Mother's Day Monotony
2008-05-11
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
Today was a pretty low-key day..not too much going on. Sundays are the boy's major chore day, so they took care of that. Also, I clean the cages on the weekends on a weekly basis..taking care of soiled toys and perches also. Yesterday it was cool out so I picked today instead. Such a chore with 5 cages..ugh. We also brought the dogs to the dog park today. Mika our little troublemaker kept going after Beaker's injured foot today. For those who are not aware Beaker was bitten by one of the breeders while climbing on their cage. His toe was pretty badly mangled and he had a 2 day stay in the vet hospital. Looks as if he will not lose the toe so that's good news but for now he is in a splint covered in vet wrap. This attracts the attention of Mika and Squeak, however so far only Mika actually bites it. She also uses to her advantage the fact that he can't move quickly and will hold onto his tail with her little foot and force preen him. Although sad...I can't help but be amused by it. I will try and get a pic of his little splinted foot tomorrow.
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Introductions
2008-05-10
Welcome to my blog. I created this with the hopes of entertaining fellow parrot enthusiasts. I currently have 7 fids (fids=feathered kids), 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 human children, and 1 wonderful husband. I intend to tell of the daily antics and happenings of our little private zoo. I will be using this first post to introduce everyone as best I can. I will not be including the cats in the introductions b/c they rarely grace us with their presence..choosing to stay hidden during the day and come out while we sleep. I think I have a fairly good sense of humor and will be adding thoughts, comments, etc from the different points of view of each animal involved..be it human, bird, dog, etc. I encourage comments be they good or bad, to help me improve this blog as much as possible to ensure general enjoyment. Also, I will include a section for product reviews, deals, referrals to websites that I enjoy or find helpful, etc. I would also like to include information regarding responsible and humane parrot ownership. Being only one person, I will do my best to please my readers, so please keep those comments and suggestions coming to help with that.
This is my husband Jay and I. We have been together for 14 yrs and are very happy. We are both Aquarians and have alot of common interests, ideas, morals etc. We are both pretty laid back, however I tend to hold my temper at bay longer. I do not work and therefore am a complete slave to the animals, I am the main caretaker and yet a couple of the fids and our Doberman seem to prefer Jay's company and I must admit I find that unfair, lol.
This is my older son Brandon. The picture is a couple of years old because he is about to turn 13..and well, I can't seem to get him to take a decent picture anymore. Brandon is very popular with the other kids..he's got a sarcastic sense of humor (which he gets from me) and is actually pretty fun to be around. He has become the object of affection for our Quaker Mika. Besides her, none of the other animals (except 1 cat) really like him. He seems to spend most of his time in his room by himself unless coming out to eat or use the bathroom...kind of like the cats, hence the connection I guess.
This is my 10 yr old son Tyler. Tyler is very sweet and loving. He can be over-emotional though...throwing tantrums on a daily basis over minor things. He has a special connection with our JRT Rocky and our untame Indian Ringneck seems to favor him the most. Our Quaker Mika strongly dislikes him and will chase him and attack him if he gets anywhere close to her.
These are our dogs Rocky and Diva. Rocky is a neurotic, anxious, nervous Jack Russell Terrier. He is 3 yrs old and not neutered yet (I know, I know..bad me!), but that will be changing soon. Over the past 6 months he has allowed Jay and Tyler get closer to him. Before then, he wouldn't stay with anyone else but me. He is terribly overbonded to me and if I even give the impression that I may leave the house without him..even just to get the mail, he will start to whine and shake. Medicating him is becoming a serious possibility at this point. He tolerates Diva but because she is still a puppy, gets exasperated with her neverending desire to play and prefers to hang with the cats. Of course, now that his hormones have kicked in for breeding season, he only has eyes for her! Diva has only recently joined our family in November 07, being adopted at 6 months old. She is a Doberman Pinscher and just turned a year old today. She is a bundle of energy and is always into some sort of trouble...driving me crazy. When she is not chewing up whatever she can get her mouth on, she is invading the garbage or trolling the counters and floor for any speck of food she can find. She loves to snuggle and is a sweet girl. Neither of the dogs bother the birds. They are actually afraid of them and will head in the opposite direction if the birds try climbing down our arm to "explore" the furry masses.
