| Lost Bird?? |
[Jul. 19th, 2008|04:12 am] |
Hi all... just thought I'd throw this out there...
I was bored at the office today, so decided to play on Craigslist and see who was out there. Ended up talking to this guy who was completely bored and we met up tonight for some drinks, then walked back to his place (because I couldn't drive just yet). I walked in his house and learned he had birdies!! Well, my birdie love made me go check them out. One is a fairly cared for cockatiel and the other he called an albino ringneck? I looked up pictures online, and it looks like that I guess. I did, however, notice the horrible food selection (lots of sunflower seeds... unless ringnecks are different than other parrots and can have them??) and the heavy use of wooden dowels and lack of toys. I tried to be subtle in my ways of suggestion for his birds, didn't want to feel like a birdie snob ya know. The ringneck is plucking her chest too. I asked him about it and if he had taken her to the vet or anything, he just shrugged it off with a "well she's stressed"... he informed me that they found her in the front yard. Hmmm.... anyone near or surrounding the Long Beach, CA area lose an albino ringneck? He jokes that she doesn't like anyone, so I put my hand near the cage and she proceeds to nibble my finger (doesn't seem mean to me), so I talk to her to see how she acts and ask if I could pet her (yeah, I know, but I was curious).... and she let me pet her, no problem (actually she was acting very female mating behavior cooing). He said he's only had her for a few weeks and she did lay an egg on him (more suggestions on how to change things that probably fell on deaf ears). The guy also mentioned that she comes out of the cage to fly around at times, but will always return to the cage to go potty. Sounds potty trained to me, hell, not even my birds will do that. He swears that the bird was probably "let go" because it squawks something fierce... but I simply cant fathom someone who would potty train their bird, and she seemed very hand tame, just turn their bird lose because it was squawking too much. I believe it was probably an escapee. As much as I'm not going to take the bird from him, just curious if anyone out there heard of an albino ringneck being lost? Oh, and she had a band on her leg too. He said it was a birth date and that she was 2 years old?
Seeing those birds makes me realize how much I spoil my beebs... and I'm not nearly as spoiling as a lot of people on here are. Makes me kinda sad for those birds. |
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| Poor GCC |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|10:41 pm] |
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I just saw this and I couldn't believe it. The people taking the video think the bird is having fun. *sigh* |
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| Parrotlet with babies on CL |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|09:24 pm] |
Parrotlet pair with 3 babies on my local CL (San Diego, CA). I can't take them (financially I can only support one right now) otherwise I would love to!!!
Thought I'd spread the word here in case anyone is interested.
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/pet/760521013.html |
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| weird question... |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|08:32 pm] |
OK, this is a strange one, but I'm a little concerned.
I've a friend who keeps a lovely little green cheeked conure. She seems to care for him well and he appears to be a happy bird. However, she has some medical issues and has a permit for marijuana, which she grows in one of the rooms of her small house.
She only smokes in a room in which the bird is not allowed, and he isn't allowed in the grow room. Apparently, there is some sort of venilation/fan apparatus to control the smell of the plants, but there are times when I can still smell them in different parts of the house. It's definitely a different scent than the smoke, but it's still notable. We know that birds, due to their large lungs, are more sensitive to airborne toxins than we are...is this guy in any danger from the growing plants' scent? How about smoke in a different room? If she's taking a risk with the bird's health, how big is that risk? I worry. |
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| African Grey spotted flying toward Missionary Ridge... |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|10:19 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
Today seemed like one of my longest days. I was exhausted from hiking everywhere looking for Sonny, and our plan was to have a sunset search party. As we were getting ready, I rolled out Bonsai's cage and set it next to Sonny's in the front yard. My hopes were that Sonny would hear his calls and come home, but all Bonsai did was his Stevie Wonder imitation.
As we sat there, the girls spotted Sonny flying at tree top level from the park across the street in a path right over our house. By the time I saw him, he was headed toward Missionary Ridge and disappeared into a little dot in the sky. It seems that after 8 years of never flying, a few hours is all the practice an African Grey needs to become a pro.
