sandra902

oh dan i am trying to imagine that sound but in doing so began to chuckle. well up here in the aviary/office any chuckling is met by miss milly's laughing which is infectious. she laughs at me, i laugh at her, and on and on it goes far beyond what originally amused me. merlin gives us both that beady fish-eye till we settle down.

hey MsV glad to hear you are getting your deposit back. may i encourage you to consider parrot rescue? it is not the answer for everybody but it might be a good fit for you. it has been very rewarding for us and there are many very worthy birds out there waiting for someone as conscientious as you are. by the way i am a server too - where do you work may i ask?

welcome miss sue looking forward to hearing more about you and mr ollie. love the name! my daughter is preparing to move to london this fall and i did tell her i could put her in touch with plenty of parrot people should she get lonely. but i am wondering as to why one would roll one's eyes at such a helpful suggestion? hmmm -s

my little milly is an over-preener. i have plenty of toys for her that involve preening to lessen the attention she gives her own feathers. it's a long road for her, but little by little we are working on it. i do tell her she is a pretty girl and i try to have soothing music on when i am not here. her vet said that we should have plenty of things to occupy her so that she would not turn on herself when bored. right now she is upside downy surveying her world and clucking. bless those little funny conures! the only time she is quiet is when she is asleep.

i took a bottle and clothespinned it to one of the cage bars. no lid, so the clothespin (old style with no spring) clipped to the opening. gave it some squeezes so it made crinkly noises and got out of the way. big fun!

oh my gosh as i am chuckling to myself little milly has now joined in! she needs no reason to laugh other than to join in with mamma. merlin has not found the humor in mamma laughing for no reason however and has fixed me with a beady gaze.

mr merlin has a look in his eye that seems to see the past, the present as well as the future. plus i love the arthurian legends, especially merlin who was so very complex. and that my little bundle of plucked feathers certainly is - complex!

howdy sallas - re: puppy mill website: it would be very tricky legality-wise to pin the label 'puppy mill' on an establishment, i agree. i drive rescue runs for the elmbrook humane society there in waukesha. miss carol there works very closely with authorities to help shut down puppy mills. she was involved in a big one which was featured on TMJ4 and might still be on their website. perhaps your vision and expertise could be utilized to help the programs already in place? there is much to be done and your idea is a good one that could really blossom under the right circumstances. sorry to hijack this thread, PM me if we should take this discussion offline. thank you char for your efforts on behalf of the birdies. you had a good outcome and with a little vigilance, you will be helping uncountable little souls just from paying regular visits.

jasperk, time is time. whether you spend the time on a chick or you spend the time on a resuce you will spend the time. it is all what you are called to do. if you are a rescue person, that will be apparent to you with a little reflection. thank you for considering rescue. there are many many very worthy birds our there that could flourish under your care. please do not rule it out. it all winds up to be the same committment in the end. with a lifespan of 50-75 years, you are signing on for a big commitment which you already know. i myself (as i am sure you can ascertain) am a resue person. the challenges and rewards are wonderful as well as heartbreaking, but i would not have it any other way. to give my little ones a loving home and all the pleasure and enrichment i can is a calling that cannot be minimized. not to mimimize those who patronize a breeder. if you are a loving parront, i salute you. keep us posted as to your progress, and if you should want to pursue rescue, i welcome your PM to me. no judgement, not pressure, just an open door. -s

we play: 'peek a boo' 'up up up the ladder' 'down down down the ladder' 'take nice' 'verboten' 'no-bite' 'ooohhh handsome wings' 'are you upside-downy?' the morning kiss was abandoned when it got horribly out of hand and i still have a mark on my lower lip.

I WILL FOSTER PM ME IF I AM NEEDED. BLESS YOU -S

hello there! my opinion is that we all make our own agreements in our own homes. there are of course certain broad issues to consider (having your birdy outdoors and such) but if you have a nice little cockatiel (they are nice little happy fellows aren't they!) and he acts right on the shoulder that is the agreement between pappa (ty) and the birdy. now my little 'tiel does not like handling, but my daughter's does allow a bit. every little creature is an individual and once one settles on the very basic important safety issues, there is a lot of flexibility to be enjoyed. for example, mr merlin does not want, nor do i, to have shoulder time. miss milly the mitred conure loves shoulder time as do i. so we all make our agreements and have happy interactions. hope this is helpful, but after a couple vinos i will be proofing this ever-so carefully! -s

sorry i am of no help here, but my flock loves their zupreem fruit (we call them fruit loops)...and the technicolor poos are spectacular! miss milly has a crookedy bite and thus cannot eat conure-size food but she does just fine on big bird food. -s

hi dereck - welcome neighbor! i'm from just outside milwaukee. i can heartily recommend jo's exotic birds in kenosha. have you considered parrot rescue? you seem to be nearer madison than kenosha. have you checked MACAW? plus there are are one or 2 parrot rescues in the milw area. my merlin is a rescue bird (i have a friend in mpls who helped me get him from her local rescue) and i couldn't be happier. rescue is not for everyone, but it is tremendously rewarding if it is the path you are to walk. i like the name rio! keep us posted as to your progress. -s

oh boy i'm sorry for your disappointment. but it is true the perfect little match is waiting out there for you. my merlin was bird #3 for me, there were two others i was in line for before the stars aligned and my darling merlin came home to me. by the by, he had quite the road trip as well and with a little care and consideration they manage well. merly came from minneapolis to milw area. his foster mamma brought him to me so he rode with someone he knew and loved which i think helped. chin up, and keep looking, this could be a great opportunity to get to know your local parrot resuce/s and maybe pitch in and help and learn a little. maybe fostering is an option for you at this point?

