ivy woke up scream free this morning, and she seemed a lot more settled than yesterday morning. she came right out onto my arm, and she had some banana baby food for breakfast. i had a little time before the vet, so i thought i would try on her aviator harness. she let me put it right on her, no problems at all. we sat outside for a little while, in the nice cool breeze. she seemed to really like that!

she didn't want to go into her crate for the car ride, but it's safer that way. the crate i originally bought ended up not fitting in either of our cars. so i bought a rabbit cage that is perfect! it was pricey, but at least it works! she did pretty well in the car, didn't seem too stressed.

the vet visit was nice. got her leg band cut off and had her microchipped. she has a "clean" bill of health, and the doctor talked to me about her diet. fortunately, he owned 2 hys himself! he said his get a mix of the roudybush/harrisons pellets, macnuts/almonds/brazil nuts, and fresh fruits and veggies. he gave me a few bags of the harrisons feeding formula in case she reverts. i am feeling a lot better about her diet hopefully i can get her to start eating her pellets soon.

i just gave her some lunch, she had another spoonful of baby food. i tried to mix some harrisons pellets in there but she pushed around them. she also had a mac nut and a brazil nut and drank some water. so she isn't doing too bad at all! i am hoping i can get her to eat some fruits/veggies tonight for dinner. maybe hide some pellets in there.

whole foods had raw mac nuts out of the shell, ended up paying $15 for a pound. but at least i have some to hold me over for a bit.

now i need a nap! more to come!

Sounds like things are going great Emily! Just keep on with the food variety, it will come in time. Glad to hear she had a clean bill of health.

Just wondering however..how did the microchipping go? We have been considering getting our 2 chipped, but the vet here says they are not sedated (which is probably better) but that they will SCREAM and that there is a small chance of hemorrhage which would result in emergency surgery. That alone put me off from it!! What was your experience with it like? How did Ivy handle it? Etc?

Thanks for keeping us updated. Always look forward to video's and pics and hearing how she is settling in. She is simply spectacular.

thank you so much, i love doing these updates the ivy chronicles, hehehe.

ivy screamed a couple of times, but nothing to bad/dramatic. she really did just fine, but then, she is young. it was over in a matter of minutes. i have never heard about the chance of hemorrhaging, i would imagine it doesn't happen too often. my vet didn't mention it at all. still, i could see how that would alarm you. it would to me too!

Good to know it went well though Emily. That eases my mind a little. Rob really wants to get it done, but I am back and forth.....one more point for him I guess..hehe.

Good question Rob & Kris. I would like to know the same thing. How did Ivy handle the microchipping?

I just took Ryan for a check up and got some blood work done and he cried like a baby!

If I can explain this to make sense, he is always a happy, go lucky guy. Never complains, never screams, nothing. A little blood test and he actually started crying and sounded like a little kid crying. I couldn't take it! I never heard him like that before. I almost started crying, it was horrible.

Anyway, I am interested in that. And Emily, I love reading about Ivy.

Glad the vet visit went well! Good luck getting her to eat pellets- that was a very lengthy process with Ollie. I hope it goes much better for you and Ivy!

I think it's great that you opted for microchipping over the leg band. If any of my birds had one, it would have come off immediately. Way too much of a risk of it getting caught on something, IMO. I've never heard of any risk of hemorrhaging/emergency surgery from microchipping.

thanks hon

as for the pellets, SUPPOSEDLY she had been eating this pretty bird colored stuff. but i haven't gotten her to eat any of it since she came home. i am hoping i will be able to convert her to harrisons easily, but who knows! the vet gave me harrisons formula which he said is supposed to taste like the pellets so that could also help her onto the healthy pellets.

i do not like leg bands at all. her's couldn't come off sooner, as far as i was concerned lol! they are very dangerous, and not necessary in my eyes. anyone that steals a bird will cut off the band anyways. and it wouldn't be much help in getting a lost bird home.

oh geez, that's awful about the crying! that would shatter my heart.

ivy was a real champ at the vet. she screamed a couple times from the chip (who wouldn't!) but she was just fine afterwards, just a little winded. now she is just hanging out on her playgym, unphased!

i am so glad you are enjoying my ivy posts! i will keep doing them so long as people are liking them! she is so amazing, she just has to be shared

I agree that they wouldn't be much help in finding a lost bird, but both mine are banded and we have never had any issues with safety or anything. I never really thought about removing them upon chipping...I'll have to bring that up to Rob.

I am so enjoying the Ivy posts and I think she's amazing too! And so beautiful. I waqs actually looking into Hyacinths for a while, but someone else stole my heart. But someday, I will add one to my flock!

Ivy truly is amazing.