hi...kinda long

[Denise and Moonlight]

Well to start with, hello. I really like this site... think I'm going to have to stick around for a while! First I'm denise and this picture (excuse the mess but, you know, christmas!) was taken on christmas eve in my bedroom with moonlight "helping" me wrap presents:eek:! She is my baby (U2 19mo. f.) Anyhow, I had a question that a friend thought I might post here and see if anyone might have some ideas for me. I have noticed for a little while now that moonlight has been doing this "stomping" thing at night. I don't know if she has always done it and I am just noticing b/c we have cut down on TV time for the kids or if it has just started. It seems to be mainly in her right foot, she'll be standing there on her night perch and then all of the sudden I will here a stomping sound or tapping. Sometimes it's every 10 sec. sometimes 30sec. Whats really weird is it isn't just when she has her right leg up the she will stomp down, sometimes her right foot will already be on the perch and it just seems to press down harder...I know this sounds really strange, but I was hoping someone could shed some light on this behaivor for me. Any thoughts?

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

i welcome...I think it is normal behavior..she may have even seen it on tv....but I am sure other u2 owners may have some ideas..your baby is very cute...what is her name??

[Evelyn]

Denise -

I have a 2-year Eleanora, male, who does something similar with with her left foot. He will do it if she is holding something in his left foot, such as a spoon or popsicle stick, and he will do it while holding nothing. It is slow and rhymetic, sort of like he's playing a drum. It never occurred to me that it might be a symptom of something else. I just assumed it was a habit of his. I got him in June of last year, and he has always done it.

I don't have any real idea about what might be causing your U2 to do this. If it has a rhythym I wouldn't worry about it. If it doesn't, then he might be reacting to some sort of pain or discomfort; and if it were me, I would take him to an avian vet.

Are you, by chance, playing music when your U2 does this? IF so, go to YouTube and search for Snowball and watch that video. In fact, if you haven't seen the video, watch it anyway. It's pretty amazing.

Evelyn

Evelyn

[Don]

Hi, toe tapping can be a normal thing some cockatoos' and other species will do - it can also be a dietery induced trauma, as in Eclectus and some other species including cockatoos'. Are you feeding pellets ?

Don

[Denise and Moonlight]

Wow, um first, her names moonlight (use to listen to moonlight sonota and dance while she was getting her formula, and it stuck). There doesn't seem to be any rhythm, but she only does it when perching at night, at bed time, not during naps or anything else, and yes she is getting pellets. Zupreem. I had looked over the article about metal particals in the pellets and checked the dust in her food and nothing stuck...so I guess this bag is safe.

[Denise and Moonlight]

O and of course I have seen snowball, and her backstreet dance! I seen the piece on animal planet and looked it up right after. My kids love it so it's saved to my favorites along with a couple other ones on there of toos dancing!

[Don]

Pellets can be a cause of hypervitaminosis - whaich can cause tremors and toe tapping in some birds. From what you describe what she is doing is normal for her - if it becomes incessant then there is a problem. I'd lose the pellets just for the general idea that NO birds guts were made to Digest hard over cooked extruded byproducts.

Don

[Denise and Moonlight]

I have always heard that pellets were the way to go, that they were what gave the birds all of their vitamins, and that fruits, veggies, seed and nuts etc were only suppose to be a percentage of their diet. So are you saying that pellets should not be in their diets at all? Now I am not challenging your opinion b/c I always said that birds in the wild don't have ready made pellets and they are the most healthy birds.
So what do you feed yours? And anyone else feel free to post what their birdy diet consist of. I always like to have lots of ideas for my baby!

[Don]

How did birds ever survive before some entrpreneur decided he needed to sell us pellets ? There are no pellet trees in nature, nor are there mechanical extrution machines that make the foods into cute shapes for the consumer to appreciate - the birds certanily did fine eating real foods long before the pellets became the PC food.

You asked what I feed -
I use Royal Large Hookbill approx 40%, my Soakmix 30 %, Cracked corn soaked and cooked 15%, and the final 15% rounded off is a sprouting mix that I have been working on ( Green peas, red lentils, pop corn, oats, barley, med. black sunflower, white millet).

This is also what the other 12 species of psittacines here get, varying amounts depending on the birds.

I refuse to live on hard tack and water - why should I expect my birds to ?
Don

[too&me]

Love your logic Don, I believe in moderation in all things & that covers diets for birds too. No one should feed their bird a boring diet of just pellets or just seed mix. Fresh is best and I'm certain that we are not yet aware of all they eat int the wild. Having worked at the zoo in the bird dept. we did read studies mentioning both tree fungi & insects in their wild diet as well as what ever flowers fruit & grains were ripe at that time. It is easy to see that their natural diet would be quite varied and we should do our best to offer a real variety. Jungle/rain forest birds would also get most of their water from the surface of leaves & holes in trees & bromeliads that catch the rain. This water would contain insects & leaves that are breaking down and making the water acidic, which is why some of us add a bit of apple cider vinegar to the drinking water. Desert birds would frequent water holes & rivers so the acidic water is not as important to them but seasonal seed & vegetation varies for them also.

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

Linus does this often. It's accompanied by a jerk of his head and a wierd squeaky noise. I've come to realize that this is territorial behavior - he's just letting everyone know that this is HIS world.

Patty

[Chrissy and Flock]

Linus does this often. It's accompanied by a jerk of his head and a wierd squeaky noise. I've come to realize that this is territorial behavior - he's just letting everyone know that this is HIS world.

Patty

And your just living in it right. :haha:

[Evelyn]

I have always heard that pellets were the way to go, that they were what gave the birds all of their vitamins, and that fruits, veggies, seed and nuts etc were only suppose to be a percentage of their diet. So are you saying that pellets should not be in their diets at all? Now I am not challenging your opinion b/c I always said that birds in the wild don't have ready made pellets and they are the most healthy birds.
So what do you feed yours? And anyone else feel free to post what their birdy diet consist of. I always like to have lots of ideas for my baby!


Denise -

There are differing schools of thought on feeding pellets. One avian vet here says feed 80% pellets and the other 20% fresh veggies. Of course, he sells a certain brand of pellets which is what he recommends.

The certified avian vet I trust says that no more than 50% should be pellets, the rest fresh veggies and seeds and nuts. He actually thinks the food should be all fresh, plus seeds and nuts, but says that some people just won't go to the trouble to figure out and provide what the birds need, so pellets are easy.

Some, like Don, don't feed pellets at all.

Mine get a lot of variety. I do feed some pellets of varying size and brand. Probably about half of their food is pellets. They also get a seed mixture and nuts. The rest of the diet is fresh veggies and fruits, and usually whatever we have for breakfast (cereal, eggs), lunch and dinner. We don't salt anything when cooking so the birds can have it. They eat chicken, lean beef, pork, all kinds of cooked veggies and fresh. I also give them a little juice because they love it. They don't get anything fried, of course, or fatty.

Evelyn

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Denise,

Welcome to HappyBirdy. I am so glad you are here. It looks like you found a home.

What you are describing - if I understand you correctly - is normal.

If it is like a stomp or - a quick stomp with one foot and then a quick stomp with the other ... like --- stomp - stomp.

Baby my Umbie does that often. She does it only at night - right after her beak grinding and at the time she is drifiting off to sleep - she will do the stomp-stomp thing. It is like a human that jerks when drifting off to sleep. I think it is the muscles relaxing.

If it is toe tapping - happens during the day and it is a tapping... then that would be a problem.. usually caused by too many vitamines in the pellets being fed.