This makes me hopeful because the park is not the direction he took off in this morning. This park is the highest ground in the valley, and it is right across the street from our home and his waiting cage. I am hoping he returns, but I will be on the phone tomorrow to all the shelters, shops and vets in town. I am still worried and miss him so much. I would give almost anything if I could hear him say, "see you tomorrow."
There is one thing that made me feel a little better tonight. The idiot who spooked Sonny away this morning had just finished smoking pot outside tonight when I came out of the house with 2 pairs of handcuffs to lock Sonny's cage to the front porch. He got very nervous and kept asking me what I was going to use those for. Potheads are so gullible. |
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| Itty Bitty Baby Goodness - I am terrified! |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|10:07 pm] |
My neighbors know I have birds. How? The guy who worked on my water pump also did some work for the neighbors and you know how small town folks are, they blab...
Today I get a knock on the door, someone I have never seen before, it is the neighbor 1/4 mile behind me, can't see him for the woods. Anyway, after introductions he hands me a small popcorn basket with a towel in it. I am thinking, "Welcome to the neighborhood!" (4 years late!) I open the towel and see an itty bitty baby love bird. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! WTH?
It seems the lovie pair his wife has had 3 eggs. This was the only one that hatched. Hatch date June 27,2008. Mommy lovebird has no more interest in taking care of it. Daddy lovebird was getting irate with it. His wife is disabled and cannot take care of it. He works 3 jobs and is older than dirt himself and he can't deal with it. So, add 1 and 1 and you get go to Imahaint's house and see if she will take it. He had the visiting nurse that comes to see his wife 3 days a week stop at PetSmart and get the hand feed baby food and a syringe. (Saves me a 60 mile round trip)
He hands me a piece of paper telling me that the father lovebird is a Cremino. Momma lovebird is a Yellow with (and I am not kidding here) "RIGHT PURDY RED AND ORONGE ON HER FACE." (I had to surpress a large giggle as the spelling got me, the caps got me and the "right purdy" got me)....His wife got these when they went to Florida 2 years ago. One of her daughters gave them to her and provided a nesting box claiming that "that is the only way they sleep, in the box."
Anyhoo - I am now the owner of a 3 week old yellow lovie - it has been an experience, to say the least.
He/she/it is a sweetheart though. (For the sake of gender we are saying he at the moment.) He eats well, he is leaving behind some wonderful poops, he has already associated the syringe with food and nibbles on my fingers for residue. I am keeping a very close watch on him, has been fed every 4-5 hours as recommended in the instructions and I check on him every 20 min or so, keeping a close eye on his breathing and his crop. I swear, I don't think my human kids got this much attention at birth!
Anyway, a couple or 3 pics and if you have ANY ADVICE please, let me know. In some ways I am just in awe of how nature works, in other ways, I am terrified I will not live up to being a decent hand fed lovie mommy.
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| Let's talk about wood. |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|03:58 pm] |
As most of you know, I have a huge flock of birds, including three large parrots. If I actually spent money buying the ready made giant wood macaw toys, I would be living in a cardboard box at the rate that Theo can go through them.
So, when it comes to wood toys, I make my own. I have multiple bases (skewers, rings, etc) that I can thread wood on, and I tend to use about 50% harder wood and 50% ridiculously soft pine.
For harder wood, I just got 20 pounds for $32 from Casey's Wood Products, which appears to be mostly relatively hard wood... But a bit more than $1.50 a pound cannot be beat.
Now I'm searching for pine. I know that I could get lumber and use a drill, but the amount of time that would take would be immense. I'm willing to buy, but I'm also cheap. :)
Do you have good sources for bulk pine pre-cut, pre-drilled bird toy wood? Dyed or not dyed matters not to me.
So far I've found the following (but not purchased from any of them):
http://www.cabirdnerds.com/softpinepieces.html
http://bigbeaksbirdtoys.com/wood.htm
Anyone else have good toy part links? |
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| I learned a horrible lesson this morning... |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|02:42 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  depressed | ] |
Sonny is my 8 year old African Grey. I could go anywhere with him, and he would never leave my shoulder. I wouldn't have known that his wings were not clipped well enough. How could I? He always wanted to be close to me.
