Parrots 101

They have crazy glowing laser eyes!! Only surpassed by the Tawny Frogmouth.

There are links to IR photos of other animals at the main directory for the Infrared Zoo Gallery. The pictures of the amazon are also nice, showing just how toasty they are under their wings.

Parrot owners often discuss the risks involved with anesthesia for birds, but I've never seen an actual study of it. Well, I still haven't for birds, but dolittler_blog just pointed to the most commonly cited study for cats and dogs undergoing anesthesia. The study is 15 years old, which shows that it's a very little-researched topic if there's no better newer papers are out there.

The numbers obviously will not be the same for birds, but I still think it's worth mentioning them: 1 in 1,000 cats and dogs that undergo anesthesia die. 1 in 100 cats and 1 in 50 dogs undergoing anesthesia will have complications (which presumably range from the mildest cases of it takes longer to wake than anticipated, to permanent blindness or a heart attack but CPR revives the animal). These are HUGE rates of problems - if anesthesia use in humans caused 1 in 1,000 to die, we would NOT be using it in hospitals except for people on the verge of death anyway.

We can hope that anesthesia use has become more sophisticated in the past 15 years, and that better/safer anesthetic drugs are available today, but we can't be sure since there's no good study to refer to. But I also fully expect that the rates of death and complications will be higher for birds since at such a small mass (for most of our parrots) any slight mistake in dosage will make a huge difference, plus their metabolism isn't as well studied and I doubt most anesthetics have even been tested on birds.

In the end, I'm glad to have seen these numbers, and I am glad I decided not to microchip Kappa with anesthesia (though I will still consider it if I can find a vet that will do it without anesthesia). Another common usage of anesthesia is for x-rays, so if that comes up in your bird's life, be aware of the risk involved and make an informed decision.

A fact of life when you own birds is that eventually you will come across bugs in food.
But...which bugs matter?

Fairly consistently I know WHICH bug I could have in a food. It rarely changes and its a manufacturer problem. I know IF there are bugs in Zupreem or Brook's seed they will be bull weevils...and if I buy Sunseed it will be moths. I freeze my food, but we still have a moth problem =(

Anyways, more to the point - all things considered, which is more harmful to the quality of the food? Obviously the bugs are EATING the food. Without going into temperature/season/quantity etc. which is more harmful/degrading to the food?

A recent post on cockatiels reminded me that people are often asking about how to address their bird allergies - and cockatiels more often than other species b/c they're both more common and more dusty. Cockatoos are also quite dusty, but they're not as common. (I personally am allergic to everything with fur, and I can have my allergies triggered by birds but only if I've been a slob about my bird care lately, or if it's a really bad week for pollen.)

So here's my list on things you can do to lessen bird allergies, many of which are stolen from what I've heard other people say, or what I request when I visit cat/dog households.

• Don't keep the birdcage in the bedroom. Even people w/o allergies will develop "birdkeeper's lung" after years of having a dusty bird in the bedroom.


• Change cage papers daily or twice daily. The dust builds up in the papers. Wash cage with water, or dishsoap and water (and rinse thoroughly) at least once a week.


• Wear a cheap dust mask while changing papers or cleaning the cage. Of if it's really bad, while playing with your bird too.


• Bathe your bird at least weekly, or as much as daily. Some birds like a shallow dish, some like a drip of water, some like a spray bottle on mist, and some like to roll around in wet lettuce leaves. If he doesn't seem to like any, then at least when you shower put him on the shower bar and the moisture in the air will help with the dander, and with time he'll decide to hop in and join you.


• Vacuum or sweep at least once a week - Roomba, the robotic vacuum cleaner, is great for this, I vacuum around the cage two or three times a week. Add wootdotcom to your friends list and every couple months they put up a Roomba for $100 or so.


• If you have rugs around the cage, consider moving the cage to a different room without rugs, or covering the rugs with those plastic sheets they make for office chairs, or with cheap tarp. The rugs hold on to the dander while plastic makes it very easy to get up.


