jakesmom

OOPS!! Sorry...I'll try that again...need all the practice I can get. :-) jakesmom

It's OK if I don't win anything...I just like posting pictures..haha!! Did I mention that I'm a "newbie," as in yesterday. Anyway, I now live in Cairo, Egypt. Here is a picture I took of the Nile River...it's about one mile from my apartment. I can sit and watch the falukas (ancient sailboats)for hours. jakesmom

Not sure if the contest is still going on, but we lived in Alaska for 5 years and I quickly scanned through just a few of the GAZILLION landscape pictures I took and decided to send this one. Can we send more than one or not? jakesmom

Hi There, I'm brand new on the forum, but I just wanted to let you know I think your family is absolutely beautiful. I only have one spoiled little budgie so far, but she keeps me busy...she goes from room to room with me all day long...LOL! Seems like I'm constantly carrying her cage here and there, including the bathroom so she can sing while I shower. :-) Most of the time she just rides on top of the cage, but she still likes to have it come too...you know, the security blanket thingy..haha!! Anyway, I can't imagine carrying seven cages around all day....heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, what a good way to stay in shape...I'd never have to go to the gym again...haha!! I like the way you sent your photos...that's the way I figured out how to do them as well. For some reason I can't get them to go into the Photo Album OR the avatar image, so I just added them to the body of the email. :-) Thanks for showing off your babies...thoroughly enjoyed it! jakesmom :-)

Below is my image picture that I still can't seem to get to post in the correct spot. Annnnd then you'll see "Jake" my precious little monster. I know, I know, she looks like a sweetie, but looks is only feather deep...LOL...she pretty much "rules the roost" (pun intended..haha) around here. And when she doesn't get her way, WATCH OUT!! We thought she was a boy for the first 6 months and when we found out she was a girl, my hubby said, "well, that explains the attitude...LOLOLOL!: Of course, I had to sock him good for that remark. :-) I'm still doing some testing with the pics, so I hope they don't show up a monstrous size. My apologies if they do...I promise I'll get better at this. :-)

Yesterday when I went to feed the Grey,(I renamed him/her? Billy)at 10:30am, it didn't have any food or water. Most Egyptians are not pet lovers and it's very obvious that most of the itty bitty pet stores are here for one purpose and one purpose ONLY...to make money off the expats (foreigners that work here). For the most part they don't know and don't care a single thing about the animals...just house them and hope they sell. There is only one pet store that I've found that I will even consider purchasing bird seed from and even that store is deplorable by American standards....but my choices are so limited, I have to choose the best of the worst. :-( jakesmom

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. It's now 10:15pm in Cairo, 2:15pm in Texas. I've been trying for an hour to upload pictures of Jake and an image of me for my avatar and have had NO success. I KNOW they are scaled down to the correct dimensions...aaaaaaaaaargh!! Remember how I told you I have lots of patience...well, must have been a lie because right now I'm stressed out and tired. LOL!! Going to bed, will try again tomorrow. Regards, jakesmom :-)

Bummer...picture didn't show...sorry, probably too big of a file...will try placing one in the "Photo Album." Thanks for the BIG welcome everyone...this is my first bird forum. :-) jakesmom

Thank you for the welcome, Guru. I'm so glad the post FINALLY went through...not sure what I was doing wrong. :-) I will attempt to retype the first message I typed and lost. We will be in Cairo (via Houston, TX) for a year this January. When we moved here I noticed there was a little bird shop (about the size of most master closets...haha) and as dirty as a pig pen, about 10 minutes from where I live. I'd never owned a bird but after a TON of internet research I decided to purchase a baby BOY budgie and teach it to talk with the hopes of avoiding the inevitable culture shock and home sickness. So everyday I went to the little shop and waited for one particular little boy to reach five weeks and eating by himself so I could bring him home. I was soooooooooo excited (will send photos) the day I brought him home. Jake, who's cere turned from a bluish tint when he was a baby to...you guessed it, BROWN when SHE was about 7 months old will be a year old in February. I tried calling her Jackie but gave up since she was always saying, "Jake is a pretty boy." LOL!! I figure if boys can be named Sue, then my girl can be named Jake...haha!! Anyway, I still stop in the bird shop every once in a while and a couple months ago I noticed the most pathetic, bald chested African Grey you ever want to see. The bird (don't know the sex) is waaaaaaaaaay up on a top shelf (about 6 feet high)in a filthy cage with only sunflower seeds to eat, no toys and not even a roost. My heart just about broke. I asked the owner about the bird...he wanted 2000 Egyptian Pounds for it and said it had been passed through several different Egyptian families and then just dumped at the shop. Can you believe it? NO ONE is going to pay for that poor bird...it's got the saddest eyes I've ever seen. He said the bird (I've not heard it say anything) has a good vocabulary but it's in Arabic. Good thing I'm taking Arabic classes. I've started going there each day to give it some fresh fruit and veggies as well as some toys to play with. My driver talked the shop owner into putting a makeshift bar in the cage for a perch. The bird is not very nice and doesn't like me at all (bit me pretty good today) but it's not a problem...I have a lot of love, patience and time. Yesterday the shop owner offered to let me take the bird home for 3 months to try and love it back to being a sociable bird. Now here's my BIG question...the bird is 12 years old...IS THAT POSSIBLE? And can you put a grey with a budgie (separate cages of course) and still live in "relative" harmony. Jake pretty much rules the roost here. Our children are young adults in the states, so Jake IS our child, ONLY CHILD!! I want to help the bird but at the same time, I won't make the commitment without thoroughly researching it from every angle. Now here is one more thing to think about....we will probably only be here for about 4 years and I've been told by several people that because of bird disease risks, I would not be allowed to take an African Grey out of the country.............aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!! I hate to do NOTHING for the poor bird, but I know they can live a very long time too!! I'm just not sure. Maybe some of you can shed some light on this that I've not thought of...sure would be appreciated. :-) Thanks in advance...sorry if I rambled on to much. :-) jakesmom

I'm going to make this really short since I've typed two really long intro's and for some reason they are NOT going through. My name is Kathy...I'm currently living in Cairo, Egypt due to my hubby's job. I love to read, cook, go to the gym and love on my bird. :-) Think I'll leave it at that to see if this one goes through. :-) Glad to be here because I have a LOT of questions about adopting a Grey that's been abused and neglected. jakesmom :-)