u/Kunok2

This time the car ride was way longer, roughly an hour, but Keeb handled it extremely well regardless. Like always I was just gently holding him on my lap and he stayed still and relaxed pretty much the whole time.

There were not as many people there as the last time, but we got stopped by way more people this time, all of whom were amazed by Keeb and many of them asked questions about him. One little kid even asked to pet him. It's honestly a nice surprise how many people actually love pigeons here.

Keeb got to see quite a number of new things, including water springing from the ground which he was extremely curious about (picture 2), he also liked the rim of the fountain and the big lake. In the lake there were lots of ducks but this time Keeb wasn't afraid of them at all. I'm also happy with how well he handled a louder higher road traffic environment. He also saw a huge herd of sheep but he's already used to those because there are some sheep that he met a number of times near home.

This was actually the furthest away from home Keeb ever went with me. Keeb handled the trip really well and there was just a small number of things he found scary, including a small metal trash bin, a hose, a duck and the most terrifying of all of them - a pigeon plushie. He surprisingly wasn't bothered at all by the bigger number of people, frogs (which he has never ever seen before but he wasn't afraid of them even when they jumped) or falconers' owls. He was pretty curious about squirrels, he was actually the one who saw them first and it took me a moment to realize what he was pointing out to me. We met some wood pigeons up close too, it was really cool seeing them and I managed to take some really good pictures with my camera. I think Keeb's favorite thing of all was a metal railing near a pond, he didn't want to leave the railing right after I took pictures of him, he wanted to stay on it for a bit more lol, but after I let him stay there for long enough he would eventually step up on my arm on his own.

We also met a lot of people and everybody was amazed by Keeb. Some people were really curious about Keeb and asked a lot of questions, while others just complimented him from afar. One old lady even wanted to take a picture of Keeb and I let Keeb perch on her arm while I took her a picture for her, Keeb didn't have any issue with perching on her arm and was really well-behaved. He really put a smile on that lady's face.

Overall it was a really fun and positive experience for both of us. Keeb was relaxed, doing happy beak smacks and when I stood still he would even loaf on my arm.

The treat ball filled with millet is an intentional distraction to make it a bit more difficult, as you can see Keeb has no issue paying attention to me even though he could have decided to just eat the millet which he didn't have to work for at all, only after he was done with training he went to eat it, before asking me to open the door to let him return back to the rest of his flock.

There's no food needed to make Keeb come back to me, no matter where I'm recalling him from. I used treats and clicker training to initially teach him recall, no starving involved, he always got access to his regular food and could always choose if and how long he wants to train. Building a bond based on trust, respecting boundaries and mutual communication was what allowed me to teach him reliable recall without needing treats. He listens to me because he wants to, Not because he doesn't have a choice and I know that his recall would work even during an emergency situations because reliable recall isn't tied to hunger, it's tied to trust.

It's an extremely common myth in the dove community that they cannot eat seeds that are big, sometimes the seeds are anything bigger than millet, other times it's very large seeds like whole peas. This myth is extremely harmful because it ends in a lot of doves not eating a nutritionally balanced diet and eating only seed mixes with small seeds - which are mostly millet-based. That can lead to malnutrition, obesity, liver issues, kidney issues, digestive issues and more all of which can kill a dove in the long term, way before even getting close to the end of its lifespan.

Doves (and pigeons), just like many other birds, have flexible jaws that allow them to swallow food bigger than their beak. When a dove is refusing to eat bigger seeds then the issue isn't that it physically cannot swallow those certain seeds, but it's either just being picky or there's some kind of medical issue (like canker or a blockage) in case the dove was eating the large seeds without any issues before, but suddenly started refusing them. Pickiness can have several causes:

- Feeding doves an inappropriate diet that contains mostly filler seeds/too many seeds that should be used only as treats. Seed mixes high in millet, milo, fatty seeds like sunflower and safflower as well as any corn other than a small amount of popcorn should be avoided. Millet addiction is a common issue with doves which causes them to not want to eat most other seeds.

- Feeding way too late in the day, especially if legumes are the only seeds the doves are refusing to eat. They won't eat legumes in the evening because of their high protein content, requiring heavy digestion - which doves do during the day due to being daytime foraging birds.

- Feeding way more than what doves can eat in a day, causing them to eat only their favorites and leaving the rest of the seeds. A daily dose for one dove is 1-2 tablespoons per day, but it can vary a lot depending on the individual. Their food bowl should always be empty or at least almost empty by the morning, while still having some food in it in the evening.