• In the winter use a humidifier. Dry air irritates lungs and the nose to start with, so making it less dry will make your allergies less. Also birds are more dusty when it's more dry, so it'll also reduce the amount of dander in the air.


• Get an air purifier. The best ones are with HEPA filters. Do not get an ionizing one, as they tend to create ozone which will make things worse for you and can also irritate birds' lungs.


• Start taking over the counter allergy pills. Claritin (or generic version) is pretty effective and non-drowsy. Zyrtek (or generic version) is slightly more effective IMO, and cheaper, but can cause drowsiness in some people. Either you have to take for a week before they reach full effectiveness. Ask your doctor if you want to try prescription allergy medication, allergy shots, or if you have medical conditions which prevent you from taking either of those.

What are your tips for reducing bird allergies?

Mars brand dry cat and dog food is being recalled due to salmonella contamination. Their products include Pedigree, Pet Pride, Red Flannel, and Wegman's cat and dog foods. If you have any of the contaminated batches, THROW IT OUT. Canned should be safe since the canning process sterilizes it.

I don't know how susceptible cats and dogs are to it, but both humans and birds can get salmonella, so check your cat/dog food if you have those animals.

If you don't have contaminated batches, it doesn't hurt to wash your hands lots, just like if you were handling raw chicken. Freezing does NOT kill salmonella - you still have to cook chicken after freezing it.

Sources:
Mars Petcare recall page
CDC page
CBS News / WebMD article

X-posted lots

Here's some recent cute photos of Kappa!

Almonds in the shell are one of her favorite toy/treats.

Lookit how smooth the feathers on her belly look after her molt. I'm so proud! ^_^


"Mmmm, smells good."

Yeah, I know they don't have much of a sense of smell, but doesn't it look like she's sniffing the almond?

Here's a similar pose from before her molt so you can compare - there's black flecks all over her feathers on her belly, indicating wear on the feathers or that they were poorly formed in the first place. The difference is even more dramatic on her "shoulders".


Shredding a toy on her Boing in the office.


When I first got her in April she was terrified of new people - took her a couple months to even warm up to my boyfriend, who lives here too and gave her almonds daily! And now she's not only learning to tolerate people, she even stepped up for two of them at my Halloween party!



And she's fully flighted too - see the long blue feathers at the ends of her wings, those're the flight feathers - so if she really didn't want to be on these people, she would've flown somewhere better. I wouldn't say she was *comfortable*, but she definitely had other options and chose to tolerate being on their fingers while a couple people took pictures.



And lastly, a cute but low-quality picture of Kappa snuggling up close to me. ^_^


X-posted to my journal

Xylitol is highly toxic to dogs. What about birds?

I was thinking about trying a new toothpaste until I read the back and saw it contained that sweetener. It got me to thinking, because my birds "kiss" or preen my lips sometimes, and a lot of things contain it; like Toothpaste, Sugar Free Gum, etc.

Hopefully this works, but heres my Sadie. She's just learning to dance! haha!
Enjoy

Inspired by this post of bloolark's, I decided to think up the things that have changed in my life since I got parrots.

Once upon a time, I had Teflon pans, and wouldn't have thought twice about getting more. Now I've got stainless steel and cast iron, and check all new kitchen implements carefully before purchasing.

Once upon a time I had a really big dining room. Now one whole wall of it is taken up by a birdcage.

I also now have parrot toys hanging in all the main rooms of my apartment.

Some people keep a car seat in the back seat of their car. I have a large birdcage so the birds can travel with me.

Once upon a time, I could just walk outside without thinking about it. Now I have to check myself for clinging birds and look around to make sure no parrots are going to try to follow me out the door.

Once upon a time my floors were relatively clean. Now they are covered with crumbs, feathers, and poop and require constant sweeping and applications of vinegar-water spray.

