Pika and Pixel

Pika and Pixel are a normal male cockatiel and pied yellow and green female budgie, respectively. I am listing them for a friend in Richmond. They were displaced after a divorce, and were taken in by her, so she is now trying to find them a wonderful home. In case anyone reading this is looking for a delightful pair that loves flying, destroying toys, and stealing food (they love their veggies!), just send me an email!

A new home

Miss Busy Body is off to busy another body! Milly Molly Mandy went to her new home today, one in which I know she will be very happy and spoiled. Her new family is not only very excited about adopting such a "smart, spunky, and beautiful parrot", but have also taken much time to think through the decision and make sure they are prepared for the time and expense involved in caring for a parrot. Milly Molly Mandy will be able get both all the toys, exercise, and foraging opportunities she needs, but also all the attention!

Along with a large supply of organic food, of course. Milly Molly Mandy could not be happy anywhere she did not have more food than any normal parrot should be able to consume in a week!

And Oscar has gone home!

Surprisingly, my "shameless endorsement" of Oscar worked, and he has found a lovely new home, with Karla and her family, who are just waiting to spoil him! He was taken there just a few days ago, and I know he will be very happy there. You can also check out her recently started blog, and see how all of her flock is doing.

Now, just mentioning it again, if anyone is interested in an amazingly tame and incredibly loving Indian Ringneck girl, don't hesitate to contact me!

Update on milly Molly Mandy

She really has done an amazing turn around! I told you before how surprised I was at how well she had done, and that I was going to go ahead and list her right away (which I did.) She has continued to progress greatly, though! She now steps up readily, even without a treat to bribe her. Along with that, she has come to love and beg for scritches and head rubs. Really quite a little lovebug! I thought at first this could be something she would only allow me to do, but after several visits and treat sharing with my Mom, she will now (quite blissfully) take scritches from her.

I am careful to make sure that I do not rub her back, under her wings, etc., anything that would stimulate her hormones. I am also careful to continue playing and other activities with her as another way to keep her from getting hormonal and dependent on scritches. Having a foster parrot that appreciates hands-on attention this much is great, it really helps get them as tame as possible, which means finding a home is much easier. I certainly don't want to do anything to aggravate the situation!

Enjoy the super cute photos!

Head rub bliss, eyes closed.

What happened? Why did you stop?
Waking up to reality is so hard.

You stopped giving me head rubs to take pictures.
Is that it?

What is the world coming to?
No more head rubs because she wants a photo.

Yay, scritches again!
(also titled, "I am taking your head!")

I love neck stretches.
(Also titled, "Replacing parrot's head")

Ohhh, relaxation!

And a final pic from a different day,
getting head rubs on top of the cage.

Isn't she cute?

Yet another Update on Oscar

Budgies are hard find homes for. They really are. Oscar is doing very well, and I know he would make an amazing friend for someone, if they would only contact me. I think though, unfortunately, most people just go to a petstore where they can pick out which budgie they want, or to a breeder so they know they can get a young, friendly one. The majority of people that would think of adopting a budgie off of petfinder are those that are die-hard rescuers. And the number of them that want to adopt a budgie are still fewer.

It is not that a lot of people don't have budgies, or that a lot of people that believe in rehoming don't have budgies. It is just that if they want one, they either don't live around here or already have a budgie, either one of the many that need homes, or one they bought as they were just getting into parrots, before they realized how many needed homes.

Still, budgies are amazing parrots, and Oscar is an especially nice budgie (judge for yourself if I am biased in saying that!) He is very playful, and hilarious to watch. He is also more food motivated than most amazons, which means he is highly trainable. He loves people more than birds, and loves chatting with everything more than that, so he is certainly a good parrot to have a conversation with, even if his English is hard to make out, being mixed in with everything else he says.

I am still looking, though, so if any one reading this is desperate for a personable budgie friend that will appreciate any time you have for him, let me know!

(And yes, this is a shameless use of this blog to convince you to adopt this budgie.)

Introducing!

Miss Milly Molly Mandy!

As you can see, she is a green Indian Ringneck Parakeet, female. Since we have even traced her to the petstore she was originally sold from, I even know her age! She was born in August 2006, making her almost 3 years old. Although I did not realize it when I decided I would take her on as a foster, she was a real rescue.

First, the history I learned from the petstore:
She was originally sold to a family to be a pet for their daughter, and stayed there until she was almost 2, when her noise level, along with the daughter's growing lack of interest in her, led to her being taken back to the petstore. As it is a good local petstore, they take their parrots back. In early April, another family came in, and bought Milly Molly Mandy for their daughter. What these people failed to communicate to the petstore was that they wanted a cuddly, fluffy friend for their daughter. Not how I would describe Milly Molly Mandy!

