Talon

Wow! This is wonderful! Thank you, and it's a fantastic idea!!!

Oh my, my heart is sad and heavy for what you have had to endure. I feel glad that you took the time to write and share these chapters of your life with us. It is nice to know that others are human and have problems like we all do. My heart breaks as I sympathize with you. See, my son's best friend for 12 years took his own life ( he was 16) for reasons no one understands . Also, my oldest son I imagine, will behave in the manner in which your brother has to his 3 younger siblings... I hope my children are strong enough to endure the wrath from him. As it stands now, they don't want much to do with him, but that's another story. I am so happy and relieved that Dorian has the most important person in her life to care for her. You have a bond with her that is irreplaceable, and she needs you. Please come here and vent anytime to us, t is helpful not only to you, but to help many of us to know we are not alone .......when my oldest son leaves, we are all very upset, stressed, but relieved when he's gone. He brings a toxixicity to us that can't be explained, but he lives with his father and that house and envirement is highly toxic, that is why I divorced him 4 1/2 yrs ago. I understand how you feel in a way, but I am sure it is far worse for you. Please know you are in my prayers, stay strong, and please vent anytime. I feel this is such an important thread, your life serves as a lesson to many here, and i applaud you for using it as a tool, as a thought for others to realize the importance of our birds.

Judy.....look what I just now found that wasn't there this morning........ A free male cockatiel..........cage and all............yes I emailed, DON'T NEED ANOTHER BIRD?????? STAY AWAY PENNY!!!!!!

Judy!!!!! Wish there was a dislike button, YOU ARE NOT HELPING!!!!!!!!

Oh my, dd I wirite this? I have been wanting a tiel very badly for a while now.....but trying to convince myself I have enough with my 3 already!!!! Your not helping Twix........: ) don't need one more cage to clean already have 4, don't need , don't need, don't need.......ugh!

Please click on this link if you have a dog. Humans have been getting sick from not washing their hands also after handling this infected dog food. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/diamond-dog-food-recall-expands-again/

Hi and Welcome neighbor.....as Judy said, is this your first bird? If so, lots to research before making that lifelong commitment of a forever home. Look forward to hearing more from you.

I agree, dump it down the drain! So he is a plucker, don't put chemicals that aren't good for his health into him, let him be and buy him a sweater like another member did. Just my opinion.

I don't know what some of you guys are smokin here, but I want some! Lol

These stories are so funny! Keep me coming! My mother doesn't like my birds, so she rarely visits..... :) My sisters latest boyfriend, none of us can stand, and apparently he's AFRAID of birds.....they came over one time, and he sent my youngest son in the house telling me to put my birds in their cages so he could come in....... I laughed and said "I don't think so"....... Instead I went outside. Now they NEVER come over and I don't have to invite them here for the holiday dinners because he's scared of them, what a good excuse for me!...... hee hee PHEW! Makes us all very happy!!!!!

Judy is correct. 3 weeks is like a day to us. He isn't even close to feeling settled in or relaxed. He does not know this is his forever home, why he is here, for how long, and who you are. I would be guarded too. He can't understand your good intentions yet, that comes with patience, love and time....lots of it. Remember, YOU know he should've calm and relaxed and feel loved, but it is his nature to be on guard until HE decides it's safe for him to feel comfortable enough to make sounds.

Oh, and BTW< This is my daughters new baby! Isn't here adorable? 3 Mos. old

No problems here....

I have to say, that in everything I have read, it coincides with what Jayd has said. YES there are absolute no-no's in foods that our birds can not have , but there is a lot in OUR diet that over time accumulated in our birds systems and they WILL die from it. Recently it was written in Bird Talk about the deadly effects of salt over time in our parrots. They went so far as to say that 1 potatoe chip had enough salt on it to kill a parrot. In my opinion, I would never feed honey to my birds. You are told not to give it to children under the ages of 1 due to the risk of their fragile immune systems and the risk of salmonella, I feel my birds are more sensitive so in my house, it's a NO. Us humans seem to think that what we eat in moderation, all is okay....of course, that is what is told to us. But that rule is not the same for our birds, and I don't believe that many bird owners realize that. Stop and think, the way we eat and drink when we are younger has no effect on our health. BUT over time, (our lifetime) it accumulates and we develope high blood pressure, diabetes, illness, disease, etc. that IS because it has accumulated over many years and our bodies can no longer fight the effects of it. This IS the same as our parrots.....but they are tiny creatures in comparison, and it is far more severe to them than us. FYI: i am a Certified Fitness Trainer, among many other certifications regarding health, diet and exercise. I am constantly studying, researching, learning and doing classes to learn the latest on diet and the effects of it on the human body. I have Learned things that would astonish you regarding the foods we eat. All this goes hand in hand with our birds, dogs, cats etc.