Once upon a time I scoped out tag sales and thrift stores for things like sweaters. Now I appraise everything with one question in mind: "Would that make a good bird toy?"

Once upon a time I watched movies while sitting back on the couch. Now I watch movies while constructing parrot toys.

Once upon a time a bird flying inches from my head would have startled me. Now I forget that it was ever strange.

What are yours?

Posted also to budgerigars community



Here's a video I made today. I have two new English budgies. They are 9 months old and came to me as a pair. I don't plan on breeding them. I just like that they have bonded. They should add to the harmony of my other budgies (two bonded pairs and a single little cutie boy).

Here are a few videos of my birds being cute. I had to share! :)

Daedalus plays "peekabo":



Birds pooping on cue:


Icarus taking a bath:


Icarus hops from knee to knee. (He learned this trick in about 5 seconds. Also, pardon the camera angle. You can blame transversely for that.)

Woot.com is selling a Roomba for $150 today only. It includes the Roomba, base charger, 2 virtual walls, spare brushes, and a couple other little things. That's a good price for that.

Mine's quite useful for cleaning bird messes.

X-posted

This weekend my landlord is going to start painting the screened-in porch. He will be putting down an oil-based primer on the steps which are 5 feet away from the house's front door, and he will later be painting the entire porch floor. The front hallway is three feet deep so our apartment door is 3ft from the front door. We live on the first floor, and Kappa's cage is another 8ft into the house, no windows nearby but in the same room as the apartment door.

My question is how paranoid do I have to be? Everything is outside and open to the air, windows facing the porch are closed. I can move Kappa farther back in the house so she's not right by the front door (which will not be opened during the painting process). I can put fans towards the back of the house blowing inwards, so that air will circulate from the back of the house to the front and out towards the porch. If needed I can even board her for a few days, but since the porch is exterior I feel that would be overkill.

What says the internet (i.e., community members)?

X-posted

Watch for a future colour version when I re-draw the birds so that they fit in together better.




September 8, 2008 ::: Pen & Ink ::: 2.5x3.5"

I live in an old house, and I've seen evidence of mice in the past (poop under the sink and around the kitchen trash, where there's big holes in the walls for the pipes), but tonight I saw one for the first time - and three feet from the birdcage. I change cage papers around 5 times a week (I aim for daily but occasionally forget), any leftover fresh veggies get dumped in the kitchen twice a day. There's a trash with a lid can next to the cage that I used to dump pellets into but now will not. I'm keeping it away from the cage for a few days, but after that I'll probably return it and use it only for the cage papers and not for the pellets. I Roomba around the cage at least once a week.

So I have two questions. (1) Are they actually a threat to Kappa in any manner? I mean, I know they can be a disease vector, is that really a big deal? Any chance they're rabid? And (2) any ideas you may have to safely keep them away from Kappa (and perhaps the entire house)? Keeping the place clean is of course #1, but I keep the area around the cage cleaner than anywhere else in the house, and the kitchen is two rooms away (and I just cleaned it anyway just in case).

ETA: Deleted accidental double-posting.

ETA2: I'm looking for non-lethal solutions. No glue traps, spring traps, or poison.

X-posted to parrot_lovers and my journal

Just showing off a new picture :-) He can be available on cards if anyone is interested. I seem to be stuck on scarlet macaws when it comes to artwork - he's my fourth one :-)




September 1, 2008 ::: PanPastels and Pencil Crayon ::: 8x10"

The downside of having your bird wake up before you and decide to yell incessantly while you try to get some more winks is that you dream about owning dozens of birds, half of whom are dead. The upside (yes, there is one) is that every time you wake up you instantly realize that you have only the one bird, and she's not only alive but has very healthy lungs on her.

Have I mentioned it's Loud Week? That's when Loud Day lasts for more than a day.

