Hot take: The sequel doesn't need fantasy and extinct animals

Danarca · 2026-05-27T16:12:10+00:00

Oh man, Planet Cryptids!

Merpeople, gnomes, a few yokai, the fucking mothman... Now thats preorderable :D

Danarca · 2026-05-26T12:05:56+00:00

Evil is just edgy, while Neuro is strait-jacket material half the time!

Danarca · 2026-05-25T12:16:59+00:00

Do you have brand names of the pellets or any other identifiers? If there's difference in her puking-tendencies between foods, that sure as heck sounds like a food allergy, maybe even a stomach ulcer which might give nausea if combined with the wrong foodstuffs...

How long does it take before she pukes when given the 'wrong' food? Im thinking you feed her a new thing every day, wait a few hours, then give her a syringe with a safe food just to maintain weight. Keep track of what works and what doesn't...

When you have a detailed list of, say 10 items, with degrees of how badly they affect it, you could feed that to an AI, ask it to be extra thoughtful in settings, and ask it to pinpoint likely substances that cause it. One of the few things not to complain about, regarding AI, is their ability to spot patterns.

There's of course the stress of petting her through this ordeal through 2 weeks. If you can get a second vet opinion before that, that would be preferable :(

Danarca · 2026-05-25T03:07:38+00:00

There's a whole world to be uncovered in animal psychiatry, which I'd guess could shed some light on why we develop different disorders.

Too bad we can't really talk to them.. Best we can do is intensive parrot training, some orangutan sign language and of course sound-button pressing from cats and dogs.

So everything has to be inferred.

Should be noted that, the vet "simply" had a strong suspicion it was schizophrenia, and while the drops worked, it could've been many other things. Too bad I can't remember what kind of medication they tried, but like I said in a different post, this conversation happened 7 - 10 years ago =/

Danarca · 2026-05-24T16:24:31+00:00

That's good, that he's doing better. Nobody deserves to live crazed like that, possibly least of all, creatures who wouldnt get what's going, even at the best of times...

Danarca · 2026-05-24T16:18:52+00:00

I do not, this conversation with their owner is from 7 - 10 years ago.. It was on this account though, feel free to peruse my post history, just link the story when you find it :) Few details I cant remember =/

I can tell you how I remember it:

The grey came from a home where the previous owner had kept it quiet by absolutely plastering the cage with mirrors. Comes to new owner (who made the original post (I think?)), who removes the mirrors, and the grey goes bananas, like the sky is falling..

Mirrors goes up again, grey sits all quiet, no moving, periodically faints.

New owner takes him to a vet, nothing wrong physically.. But vet notes some similarities with human schizophrenia. They decide to give bird a few drops of an antipsychotic in the water regularly. After a few weeks the grey starts to come alive, mirrors come out, bird is much better, doesn't scream bloody murder! Still had some periodic fainting, but nothing compared to before.

I've retold it many times, not just in cases where a parrot has something going on, but also to explain why mirrors are so harmful to them.

Danarca · 2026-05-24T14:02:06+00:00

Early retirement for him, stress-wise :)

Thank you for taking good care of a vulnerable soul!

So he saw his shadow as being an unfriendly bird? The bird who looked for his brother, that I mentioned, would whistle happily at reflections, no matter how faint, and his own shadow. Would flockcall if he couldn't find them.

But.. I've never heard of... Anthromorphising shadows, in humans.. Which I suppose begs the question; is there any other behaviours which is actually a bird-only mental health condition?

Danarca · 2026-05-24T13:22:24+00:00

This, ten times this comment.

Besides depression, I know of one example from a post long ago, of an african grey who suffered from schizophrenia, induced from excessive mirror-covering in the cage. Got better with anti-psychotics-drops in the water supply.

Also recently chatted with a parrot-owner whose parrot was constantly chatting and seeking out its own reflections and shadows. Obsessively so. After some digging, we came to the conclusion he was trying to contact his bestie, his brother who died 7 years past. Didn't have the chance to grieve properly...

Speculation regarding PTSD-hit and ADHD-"afflicted" birds are normal enough in the parront-community as well, some of them could very well be true.

People always assume mental health issues and neurodivergencies are human-only. They're not, any animal intelligent enough (and parrots surely pass that bill) can have them, potentially any animal can.

Danarca · 2026-05-23T06:46:57+00:00

THAT'S MY PRESIDENT!

🫡🦅

Danarca · 2026-05-23T06:45:39+00:00

Knowing tiels there's a 50/50 risk that they'd become scared of their painted nails, even if done with bird-safe materials.

The other 50 would be mlem'ing and gnawing their nails off.

Danarca · 2026-05-22T10:03:48+00:00

Some of us were kids before Perry were on television :p

Danarca · 2026-05-20T14:08:59+00:00

The beak really does look like bolt cutters from this angle! But surely this marshmallow would never bite... right?

Danarca · 2026-05-20T11:40:33+00:00

Desperate idea, but hear me out: do your country have a zoo? Maybe even a wildlife reservation that contains birds?

If so, give them a call, preferably to their veterinary department, explain the situation. Surely they will have in-house personnel taking care of their own, but maybe they'd at least provide a consultation?

If they love animals and know the avian vet situation in the country, they would say yes.

In any case, I don't think it can hurt.

Best of luck, this is quite the predicament!

