Jennifer

The black sunflower seeds are not as bad as the white/grey seeds but they still are too high in fat and too low in Vitamin A so are the most common culprit of Vitamin A deficiency and obesity in parrots - I don't know why they put those in bird seed!! Would be great to get the seeds individually like safflower, milliet, red millet, niger and rape seeds - again though, seed should comprise only 10% of the diet after 20% quality bird pellets and 50% fresh food. Anyway... as far as feeding fresh foods you are not likely to cause obesity that way (unless you feed high fat foods all the time) especially with smaller conures. Feed fresh foods freely, you will see that Pepper will only eat until his/her crop is full. The 'bean mix' recipe is as follows: Cook 1 kg of whole grains just until tender, not mushy (try wheat, barley and brown rice - use a different type for each batch to ensure variety). Cool and spread onto a baking sheet to dry slightly. Put in the freezer on the tray so taht the grains freeze separately, not in a big clump. Cook 1 kg of beans following the same protocol as with the grains. When the grains and beans are frozen, scrape them off and add them to a large bowl and add 2 kg of frozen watties vegetables (any variety, or you can make your own combination - again use variety for each batch if possible) Also add to the frozen mixture a couple of cups of chopped fresh greens (save all of your vegetable stems, they are great for this). Add a cup of chopped fresh or frozen fruit (use variety for each batch) but avoid watery fruits like apples, and grapes, avoid pips of any kind and they can have toxins. You can also add a handful of treats like pasta, nuts, wheat germ, bread,cheese, mealworms, cooked meat, etc. depending on the bird's preference. Mix all ingredients well and freeze in an airtight container. Each day, scoop out about a half cup of the mixture (for a bird Pepper's size) and feed when it has thawed a bit. Wash the bowl and clean the cage paper each evening to prevent rotting food.

Looks great.

Yes, terminology wasn't ideal. "No" chocolate either.

The training bit was about Sophia Yin. Try Google, she is a very well respected behaviourist and her training principles work for any species. The key to toileting is to know how often they go and then being aware of the signs and then rewarding for the behaviour you want (high motivation rewards are a must). IMO just knowing they will go every 15 minutes was easier for me, I just placed them on the stand after 14 minutes, they would go and I would pick them up again. :lol: Clickers can be ordered from most pet stores.

:lol: Ok, aim for 50% vege/fruit/legumes/grains & nuts (in moderation) - a varied diet pretty much what a healthy person would eat (low sodium, low fat, no caffeine, alcohol). Avoid avocado and chocolate. The other 50% should be composed of: 20% good quality pellet (Harrison's is good) 10% seed (not including sunflower seeds) If he/she resists, persist, no matter what. He/she will eventually catch on. It can take a while to get them sorted if they have not been reared on a quality varied diet. I used to feed my house parrots everything I would eat, porridge in the morning, sandwich for lunch, spag bol & salad for dinner, etc. Always have pellets and clean water in the cage and offer a seed treat a couple of times a week. Change the paper every day after dinner to reduce mold growth over night. My parrots in the aviaries used to get a frozen 'bean mix' that I would defrost and feed every morning, it consisted of cooked beans, whole grains, frozen Watties type vegetables, one type of fruit and any seasonal leafy vegetable. I got the recipe from an avian specialist at the VMTH teaching hospital. I can give you the recipe if you want an easy way to measure out food every day. Although sometimes it is easier to just serve up food with each of your meals - best to feed them in their cage to maintain good manners though. HTH

LMAO

I didn't mean MAF! :lol: 8)

Oh dear... :roll: not sure NZ is ready for a fish mafia... 8)

Oh cute! Was that the one that was in the Animates when we were there? That was a very friendly bird. I wasn't sure what sort of conure it was :roll: I used to have Nanday conures and they really loved their daily baths (in heavy glass pie dishes ). I used to recommend this book to buyers of my hand-reared parrot chicks: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Well-Behave ... _b_title_1 But there may be other books that are better now. Still it was very useful. Pepper is a very cute name btw, handy that it's kind of unisex too. 8)

I am so sorry to hear that you have lost your dear companion, I know how hard it is to make that decision. You gave treatment a good effort and he most certainly was well loved and cared for in his life. My thoughts are with you. When you are ready, I have lots of information about feeding South American parrots so just give a shout out.

Acriflavine works against fungi but it sounds like this could be Columnaris which is a aerobic bacterium (although I can't say for sure without seeing the fish). This infection is often caused by stress so it is a good idea to ensure your water parameters are good and that there is minimal overcrowding. Columnaris can affect the gills so it is beneficial to aerate the water to ensure good oxygenation. Salt at 1 gram/L can fully treat the condition so if you can manage that, that would be an ideal first mode of treatment. If it gets worse even with salt, broad spectrum antibiotics (like Furan) can be effective as can baths with potassium permanganate and methylene blue. Avoid tetracycline based antibiotics as it treats gram positiv bacteria and columnaris is gram negative. Good luck.

