This may be a shot in the dark, but a friend of mine in NYC has had truly sad turn of events of late, as many in this country have. After going a couple years unable to find work, they now must sell their apartment, and their future is, needless to say, up in the air. At the very least, they urgently some place to take their ekkie boy while they fix up the apartment to sell.
He is a very sweet boy, tame and friendly, if a bit nervous. Anyone out there able to help a parrot and family in need? Just contact me through my profile, or leave a comment!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Goodness it has been a long time since my last post; time always seems to get away from me! It has been rather busy here, and I hope for things to calm down in the new year.
It is always rather frustrating for me to buy parrot products, like toys, food, perches, etc. I much prefer to buy from small, more personal stores, but all too often products from such places arrive smelling strongly of scented laundry detergent or some other fragrance. Needless to say, I can not be around them, and neither therefore can my birds. I used to try ordering one or two items from a store, to see how they were, but after several failures, I decided it was not an economically feasible plan. For a while I kept with two stores where I was able to find most of what I needed. Last year, when one of those started arriving smelling like cigarette smoke, I decided I needed to find some new places! Feeling brave, I tried emailing a few online from-home bird stores to ask if they used scented laundry detergent. Although I explained myself, I am sure it was still very confusing for them to know how to answer, and most of my responses reflected that. Only one of the stores came back with an understanding response, as she herself had some chemical sensitivities. As of now, I have three stores I know are safe and scent/smoke free:
The Bird-Safe Store
Grey Feather Toys
Hello Bird
They are all quality stores. The first and last carry mass brands and most common products, and I get most of my food and the planet pleasure toys from them. The middle one is the one run by a lady with some sensitivities herself, and it is full of incredible handmade toys and toy parts, as well as good organic food; I am simply thrilled that I can buy her products! And in case anyone reading this is interested in a great dog/cat store that is scent/smoke free, I use Olive Green Dog.
While I am sure most people reading this have never given any thought to what their bird products arrived smelling like, I hope you can at least understand how irritating it is for those of us that must consider it. I recently won a very nice climbing net through an online contest, something which I was quite excited about! Unfortunately, it arrived smelling very strongly of some fragrance, so I am sure I will never be able to be around it. Quite a let down, needless to say. I am trying to see if it will air out enough that my parents can use it with their birds, and if not, I am not sure what I will do with it. Sometimes I think moving to Canada might be a good idea- I hear they are not only stricter on which chemicals can be used, but are also are creating fragrance (including bounce!) free buildings, businesses and towns. Not a bad idea!
It is always rather frustrating for me to buy parrot products, like toys, food, perches, etc. I much prefer to buy from small, more personal stores, but all too often products from such places arrive smelling strongly of scented laundry detergent or some other fragrance. Needless to say, I can not be around them, and neither therefore can my birds. I used to try ordering one or two items from a store, to see how they were, but after several failures, I decided it was not an economically feasible plan. For a while I kept with two stores where I was able to find most of what I needed. Last year, when one of those started arriving smelling like cigarette smoke, I decided I needed to find some new places! Feeling brave, I tried emailing a few online from-home bird stores to ask if they used scented laundry detergent. Although I explained myself, I am sure it was still very confusing for them to know how to answer, and most of my responses reflected that. Only one of the stores came back with an understanding response, as she herself had some chemical sensitivities. As of now, I have three stores I know are safe and scent/smoke free:
The Bird-Safe Store
Grey Feather Toys
Hello Bird
They are all quality stores. The first and last carry mass brands and most common products, and I get most of my food and the planet pleasure toys from them. The middle one is the one run by a lady with some sensitivities herself, and it is full of incredible handmade toys and toy parts, as well as good organic food; I am simply thrilled that I can buy her products! And in case anyone reading this is interested in a great dog/cat store that is scent/smoke free, I use Olive Green Dog.
While I am sure most people reading this have never given any thought to what their bird products arrived smelling like, I hope you can at least understand how irritating it is for those of us that must consider it. I recently won a very nice climbing net through an online contest, something which I was quite excited about! Unfortunately, it arrived smelling very strongly of some fragrance, so I am sure I will never be able to be around it. Quite a let down, needless to say. I am trying to see if it will air out enough that my parents can use it with their birds, and if not, I am not sure what I will do with it. Sometimes I think moving to Canada might be a good idea- I hear they are not only stricter on which chemicals can be used, but are also are creating fragrance (including bounce!) free buildings, businesses and towns. Not a bad idea!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Paco's Story
~Written by Jude Vickers~
When my husband told me his cousin had given us a bird I was somewhat less than thrilled, having had a mean parakeet when I was in grade school. I told him I didn’t want a bird, we didn’t need one, and we were not taking it. I reminded him that we lived in the woods, with hundreds of birds in a dozen varieties flocking to the feeders right outside our windows year round. We could enjoy them from a distance and I saw no good reason to bring one into our home. I even argued that having an animal pooping inside would set a bad example for our dogs! Then Les explained the reason Wendy had given us Paco, who I would later learn was a Solomon Island boy, was because the bank had foreclosed on their home. The place they were moving was smaller, and while they could make room for her cockatiel’s cage, there was no place for Paco's bigger one.