welcome! and a Big THANKS to you for taking in young merlin...ah it's a good name that is for sure! my merlin also sends his regards and one day we shall have to compare rescue notes. my merly man is a rescue also and every day is a joy and a wonder. do give us more info on his background and i recommend you start a little journal to chart your progress with him. again, welcome to the forum and welcome to a wonderful adventure! -s

hello miss linda and welcome! i joined this forum well before my merlin came home. this was and is my primary source for All Things Bird. i also subscribe to bird talk magazine which also helps me fill in the blanks. here at the monkey house we have 3 katz, one german shepherd and 3 birdies (merlin the CAG, peetey the cockatiel and miss milly the mitred conure). the birds inhabit my very large home office which is about 20+ ft x 10+ ft. it is very secure so the katz cannot come in and since my doggy does not like to climb stairs does not come in either. i will say though that when each birdy came home everybody got to meet and that went well indeed. no pouncing, no aggression, no fear behaviours at all. but we kept it short and sweet and got each bird up to the office ASAP. inga (GSD) is a very gentle soul and is well known as a kitten mamma. we have had little kittens in the past who were on their own way too early and inga took over all nurturing. she loves to give each kat thier morning slurp. she also is a good puppy aunty and teaches the pups we have fostered in the past thier basic house manners. but we decided early on, well before merlin came home that the office would be the place for any birds, just to be sure nothing could go amiss when we would be out. my entire family and friends thought i'd gone mad when we introduced birds into the monkey house. but we knew what we were doing and thought out each eventuality as best we could and it has been a rousing success and i've said 1000 times, a joy and a wonder every day. we look forward to each step of your story as it progresses no matter what the outcome. again, welcome! -s

my little milly the mitred conure has what i consider a really off lower beak. she cannot hold the conure kibble which really distressed me til i took her to the avian vet (and at the time i was convinced she had zinc toxicity - right back atcha LisaM haw haw haw!) anyway Dr Avian Man assured me that all i needed to do was feed her a bigger gauge kibble and she would be fine. so for us, she is a bit odd looking but who are we to judge many would say the same about me and big daddy! milly is happy and healthy and does just fine with the bigger kibble as well as making a huge mess of mamma if there is buttered toast about.

i saw a wee brush for birdies at the pet store and was tempted to buy it. wonder if that would be a closer approximation than a scritchity-scritch.

i completely believe our little ones know right from wrong. i think in their world it is simpler in that it is what pleases or displeases us. merlin will correct himself when he bites the curtains. he really seems to like the payoff (gooood booooy) when he turns away from temptation. he will also reward himself with a good boy when he corrects himself. a joy and a wonder every day. how fortunate we are!

http://www.avianwelfare.org/links/organizations.htm http://avianprotectors.homestead.com/Rescue.html<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2009/01/17 18:09

haven't posted a merlin report lately. after being silent for months from a ceiling fan fright, he is now mr chatterbox! he imitates the other birds, he imitates my lame imitations of the other birds and now chatters up a storm while i'm in the room. all these months we had to hide outside the door to listen to him talk. right now he is impersonating my impersonation of milly "bow wow" (bow-wow is his new favorite) and the various telephone sounds as well as: "well hel-LO there!" and "ooo-oh my darling" which is what we say before morning and nite kiss. yes can you imagine he lets the devil's daughter kiss his beak? only through the bars mind you. when peetey has a fly-round he cheers him on: "come on!" "wow!" "good boy!" he greets milly like the land shark off the old saturday nite live: "hi milly." he plays peek a boo with himself: "merlin where AAARRE you?" "there you are!" "MERRR-lin!" "peek a boo!" but he really made me happy the other day when he said to himself 'i love you'

dan thank you for clarifying the need for the testing miss kim needed. i did not mean to pry, but am very relieved all of this is taking place for good reason and not what i had feared, a routine screening gone horribly wrong. that being said, i was pretty confident i had read each one of your posts on this topic and could find in none of them any of the information you had included in your most recent explanation, for which by the way i thank you. i try always to not just shoot off my mouth (or flaming fingers) in reply to a post and so i just went back again and re-read dan's posts in this topic and again did not find any source for this procedure to be done. perhaps i missed a page or something somewhere but i thought i was pretty thorough in reading through dan's posts so i could understand the situation. second-guessing peoples' decision-making is not my style at all and i do apologize if that is what my words implied. but more importantly, my hats off to both kim and to you for the 10-year survival! it could not have been easy at all to face and to conquer and you both were of course being very vigilant in maintaining miss kim's health. well done! i will say my opinion still stands on routine colonoscopy at 50. there is no history in my family nor any current reason for me to undergo this procedure. i do not dispute the importance of early detection being the best form of prevention but for me, sandra, i do not believe in the necessity of it for me, sandra. i also do not dispute the usefulness in colonoscopy for early detection. i am merely stating my opinion that since it is an elective procedure, i after careful thought and consideration (and discussion with my physician) elect to not have it done at this time. but do not let my opinion on that matter divert attention from the much more important issue, that of kim's good health and homecoming. let us just put my opinion aside and if anyone wants to encourage me further, i would be very happy to go the PM route so as to keep this thread about miss kim and mr dan.

dan i am sorry to be so blunt but what EVER was the reason for this test in the first place? when i turned 50 they tried to set me up with a colonoscopy to which i respectfully yet firmly declined. please tell me this was not some 'routine test' gone wrong. it would be one thing if there were conditions which required this sort of test but i would be plenty incensed if this was a screening which went awry. best wishes to you and to your beloved. tell dayo mamma's coming home soon. poor kim! no coffee! no vino! i'd be looking for the sharp objects that's for sure...

ah neighbor sallas, whaddya think of a friendly little male cockatiel? PM me if you may be interested. (it is NOT my little peetey by the way)