COLD DARK ROOM

Yvonne G

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Good evenooning all.

Monday started early as I covered a shift at the rescue from 7-10am. When I got home, we got stuck into chores. It’s Hedgehog Awareness Week in the UK and I had got some leaflets from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society about how to help them. I posted them at all the houses on the roads in our block... about 130. Initial results are encouraging. I had two people who happened to be outside their properties talk to me at length about what they could do and two nice emails too. :)

That night we saw something dreadfully sad on our camera. A hedgehog with no use of it back legs. I raced out in the rain and grabbed it and we boxed it.

I was back at the rescue for my regular shift early on Tuesday and took it with me, but as I feared had a broken back and it had to be put to sleep. ? There was no sign of open wounds so how the hedgehog got injured is a mystery.

At the rescue we are inundated with baby birds blown out of their nests in the recent high winds.

I fed everything from just hatched Song Thrushes which needed attention every 10 minutes to a near fledging Rook, our biggest crow species, that was about the size of duck! The Rook was lovely actually and very easy to feed. You just shovel it in him and then he suddenly goes to sleep for half an hour. It’s like those videos of very tired toddlers falling asleep in their high chair. ?
View attachment 324545

Today has been cold and just got very wet. At least our pond is refilling.

In other news my Schlumberga as decided to flower. I have no idea what this one is. It has a very narrow leaf and doesn’t usually flower until June.

View attachment 324546
I found a fledged blue (jay??) on the ground in Dudley's yard yesterday. As I have many cats, this baby wouldn't be long for this world. I put him on a tree branch, but he wouldn't stay. I hate this time of year for the birds' sake. The babies always seem to fledge before they can fly. My cats, however, love it
 

Ray--Opo

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Ok I posted these pics on another thread but didn't get many eyes.
These holes in Opo's carapace have me worried. They seem to get bigger as he grows. They are about a 1/8" deep. It is solid at the bottom, no drainage or smell.
If you look at the holes it kind of looks like scratch marks leaving the hole. 2 weeks ago they were half the size now. 20210506_085205.jpg
 

JoesMum

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What a surprise! My neighbor had a new patio installed a while ago and I asked him for any leftover slate!? they are over an inch thick too!
Perfect for basking under a lamp or out in the sun. Even on a cold day outside they’ll warm up if there’s any sun ?
 

Cathie G

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Ok I posted these pics on another thread but didn't get many eyes.
These holes in Opo's carapace have me worried. They seem to get bigger as he grows. They are about a 1/8" deep. It is solid at the bottom, no drainage or smell.
If you look at the holes it kind of looks like scratch marks leaving the hole. 2 weeks ago they were half the size now. View attachment 324611
I'm not an expert but to me it looks like an injury and probably from a long time ago. Maybe even as a baby. Maybe lately. When I first got Sapphire, he had holes in the top of his shell but his looked like bad nutrition. All but one little sliver has healed over. You can still see a little sliver of hard white though and I've seen the colored part completely closed. So I think it will eventually heal completely. I hope I'm making sense in comparing the two. Can any animals get to him now? Since the time you've had him? If not then it's probably old and maybe healing. But since he's growing it's showing. That's just my opinion. Others are more experienced take their advice.
 

Cathie G

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Proud Mum moment. My son is a digital visual designer (design for websites and apps and stuff like that) and has won a Rising Star award from the British Interactive Media Association this evening ?
Looks like he's a chip off the old block ?. I love it ?
 

JoesMum

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I'm not an expert but to me it looks like an injury and probably from a long time ago. Maybe even as a baby. Maybe lately. When I first got Sapphire, he had holes in the top of his shell but his looked like bad nutrition. All but one little sliver has healed over. You can still see a little sliver of hard white though and I've seen the colored part completely closed. So I think it will eventually heal completely. I hope I'm making sense in comparing the two. Can any animals get to him now? Since the time you've had him? If not then it's probably old and maybe healing. But since he's growing it's showing. That's just my opinion. Others are more experienced take their advice.
That’s what I was thinking
 

Cathie G

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I found a fledged blue (jay??) on the ground in Dudley's yard yesterday. As I have many cats, this baby wouldn't be long for this world. I put him on a tree branch, but he wouldn't stay. I hate this time of year for the birds' sake. The babies always seem to fledge before they can fly. My cats, however, love it
Once I had a baby Robin like that running around my yard. I saw him in a few places including on the hardware cloth of Sapphire's enclosure. He was singing with my Zebra Finches. Then I heard him and found him on a metal part up in my neighbors out side air conditioner. He was safe. After I told my neighbors where he was they stopped mowing that area. All this just to say, look for some type of place like that if they just jumped out of the nest and it wasn't a weather problem. The parents will try to feed them, continue to care for them and they know each other.?
 

Yvonne G

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Once I had a baby Robin like that running around my yard. I saw him in a few places including on the hardware cloth of Sapphire's enclosure. He was singing with my Zebra Finches. Then I heard him and found him on a metal part up in my neighbors out side air conditioner. He was safe. After I told my neighbors where he was they stopped mowing that area. All this just to say, look for some type of place like that if they just jumped out of the nest and it wasn't a weather problem. The parents will try to feed them, continue to care for them and they know each other.?
Usually when I find fledglings they're chirping and calling back and forth with mom and dad, but ths baby was quiet, leading me to think it happened yesterday and he spent the night alone.
 

Cathie G

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Usually when I find fledglings they're chirping and calling back and forth with mom and dad, but ths baby was quiet, leading me to think it happened yesterday and he spent the night alone.
Yes it's hard to tell what to do. I could have had a pet robin. It was really tempting. I was just saying that because if you have an area similar to the air conditioner just stick them close. It's better if it's close and they know how they went in. Maybe. I'm pretty sure my Robin wound up laying eggs though where I could just look into the nest and take some pictures. I didn't even have to stand on my tiptoes?. It was a dumb place to build a nest for a Robin. I hope the little ones made it. I did get some bad pictures but I also got to see them up close and personal.?
 

Cathie G

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Sapphire is doing halfway decent even after the amputation of his too long beak. His Achilles heel is zucchini so I gave him a little chunk. It's the best way to give him his supplement so he got that too. I hope it's warm enough tomorrow to take him outside so I can butter him up a little more ??he's been pouting today kinda ?
 

Cathie G

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Hello everyone. Been so long since I’ve been on here. Sorry I’ve been away so long.
how are we all doing?
Hello ? I'm so happy to not see you but see you. How you doing with your little people and school issues? I've been wondering how you are.? I'm doing... Sapphire got a beak trim yesterday from his first vet. I'm on top of the world ? she was good. I now have TFO and second a good vet ?
 

Mystic_Queen (Llaria)

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Hello ? I'm so happy to not see you but see you. How you doing with your little people and school issues? I've been wondering how you are.? I'm doing... Sapphire got a beak trim yesterday from his first vet. I'm on top of the world ? she was good. I now have TFO and second a good vet ?
I’m doing ok ish I guess. I’ve had a lot going on. To much to handle and took time away from here. I’m not going to go into details but I got into a really dark place. But I’m doing better.
Awww poor sapphire bet he wasn’t impressed bless him. How is he doing?
Im so glad your ok. And I’m happy to be back ❤️?
 

Maro2Bear

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I’m doing ok ish I guess. I’ve had a lot going on. To much to handle and took time away from here. I’m not going to go into details but I got into a really dark place. But I’m doing better.
Awww poor sapphire bet he wasn’t impressed bless him. How is he doing?
Im so glad your ok. And I’m happy to be back ❤️?

Glad to hear that you are “ok” and back here....
 
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