Day 4 of the collared Zuri saga

His weight has continued to go down, although the dip from yesterday to today wasn't as big as it was from Tuesday to Wednesday.

We did get him to eat some peas, some carrots, some sunflower seeds and an Avian Organic Truffle.

I also came to a realization which might explain why he's having a harder time with other seeds he normally enjoys. When the vet put the bandage and collar on, she also filed his beak a bit so that if he did get to his foot, chewing would be harder. I am now pretty convinced that his beak feels sensitive and it's harder for him to open/eat anything that is too hard. To those who will say the Truffle is hard, I cut them in smaller pieces and once they are that way, they come apart pretty easily in his beak. I have seen this before when Joey and Piper had to have their beak filed down a bit - it took them a few days before they could eat harder items. Unfortunately, there is only so much softer food that Zuri is willing to touch.

He is, however, still VERY active and alert so that is a good sign. In fact, today while we were trying to convince him to eat a bit more while at the dining room table, he kept trying to get away and perch higher up on one of the Java table stands. He's also chewing a lot on the paper towels I intertwine between the bars of his temporary cage.

Finally, shortly after I put him away for the night and took the other littles out, I decided to bring Shade over to him so they could see each other. They were so excited at the sight of each other and were making all types of noises. I do feel like they miss each other and part of me, although I've been told to keep him apart until he heals, is very tempted to put Zuri's temporary cage next to Shade's on a chair so they can see each other and maybe seeing Shade eat could prompt Zuri to eat a bit more. While I'm very tempted to do so tomorrow, I might hold off until Saturday where I will be able to keep an eye on things and should Zuri get a bit too excited, bring him back out.

I've got some pondering to do.