Vet Time!

Originally I was going to wait to take the boys* to the vet, but when I called to check for available appointments and they said they had an opening that same afternoon, I couldn't pass it up.

The vet was super awesome. Very nice, and she explained what she was doing with each bird. Both birds got general health check-ups, microchips, and nail trims. Loki's nails were horrendous; they had been trimmed back in Maryland in March, but the vet we saw there told me that since Loki's nails were so overgrown they could only be taken down so far... not so, the new vet told me today. They used a dremel and *insert dremel shearing noise* off went the terrible tips. Seriously. It took less than 5 minutes to undo years of damage, and the vet in Maryland told me it couldn't be done. I am not pleased with that vet, but thankfully he's in Maryland and I never have to take the birds there again. Microchipping was also fast and easy, albeit a little icky because of the needle. I mean... imagine a needle that is big enough to hold a grain of rice (the microchip's size) being stuck into a tiny little bird's belly. I squirmed, they squirmed, we all squirmed (except the vet... she's over it) but it was accomplished super fast.

Mango also got a little extra treatment: a beak trim and a cloacal swab for DNA sexing. Fancy! Mango's beak is now  rounded and a little shorter and doesn't really hurt when he* decides to tell me to stop doing whatever I'm doing in the language of "bite."

*Also, Mango is a girl. I got the call while I was in the field yesterday. Mango, Y U NO TELL ME U ARE A GIRL?!