And I now have an answer to eterri's question the other week about what's the strangest thing you've ever done with/for your bird. Kappa's been yelling LOTS for the last few days - I suspect it's b/c she's picking up on our tension and changing schedule with the start of the semester coming on Tuesday, rather than it being something to worry about health-wise, or something that we've accidentally reinforced. She particularly likes to yell the whole time I'm cooking dinner, two rooms away from her - she can hear me moving around so she knows I'm there, but I'm not paying attention to her. Of course this gets a bit irritating.

On the other hand, Kappa thinks the Andy Griffith theme song is a call-and-answer type song, where she has one particular note that she "answers" at the end of certain phrases in the song. If she does this while I'm watching, she's always standing really tall and skinny, and her eyes are pinning like mad. So if she's yelling continually, trying out every last different loud noise she's capable of making, all of them LOUD and most of them irritating, what's the best way to convince her to make softer noises less continually?

Whistle the Andy Griffith theme song at her. The entire time I'm cooking. For two nights straight.

x-posted to my blog

The last few days I have been flicking to the weather channel. I live on the Alabana/Florida border in Florida. The lady at the weather channel mentioned Thursday that their forecasts have a 200 mile error. Thinking back from my experience with hurricanes, I know that to be true. It's going here. No it's going there.

Katrina hit New Orleans, and we had winds high enough here to knock shingles off my Hurricane Ivan shabby chic roof. Insurance was kind enough to replace my roof using Ivan's lower $1,000 deductible rather than my later by the time of Katrina multiple hurricane inflated deductible of $2,000.

Mother said Katrina isn't coming here. Why are you bringing those birds over here? Time has passed and my mother doesn't quite remember Katrina, because it had little financial impact to her. I told her "Where was I during Katrina? I was at her/parents house where I always wait out the storms. But I didn't have birds the last time we had a hurricane. Do you remember that Katrina knocked shingles off my roof, mother?

So I hauled the cockatiels EFC with all its toys and huts, and one of my long cages for the budgies. I borrowed her truck. So it all took less than an hour. And the tiels looked content when I put them back in their big cage.

I am sure that the birds are now fascinating my mother now (I am at my home getting ready for church). That's one to tick off the chore list. Hannah is coming after Gustav. And we don't know where that is going. So I might leave the birds at my parents for the week.

I hope everybody is safe during the storms. I was recalling what Ivan was like last night. It hit Orange Beach two years before Katrina hit N.O. It was bad, bad news. I thought my dad could have had a heart attack during Ivan. We probably had hard winds for at least 6 hours; I thought the trees might give way into my house.

Be safe everyone this holiday weekend.

Since Kappa (dusky conure) has taken her first purposeful flight earlier this week, I want to help her practice steering, landing, etc. "Everyone" says the way to do this is to toss your bird into the air. Well I've got a problem with that: Kappa holds on. She just won't let go of my hand. No matter how hard down I drop my hand, she clings on tight with her feet (I swear she's got a stronger grip than a rock climber!). She flaps to maintain her balance when I go the fastest, which is good exercise but doesn't help her w/ steering and landing, and just never lets go.

I have similar difficulty when I want to get Kappa onto a perch she doesn't want to go on - pushing the perch against her belly causes her to lean back and rotate around the perch until she's entirely horizontal, and if I push more she just dodges and moves to another part of my hand. Only if I turn my *hand* to entirely vertical will she step off - she'll go onto the thing if it's lower than her, otherwise she'll dig her beak into my skin (yes, it hurts, but more of a pinch than a really bad hurt) and haul herself up to my wrist! Usually when this comes up I use treats to lure Kappa where I want her to go - I'm not particularly looking for a solution for this part, I'm just describing her monkey-ness in case it helps people understand why I'm having difficulty "launching" her for flight training.

Kappa always sits on a finger on my hand, so I'm thinking perhaps if I could get her to sit on my palm or fist she might have less to grab onto, but it's hard to get her to walk around my hand rather than just grabbing on.

