Holy moley it is getting cold! I had to go out to the commissary every three hours last night to replenish Hedwig’s hot water bottle. And this morning I am wearing a jersey and wrapped up in a thick scarf.
But I have some good news to report – Hedwig is acting more and more like herself! Last night she was very perky and cuddly. She laid on my chest as we watched Queer Eye on Netflix, she definitely has a crush on Antoni too, she told me. When I put her down in her box next to my bed, she started squawking up a storm. I peered over the edge of the bed and she was starring straight up at me and got all excited that I had acknowledged her. I put my hand down in her box and she snuggled up to it and promptly fell asleep. Her appetite last night was also really good and nearly on par with her normal equivalent of a starving t-rex.
And this morning she finally passed a pellet! Which is great news because it means all of her internal stuff is operating normally! For those that do not know, owls eat whole prey – bones, skin, fur and all. But their stomachs cannot process bones and fur so they regurgitate the bones and fur in the form of a pellet.
She is still a bit floppy however and has difficulty staying upright.
You can see here that her legs sort of crisscross over each other, which is not good. Also if you are not supporting her upright or if she is not nestled into her nest in a way that props her up, she flops over onto her side and flails her legs all around still. I have been chatting with some bird vets and raptor rehabbers all around the world and we are trying to devise a homemade splint for Hedwig so that her bones can all grow normally with her. And boy is she growing fast! She is now extra fluffy with little with down feathers to the point that I think even normal people might start calling her ‘cute’ – at least people won’t call her a vulture anymore!
This is the start of her homemade splint, I will post more photos as soon as I figure out the best way for it to sit on her. Shame, Hedwig is such a trooper even though she is quite confused by this thing.
I will figure out the best design… luckily Hedwig is patient through all of the trail and errors…
adventureiswild.com 
Please send Hedwig my apologies that I was one of the ones who called her a vulture, I wish her the best!
P.S. the sock is very fashionable.
Hahaha don’t worry there are MANY people that thought she was a vulture! I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😛 But then again I think vultures are also pretty..