This is Beebo, a Pearl cockatiel. He...actually, more than likely a she, is fearless. From the time the cage door opens he is off and running. Completely content with exploring every inch of the first floor, will just spend all day strutting around looking for adventure. Beebo is starting to show signs of bonding with Beaker and they will follow each other around the house calling back and forth if one loses sight of the other. They share the same cage and will actually share the same perch now. Beebo is bonded to me more than anyone else and loves to snuggle with his momma. Other than Beaker and I, he is pretty intolerant of anyone else.
This is Beaker a Pied male Cockatiel. He is very timid and does not tolerate handling from anyone. He will perch happily on Jay's shoulder, but anyone else is out of the question. He shakes if even approached so we respect his desire to be left to his own devices. He only has eyes for Beebo and displays courting behavior toward him...making us wonder if Beebo is really a female..? Beaker if not following Beebo around the house will usually be found perched on a food bowl or in his cage preferring to be alone. There are rare times when he will tolerate me snuggling him, even if only for a brief time...I cherish those moments with him.
This is Mika our Green Quaker..our "troublemaker". She LOVES to snuggle with anyone but Tyler. She is a sweetheart with a nice little vocabulary. Her favorite phrase is "gimme kiss..*kissy sound*..good girl! ...thank you" All she seems to want is for one of the other fids to let her preen them..with no luck. She will try relentlessly only to be denied. She will also get in her moods when she will chase down an unlucky sibling. All around from cage to cage she will follow them, mouth open, wings out, alternating between "I'm gonna get you" type screeches and laughter. The other fids are not amused. However, she seems to finally have found a friend in our Budgie "Sunny". They will play "try to catch me" and bang beaks..she is so gentle with him and she has started to feed him. Her favorite places to sleep are in someones warm neck or in her snuggle hut.
This is our resident couple Spike and Buffy. They are breeders and are TERRIFIED of humans, so we avoid upsetting them by leaving them alone as much as possible. What I can tell you is that Spike is flightly and will get scared and escape if we're not careful...Buffy is too afraid to try and freezes if threatened. Spike will usually protect Buffy and make her feel safe rather than leave her. He can faithfully be found guarding his nestbox and mate from impending danger. We hope they feel comfortable enough to eventually lay some eggs and have chicks.
This is Squeak our Grey Indian Ringneck, unsure of sex..we call him a "he". He just turned a year and we have a minimum of 8 more months before we will have any indication of a ring around his neck. Males will get a black ring around their necks at maturity..anytime between 18 months to 3 years. If no ring by 3 yrs..he is a "she". Squeak was handfed as a baby but ended up not getting the attention IRN's require to stay tame and became wild. He spent his life in a cage, and up until we got him, was placed in a breeding situation. The person was too lazy or cheap to spend $20 to have a DNA test done to determine sex and kept him caged between a male and female to see which was shown more interest. Apparantly, there was equal attention shown and he was deemed "unwanted" and put for sale. The person who "clipped" or rather...traumatized his wings, obviously had NO business doing so. They over cut his feathers causing severe damage to his wings that are STILL prone to bleeding if he hits them on something. I can't imagine how miserable he must have been locked in a cage for so long with no freedom because he LOVES to be out playing on the cages. I will include some pictures later on of the homemade play areas I have made for them...but he just loves to climb the net all the way to the top and hanging upside down. I am working with him to become tame and he has come a long way in a short time. He really has a sweet disposition and I have high hopes for him in the future.
This is Sunny our 3 yr old male Budgie. He is free flighted and is another fid who spent his life in a cage before coming to us. He prefers not to be handled but will perch on a finger occasionally. He prefers the company of Mika and I think intends on trying to convince her to be his mate, lol.
Well, that's our little zoo. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that there is NEVER a dull moment. There is always something going on, somewhere. I intend to share these moments with you in the hopes they will make you smile as they do me. Till the next time!
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