So um, any ideas for this little monkey of mine?

Kappa just made her first purposeful flight! I'd been sitting in the dining room w/in sight of her cage, and listening to the birds at the feeder on the window. She'd been putzing around atop the cage making a bit of irritated noises, when suddenly I heard wings from her cage and she flew out of the foyer, through the dining room, and landed on the window screen next to the feeder and near me. ^_^ It seems like she was a bit surprised by where she ended up, and not in good control, but she very clearly wasn't the slightest bit afraid. I put out my hand for her and she stepped right up onto me, her eyes pinning.

Hooray for Kappa!

*Makes mental note to be even more conscientious about closing her cage when appropriate.*

x-posted to my journal

Hurricane Fay and a post by Dolittler reminded me that I've been wanting to repost my Bird Emergency Kit page in case it would be of use to anyone here. And another article on Animal Disaster Preparedness. Here's a photo of most of the stuff that's in my kit, for the full list go here.



The question to ask yourself is if you smelled smoke in your house and saw flames licking up the side of a room, what would you do? This happened to a friend of mine recently, she was woken at 3am by the sounds of her landlord downstairs running around the house and yelling at her to get up and get out. Her landlord had a cat and a dog, and thankfully was able to get both out safely, and all the people got out too, and in the end the fire damage was minor, but it could have been so much worse.

What if you live in the southeast US and were told that a major hurricane was going to hit within the week? What if you were told you had 30 minutes to evacuate? I live in the northeast myself, and one important element of my kit is chemical hand-warmers.

If you have no clue what you would do, start by browsing the links above, make a list of your own, and then take a couple evenings to start gathering the things together. I keep Kappa's sturdy travel cage (airline approved, won't burst if dropped) right under her normal cage, and also a small Rubbermaid tub containing the emergency kit. I hope no one reading this ever needs such preparations, but in the case that you do, I hope this helps.

It's been a while, but I finally have some time so here come some random questions...

1) What's the longest amount of time you've ever been away from your parrots and how did they react when you returned?

2) Silliest thing you've ever done for or with a parrot?

3) In your opinion, what are the two most difficult types of parrots to keep happy (and yes, I said two because I know number one will be "cockatoo" in the majority of cases...because it's just true).

4) How well do your parrots' personalities match with what most people describe for their species as a whole? (As in, is your conure a "typical" conure?)

5) What are some things about parrots that you wish you understood better and/or hope to learn more about in the future?

Snuggles has been knocking over her play stand, (a homemade stand that she is atached to, made from a old style cage stand that is a loop with a hook on a about 14 inch disk. It is about 67 inch high, Has a natural wood branch and toys hanging off of the side of the branch. She will not let me hang anything off of the hook, and perfers to be on the top of the loop, (the loop wire is about 1/2 inch thick if that.
Aside from her flaping and knocking it over, she is chewing off the paint,(it is nursery room paint,but am not happy with this.
I was thinking of getting this stand. Any one have one?

http://yhst-51898397859030.stores.yahoo.net/enlarge.html?http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-51898397859030_2016_555936
I would like to get a large one, but thing that she will not put up with it.

It's called take-legos-apart-as-fast-as-possible-and-lunge-them-off-the-desk-when-im-done game. I might need to shorten it later but it'll do for now. My Sun cant STAND seeing lego's stuck together. The highlight of her days are taking apart lego's and im sure its good exercise for her beak since its made to make the movements required to take the blocks apart.


I was rubbing my baby's head like I always do when I want her to stop bothering me and so im rubbing, and scratching, and tickling and then I start scratching her back and her belly. Then she turns on her side and lifts her wing up without me knowing. So im there, rubbing her belly and her little lizard feet and all I feel is skin, feathers, and bones. Then I get to a soft spot. A spot that feels a lot like muscle so im like "Oooh! I'll give her a little massage!" So then Im rubbing the spot and when I stop she starts purring for me to do it again. So I do it again and then stop. She purrs again. When I finally get a good look at her I see that she's on her side and her wing is up and I instantly remember that nasty little article that I read in Bird Talk about the birds getting their owners to masturbate them and.. AAAAH!! You dirty whore, Sunshine!

