning a kakariki a lot easier!
It is comments like that which makes the support members all around the world give, keeping the server running , updates etc ..all worth while.
This whole thing simply started as an excersice for me to learn Apache..well to start off learn what it was served on an old computer in my office....an old P2 intel running windows 95 and a bandwidth of 128 meg up and down.. which back then was top off the line
Its still in my office now, on its 3rd hardware upgrade, full asdsl+2 with mail servers and other bits and peices, all done with open source software. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
about the age... i notice he has a blue leg ring... im not sure about australia ...if its the same as UK that colour blue is the colour for this year... is it a metal ring? if it is it should have some numbers and letters on which should contain the hatch year... _________________ May........
I just grabbed him and had a look at the ring. Its metal, but blank.
It would be interesting to see if breeders all around the world use the same colour system?
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