Les then went on to explain that Paco didn’t warm up to just anybody but when he stopped by Wendy’s on his trucking route, Paco always came right to him. Les had also seen other truckers with parrots and thought that since his Great Dane had gotten too old to get in and out of the big truck that Paco would make a good traveling companion. He assured me that Paco would only be home with me for a little while, while my husband figured out the logistics of having a bird in the truck.
Reluctantly, I began to accept the fact that we now had a bird. I asked Les when Wendy would be bringing it to us and was told we would have to go get him; that started my complaining all over again! Finally the big day came; Saturday, June 28, 2008. It was a 140 mile ride to Wendy's during which I was still trying to see the upside of having a bird. When we got there her place was chaotic, but we all took a moment to gather in the kitchen. As Wendy began to tell me about Paco, the most gorgeous bird flew past me and landed on my husband's shoulder. Green has always been my favorite color and I had never seen a living creature so vibrantly green!
“Oh!” I exclaimed as I put two and two together “That’s the bird we’re getting?”
Tears filled Wendy’s eyes as she nodded, and my attitude toward having a bird turned completely around. We watched my niece share her scrambled egg and toast with him as Wendy’s family told us all they could about Paco. They had rescued him some years earlier from a woman who’d long been tired of him, and Paco apparently hated Wendy. While he seemed to have no problem with the rest of the family, Paco would dive-bomb Wendy when ever he got the chance. It was Paco's obvious affection for Les, and my well reputed way with animals, that made them pick us for his new family.
Before long it was time for the guys to load Paco's cage up on the back of my husbands’ pick-up truck. Inside, Wendy gave me a Ziploc baggie full of seeds and brightly colored fruit shapes that she said contained all the vitamins and supplements Paco needed to stay healthy. Soon everything was all loaded up but before we left there was one more thing Wendy wanted to do; clip his flight feathers. Paco had been fully flighted at her house but Wendy was concerned he might try to escape from our unfamiliar place and trimmed back the first four feathers on each wing. I figured she knew what she was doing, but oh it made Paco mad!
All we had for transportation was the Chihuahua sized kennel that didn’t quite fit behind the front seats of that Ford Ranger. We did a little improvising to make it work before Wendy toweled Paco and brought him out. Then we all hugged good-bye and my dear cousin cried her eyes out as she watched us go. Paco was very mad but soon settled down and started looking out the back window; wherever he was going he knew the cage he’d always had would be there too. About halfway home, I was surprised that Paco turned and began looking where we were going instead of where we had been. Les and I decided that was a good sign.
At the house, we brought the cage in then toweled Paco to bring him in. He went willingly into his cage, undisturbed by our dogs; a Great Dane named Mack and a Pit Bull–Rottweiler mix named Josie. Mack seemed more interested in the cage; it was even bigger than him! Josie was fascinated with the bird, sure we had brought it home for the sole purpose of entertaining her. Josie loved watching the birds on the feeders, as well as all the forest life around us, and could hardly believe her eyes that she had what we began to call her own personal live bird tv.
Then my husband had to go back to work, leaving me home with Paco who was one mad little bird. Paco didn’t know me, he missed his family, and he was very upset about his wings. As I tried to find a way to relate to this new creature in my care, it soon became clear that Paco and I had something in common; we'd both had our primary mode of transportation taken from us. Where Paco had had his wings clipped, I had lost most of my left leg in a motorcycle accident some years earlier. From my wheelchair, I pointed that similarity out and began promising Paco that when his feathers grew back I would personally make sure they were never trimmed again. I commiserated every point I could about the similarities in our situations, and Paco soon began listening. I could almost see him making connections in his little birdie head as I talked.
Things began to improve as Paco realized I was not his enemy. As he warmed up to me Les began to realize that he’d lost his potential trucking buddy, but Les was not terribly surprised by that turn of events. He was pleased that Paco and I had become such buddies. And Paco delighted me daily; before my accident I had been an attendant in Michigan's state run psychiatric hospital system. I had spent years observing behaviors and found Paco’s antics to be so much more entertaining! Knowing nothing about birds but a whole lot about behavior training, I began searching the internet for information on Eclectus Parrots. There was a lot of information out there, a lot of conflicting and ambiguous information. In all the listings of birds and their sizes, I could not find an Eclectus listed anywhere!!!
