Hi guys! Welcome back. I spend a lot of my time answering questions and luckily, I really enjoy it. I love sharing with others what I've learned in my experiences. 

And this week, I'm going to answer some questions from viewers and share them with you. 

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First question comes from Taegen or Teegen Tommila. 'What is the best treat for my brand new sun conure? Which treat is the healthiest and do you think Mango will love it?' 

A great treat for all parrot type birds including conures is the small white safflower seed. These little seeds are healthier than sunflower seeds, they're smaller than a (High-pitched jenday conure squawk) larger treat so you can give more in one session (Another squawk) and they're really easy to handle.

Ecuador the Jenday Conure loves safflower seeds so I'm sure Mango will too (Another squawk).

Next question comes from Finn Hafnmr: 'Can you do a follow me around video? Like what your usual day caring for all the animals (And other things) is like?'

I'd be willing to give this a try. Everyone of my days is a little bit the same and a little bit different: Feeding and cleaning the animals is the same everyday but training sessions, walks and projects change. Let me know down in the comments what activities, walks or projects you'd like to see me do and I'll work on making that happen.

Alright, Angie R asks 'What is bumble foot'?

Bumble foot is an irritated or inflamed area on the bottom of the foot that has become infected. It is usually caused by pressure sores due to improper perching or substrate.

Some common species that are prone to getting bumble foot are raptors and parrots who don't have enough variation in their perches or guinea pigs whose substrate is either too hard or extremely soiled or who haven't been given proper nutrition. 

You can treat bumble foot by applying a topical antiseptic and prevent it by giving them appropriate clean surfaces to stand on and giving them proper nutrition. 

All right, next question: Into Taboo says 'Ow my heart, Zapper is such a cutie! All those little noises are cute. What other noises does he make? How did you train him to stay on the hand? I have two birds who insist on being on my shoulder.' 

Zapper makes (Bird noise) a few noises. Usually, he makes them when he's really excited to eat (Bird noise) something. When we first got Zapper, he was really terrible at staying on my hand. He always wanted to climb up my arm and get up onto my shoulder. 

The way I trained him was using positive reinforcement. I continually give him treats while he's on my hand and if you notice how I'm holding my arm; see how it's bent like that? In order to get onto my shoulder, he's going to have to climb down and back up and that's really going to actually deter him from trying to get there: he wants the highest perch possible so right now my hand is actually the highest perch possible for him.

I also use a thumb hold over his toe and that's just a reminder for him to stay in place: Not turn around, not climb around and not jump or fly off, huh buddy? Yeah.

Alright, next question is from Darcia: How often do you usually need to anesthetize animals and how do you solve the problems of anesthesia getting progressively more dangerous as they get older since I expect there is actually more need to take care of the teeth and beaks and so on? And if the animal doesn't get knocked out, do you always reschedule for another appointment or do you sometimes just increase the dosage?

Darcia, great question: We try to limit the use of general anesthesia as much as possible. It's always a risk to put an animal under and the less common the species or the older they get, the risk increases. 

If you want to know more information about the risks involved in general anesthesia, check out this conversation I had with our veterinarian, Dr Card.

I'm a big advocate for using positive reinforcement and desensitization to teach an animal how to participate in their own healthcare. Being able to trim nails, teeth, beaks and feathers while the animal's fully awake is ideal.

If that doesn't work, we try to avoid general anesthesia by using an immobilizer and light sedative. If an animal doesn't get knocked out enough for us to complete the procedure, then we usually reschedule because the risk of an overdose is much higher than we are willing to chance.

Since we are doing many of our procedures at Animal Wonders instead of at the vet clinic, we don't have all the necessary equipment to help an animal breathe if they become too sedated to do it on their own.

Alright, last question comes from Becky Kennedy: How many kids do you guys have? Are they working with you guys at Animal Wonders?

This is my husband Augusto and we currently don't have any goats but we do have two human children. Jacob and Jackson are four years old so their cleaning skills haven't reached the point where they're actually helpful yet.

Jackson isn't able to walk so he mostly enjoys listening to the animals, especially the birds and Jacob loves the idea of sweeping and building forts for the guinea pigs to play in. 

Thanks for watching guys. I loved answering all the questions. If you have more questions for me or Augusto or any of the animals, you can leave them in the comments below and if you guys would like to go on an adventure with us every week, subscribe to our YouTube Channel; Animal Wonders Montana. We'll see you next week. 

Augusto: Goodbye.

(Jessi makes a noise with her lips while everyone else starts laughing, including those off camera)

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I recently went through a difficult time rescuing guinea pigs, only to discover it was too late and I couldn't help them, even though I tried. But in difficult times, there's always a bright spot.