I wonder what he/she looks like now!
New Australian Hatching Mystery Egg at Home
- Thread starter Teloka
- Start date
pictures please
- Thread starter
- #635
- Mar 4, 2013
- 126
- 22
- 81
Hi guys! I'm sorry, I haven't had computer access for the past two weeks! Things have been crazy around here with work and clients and housework and caring for all the family plus one Basil!
I'm compiling some picture updates for you now.
In the future if I'm struggling to get on the computer, I can do photo uploads via my phone if you don't mind the drop in quality/lack of formatting and the text updates being not so thorough.
As for answering some questions questions:
I'm still not sure what gender Basil is. I say 'he' out of habit now, and he sure is pushy and bossy and wants his way all the time like a little boy, haha. He thinks he's top duck, living the high life, that's for sure! I think s/he still has his/her juvenile feathers, which look like the adult females. In a week or so we should know for sure, as a male's head will change colour, the stripes will disappear from around the eyes, and his underside will change from white to black. So far the eye stripes seem to be fading a little, and the white underside is motley grey rather than the snowy white of the females, which may mean Basil is a boy, but I'm not confident at all to say anything for sure yet.
As for flying away, I really hope not, but it is quite possible and I've been sure to keep aware of that from the beginning as hard as it would be to let him go. Basil has been stretching his wings a lot lately, and is becoming a strong flyer. Although he's less confident outside and gets flighty and wobbly, he has pretty good accuracy with taking off inside the house and landing on my lap, couch, bed, shoulder, head or face. He likes to be outside and go exploring, but he does not like being on his own outside even when there is an abundance of food he likes, and he doesn't like muddy ground and dirty water, awwwwww, spoilt baby likes his heated bath. So I think if he flew off at the moment, it would be an accident, as when he has accidentally flown out of sight the second I run after him he comes running back to me honking in alarm.
Oh yes, he honks now! His little peep-peep-peep voice broke and now he honks when he really wants to be heard.
As for pooping on the carpet, we just try to keep him off it and clean up after him. Once he is full sized I will invest in ordering a diaper from someone if he wants to remain as a house duckie rather than fly away.
Okay, some photos in a little bit! Thank you so much for your patience everybody, I'm sorry to have been so slow on delivering updates and photographs.
I'm compiling some picture updates for you now.
In the future if I'm struggling to get on the computer, I can do photo uploads via my phone if you don't mind the drop in quality/lack of formatting and the text updates being not so thorough.As for answering some questions questions:
I'm still not sure what gender Basil is. I say 'he' out of habit now, and he sure is pushy and bossy and wants his way all the time like a little boy, haha. He thinks he's top duck, living the high life, that's for sure! I think s/he still has his/her juvenile feathers, which look like the adult females. In a week or so we should know for sure, as a male's head will change colour, the stripes will disappear from around the eyes, and his underside will change from white to black. So far the eye stripes seem to be fading a little, and the white underside is motley grey rather than the snowy white of the females, which may mean Basil is a boy, but I'm not confident at all to say anything for sure yet.
As for flying away, I really hope not, but it is quite possible and I've been sure to keep aware of that from the beginning as hard as it would be to let him go. Basil has been stretching his wings a lot lately, and is becoming a strong flyer. Although he's less confident outside and gets flighty and wobbly, he has pretty good accuracy with taking off inside the house and landing on my lap, couch, bed, shoulder, head or face. He likes to be outside and go exploring, but he does not like being on his own outside even when there is an abundance of food he likes, and he doesn't like muddy ground and dirty water, awwwwww, spoilt baby likes his heated bath. So I think if he flew off at the moment, it would be an accident, as when he has accidentally flown out of sight the second I run after him he comes running back to me honking in alarm.
Oh yes, he honks now! His little peep-peep-peep voice broke and now he honks when he really wants to be heard.
As for pooping on the carpet, we just try to keep him off it and clean up after him. Once he is full sized I will invest in ordering a diaper from someone if he wants to remain as a house duckie rather than fly away.
Okay, some photos in a little bit! Thank you so much for your patience everybody, I'm sorry to have been so slow on delivering updates and photographs.
- Thread starter
- #636
- Mar 4, 2013
- 126
- 22
- 81
22 days old: Weight approx. 360grams
You can see here how his feathers first looked when they were coming through his baby fluffy fuzz! They came through with stark turquoise coloured pin-shafts, the same colour as his legs. He was so dusty and itchy, poor baby!
23 days old:
Look at how proud he iiiiiis, my little baby! I love this photo so much
At first when he was a tiny duckling, we didn't let him out on our veranda unless we were holding him because of how he darted around super fast and a bit uncontrollably. But when he got bigger, he was too big to accidentally run underneath the safety railing, so we let him go out there then. He loves looking at the view and getting in the sunlight, and at night time we go onto the veranda together and he catches bugs (mostly moths) from around the lights! He eats as many as he can catch, and often I have to either bat them down for him to make it easier for him to reach and get them, or I lift him up to them like a Moth-Catching-Basil-Gun!
As a little bonus, I made these little chocolates for Easter... Guess who is the perfect colour combination of milk and white chocolates?
You can see here how his feathers first looked when they were coming through his baby fluffy fuzz! They came through with stark turquoise coloured pin-shafts, the same colour as his legs. He was so dusty and itchy, poor baby!
23 days old:
Look at how proud he iiiiiis, my little baby! I love this photo so much
At first when he was a tiny duckling, we didn't let him out on our veranda unless we were holding him because of how he darted around super fast and a bit uncontrollably. But when he got bigger, he was too big to accidentally run underneath the safety railing, so we let him go out there then. He loves looking at the view and getting in the sunlight, and at night time we go onto the veranda together and he catches bugs (mostly moths) from around the lights! He eats as many as he can catch, and often I have to either bat them down for him to make it easier for him to reach and get them, or I lift him up to them like a Moth-Catching-Basil-Gun!
