Well, that's finally done!  What a day!  I didn't know when to start toweling everyone & putting them in their kennels; didn't know how long it would take.  So I started early.  Everybody was pretty easy to towel except for Sox.  He's quite intimidating the way he holds his beak open as though he's gonna tear your fingers clean off your hand.  He's very, very smart, too.  I can't explain exactly what he did to impress me so much, but today I acquired a lot of respect for him.  Not fear, but respect.  Maybe it has to do with the way he nurtures Tuxie so.  I mean, that little Senegal looks to him for everything.  Then, after the Senegal was handled by me, then the vet, Sox went over to him & preened the feathers on his head.  He mothers the little bird like its his own. It amazes me.

The vet put the fear of God in me today.  Once he saw the leg bands he gave me this big lecture about taking in adopted birds.  He said the bands were USDA bands & they only are found on imported birds (although now they don't band birds anymore at all).  He said that the Senegal was most likely taken straight from the nest.  The Nanday was imported also, & he said they were the biggest carrier of Pacheco's Disease of all the conures.  He said that some pet shops will not take Nandays, and some won't take ANY conures at all. 

If any of the new birds carry Pacheco's Disease, he said there's no vaccination or antidote.  The bird will just fluff up & be listless for a day, then die.  It all happens within a couple days.  He said the best thing I could do to keep my own birds healthy is to quarantine the new birds for 6 wks in a different building.  I told him that I did not do this, of course.  He said the next best thing you can do is to keep them in their separate cages & keep the cages clean. 

The Nanday was his biggest concern, but he said there's no way he

can ensure me that any of the birds are not carriers without blood

tests, and those are expensive.  Testing each bird would run about

$100 per bird.  So, I had him test the Nanday for Pacheco's. 

He did a gram stain on everybody & all was good.  The vet said

that regardless of what the test says, BoBo has already been

exposed.  If he comes down with Pacheco's he'll die.  What a comforting thought. 

I don't know why he was so explicit about this today.  Maybe he thinks I'm overdoing it adopting the birds, or maybe he just wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into.  Regardless, it's done.  It's too late now to do anything different.  I told him that the birds were in Safehaven Sanctuary for a certain period of time before I took them, so wouldn't it have shown up by now?  And what about the Senegal living with the Nanday?  He said, "He may not have shed the virus yet, if he has it."  He mentioned something about stool, so I'm assuming that's how it's spread.  I guess I need to do some reading up on this.  But he sure did scare me. 

Using logic, however, if the Nanday was a carrier & the Senegal did NOT get the virus, there's a chance that BoBo wouldn't either.  Meaning that the virus was not shed yet.  So, that gives me a little comfort.  But I should know for sure when they call me back to tell me the results of the blood test. 

Sox was upset about that blood test for a just a couple minutes, then he was back to his old self, babying Tux. That's good.  When BoBo had a blood test once he was stressed for a good 20 minutes afterward. He held his beak open & panted.  I said I'd never do that again to a bird. However, I went ahead & had it done on Sox so I'd know if he was ever a threat.  I didn't want the fear to always be hanging over my head.  He took it gracefully, though.  He seems to be a tough cookie.

Well, here's the weights: Big Sammy was 170 grams (that's down from 234, so it's official, he has lost 25% of his body weight). The doc said he still has plenty of meat on his breast so not to worry about him.  Sox was 128 grams & Tuxie was 115.  Jerry, the Sunday was 110.  I was surprised to see that Tuxie weighed more than Jerry because he seems so small; and he shakes if you just look at him.  Maybe it's because he has such a small tail that he just looks smaller.

Jerry & BoBo are molting right now.  That might account for the fatigue they seem to be displaying the last few days.  Plus, the new additions to the flock.  Little Sammy has been napping, too, which is unusual.  I'm watching them closely.  Last night I put everybody to bed by 6:15.  KiKo & Sox get everybody up between 7:00 and 7:30 each morning.  When they were in the bedroom with one window, they all got about 14 hrs of sleep a night.  Now, with them being in the glass room it's harder for me to control the light coming in. So that, combined with KiKo & Sox's early a.m. noises, gets them up and at 'em much earlier.  I hope that's the reason for the fatigue.  

Well, I didn't mean to write a book.  Sorry.