Then I found a site called Land of Vos. While I didn’t know what ‘Vos’ meant, I recognized the green guys pictured there. I was amazed at the color differences between the genders, and awed at the beauty of a pair. Then I noticed a link to something called The Eclectus Connection. While I’ve never been much into forums and confused by how some of them post information, I sent an application anyway. Carolyn soon welcomed me to TEC and it didn’t take long to realize I’d hit the jackpot of ekkie information! With a few changes in my approach, and in Paco’s diet, we all became a whole lot happier.
I’m not exactly sure how long I had Paco before I began thinking about finding a companion for him. Birds are, after all, social animals. And TEC often cross posted birds in need of new homes, but they all seemed to be half the country away. Then a poor, plucked and neglected Michigan hen showed up… but that’s a story for another day.
When my husband told me his cousin had given us a bird I was somewhat less than thrilled, having had a mean parakeet when I was in grade school. I told him I didn’t want a bird, we didn’t need one, and we were not taking it. I reminded him that we lived in the woods, with hundreds of birds in a dozen varieties flocking to the feeders right outside our windows year round. We could enjoy them from a distance and I saw no good reason to bring one into our home. I even argued that having an animal pooping inside would set a bad example for our dogs! Then Les explained the reason Wendy had given us Paco, who I would later learn was a Solomon Island boy, was because the bank had foreclosed on their home. The place they were moving was smaller, and while they could make room for her cockatiel’s cage, there was no place for Paco's bigger one.
Les then went on to explain that Paco didn’t warm up to just anybody but when he stopped by Wendy’s on his trucking route, Paco always came right to him. Les had also seen other truckers with parrots and thought that since his Great Dane had gotten too old to get in and out of the big truck that Paco would make a good traveling companion. He assured me that Paco would only be home with me for a little while, while my husband figured out the logistics of having a bird in the truck.
Reluctantly, I began to accept the fact that we now had a bird. I asked Les when Wendy would be bringing it to us and was told we would have to go get him; that started my complaining all over again! Finally the big day came; Saturday, June 28, 2008. It was a 140 mile ride to Wendy's during which I was still trying to see the upside of having a bird. When we got there her place was chaotic, but we all took a moment to gather in the kitchen. As Wendy began to tell me about Paco, the most gorgeous bird flew past me and landed on my husband's shoulder. Green has always been my favorite color and I had never seen a living creature so vibrantly green!
“Oh!” I exclaimed as I put two and two together “That’s the bird we’re getting?”
Tears filled Wendy’s eyes as she nodded, and my attitude toward having a bird turned completely around. We watched my niece share her scrambled egg and toast with him as Wendy’s family told us all they could about Paco. They had rescued him some years earlier from a woman who’d long been tired of him, and Paco apparently hated Wendy. While he seemed to have no problem with the rest of the family, Paco would dive-bomb Wendy when ever he got the chance. It was Paco's obvious affection for Les, and my well reputed way with animals, that made them pick us for his new family.
Before long it was time for the guys to load Paco's cage up on the back of my husbands’ pick-up truck. Inside, Wendy gave me a Ziploc baggie full of seeds and brightly colored fruit shapes that she said contained all the vitamins and supplements Paco needed to stay healthy. Soon everything was all loaded up but before we left there was one more thing Wendy wanted to do; clip his flight feathers. Paco had been fully flighted at her house but Wendy was concerned he might try to escape from our unfamiliar place and trimmed back the first four feathers on each wing. I figured she knew what she was doing, but oh it made Paco mad!
All we had for transportation was the Chihuahua sized kennel that didn’t quite fit behind the front seats of that Ford Ranger. We did a little improvising to make it work before Wendy toweled Paco and brought him out. Then we all hugged good-bye and my dear cousin cried her eyes out as she watched us go. Paco was very mad but soon settled down and started looking out the back window; wherever he was going he knew the cage he’d always had would be there too. About halfway home, I was surprised that Paco turned and began looking where we were going instead of where we had been. Les and I decided that was a good sign.
At the house, we brought the cage in then toweled Paco to bring him in. He went willingly into his cage, undisturbed by our dogs; a Great Dane named Mack and a Pit Bull–Rottweiler mix named Josie. Mack seemed more interested in the cage; it was even bigger than him! Josie was fascinated with the bird, sure we had brought it home for the sole purpose of entertaining her. Josie loved watching the birds on the feeders, as well as all the forest life around us, and could hardly believe her eyes that she had what we began to call her own personal live bird tv.
Then my husband had to go back to work, leaving me home with Paco who was one mad little bird. Paco didn’t know me, he missed his family, and he was very upset about his wings. As I tried to find a way to relate to this new creature in my care, it soon became clear that Paco and I had something in common; we'd both had our primary mode of transportation taken from us. Where Paco had had his wings clipped, I had lost most of my left leg in a motorcycle accident some years earlier. From my wheelchair, I pointed that similarity out and began promising Paco that when his feathers grew back I would personally make sure they were never trimmed again. I commiserated every point I could about the similarities in our situations, and Paco soon began listening. I could almost see him making connections in his little birdie head as I talked.