Well, I feel like an idiot because I let a bigger idiot try to handle him. The guy next door shouldn't have been anywhere near him really. Sonny doesn't like him, and this guy is too afraid of getting nipped to know how to handle him right. In a flash, Sonny took flight, and I was amazed at how fast he could go. I ran a block chasing after him before I lost sight of him in a church parking lot. I spent hours looking and calling for him to no avail.
I rolled his cage into the front yard and there is fresh water and food for him if he should return. The sight of his empty cage is the most depressing thing I have seen in a long time. Now, I am left with a blue ring-necked who hates me :(
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| yaaay vet visits! :) also, is kirk a girl? |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|12:39 pm] |
Kirk and Spock (peachface lovebirds) are going to the vet for their well-bird visit on August 1. We'll be doing the whole gauntlet of tests, I think. I asked about DNA testing and the price, and she came back with $51.98 per bird. Yikes!
So I guess we'll survive with educated guesses for a little bit longer, heh. I have a feeling that Kirk is actually Kirkette (or Kirkina) - he (she? augh.) exhibits a lot of female behaviors. We were told when we brought them home that they [Kirk and Spock] were brothers; they'd been caged with their sister (who was definitely female - she laid eggs and roosted).
- ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bloolark's Rational Parrot site had a page mentioning that bonded birds do this weird "mirror" thing, where they're always rightnexttoeachother and doing the same thing - eating, playing, chewing, preening.
- Kirk is always, always shredding things into 1/4" wide, 2" long strips, tucking them into his (her?) feathers, and attempting to make a nest somewhere in the cage.
- I caught them in the act one day, and Kirk was in the female position/role.
I don't know of any visual cues that might tell me about lovebirds - do any of you? Otherwise, those behavioral ones are the best I've got to go on.
And, so that this isn't just me woolgathering, ( some boyd pictures! ) |
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| An update on my birdies |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|09:43 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
My budgie Sig is doing great! We are working on the step-up command and he will step up onto a perch that I am holding no problem. He has still yet to to bite me which is great but he still won't talk to me at all. He listens though and turns his head funny angles when I talk. He has so much personality! He is really warming up to us and getting used to his surroundings.
Edgar is doing better too. He is very sweet and LOVES converstation. He is still pretty skittish though and I expected that since he wasn't treated very nice for a long time. He comes up to the cage and talks to me though. He answers my whistle a just looks at me like he is in love with me! He really makes my heart melt. I still haven't tried to handle him since I am pretty sure he has a fear of hands since the only attention he ever got was when someone grabbed him and stuck him in a too small cage. We are taking it slow and I think he appreciates that. I think after another week or so we might attempt more things with him.
And a couple of not so great pictures.....
( Read more... ) |
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| Cuddly pics |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|08:33 am] |
Bogey is a cuddle bird, but only with my husband. He also stops and poses for the camera.
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| mushroom solution |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|07:01 pm] |
Well as no one seems to know why they are listed as bad in some food sites, I think I will play it safe and just take mushrooms to work and have them with my lunch there, away from the birds.
They have had food that has been cooked with mushroom, but I never give them actual pieces of it. |
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| Stix..they has a flavor |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|09:55 pm] |
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| Horrible Possibility turned out good |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|08:10 pm] |
My african gray plays on his little wicker basket every night while we're in the living room watching tv - well, tonight - my husband got a granola bar and Buddy decided his lap was more the place to be than the wicker basket - so - my husband set Buddy back down on the floor - thinking he would go right back to his basket... next thing I know, Buddy had a paper clip stuck to his bottom beak....
PANIC - I swooped him up.. set him down so I could first get a good look at him... then got another paper clip and compared it to how the one in his beak looked - it was safe enough for me to tug on - luckily, the paper clip pulled off his beak without any problems or harm to him ( A LOT of harm to my heart though.. I was so scared)...