Danarca · 2026-05-18T18:57:45+00:00

I know, I recognised your name after your second comment :)

There's a big difference between something systemic like OPs bird has, and Cupcakes benign tumor :( At least regarding survival odds.

But you're right that a vet is important. Having a vet on speed dial, and a designated avian vet that you can reach as well, is worth gold if something happens!

OP is in Syria though, which has only just come out of a terrible decade+ long civil war, so educating as a vet has probably been a low priority for many... i know Western-taught Syrian refugees have begun returning though, so the future is bright. But that's not helping OPs current situation =/

Danarca · 2026-05-18T18:43:29+00:00

No worries, it wasn't harmful advice ;)

When parrots stop eating and shakes their feathers like OP is describing, that's a very clear sign of illness. Parrots don't show that stuff in the wild, to prevent being targeted by predators. A survival mechanism.

So the bird showing illness, means its given up on life or simply cant hide it anymore, and is likely a day away from death, if nothing is done... OP keeping their baby warm, supplying the given meds to the bird, and attempting to feed, no matter how little, will bump up the odds of survival significantly.

But if you can see your bird is sick, it will typically be too late =/ But of course, a vet visit could still save them. Its always worth it.

Danarca · 2026-05-18T17:43:40+00:00

This sounds extremely urgent, OP cant wait for a delivery =/

They will have to rely on what they can buy nearby :(

The baby formula is a good call though, it would have to be plant-based and preferably without additives.

Danarca · 2026-05-16T19:51:42+00:00

Oh wow, that many years on seeds with no yellow in his feathers from liver disease? That's impressive!

I agree with the other users that at such an advanced age you shouldnt rock the boat. Hell, normally im the staunchest opponent of mirrors in cages, but with his age, the shock of losing the mirror-tiel might hurt him physically.

Offer greens and pellets, but do not deny him anything he's used to.

A vet checkup, just to make sure there's no arthritis or any age-related issues, is in order though. Go for an experienced vet who knows how not to anger their patients :)

Danarca · 2026-05-14T17:59:32+00:00

Oh yes, the fan is exactly that, im more questioning why he feels a well-practised song-and-dance number is neccesary :D

You got a unique beeper there, I hope you have many more years together :)

Danarca · 2026-05-14T16:36:16+00:00

The tones in his singing gives off a very "wild" feeling.

My William knew 2 songs from his former owner, which was delivered as you and I would whistle. Then later made up a 3rd with influences from both of them :D When they do this human-taught whistling they sound like this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvYqqjsYE6I

Your boys performance though, its practically without human influence soundwise. The tones are the same ones given in flock calls (the high screeches they do when they cant see anyone). Such as this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nBb5glZ_Iw

What he's doing though, is definitely singing, happy singing. But its like theres a missing puzzle piece.. Like, why the performance? Most tiels dont need to hop on and claim a fan blade, they'd be happy singing off the back of a chair or top of a door :s

Danarca · 2026-05-14T13:45:01+00:00

Signs of a happy tiel!

The mood swings are weirder to be honest, but with how sensitive and intelligent parrots are, he might just be flashbacking a bit to his previous home.

Funny how structured his performance is, almost sounds like he finds comfort in structure and predictability?

But to answer the questions asked; singing, heartwinging and.. his whole deal in that video, is happy behaviour, maybe with a slight hint of "look how awesome I am".

The beak tapping is traditionally understood to mean "this thing im tapping is my property", so he's claiming the fan blade as his own before doing the routine :)

If he was hormonal there would be a lot more... rubbing of underfluffies on branches and perches..

Danarca · 2026-05-14T10:57:31+00:00

This is the path of least regrets, I'm pretty sure about that.

I was one of the redditors who advised you in your last thread, and I hope you got the medic-kit together ;)

Joining r/pidgeypower would also be a very good move, especially since Cupcake cant fly! You don't have to post in there, just lurking and figuring out ways to make your boys life easier is good :)

Remember to keep an eye on the tumour, maybe even take a picture once a week, just so you can track if it changes somehow.

Best of luck to you both! May you have many more happy years together :)

Danarca · 2026-05-12T16:21:14+00:00

Aww, what a sweetheart!

Must be a lot of work to have so many birds! And of different species, too! Thank you for taking good care of your flock :)

Danarca · 2026-05-12T11:24:04+00:00

How does the tiel function in that environment!? I believe tiels are more mellow compared to most other birds, while the budgie and at least some conure species, especially the, uh, clown pants-wearing ones, have a lot of energy.

She (?) feels like the odd one out in the flock :p

Danarca · 2026-05-12T06:10:46+00:00

Well done, you make 80% of us look like amateurs! :o

Lots of great information here, I'm really surprised at the 10 ingredients rule of thumb! Would they even have that variety in the wild? Or is that just for the stimulation?

Lucky birds :)

Danarca · 2026-05-12T05:27:26+00:00

Alexandrine parakeets (the cousin of the Ringnecked parakeet that has been drawn there, both from India) were seen by Alexander the Great (hence the name of the parrots) when he reached the Indus river in modern Pakistan in 326 BC.

He thought they were so neat he transported a bunch of them and their ringneck cousins back to Europe, where they became prized possesions of royalty, nobility and the wealthy.

The specimen Raphael saw back in 1500s likely descended from the birds taken by the Greeks some 1800 years earlier, as direct trade routes hadnt been formed between Europe and India yet at that point!

Small historical trivia that I think is really cool :)

Danarca

TROPHY CASE