Now, a question.. Why does my bird constantly want to rub her ass on my face? Does it have to do with the accidental sexy time we had together?

I have a problem and I might have to rehome my budgie and cockatiel.

I got the budgie some time ago when a person I know in my apartment complex had her mother come to live with her. The mother was ill and needed full time care and was allergic to the budgie. She didn't want to drop it off at the local shelter, so she asked me if I wanted it. I took her in and gave her toys and a quiet spot in the bedroom away from my trio of cats.

Soon after, someone brought me a cockatiel since word had gotten around that I would adopt unwanted birds. I've gotten several offers to take in more budgies and another cockatiel, but I have no more cages, or cage space, and I have also found that I am allergic to the birds I currently have.

This is odd to me, since I used to raise doves and button quail and had a pair of lovebirds for many many years. The doves and quail were outside in a large aviary, but I had daily contact with them when I would feed, water, and clean things. The lovebirds were with me in a tiny studio apartment the entire time. Close quarters aren't good for allergies, and I had no problems being around them.

I decided it wouldn't be too much of a problem. I could live in the livingroom with the cats and my fiance could take care of the cage cleaning when he came over on the weekends. I spend a limited amount of time in the bedroom now. I purchased several heavy duty air purifiers, and that has helped A LOT. But I don't feel like 30 minutes a day of attention is enough for the birds. They are both extremely shy. I have no problem letting them be on their own or giving them time to get used to people. I can accept that the will never love me. But I am afraid they are bored. The cockateil gets very little out of cage time. They are both fully flighted. But the budgie is so afraid of people. And, really, afraid of a lot of things. She likes the cockateil though. They chirp at each other all day and try and nibble each other's beaks through the cage wires. I like them. They're cute. But I'm still having problems with allergies and I basically have NO use of the bedroom any more. Well, the fiance is getting lazy again. The cage has gone TWO WEEKS without being cleaned. I went to the store today and bought surgical masks so I could go in there and do it. I'm tired of this being a weekly struggle with him. And he says he likes the birds too. And we even made plans to take them across the border so he could have them at his place. I don't go over that often, we could get a couple more air purifiers, and he'd have more time to spend with them, and wouldn't feel pressured to clean the cages on MY time.

Well, I researched this to no end. And all i could find was some information on line that says that all I need is to declare that they are my birds, that they have been in my possession for at least 90 days, and that they are showing no signs of disease. So, when we went to the border to get the paperwork, they didn't know what paperwork I needed other than that declaration, but they know we needed SOMETHING. And no one has been any help in finding out that information for us. I've called several departments and talked to several people and no one seems to know the answer. It's so frustrating.

In the mean time, the mobile home park where my fiance is living has decided to implement a new pets policy. Basically, only cats and dogs are allowed, and that's with written permission. They specifically said no birds, rodents, snakes, or ferrets, too.

So, I'm wondering if this is all a lost cause. Or should I tough it out. Wear my surgical mask and get in there and spend more time with the birds, change my clothes and shower afterwards. Hope that my fiance can finish school soon, start up his career, get to making money, so we can get married and find a proper house to live in, so we can have as many pets as we want, and have a bird room that's well ventilated, and tiled so it can be swept often. Or do I give up these two. Find them a new home and hope that they can be happier with someone else. I feel so bad. I wanted to be a forever home. If I do give them up, what right do I have to get new birds later on? Am I now allergic to ALL birds, or can I get lovebirds on down the line at some point? I'm not allergic to feathers, I sleep on feather pillows. It must be the feather dust. But, yeah. I just don't feel like I'm an adequate home for the birds, no matter how much I like them.

[cross-posted to parrot_lovers]