Anyways - we need to make sure our floors are parrot safe, even if our parrots don't usually play on them. I am still shook up over this and can't stop thinking of how horrible this could have turned out. |
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| Nova Science Now birdy segment... |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|04:57 pm] |
Was about how bird and human "language" originate in similiar areas of the brain. It was on last night, and looks like you can stream the segment from their website! The show is probably targeted toward middle or high schoolers, but I still found it neat :)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0304/01.html
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| X-ray share. |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|10:42 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
X-ray share <-- Not too common, right? ;)
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| Time Constraints |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|08:58 am] |
So... my time alloted to my birds is being squeezed and I can tell they don't like it. I'm trying to follow the advice of you lovely fellow parrot lovers, but the beebs are still mad at me. What to do?
Gabby, my plucked half moon conure, is plucking her tail feathers and wing feathers out again. Those of you who remember her, she came to me about a year ago out of deplorable conditions, looking like a little butterball turkey. Well, not much has changed in the appearance, she is still a butterball turkey, but she let her wing feathers (flight) and tail feathers grow back in. Her tail feathers, which used to be around 7 or so I think, is now back down to 2). And I am constantly finding wing feathers all over the cage bottom and on the ground. Noooooo!
Dixie, my white belly caique, is getting screechier and biting now instead of nibbling and playing like she used to.
My cockatiels are kinda the "leave me alone and I'm happy" bunch, or the "OMG, she took me out of the cage... ack!!! put me back in, put me back in!!!!" type... so just being in the room with them, whistling or talking to them and they are happy.
I'm trying to find time when I can. When I come home, I try to shower with Dixie or Gabby to give them out of cage time, and when I am eating dinner I try to have one of them out as well. That only allots to about an hour of my time. I am awake for perhaps one more hour before I go to bed, so one of them (I can't let them out together 'cause Gabby is plucked and Dixie will chase me around the house wherever I go and don't want to challenge beak sizes between the two) gets to be out then too. But really, it's only 2 hours a day I am home before I am sleeping. That means either each bird gets 2 hours out, every other day, or one hour out every day. Neither of which likes either choice.
I've given them more foraging toys, as well as changed out some of the old toys and footsie toys. This has appeased Dixie a little, but not much. I don't have any friends who know anything about birds or would be willing to come and give them more out time than what they are getting. I'm trying to dedicate more weekend time to them as well, but that's tough. I may take Dixie to the beach this weekend, to get her out of the house. She always seems to enjoy that, except she's afraid of the sea gulls, haha.
Any more suggestions I may be able to do? I'm out of the house from 5am until 6pm, then to bed by 8ish pm. I just feel bad that Gabby has begun plucking more, and Dixie is beginning to bite to where it hurts (nibbling or grooming is one thing, biting is another). |
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| 'Tiel Exasperation ~ |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|11:31 am] |
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My 'Tiel, Lucy, has started to flip her food dish upside down letting her pellets drop to the bottom of the cage. Then she will flip the dish to the floor as well.
Needless to say the cage floor, and the surrounding hardwood floor, looks like I am trying to attrack pigeons to an inside park!
After she does this she gives me this, "Ok, when are you going to fill it up again?" look.
Ricky does not do this with his dish.....gooood Ricky.
Short of bolting the dish to the cage, any suggestions?
Also, any idea of why she is going this? |
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| I have read... |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|08:13 am] |
...that poicephalus parrots are "conservationists" prone to storing anything not firmly attached to their cages in their food and water dishes. Has anyone found this to be true? My sennie is the complete opposite, intently picking up anything other than pellets that are in a dish and throwing them onto the bottom of the cage. If I pick up the vegetables and put them back in her dish, she immediately goes over and throws each one out again. She prefers to stand on the grate of the cage and eat them. Is she just a weird one? It's just always interesting when a bird behaves the exact opposite of what books tell you to expect as a generality. |
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| Another Food Question! |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|02:03 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | diet | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | curious | ] |
Sorry.
I tend to eat my veggies in an almost near raw state. Just usually a 30 second dip in boiling water or 10 minutes in the steamer.
Is this ok for my birdies? I know this sounds like a daft thing considering they'd eat stuff raw in the wild. What state of preparation is suitable for the birdies? I assume I'd have to wait for it cool first, same for rice but then I rapid cool that when I finish it first. |
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