So far, the pair of white-rumped shamas Nim and Lorraine seems to be far from being ready to be introduced to one another. I have already started the pre-breeding conditioning. They are given lots of livefood daily. Twice a week, they are supplemented with multi-vitamins and minerals and on all the other days, vitamin B-complex. In addition, they will be given vitamin E once a week. The feeder insects are also gut-loaded with food rich in calcium before feeding to the birds. Hopefully, all these will bring them into breeding condition soon and also give them a better chance to succeed.
There is a reason for Nim to be out of condition at this time of the year, when he should be in good form and breeding condition. Not long after his recent 2nd molt, Nim was hand-caught from his cage to cut the overgrown toe nails. As he is not used to being handled this way, he seems to be quite affected by the stress. At about the same time, I had also switched him from my home made dry food to commercial pellets. This change of diet although done gradually, must have further stressed him. As a result, Nim went through a partial (stress) molt. Only the tail feathers were shed and he had just completed growing them. Luckily, all seems to be well now and his form is gradually returning.
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