Rico Quaker is blind, or nearly so. He had to go to the vet for a scratch on his "good" eye. He was in pain, keeping it closed. After it got better, He walked off the top of his cage. The vet had to give him fluids because he was dehydrated. 2 weeks later they did bloodwork. His bloodword is great! He's a little old birdie. It's so strage, realizing he's 24 now, and not the young bird he was when he came to live with me .

I figured out that he can't see. I gave him his drops of medicine, and made sure to give some drops of water to keep him going, and made sure he found his favorite foods and treats. He's doing better now. He's eating more, and he has learned to put his foot on his water dish to see where it is, so he can drink. He climbs on his cage, and explored the table his cage is on. He gets love and cuddles, too, when he's not hormonal.


I've come to the theory that he scratched one eye last year when he lost sight in it, because like us, birds will rub their eyes to see better, hoping to clear away what's blurring the vision. He did the same to the other eye this time. The scratches aren't blinding him, he's blind and the scratches are from rubbing his eyes on his cage bars. He stopped doing that, so I think he figured out it wasn't helping. He's on a new medicine, every other day, some drops to help heal the cornea scratch. It's minor. His other senses are taking over. He did alarm calls when I was putting a cage together and for a minute I thought he could see it. He hates seeing big square things coming into the room. Turns out he was hearing the rattle of the cage. He still head bobs and dances to songs and loves a good scritch!


THe tiels are okay. Solomon is my old man, who has been blind for years. He still sings loud and proud. His neck is crooked from arthritis, but it doesn't stop him. He's at LEAST 33 years old. Maybe older, maybe not. Rainbow, Riley and Tweets are in good health.


The budgies? Hurricane had a hurt leg, so I put him in a small hospital cage. He got better. When I put him back with the other 3 budgies, Snowgirl picked on him and bullied him and he started limping again. So he and Meadow have their own cage again, and Snowgirl and Summerboy have their own cage. Snowgirl is hormonal right now, I believe. First hormones coming in.

She and Summerboy came to me together. And Meadow and Hurricane came to me together, so everyone is in their original pairs.They seem content!

Between the bird issues and the care issues, it's been a busy few weeks, for sure. We've got it all under control. Rico is adjusting, budgies are settled, tiels are happy. Now it's my bedtime, I'm pooped!