|
Yes, Mike assures me he washed the broccoli thoroughly.
It was the same bunch Woody had been eating the previous
7 days. (I bought it just before I left for vacation.)
If it were pesticides, wouldn't it have killed him
sooner, or would the effect have been cumulative?
Wouldn't he have appeared to be sick, rather than perky and
singing? That's the part that confuses me!
The frozen peas were washed also. We thaw them by running warm
water over them.
Jennifer
|
| In the FWIW category, our canary hen died suddenly, apparently of old
age. She didn't show any major signs of distress before she died; it
was just her time, I guess. This was a few weeks ago. Her mate is
doing fine and shows no signs of illness, so I think it truly was old
age, but it was a teary morning, none the less. Your description of
the situation, with the changes in diet recently, and the move to
the 'bird-sitter' could add stress, certainly. Did the canary undergo
any radical changes in temperature? Up or down? Did your friend notice
anything different about the number or consistency of the droppings? If
the oil was a problem, I suspect something would have showed up
(increase or decrease in droppings, diarrhea). Changes in duration of
light and dark hours the bird experienced, plus any changes in the
habits about covering the cage at night, are other possibilities. Another
thought: if the bird was in direct sunlight too much, heat stroke
might be the culprit. Also, if the bird was kept in the kitchen, near
a gas stove where there might be escaping fumes, or an overheated
Teflon pan, or moved into a smoking household from a non-smoking one,
there might have been too many changes all at once for the bird.
I'm putting all this in because you said you wanted to think about what
you had been doing before getting another bird......not to belabor a
sad event for you. I hope you are of a mind to try again. It truly
might have been nothing either you or your friend did or did not do.
Sometimes it is just that time.
Linda
|
|
Linda-
Thanks for your suggestions. Here are a few answers to your questions:
RE: droppings. It's hard to tell because I was using the corn cob
litter.
RE: covering. Mike used the same cover I do and covered him the
same way.
RE: kitchen. Yes, Woody was in the kitchen, but it's about 25' x 14'.
He was at the far end from the stove, which is electric. It's almost
like being in another room. He's been there before, also.
RE: drafts. Mike says it was a cool week and he didn't have the
windows open. It's possible it got cold at night, though.
I tend to think there were just too many stresses in too short a time.
Woody was only 1 year old.
On a cheerier note, I got two new baby canaries last weekend. They're
8 weeks old. I'm almost positive one is a male because he's already
trying to sing. The other one may be male also; he's quite a bully.
I have them in the same cage for now because I'm trying to get them
used to my hands. (1 cage saves time in this!) I'll probably move
them into separate cages in another week or so. They're not too afraid
of me; they'll eat with my hand in the cage. I'd like to finger tame
them, which I've heard is hard to do with canaries. Has anyone had
success with that?
|