LMAO :lol:

Should be called LOS (local obsession shop).

I can't verify that but I think that could be the case. :roll: Sure would be good to get a hold of the guys that renamed the fish. Is there a database of such changes I wonder?

Perhaps we could Photoshop his body out for Brad Pitt's and replace his eyes with Paul Newman's? Can't see why he'd complain about that! :lol: 8)

Again, I am not an expert, but this is what I believe is true based on my research: There are at least 3 Badis species: Badis badis badis Badis burmanicus Badis badis siamensis There is only one Dario species: Dario dario Dario dario is formerly known as Badis dario, Badis bengalensis and formerly known by the common* names Scarlet badis, Dwarf Scarlet badis, Red gem badis and Scarlet gem badis. *As with all common names, there is inevitable confusion. There are now problems with using 'common names that include 'badis' since the Dario is not a Badis anymore. To make matters worse, there is a scarlet coloured Badis species that looks somewhat similar to the Dario but it is a larger and less red coloured and it also has the common name of Scarlet badis. Best to use the scientific names to avoid confusion and hopefully people will stop referring to the Dario with its former common name. Not sure how you are going to write that!!! :roll:

Wow! Nice tank, I have been wanting to do something like that for ages. I am so inspired. Congrats on the baby, what a great accomplishment to have provided such good conditions for spawning.

:oops: Best cheesecake recipe EVER! http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... ke-1222199 (Only use full fat Philly cream cheese. Digestive biscuits replace the graham crackers - McVities are best. Also, skip the making of lemon curd and buy Barker's lemon curd instead - simpler and better tasting IMO.)

I am not an expert on this but the differences between Dario sp. and Badis sp. have recently been published by Dr Hoek Hee Ng based on data from Peter Cottle among others. He also had a short article in Practical Fishkeeping magazine recently that discussed this. Anyway, the research I have done seems to point to all Badis species having the scientific name Badis badis and there are many synonyms (as indicated by douwe) Badis bengalensis was formerly known as Badis sp. "scarlet" Badis badis badis (Blue badis, Chameleon badis) Badis badis burmanicus Badis badis siamensis The Badis is thought to possibly be related to dwarf cichlids, particularly apistos. They are cave spawners and the males tend the young. In contrast, Dario dario (the scientific name) is a new name given to what was originally thought to be a dwarf version of Badis but the Dario has been found to be so distinct it now has its own family/genus. Dario are egg scatterers and they have a mating embrace like Betta fish and are visually different as I described earlier. Pics: Badis badis http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/images/what ... -ruber.jpg http://www.acuaterra.net/atlas/main.php?g2_itemId=3562 http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/bre ... badis.html http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=badis Others: http://www.apistoworldhk.com/shop/index.php?cPath=2_35 Dario dario http://www.diewasserwelt.de/privat/dario-1.jpg http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... catid=2823 Hope that helps. It is all very confusing.

Yes! We must do it again! It was a brilliant time.

OMG, have you tried Havana Club Cuban rum? It is arguably the finest rum in the world and we are so lucky to be able to get it here in NZ. I have a recipe for a lime daquiri with white Havana Club and it is so fine. Also, gold Havana Club and coke is a million times better than Bacardi. I never was much of a rum fan before that, but now I just love it. Mmmmm

Sort of depends on what you like, whether you want a community or not. SOme good choices for that sized tank might be: rainbows, danios, tetras, small loaches, coydoras, bristlenoses or dwarf cichlids (not necessarily all together though). A couple of larger fish go nicely with a school of smaller fish. A shoal of loaches or cories is also a nice addition to a community and they help to keep things tidy and provide some interest at the bottom of the tank. An example stocking might be: 2 red rainbows or 2 dwarf cichlids 6 dwarf neon rainbows 10 danios 6 khuli loaches or cories 1 or 2 bristlenoses

Welcome. You live in one of the best places in the country for good water so the fish keeping world is your oyster (or shrimp, or seahorse or whatever you want).

+1

He may be getting soiled because he is not carefully taking a poo like he normally would (since he is so fluffed up and weak). Another alternative is that he may be having diarrhoea as a result of the meds. Or, he may be having difficulty with his digestive tract for anther reason (such as a mass pressing in or invading his intestinal tract). What do his droppings look like? Does he have formed poo and liquid urine? Does he have white urates or yellow/green urates? What colour is the poo? Is that normal for him? Moist foods will always be helpful as that will keep his fluids up, especially if he has diarrhoea, of course moist foods will make his stools softer. If he gets to the point that his vent area is very moist and potentially causing a skin problem it would be good if you could gently use a slightly damp warm cloth to wipe some of it away the next time you are medicating him. Take care not to get his feathers too wet though. Clipping away some of the soiled feathers is also a potential solution but take great care if you try this since it is very easy to cut their fragile skin.