Now, fast forward to when a kind family member went to pick her up for me. They drove up to what looked for all the world to be a deserted house, with peeling paint, no lights, and a lawn that had gone to seed. Occasionally, looks are not deceiving, as the house was deserted. After waiting there for quite a while, the family drove up. Apparently, the electricity had been shut off, and the family had moved in with friends and/or relatives an unspecified amount of time ago. They left Milly Molly Mandy in the house, with the windows open 8"-12", with no screen, to let the heat out (nice, but it also let in everything else, I am sure.) She also had an empty food dish, and a dried up water dish. Not a good combination. She was completely terrified of everything that was happening, and I cannot blame her a bit for that. The real reason (ignoring the fact they did not have money to keep her) the family decided to get rid of her was that she was extremely aggressive. As the 8 year old boy was sure to point out when he yelled from the car, "She'll bite your finger off!"

She has been here about two weeks now. I am really shocked at how amazingly she has done. In the beginning, she was terrified of anyone touching her cage, but that quickly went away once she learned I was not going to touch the cage more than necessary to give her food and water. Although she has very severe separation anxiety, she now shows almost no fear of anything else. Her fear of hands is also greatly diminished. The biting is certainly not an issue, as it rarely is with parrots if they are not being forced into something they dislike or feel uncomfortable with. After the two day wait (I never let new parrots out of their cage until they have been here a full two days, however tame they are) she not only came out of her cage, but soon learned to climb across a ladder from her cage to reach a nearby bed.

You may be wondering if Milly Molly Mandy is too long a name for such a little parakeet. I assure you, it is not. She not only earns these three names many times over, but many others. She is a non-stop whirlwind, here, there, and everywhere, and always getting into something. She loves toys, and is not at all afraid of new ones, she relishes them, and quickly goes to work destroying them. She does not stay chewing for long, though, soon deciding that a different toy is better, or that she wants to eat, flap her wings while yelling at the top of her lungs, chatter happily to the world, or just in general run and climb all over. This is why I decided to name her after a favorite children's book character I remember, Milly Molly Mandy (and the book by the same name), a little girl that is always having adventures, and often getting in trouble.

Although I get great enjoyment out of watching Milly Molly Mandy play, and out of playing with her, I have to admit her beak is a bit indiscriminate. When on the bed, she will run hither and yon, playing not only with the multitude of toys I put out on the bed, but also with me. She soon lost all fear of climbing up and down me, to chew on my shirt, pants, hair and hair tie, along with any skin, moles, cartilage, and bones she happens to come across. Not biting, just playing, but it does hurt just the same. I try to convince her to stay on the bed and play, but that is impossible. I tried wearing a very exciting bird toy necklace I made just for her, and while she loved that, and playing with it, it just encouraged her to stay on me, and continue to chew on anything she could. Normally, I am not a huge fan of having parrots on my shoulder, but then again, I normally don't have to deal with parrots that won't get off my shoulder (head, back, knee, stomach.)

Despite this fearlessness of me, she obviously has never learned to step-up. In fact, my arms and hands are the one part of me she does not climb on on the bed. Occasionally she will step-up, for a treat, but we are still working on that. She is food and toy motivated, but has a very short attention span (read: 1-5 seconds) that cuts in to the amount of time she will try to get a specific item. Still, she has made amazing progress, and does happily climb onto a ladder, even if she does not get on arms yet. Knowing how the last family tried to get her to step-up, I would say she is doing amazing, and am not about to complain!

Overall, I think she is so confident I have decided to list her this weekend. By the time she goes to her new home, she will be out of quarantine (it takes a while) and I hate to keep parrots in a foster situation longer than absolutely necessary. As long as the new family is prepared to handle her antics and excitement, and accept her at whatever level of tameness she is ready to give them, I think she is very much ready for a permanent home!

And finally, a few shots for your enjoyment (and they were hard to get! I am not sure if the problem is that she is fearful of the camera, simply doesn't like having her picture taken like many women, or immediately is seized with a desire to tear the camera to pieces and is unable to do anything but think about how to get it. I am inclined to suspect the latter.)

Mmm, what do we have here??

If you don't mind, I think I will take a better look.

Jack pot!
(Don't worry, I got it away from her
before she took more than a few bites)

Yum! Special Food!

This is the look. The I-have-got-to-get-that,
looks-like-so-much-chewing-fun look.
I have many pictures with this look, so it is
fortunate it is a cute look!

More Budgies!

Yes, more fosters. I got these budgies a little over a month ago. They have a sad, but all to typical for budgies, history.

Oscar, the yellow and green pied one, was found in a dumpster. The people decided to take him home for their kids, and so bought a cage, and another budgie, Luna, the pale blue/grey one. After having them a bit, they got tired of them, and gave them to the grandparents. The grandparents thought they were too loud, and so put them in the garage. A neighbor, that had an amazon, saw them in there, and asked if she could take them. As the neighbor did not want them, I was called. I did ask a friend to keep them through quarantine, and after that, I took them.

Oscar had toe nails so long there were curling up on his toes, and constantly getting caught everywhere. Neither one could fly very well, so I clipped their wings as well, for their own safety. I find it easier to teach a bird to fly after they are tame. Oscar also had a open band, (that I am trying to trace) so I removed that to prevent it from getting caught on something.