Things began to improve as Paco realized I was not his enemy. As he warmed up to me Les began to realize that he’d lost his potential trucking buddy, but Les was not terribly surprised by that turn of events. He was pleased that Paco and I had become such buddies. And Paco delighted me daily; before my accident I had been an attendant in Michigan's state run psychiatric hospital system. I had spent years observing behaviors and found Paco’s antics to be so much more entertaining! Knowing nothing about birds but a whole lot about behavior training, I began searching the internet for information on Eclectus Parrots. There was a lot of information out there, a lot of conflicting and ambiguous information. In all the listings of birds and their sizes, I could not find an Eclectus listed anywhere!!!
Then I found a site called Land of Vos. While I didn’t know what ‘Vos’ meant, I recognized the green guys pictured there. I was amazed at the color differences between the genders, and awed at the beauty of a pair. Then I noticed a link to something called The Eclectus Connection. While I’ve never been much into forums and confused by how some of them post information, I sent an application anyway. Carolyn soon welcomed me to TEC and it didn’t take long to realize I’d hit the jackpot of ekkie information! With a few changes in my approach, and in Paco’s diet, we all became a whole lot happier.
I’m not exactly sure how long I had Paco before I began thinking about finding a companion for him. Birds are, after all, social animals. And TEC often cross posted birds in need of new homes, but they all seemed to be half the country away. Then a poor, plucked and neglected Michigan hen showed up… but that’s a story for another day.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Transport help and Cockatiel adopters needed!
A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with Bird Keeper's Lung, or hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This is a tragic diagnosis no bird lover ever wants to hear, as it means you have to rehome at least some of your birds, and take multiple precautions, such as wearing a respirator around the birds, if you chose to try and keep some. My friend is hoping to be able to keep her budgies, or at least her special needs budgies. However, she is going to have to rehome her tiels, as they are dustier, a decision which is obviously heartbreaking. We already have a home for her tiel and budgie pair, Pika and Pixel, to go to, but unfortunately it is in western Kentucky. We have gotten some very generous help with the driving already, so just need to find a way to complete the trip between Charlottseville, Va., and Morehead or Grayson Kentucky. Any possible help would truly be appreciated! Until we can get them over to their new home, they need to be placed in a foster home, so anyone in the Richmond area that can help with that would be wonderful.
Pixel and Pika, biding their time until they can go home.
She is also still looking for a home for her female tiel, Jezebel. As you can tell from the picture, she is not only gorgeous but very tame, and very, very sweet. I know she would make a wonderful friend for someone, just as she has for my friend. She is currently in Richmond, Va., as are Pika and Pixel.
Isn't she adorable? I know there is someone
And last, but don't ever tell him least, Jeffrey, a very sweet male tiel in eastern Kentucky, is also looking for a home. Not connected with the above person or birds, he was taken in by a softhearted chicken fancier, with no parrot experience, after she heard his sad story. Thanks to his wonderful foster mom, though he has really come around, end is even doing fairly well in his diet transition! Although very far from tame when she got him, Jeffrey is much better, and is certainly proving to have lots of spunk and charm! Although I don't have a picture of him, I fear it would not do him justice, anyway. I know there is someone out there wanting to finally give this sweet little fellow the good, loving permanent home he has so far been denied!
If you think you can help, or know of someone that can help, with any of the above queries, please do not hesitate to email me! There is a link on my profile to contact me, or just leave a comment!
Pixel and Pika, biding their time until they can go home.She is also still looking for a home for her female tiel, Jezebel. As you can tell from the picture, she is not only gorgeous but very tame, and very, very sweet. I know she would make a wonderful friend for someone, just as she has for my friend. She is currently in Richmond, Va., as are Pika and Pixel.
Isn't she adorable? I know there is someoneout there that is dying to give her a loving home.
In fact, I imagine just about everyone reading this wants to!
In fact, I imagine just about everyone reading this wants to!
And last, but don't ever tell him least, Jeffrey, a very sweet male tiel in eastern Kentucky, is also looking for a home. Not connected with the above person or birds, he was taken in by a softhearted chicken fancier, with no parrot experience, after she heard his sad story. Thanks to his wonderful foster mom, though he has really come around, end is even doing fairly well in his diet transition! Although very far from tame when she got him, Jeffrey is much better, and is certainly proving to have lots of spunk and charm! Although I don't have a picture of him, I fear it would not do him justice, anyway. I know there is someone out there wanting to finally give this sweet little fellow the good, loving permanent home he has so far been denied!
If you think you can help, or know of someone that can help, with any of the above queries, please do not hesitate to email me! There is a link on my profile to contact me, or just leave a comment!
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