texasproud

I'm so sorry for your loss. You will me in my thoughts and prayers. Stephanie

Oh yes, Ike hit us hard. We're on the north side of Houston so although it wasn't as bad for us as our neighbors to the south, we still have a lot of damage. We are still without electric and water. We're on a well system that requires electric to run the pumps. I finally packed up the kids and we came up to Shreveport today to stay with a friend for a few days. We were becoming quite the stinky, cranky bunch. My parents house and land is next door to mine so they are caring for the animals while we're gone. Poor fids are having to adjust to a lot. They just came home Tuesday night and then the storm hit us early Saturday morning. In spite of it all, they are doing well. I'll just be glad to get into a solid routine with them. Everything has been out of whack for the last week. I'll post some pics and an update after I've gotten back home and have power again. Thanks for the kind words everyone! Stephanie

Our reunion had to be postponed a couple of days, but I got to bring Echo, my CAG, and Dammit (still thinking of a modified child friendly name lol), my Quaker Parrot, home tonight. I was a little worried with the drive and then them having to adjust to new cages on top of everything else, but they seem to be adjusting well. My old cage was custom built furniture that I don't have room for in my new house. My ex built it for me to go on a specific wall in our old house, and we moved it to my grandmother's when the fids went to live with her. No doubt Dammit remembered me. He snuggled right up to me instantly. I did receive several finger pinches through the evening from him as if he was scolding me for being away so long. Then he would bury his beak between my fingers so I could rub on it. I only got one finger pinch from Echo. She seemed to warm up pretty quickly too. We got some scritching in and she picked my laugh back up right away. I was surprised at that. Dammit was out while Echo was exploring her new cage and I was practicing his recall with him. When I started the cues to fly back to me, Echo got very excited and started going back and forth and making these little excited sounds and whistles. I believe she remembered me teaching her the recall. So, all in all, other than my fingers being a little sore, the reunion went well. I'm really excited to have them back home. I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days. Stephanie

Wow, that's good to know. I brought my CAG home tonight (she's been gone 4 years) and she was doing that too so I thought she might be frightened. She was acting in very positive ways though so it seems like a reasonable explanation to me.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I'll post some pics after I get them home. All of the pictures I have of them were well before I had a digital camera.

My CAG is named "Echo" and my Quaker is named "Damnit". My now ex-husband named him beause he was resistant to getting a bird (but fell in love with him at first sight, picked him, etc) He's going to have to be renamed since I don't want my 4 year old saying that...any suggestions?

Oh boy, this is going to be my first post other than on the welcome page, but here goes... I'll start by saying that I agree that often animals are acquired without much forethought I personally find the numbers of homeless and unwanted animals maddening. However, I had to temporarily rehome my birds due to personal circustances, one of which was being pregnant which put me on complete bed rest, then the resulting care of my daughter who was born almost 2 months early who needed round the clock care for quite some time, then the resulting divorce (which put me in the poor house for a while). By the way, I was supposed to be unable to have children so that was not a factor in my decision in adding feathered children to my family. My solution was to home them temporarily with my grandmother who had recently lost her TAG. It was a hard decision, one that hurt me greatly to make, but it was one that needed to be made. I hand raised both birds and was closely bonded with both for many years. They have been with my grandmother for four years while I rebuilt my life, my finances, my stability, but they are coming home next weekend. I am not ashamed of doing what I did because I know it couldn't have been different for me at the time, and I know placing them with someone that was home with them all day giving them the attention and quality care they needed was best for them as well. I just ask that some of you who have very "black and white" thinking about it, consider that things don't always work out as you plan, and sometimes difficult decisions need to be made. Thanks! Stephanie

Hello from Texas! I am new to the forum. I am the proud parront of a CAG and Quaker. I hand raised both birds 9 years ago. After 5 years, I got pregnant, had a high risk pregnancy where I was on bed rest, and went through a bad divorce so they went to live with my grandmother (experienced TAG parront) in another city until I got through this difficult time in my life. It was hard to let them go because we were so bonded, but I knew that I couldn't begin to give them what they needed at that time. I have been able to keep up a partial relationship with them by visiting her, and she has brought them with her at times when visitng me. We have decided that it is time for them to come home. I wouldn't move them again but it is getting difficult for my grandmother to care for them with recent health problems. I am excited for them to come home! I have missed them. I am anxious at the same time. I know that my grandmother cared for them differently than I did, and I wonder what kind of adjustment period they will have, and will they remember me the same way as before? Reading this forum has helped me remain confident that our bond, if broken now, can be established again with time and patience. I look forward to being a member of this group, and hope that I can contribute to its positive message. Thanks! Stephanie