NOTE: I know Hope has a plucked patch on his neck. He actually had to be separated from the rest of the flock (with friends, he wasn't kept alone) for quite some time because he's a partial imprint and he always gets pretty aggressive during the spring and early summer. I put him back with the rest of the flock just recently because he's so much calmer now and is in the process of molting so he's growing in new feathers. He had to be handraised because otherwise he wouldn't have survived, as a consequence he is much worse at getting along with other doves (both males and females), but he's getting a bit better with every year and he has finally found a mate this year during the time he was separated. I could have just not posted this video, but I think it's good to show the rough reality too.

Just yesterday I made my birds a new toy, they were absolutely terrified of it at first but they're already loving it today and it looks like it's gonna be a big hit with them and not as just a foraging toy but also an interactive toy too.

Rokuro is a silky ringneck dove, that's why his feathers look "messy" and why he can't fly well. Jamie always gets so excited when I bring Rokuro to him while he's perching on a perch where Rokuro isn't able to get.

The whole guide including the background pattern are manually made by me. Anybody is free to share and repost the pictures as long as they don't claim it as their own work and share it for free.

Yesterday she seemed completely okay but today I found her extremely lethargic and barely moving on the bottom of the enclosure, she seems to not be able to move her front legs at all, can move her second pair of legs only a bit and her hind legs are the most capable of movement. She isn't able to stand up or hold onto leaves, I already picked her up and placed her back on the bramble but later I found her on the ground again and left her there for now.

I have 4 Macleay's spectres in total which I got on March 22nd at an expo. The biggest of them has already molted several times and is now an adult, the second biggest one has been growing well too but the lichens don't seem to have grown much since then. The one in the video has molted twice, I also have another lichen who has molted just once and is extremely tiny and hasn't been growing. All of them are kept in a 40 by 40 by 60 cm net enclosure. I spray their enclosure every time the humidity drops below 60% and the humidity is usually in the range of 60-80%, but for the past few days it's been more humid due to rainy weather and the hygrometer says that currently the humidity in their enclosure is 85% and the temperature is 22.8°C. I've been feeding them bramble - both raspberry and blackberry and I change out their food every time it gets wilted. I usually clean their enclosure every time I change out their food, unless it manages to get too dirty before they need fresh food.

I appreciate any input on what could be wrong, what caused it and how I can fix or at least prevent whatever is happening with my stick insect.

The one on the left, Rokuro used to have a boyfriend several years ago, but since his boyfriend passed away he hasn't mate bonded to another dove, until just recently. The one on the right is a young male who hatched last year.

I went to check on my caterpillars and found three (so far) of them dead, two of them completely flattened as if all of their insides were gone and the third one semi-flattened - all of them hanging upside down from the mesh. I didn't notice them acting very strange yesterday except them being more active and walking around the enclosure much more than the usual. I replace their food every time it gets even a bit wilted or when almost all of it gets eaten, I keep their enclosure as clean as possible too. They have the container with coco coir inside of their enclosure because some of them have started pupating and I already switched it up for an empty container twice after knowing that a few of them have buried and I already have at least 2 pupas.

If anybody could give me at least an idea of what could have happened and how to prevent others from dying I would be extremely grateful.

Pictures:

1st two pictures were from the day when he came to me, the rest of the pictures are from his last day, second last picture showing how bad he was looking and last picture his grave.

DISCLAIMER: In this post I'm going to be talking about Happy's backstory, what he was like but also about what was wrong with him and the topic of euthanasia, if you don't want to read that then stop reading when you get to the disclaimer I'll put before that part of this post.

Happy's backstory:

The same day when my beloved pet rabbit passed away to RHDV, in the evening I found Happy standing on the top of the aviary. It was July 4th 2022 and the weather was pretty gloomy. After catching him I noticed that he had a legband with the number 13 - the year of his hatching, meaning he hatched in 2013 making him 9 years old at the time I took him in. At first he was a very quiet, reserved and shut down bird and he didn't like being handled, but after weeks since taking him in he started warming up to me and started opening up and stopped being completely mute, eventually he turned into an extremely friendly, loud and confident bird who also turned out to be attracted to only other males. I'm unsure if he was actually a male or not but he sure did behave like one and he never laid eggs. He was one of my friendliest doves and the friendliest rescue dove I had, he was also one of the few doves who didn't mind wearing a harness and enjoyed occasional pets which is extremely rare. I named him Happy because he would do happy foot stomps every time when he was perching on me. I appreciate all the time I could spend with him, because he truly was an amazing bird and I wish he could have been here for longer, but that was not the case...

