sandra902

ohter merlin certainly does have an opinion on nearly every topic presented to him! he has me laughing so hard i have tears in my eyes. but i am curious about the jowl fluffing

ohter merlin certainly does have an opinion on nearly every topic presented to him! he has me laughing so hard i have tears in my eyes. but i am curious about the jowl fluffing

OK so if other merlin fluffs only his jowls i wonder what that means. i know this is OT but i have to mention it. when he lifts his wings up i say "ooohhhh handsome wings" so when he wants to hear me tell him he is handsome he will lift up his wings. now he will lift his wings and say HIMSELF "ooohhh" and he has only been home for a week or two! beauty and brains is right!

other merlin was originally named simon in his previous home. i try to avoid names with the "s" sound in them because it sounds so hissy. i thought AGs seem to be able to see the past, present & future so big daddy and i thought merlin was the appropriate name for our little fellow.

what a helpful thread and that rascal other merlin has been priming me for a sucker bite with his head down and tail up posture. glad i didn't fall for it and looked into this before i took a hit. he's got an opinion, this little fellow has!

hey stephanie take a minute and do a "search" there are a few threads already posted that compare the two. you will find a wealth of information on this site and it will only take you a moment to find it. then that will lead you to another thread and then another... happy hunting! -the Other Merlin's Mamma

that is just heartbreaking. what a blessing you and obi knew each other and she went to the bridge knowing love from a human. not all our little ones do. thank you for your good and conscientious care and i too am wanting to hear the results of the necropsy.

hey all it's me sandra just letting you know the Other Merlin is home and happy. he has taken well to big daddy and didn't flinch a moment when introduced to fraulein inga. so all is well at the monkey house. lots of feather fluffing and beak clicking and those little reptile-tongue sounds that i am told are very good. big daddy has begun his campaign to win merlin's affections from me, the diablo! i asked him to put on the classical channel and he put on the blues channel. ah well that tells me BD likes OM. for the sake of clarity i will continue to call my merlin the Other Merlin (if that is agreeable) out of deference to miss stephanie. happy sunday! (PEEP) which is OM's "all is well" sound.

welcome stephanie! my own merlin came home this weekend from his foster mum. good name! there is a LOT of support for you in the twin cities. you'll do just fine. feel free to PM me if you would like and we can chat. my merlin came from Mpls. keep up the good work!

have you looked on petfinder? you can search by all sorts of criteria including zip code. i myself have been active in the past as a rescue transporter. if they have them for dogs & katz, i'm sure there are parrot people out there that would set up a birdy tranport.

ah well it said the photo was too big. hmmm

hey all 2 weeks to merlin's arrival! i will try to insert a photo.

this has been a fun topic to percolate on whilst driving. i do a lot of driving. here are a couple more: "wond'ring aloud" by jethro tull "make me smile" chicago "(you're) still the one" orleans

"at this moment" by billy vera and the beaters mine and big daddy's song is "love stinks" by j geils band ha ha ha ha ha we've been married 28 yrs in case you are wondering

hey all i'm back and head over heels! had a wonderful weekend and spent a day with my friend miss bon, merlin's foster mamma. we party-crashed a seminar with barbara heidenreich and got an eyeful of fabulous birdies shamelessly working over the humans. only spent about an hour, and we did offer to make a donation but they said no that wasn't necessary. i still will though. they were very kind and welcoming to us. after which we went to the nearby thrift store and found some teething toys and such to make cheap toys for the birds. so mr merlin seemed to like his mamma and he hit all sorts of milestones this weekend that we didn't expect! he was very interested in me and took treats from my hand (didn't like having 2 hands in the cage though) and gave me a little snapper when i gave him strawberry instead of grape. silly human! everyone knows grapes are far superior. but then after i left the room i peeked around the corner and saw him eating up the rejected strawberry bits. he tried several times to climb out of the cage which was very encouraging. he finally made it yesterday and was proud as punch to be found on the top of his cage like all the rest. we had a long talk about feather plucking and about being brave and strong. ha ha ha ha ha silly human! but it made me feel better to tell him the things i wanted him to accomplish. he had a few sounds he would regularly make but was overheard having a "conversation" with his little pal miss maggie. sunday morning i sang them all the "good morning" song from "singin' in the rain" while we served them breakfast: "good morning, good morning! we danced the whole nite through good morning, good morning to you" they all thought that was pretty good so we'll see how long it takes merlin to learn it if at all. i was very proud that bon's other birdies (a male and a female eclectus) were very welcoming to this greenhorn. they allowed me to hold them, which bon tells me is very rare, and each took a little taste to see if i was a flincher. which i was not, point to sandra. so my fine young fellow is blossoming and thanks to bon's wonderful fostering, mr merlin is well on his way to being happy happy birdy. he should come home in late october and big daddy and i are looking forward to his arrival. i got a couple good snaps and will upload them later today. and oh brother i saw the little carrier that he'd lived in before he was surrendered. it was so small i wouldn't have put one of my cats in there! it was big enough for maybe a bunny or a ferret. gee whiz no wonder he plucked his feathers! but he is a determined & resilient little soul and has perked up so nicely. photos tonite! thanks for reading my long ramble. if you've made it to this point, you too are a determined soul.