YES!! You must go to Bird of Paradise! It is the biggest and best toy store ever! I have a thread started here about it and showing pics also. If you google it, you will find the address. You won't be disappointed. Bring lots of $$ and they will ship your purchases to you also. They have over 40,000 toys, birds of all kinds out in the open, tree stands, food of all types, cages, everything you could ever imagine and then some! I live about 4 1/2 hours away. I make a trip once a year and buy lots of toys to last hopefully for that long. It's worth the drive from my house.

Hey, can't beat a palace now can ya? Now your house will look like mine, palaces all over the place! I don't care what anyone says, my 3 birds LOVE their huge cages! And my kids LOVE to see mom crawl inside them to clean and organize things... I close the door and yell , let me out, help!they thinks it's great. Meanwhile the birds look at me like I'm nuts!!!

Welcome to our family. I would never allow that behavior between birds and dogs. It is a natural born instinct for a dog to snatch a bird. They may never show that behavior, but it is engrained in them, and if the wrong thing happens, you are not there, or they get angry or frightened, that I stinct WILL kick in. I have a dear friend that lost their bird in that manner.. As for cats, they have a poison that is emitted in their claws and in their saliva that is meant to kill their prey, a scratch or bite WILl kill your bird. You know how our arm or hand might itch after our cat scratches us? Thats why. It is deadly to a bird or rodent.

I am very happy to hear you are going to allow your baby to fly!!! It can take 6 mos. to a year depending on the clipping that was done. Don't worry, my 3 birds were all clipped (not my choice either) when they were babies, and they fly everywhere throughout my house, and they master their skills it over time.

Wow,what a surprising reaction that was. I would say that Steve gave you the only advice you need and the best possible. He obviously has some very bad memories that stress him terribly enough to carry on like that. He WILL associate that with your new addition, and you are bound to have problems, not only with their relationship, but you will probably see a change in personality if you keep that cage. And it may even escalate to enough stress that plucking becomes a habit. Not worth the risk. Sell it and buy a different cage if at all possible.

Beautiful! Welcome, I look forward to hearing more about them!

My sister has 2 mini-Aussies. They are wonderful dogs. One she just recently adopted. She was a nursing home therapy dog. her job was to go to nursing homes and spend a little time with the different patients alllowing them to pet her, talk to her, whatever they needed. She is the most gentle, smart, loyal dog I've ever seen.

My house is 68 in the winter days, but down to 62 at night. My birds have never had a problem. Their cages are overed at night though.

Thanks you very much!! I think I will try it. I use a spray bottle and a scrubby pad to clean the cages. A floor mop for the floors. Sounds like this will be better!!!

I would like to add, Talon has suffered from bacterial I factions since I got her. Antibiotics off and on over her first 4 years of life. Last year, was the first time she was declared, NO MORE, and has kept that status since. All my birds, dogs, cats are fed only 8.5 alkaline water. Us humans drink 9.5. I stopped my prescription allergy medicines last year, I had no problems with allergies at all.

To clarify, alkaline or acid does not CAUSE cancer. BUT having an acidic envirement allows cancer cells and disease to grow. You want to avoid acidic foods, and eat more alkaline foods, dark greens etc. If you do a ph test on many of the bottled waters, juice, soda etc, you will find that it is acidic. When you pour that into your body, your body HAS to work to maintain the proper ph 7.0 to survive. To do that, it takes from your organs and bones to heal itself back to the proper ph. Thus over time it puts wear and tear, weaknes on your bones and organs, thus disease sets in and it is a known fact that cancer cells thrive in an acid envirement. So drinking alkaline water prevents that from happening, and in many cases, those diseases go away. My son saved his friends dog from kidney disease by giving it alkaline water. Many people are able stop taking their medications because they are no linger needed while keeping up with the water. My son having asthma since he was 1 yr old, has been on the water for 2 years, his Dr. just declared him as " no more asthma" seeing as he has been off his medicine for a year and a half and no episodes.