Portraits and updates

Portraits of the girls in the order I that took them.

Red is very stop and start with her egg laying. An odd pattern seems to have emerged. She laid three eggs in a week then took a seven day break. She laid another three eggs in a week then took another seven day break. She has now laid another two eggs in five days so it remains to be seen if she lays one more and then takes a break again.

Snow’s tail has completely grown back in.

I have finished the daily, five day oil based, scaly mite treatment on Autumn’s legs and feet. Before that I sprayed her with the other spray for several days and used vaseline in between. I am now spraying with the other spray for a few more days as it’s almost empty. I am going belts and braces with this.

Autumn is looking much better apart from moulting. I was worried that she felt thin and wasn’t eating properly and thought we were in danger of losing her. Now that she’s obviously feeling better as her legs and feet have healed she is eating properly again and has gained strength and has been dust bathing. She is still moulting but it has now slowed down so I think she is over the worse.

If Autumn now stops pecking her feet I think she will be fine. It all depends if she starts up again. I have been uncertain if the pecking was down to scaly mite or habit. She does improve every time I treat her but so far has started up again at the end of treatment. I have been treating her almost constantly for four months now.

I have a possible theory. Dot and Sugar’s scales were really raised and I wonder if that made it easier for the treatment to get under the scales. Autumn never looked as bad and I wonder if because her scales were much less raised the treatment wasn’t getting under all of her scales.

This time I have used all the recommended treatments in turn and for longer. I also hope the oil may get under her scales better than the spray. I don’t know what more I can do and just really hope this time it has worked.