Happy's decline:

A bit over a month ago I noticed that Happy was acting odd, but he didn't show any signs of illness, he just seemed to be slower and not his usual self, but I Knew something was wrong but at the time I wouldn't have imagined how bad it would end up being. Several days ago he started to decline rapidly, he became extremely skinny despite eating, became even less active - he was a completely mute bird again and he stopped doing happy stomps too. He also started sleeping in nests huddled up to other doves while being extremely fluffed up and shaking - meaning he was in a lot of pain. So I picked him up to check up on him and I felt a huge lump inside of his abdomen.

DISCLAIMER: if you DON'T want to Read this part then STOP reading here, because it will get graphic.

The difficult decision and what was wrong with Happy:

Since the day I found out about the lump I knew it was really bad and that he won't get better, that he will only keep getting worse and currently was in extreme pain and the next few days proved me right because he kept getting even worse every day. After a lot of thinking and consideration, I have decided that the biggest mercy for him would be Euthanasia, it was the better choice between letting him die slowly and painfully and giving him a last great before he gets too bad to want to eat and to be able to enjoy things. On his last day which was May 11th 2026 he got to eat as many sunflower and safflower seeds as he wanted, as well as a suet ball and a toxic flower which he wanted to eat for some reason - he got nothing to lose anymore so he could choose to do whatever he wanted. I also took him outside on a harness which he enjoyed a lot, he got to walk on grass for the last time ever and he also got to see the forest and perch on a small tree while listening to the birdsong - at least for a short while he could forget about his pain and he could have fun, but after returning him back to the aviary he went back to being constantly fluffed up, eyed closing and shaking out of pain. It was an extremely difficult decision for me and it was even more difficult to do, but it was the only way I could help him, help him stop the extreme pain he was in and I also wanted to be with him until the end. There was no other better choice... After he was gone I decided to do a necropsy to know what exactly was wrong with him and if it was something that could have been prevented. In short, it wasn't and it further confirmed that my decision was right. He had a huge white solid but rubbery puss-like mass in place of where his testicles were supposed to be and it was ingrown into his pelvis, I've never seen anything like that before and it looked horrible, it was literally taking up most of his abdomen and even if I had the best vet ever available they wouldn't have been able to save Happy. After that I went to bury Happy in the woods.

I'm heartbroken and it feels like a part of me has died and there's a big void inside of me, he was one of my most favorite and closest doves and now he's gone. But knowing that he's not suffering anymore and that he could remember nice things as his last moments gives me solace, he also lived up to 13 years which is close to the minimum average lifespan of 15 years for ringnecks, I know many doves weren't that lucky and I'm happy with my decision even though it was so difficult. Obviously I'm not okay, but I still have the rest of my flock to care for and my aviaries will always be open to any doves or pigeons in need of a great permanent home. Happy also inspired me to hopefully build a sanctuary for elderly doves in the future where they could spend the rest of their lives happy, loved and safe.

For anybody in a similar situation like me with Happy, know that you're not alone and that giving your bird a last great day of their life if there's no chance of them getting better or recovering is sometimes the only thing we can do to help them, as much as it sucks and as painful and difficult it is. For those whose birds are okay and still have years to love, please make sure you spoil (of course only as much as to still keep your birds healthy) your birds, love them and give them the best life ever, they live only once and they deserve living their best life. You never know when will be their last day, they might seem like just a part of our lives, but we're their whole life.

He kept throwing the piece of spray millet out of his bowl and accidentally knocking it off of my desk, so I just left it on the floor and put Zazie also on the floor and it kept him busy for a good half an hour.

One of my Antherina Suraka caterpillars changed colors and is very restless. I'm pretty sure it is ready to spin a cocoon, but my question is should I separate it and if so how should the setup be? Do they have any requirements for pupating?

TW: The third picture is a picture of dead caterpillars.

I got them on 28th march as freshly hatched caterpillars and some of them have remained the same size for a long time now or have been growing extremely slowly and just a few days ago I found one of the stunted ones dead, yesterday I found two more of them lifeless. I feed them privet, lilac and spindle, the last two seemingly being their favorites, I get all of their food from clean areas without any risk of chemical contamination. My Antherina Suraka caterpillars have been growing nicely and don't have such huge size differences among them, same goes for my Death's head hawkmoths. Antherina Suraka are also fed the same privet and spindle plus prunus leucocerasus and the Death's head hawkmoth caterpillars get just privet so far. I also clean their enclosures often (when there's too much poop) so I don't think any bacterial bloom or mold could be an issue.

Could the cause be poor genetics or am I doing something wrong? I've read that Ailanthus silkmoths suffer from inbreeding a lot because of how commonly kept they are by beginners so people don't take care to get unrelated stock.