so here is the merlin report for today! my friend, miss bon, tells me her little grey, miss maggie, is imitating her when she says "hey merlin" but adds "hows about a kiss" which is what bon says to maggie! so we are thinking miss maggie is making a move on mr merlin. ha ha ha ha ha he is also starting to cock his head and act very interested in his surroundings. she leaves the door open longer and longer, but he does not venture out. he does have a grand time with his toys, and doesn't mind overmuch that the other birdies are so interested in him they watch him from the top of his cage. and when asked did she think merlin knows his name? she says yes, that he gets pretty happy when he is greeted with his new name. maybe that is something to ask that expert gal that we need 10 questions for...the psychology of renaming rescue animals. only a day or so to go!

aw shucks thanks you guys! merlin is all of 3 years old so we have a lot of years ahead of us to help him blossom. and this has been a wonderful experience reconnecting with a treasured old friend. so everybody wins! charging up the camera as we speak!

hello all it's me again. great news, i get to meet my birdy this weekend. needless to say i am quite excited. originally we decided to rename him "boris" but after some thought decided on "merlin". looking at pictures of greys they seem to look as if they can see the past the present and the future, thus "merlin". plus i think the "s" sound is too harsh and sounds like hissing so i try to avoid the "s" sound in my pets' names. he's being fostered by my dear friend who has 3 other birdies of her own (a grey, an eclectus and something else) so merlin is learning how to be a happy bird in a good home. doesn't like the hand at all but will now take treats from the hand. is vocalizing a bit and has stopped feather plucking. he has come a long way but still has a ways to go. won't come out of the cage, but does love to play with his toys. the other birdies are very interested in him and he is accepting their overtures. i went to the exotic bird store nearby (i am acquainted with the owner) and got a big eyeful of all the loot available as well as a peek at their birds. merlin will be a bigger boy than i thought! got my copy of "for the love of greys" and am working my way through it. boy i've got a lot to learn but am having lots of fun doing so. so wish me luck on my first meeting with mr merlin! i don't expect him to take to me at all but i'll be happy if he doesn't squawk at me. maybe he'll take a little morsel from me? we'll see. i will render a full report (and photos) upon my return. have a great day. fingers crossed -s

well the planets seem to have aligned and my birdy is now in foster! this is a 3rd little fellow that i was just notified about tonite. my buddy has him home and will be giving me daily reports before we make arrangements for me to bring him home. i am thinking a week or two, maybe a month. now the fun begins. i have got a Lot to learn! but i did make one decision. his name was originally simon, but we are renaming him boris. but that is a story for another time. and silly me i did not even ask was he a timneh or a congo! we talked more about his prior home and his feather plucking and our plans to get him happy again. so now i am off to start a new thread to ask anyone interested in responding about their daily routine with their birdy.

hey miss judy yep we are having lots of fun with this little journey. and it does make a good story. i found a really good cage at the thrift store so i'm going to go pick it up and place it in its place so the katz can get used to it (and we can deter the kitten from it in advance) that way when birdy comes home kitten will be less interested in it. not that she won't be tremendously interested in the birdy but she will know mamma wants her to at least stay away from the cage. ah what fun it's like waiting for christmas!

oh boy this is one for the record books. now it appears BOTH birdys might be coming into foster! i told my buddy she better get ready because she was about to Fall in Love again. she assured me she absolutely would not be Falling in Love again as she has 3 birdys which she believes is quite enough. so this was to have taken place yesterday, we will see what actually happens and report directly back to the boards.

i have a giant dog kennel that inga will not use. it is huge and sturdy. would this make a serviceable alternate cage? it is big enough for a 70-lb german shepherd to go in and turn around standing up. i bought one big enough i think for a calf but there is a part of her sad past that will not allow her to go in the kennel. not that she needs to, thankfully. in fact to help her learn the kennel was not Bad, my great big son got inside it and coaxed her in with treats and they had a nice little cuddle and ear-scritchy. but that was plenty for her and at least she went in and had a good experience. anyway i thought perhaps that would be a serviceable alternate haven for up in my office. what is the general opinion of this? have i hijacked another thread? tell me if i have.

my daughter's kat, francois, loved to jump in the dryer. gee whiz that posed a problem on laundry day! and he is 20+ pounds and a very determined creature.

hey tari, this birdy is going from his mamma to foster and then to me. my girlfriend is active in her local bird rescue and will foster the bird to get to know him a little better and to ensure he is a good match for me. plus with her fostering him she will be a good resource and advisor when i actually get him home. i am the tortoise ha ha ha so however long it takes is OK with me. i like this approach as i foster puppies now and then and it really helps the forever home to be able to call me and say "sascha did this or that" and i can be a little support to the forever home during transition. so knowing my own green-horned-ness, i welcome all the knowledge and guidance i can get. plenty of newbie mistakes to be made and i want to be sure i minimize them! i am also looking into local bird rescue groups ( i live in the metro milwaukee area ) and maybe at some time i will be able to lend a hand in some small way. you never know. at least i'll have a local group i can give the odd donation to, eh?

thank you for rescuing. i was just on petfinder today and there are a number of AGs on there. here is a little question i will pose here, perhaps it is off topic. when you clean the cage do you use a steamer? do you use that scunci steamer or would a regular clothes steamer sanitize the cage?