Birdie-Doctor!

Yesterday was a wonderful, and frustrating day for the boys and me. Crash and Pippin had to go to the birdie-doctor. They are just fine, but they had to have their annual wellness exam (one year ago we brought them home and they had their first). I came home from work and let them out of their house, and they sung and flew around some. I got their carrier ready - and...bad mama...though I've had it in the room with them and worked with it with them for the last week, they haven't really seen it in a year.

A year ago, when we made this jaunt last, they were babies, and had clipped wings. This year, they are 1.5 yr old male cockatiels full of vigor, and flighted. Perhaps you see where this is going?

When I first arrived home, we practiced stepping down off mom's hand onto a book (to prep for the scale). Crash took to this lovely, he likes clicks and treats for stepping up and down "mom, I can do this all day!" he says. Pipping found the book big and scary, even though he's done this before. Perhaps you can see where that is going?

Then it was time to get them packing into their carrier. It's much smaller than their other house, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have gone back in there. "You just freed us!" They say. We tried C/T for stepping up. Yay, success. Then I try to turn and put them in the carrier. LAUNCH! Away they fly. Flights around the room commence. This goes on for a while, me trying hard not to make this a new game, them trying very hard for it to become one. Sigh. Eventually Trev came home and working together we got first Pip, then Crash, into their carrier.

We go to the vet. We sit on chairs. Pippin sings a song for the entire office. Loudly. He doesn't care that a large dog wishes to play with him. He does get nervous about the small children present. He ignores the cats.

Finally, it's time to go into the exam room, be weighted, and have their exams. Pippin, like at home, will not step down onto the scale. We tried C/T, but there are new people, and new sounds. "Not Fair, Mom, you changed the rules!" he squawks and flies in small circles (since the room is small). Finally, setting his treat bowl on the scale, the and his ladder on the treat bowl, he steps down. He sticks his head though the rungs of the ladder for treats (eep!) and is weighed in at 99 grams. Then he realizes he has his head through the rungs of the ladder and falls over. He's fine. We let Crash out. He is much better behaved. We put the book on the scale, in in one C/T, he steps on and comes in at 92 grams.

For their exams, they had to be toweled so they could have their hearts listened to, and then their nails clipped. Pippin, bless him, was much better at this than Crash. Silly birdies. But they survived this after much flapping about avoiding the towel (even though we have worked with them and towels before). Then they provided songs for the vet, who says they are actually quite well behaved (whew, no mama likes hearing her boys are naughty!) and we went home.

Crash and Pipping have clean bills of health, have eaten more millet than is good for them, and will be working on some of the vet type behaviors at home between now and next year so they are even better behaved. Like stepping on a scale, and being toweled.