As a little bonus, I made these little chocolates for Easter... Guess who is the perfect colour combination of milk and white chocolates?
Hi guys! I'm sorry, I haven't had computer access for the past two weeks! Things have been crazy around here with work and clients and housework and caring for all the family plus one Basil!
I'm compiling some picture updates for you now.
As for answering some questions questions:
I'm still not sure what gender Basil is. I say 'he' out of habit now, and he sure is pushy and bossy and wants his way all the time like a little boy, haha. He thinks he's top duck, living the high life, that's for sure! I think s/he still has his/her juvenile feathers, which look like the adult females. In a week or so we should know for sure, as a male's head will change colour, the stripes will disappear from around the eyes, and his underside will change from white to black. So far the eye stripes seem to be fading a little, and the white underside is motley grey rather than the snowy white of the females, which may mean Basil is a boy, but I'm not confident at all to say anything for sure yet.
As for flying away, I really hope not, but it is quite possible and I've been sure to keep aware of that from the beginning as hard as it would be to let him go. Basil has been stretching his wings a lot lately, and is becoming a strong flyer. Although he's less confident outside and gets flighty and wobbly, he has pretty good accuracy with taking off inside the house and landing on my lap, couch, bed, shoulder, head or face. He likes to be outside and go exploring, but he does not like being on his own outside even when there is an abundance of food he likes, and he doesn't like muddy ground and dirty water, awwwwww, spoilt baby likes his heated bath. So I think if he flew off at the moment, it would be an accident, as when he has accidentally flown out of sight the second I run after him he comes running back to me honking in alarm.
Oh yes, he honks now! His little peep-peep-peep voice broke and now he honks when he really wants to be heard.
As for pooping on the carpet, we just try to keep him off it and clean up after him. Once he is full sized I will invest in ordering a diaper from someone if he wants to remain as a house duckie rather than fly away.
Okay, some photos in a little bit! Thank you so much for your patience everybody, I'm sorry to have been so slow on delivering updates and photographs.
That honking might mean Basil is actually a female. Male ducks voices change to a very soft sound, and the females get noisy
Technically an Aussie wood duck is a swan I think. I bet a jar of vegimite and two packs of Tim tams he aint no shiela.
- Thread starter
- #639
- Mar 4, 2013
- 126
- 22
- 81
26 days old
Many walkies in the garden! Because Basil has completely destroyed our lettuce crop, now we take him further out and around the garden looking for weeds and grasses that he will like. He's quite fussy, but hopefully that means he's only eating things that are nice and good for him. He's starting to get super scruffy, and his snowy white breast feathers are getting mottled and speckly.
Another close up of his feathers, and you can see his wings are starting to grow in here. By this point they are still very stubby and small, though when he is running he holds them out and flaps them like mad out of instinct. No lift at this stage yet. The small strip of pure white feathers at the lower cusp of his wing there are the white secondaries that are iconic of this species!
One month (Four weeks) old: Weight: 428grams
Birthday bath time! I have tried him in a bigger bowl, in the whole bath tub, and even in the dam to swim in. No no no, he does not like any of those. The bigger bowl is too big and scary, the bath tub is too high on the edges, and the dam is too yucky and too cold! He likes his water nice and warm and very clean!
We took him down to our backyard dam only the other day for the first time, and he was so funny walking around down in the leaves and grasses, because his feet got muddy and he was picking them up like a little prissy priss-pot who didn't want to get his footies dirty and wanted to be carried instead. I put him in the shallow edge of the dam thinking he might like to swim in the much bigger area, but he just turned around and hopped out and gave me a foul look and a disapproving honk, "no Mummy, it's cold and dirty! ew ew ew!" Soon as I brought him back to his yellow bowl with warm fresh water in, he happily had a big bath splashing everywhere in the sunshine.
I think this is enough for today, don't want to do too many pictures all at once. More updates tomorrow? ^^ Lots of love everybody, and again I'm really sorry for the delays!
Many walkies in the garden! Because Basil has completely destroyed our lettuce crop, now we take him further out and around the garden looking for weeds and grasses that he will like. He's quite fussy, but hopefully that means he's only eating things that are nice and good for him. He's starting to get super scruffy, and his snowy white breast feathers are getting mottled and speckly.
Another close up of his feathers, and you can see his wings are starting to grow in here. By this point they are still very stubby and small, though when he is running he holds them out and flaps them like mad out of instinct. No lift at this stage yet. The small strip of pure white feathers at the lower cusp of his wing there are the white secondaries that are iconic of this species!
One month (Four weeks) old: Weight: 428grams
Birthday bath time! I have tried him in a bigger bowl, in the whole bath tub, and even in the dam to swim in. No no no, he does not like any of those. The bigger bowl is too big and scary, the bath tub is too high on the edges, and the dam is too yucky and too cold! He likes his water nice and warm and very clean!
We took him down to our backyard dam only the other day for the first time, and he was so funny walking around down in the leaves and grasses, because his feet got muddy and he was picking them up like a little prissy priss-pot who didn't want to get his footies dirty and wanted to be carried instead. I put him in the shallow edge of the dam thinking he might like to swim in the much bigger area, but he just turned around and hopped out and gave me a foul look and a disapproving honk, "no Mummy, it's cold and dirty! ew ew ew!" Soon as I brought him back to his yellow bowl with warm fresh water in, he happily had a big bath splashing everywhere in the sunshine.
I think this is enough for today, don't want to do too many pictures all at once. More updates tomorrow? ^^ Lots of love everybody, and again I'm really sorry for the delays!
- Jun 28, 2011
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Thank you for the wonderful update and pics!
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