Luna is not tame at all, as is typical of many petstore budgies. After being chased around, transported all over the country, chased more, and finally sold to be abused, taming them is not easy, but certainly possible with time and patience. Luna does have the most beautiful feathers, though. They just look so soft, and they are such a delicate, shifting, grey-blue.

Oscar, I believe, though, was a very tame, people bonded bird at one time. For one thing, he had a band, so that would imply a smaller breeder. For another, he is very interested in people, though rather afraid of them, and does not like being with Luna. I have not had him around my other birds, so I can not say if it is only Luna, or if he is not overly interested in any other birds. He is quickly coming around, or as quickly as any abused, but once tame parrot, so I have a lot of hope for finding him a great home.

They are both Very loud. Much louder than even chatty Peter, because they never seem to get tired. It is very pretty, though, as long as you do not expect to hear yourself over it! I do worry abut finding a home for them with that, since it is very hard to convince someone that a tiny tiny budgie really can be loud. It all varies on perception, what the person considers to be annoying, and how much it will bother them. I guess I will just cross that bridge when I come to it. Maybe a video during evening chorus....

As they were not getting along (Oscar had a very bad scar on his wing, among regular arguments) I decided to separate them shortly after I got them. Oscar was much happier with this, the change in his demeanor was incredible. Luna seems perhaps a little lonely, so I am not sure what I can do about that, other than try to give him any attention he might like, and look for an aviary for him, perhaps.

As well as being loud, they are both very active, joyful, and playful, lots of fun to watch. Oscar just loves exploring everything, chewing and tapping all the different surfaces, textures, and colors. Luna loves hopping around and playing with every one's favorite bead boing, but really, his favorite activity is singing!

I want to find them both a home where they can get everything they need, nice large cages (I feel so sorry for them in the little spare ones I had), plenty of toys, healthy food, and for Luna, other birds, for Oscar, human attention. Who wouldn't want an adorable little budgie?

The two of them together, when they shared a cage.
Sorry the pic is not the best.

Luna, a little worried about the camera.

Oscar, on his "mini tree".

Schroeder, preparing to go home

I have had Schroeder for about 5 months now. When I got him, he had extremely dry skin and feathers, to the point it sounded like someone crushing paper every time he ruffled his feathers. Because of this, he had a slight feather barbering problem on his chest. He also was not tame, with an overgrown beak, and was extremely underweight. He was very afraid of humans, especially hands, and spent most of his time sitting in the back of his cage, never playing with anything.

I do not know much of his history. The owner I got him from had rehomed many birds, taking on more than she could handle. She was therefore rehoming most of them, including Schroeder. I know nothing of his history other than that. I can say, though from his phobia of older, skinny men, and shaky males voices, that obviously someone fitting that description had abused him in the past.

After he adjusted to me, while he was still in quarantine, I started taming him. The first step was getting him to take his favorite treat, almonds, from my hand, coming forward to the front of the cage to get them. Then, I started letting him out of the cage, and giving him almond slivers. After that, I started placing the almond sliver on my (covered with sweatshirt) arm, and having him take them off. I moved the almond farther and farther down my arm, so he had to eventually put one foot, and then both, and then walk down my arm to get to his treat. After he would readily do that, I started moving my arm, very slightly, while he was on it. Once that was no biggy for him, I tried moving it more and more, until I could get him on my arm, and pull my arm away and then put him back in his cage (where there was another treat, besides the one he already had gotten, waiting in his dish). After that, I started taking him from his cage to playgyms around the house, and later just taking him around with me.

He has gotten pretty tame doing this, and absolutely loves attention. He just can't get enough. If you are slow enough, and can get your hand up to his head, he also loves head scritches, and will relax so far he falls over (and then wakes up quite upset!) He is also getting used to riding around the house on my arm or shoulder. I am now trying to get him stick trained, as well, using the same technique.

I tried various different toys to get him to play, all different kinds and sizes. The one that finally broke the ice was very simple, as they usually are, just an old fashioned clothespin, the kind with no spring. He loves those, and after he got used to playing with that, he started playing hard with bells, plastic chain, other wood, his planet pleasure toys (a huge favorite) and of course other foot toys. Between all the chewing he now does, and his almond shells, his beak is now a much better length!

To help his dry skin and barbering, I made sure he got some seed and grains every day, for the essential fatty acids, as well as baths. Fortunately, he loves being sprayed with a fine mist.

About 2 months ago, I listed him on Petfinder. After a month, I heard from Schroeder's soon to be new Mommy. I have been talking to her since then. As she is up near D.C., I suggested Phoenix Landing, since that would make it easier for her. Although she was very happy to see them, and immediately filled out a volunteer application, she had always wanted a Pionus, and really wanted to adopt Schroeder. She was very excited about the seminars, though, (who wouldn't be? They are so well done, very informative, and tons of fun) and has gone to two so far. She had her home visit this weekend, so after she gets everything all set up for him there, Schroeder will be going home! I will really miss him, he is such a special bird, but I know he will be very happy in his new home, getting spoiled.

Who doesn't love that look?

Ok, where is the almond??

Schroeder, waiting for me to finish snapping shots and play with him.