NIM - HALFWAY THROUGH HIS 2ND MOLT

No I'm not fat!
I've just got a muscular chest....
and if you care to look under the feathers...
you'll also see my six-pack abs!
Nim, my favorite shama is now halfway through his 2nd molt. I would expect his tail length to be close to 11 inches upon completion of the molt. His longest tail feathers were measured to be 10.5 inches when they dropped. Nim has broad tail feathers and I would prefer that they are narrower. Long tail feathers that are also broad will require very much more effort to flick them during a display.

The indications so far are good and he is already starting to display and sing fiercely at times. The spasmodic convulsions that had taken a toll on his form before the molt, apparently did not affect him anymore.

NIM - MY FAVORITE SHAMA

Nim is a captive-bred shama hatched on 27th April 2008. I acquired him when he was only 42 days old. He was bred by a good friend. Nim is a special bird to me for many reasons. For one thing, he revived my interest in bird keeping.


Nim at 2 months of age. He was named after his birthplace, somewhere I called Nimbaktu (between Nimbakone and Nimbakthree).

As it turns out, Nim is not an easy bird to keep.

He didn't go into his first molt until he was about 5 months old. Halfway through his first molt, Nim came down with a respiratory infection and had to be treated. He did not respond well to oral antibiotics and his condition was deteriorating. As a last resort, he was nebulised daily for a week, using a human nebuliser. He recovered fully from the infection and I had thought that the whole ordeal would have affected the molt badly. I had very little hope then that he will be able to come into form after the molt. Suprisingly, his tail was not much affected and he grew a 10.5 inches tail from this first molt, although the edges of 2 black tail feathers were a little frayed from the point during their growth when he was struck with the illness. Even more suprising was the fact that some time later after completion of the molt, he came into form.

Nim was one of the most hardworking singer at home, after that. He was also the most aggressive, to the point that any movements or noises coming from the outside of my home will trigger an aggressive display and set him off singing his territorial songs fiercely, almost acting like a guard dog at times. He also performed satisfactorily on the few occasions when I'd brought him out.

Nim at 9 months old.


All went well for Nim until 3 months ago, when he suddenly went into spasmodic convulsions one evening. He was given a high oral dose of vitamin B complex and recovered from the convulsions but ever since then, he is never the same again. His form dropped drastically and he rarely sings. Two weeks ago, he shed his pair of longest tail feathers and is now into his second molt. Once again, I am keeping my fingers crossed for him.