I've Been Sent To A Secure and Undisclosed Location!

I had a little excitement at the nest last week!  Last Monday Marcia walked into the family room to do a little dusting.  Little did she know that she would have to fetch my birdie boots and a rowboat!  The faucet connection under the wet bar had sprung a leak and water was everywhere!  I just couldn't resist saying this!

She quickly grabbed a bucket and put it under the sink.  She immediately put me in the cage. Called Jeff for back up and fetched the wet vac.  It was quite a night of activity!  Our neighbor came over with his wet vac and helped too!  Carpets started to get ripped up!  OH! NO! You all know how I hate that!

The damage...  The major concern is about 200 square feet of wood flooring and the saturated base of an 18 foot built in cabinet that houses the wet bar.  A team of water mitigation experts were on the scene the next morning! Joe and Aaron were great and explained to Marcia and Jeff what was going to happen in the next 3 days.  Basically, they were going to have to live inside their home with the noise that only a 747 can make!  Seven huge fans and three very large dehumidifiers were set in place to dry everything out.

I had to leave!!!

I was packed up and whisked away to a friends house as the mitigation experts unrolled yards and yards of plastic sheeting.  A drying chamber had to be set up to dry the place up.  Then the dust was going to fly! All of the wet wood flooring had to be removed!  Here is what the nest looked like on day 3.

I liked being on vacation with my friends in their home. I am very lucky to have good friend's who are very nice and let me stay with them. I thank them SO very much!!!  I hope all your birdies have a safe place to go if an emergency ever happens in your nest!  Please discuss this with your humans, it's very important.  There was no way I could have stayed during these days of upheaval.  It was just too scary!  The off gassing from the plastic, the deafening noise, the very low humidity in the house, and all the dust was very dangerous for me!

I was able to return back to the nest on Saturday afternoon when every thing was all dried out.  I did miss Jeff and Marcia! It was so fun to see them again! I think they were happy to see me too!  When they came to get me I was on my perch watching TV.  Marcia stuck her head around the corner of the room and with a big smile on her face, said "Hi! Sweetie!" I made a loud whistle, made a poop, and lifted my foot up for her to pick me up! Then a few moments later Jeff came in the room and we all sat on a sofa and I perched on Jeff's knee! Flock was together once again! YAY!!!

The repairs will be made soon. There are lots of people to talk to and decisions to be made. I will probably get to go on vacation again when workmen come to fix everything.  Marcia tells me not to start reading the travel section of the newspaper.  I shouldn't get any ideas; it will not be any place exotic!

Bon Voyage!

My Play Perches

Ever Since I was in the DVD and CD ROM combination set entitled, “Train Your Parrot To Talk”, a lot of you have been asking me about my play perches.  I really like them and if you're crafty you can probably build them yourself.

The pictures are in thumbnail,

so click on them to see the "BIGGER" Picture!

My Kitchen Perch

My human, Jeff made this perch for me when I was a little chick.

It is made from an unfinished bar stool (24" tall) and a plastic plant saucer (22" diameter).  Marcia bought the toy hook from a company that is now out of business and she can't find anyone who makes one like it these days.  It mainly stays in the kitchen but can be rolled into other parts of the house.  The saucer is bolted to the stool, so it can be taken apart.  This is the perch we take to the bird sitter and when we go for a road trip in the car.  

My PVC Perch

This perch purchased at a Bird Mart in May of 1998.  It was built by the man who was selling them.  He had a whole bunch.  Marcia has never seen him at the show again, so I guess he went out of business too. 
 
I hope these pictures and measurements help you build one.  1" PVC pipe and fittings were used.  The measurements indicated are the cut lengths of the PVC pipe before you glue the fittings on.  I don't know what kind of glue was used.  Just be safe and be sure it doesn't "off-gas" and hurt your birdies. The measurements are close, but not exact. For example, I measured the poop tray as 17" x 25" and it's really 18" x 26".  The poop tray is a baking sheet and can be purchased from any restaurant supply. They can also be found on Amazon.com Click Here I suggest starting with the tray and build everything out from there.

 

   

Underside of Bowl

Tray and Tray Frame

Tray frame rests on intersecting supports



 

To make the PVC pipe less slippery, it looks like it has grooves gouged into it.  Most likely done with a Dremel tool.  All of the perches that I use are textured like this and I have no trouble getting around on them.



There are 10 stainless steel screw-eyes for hanging toys.  They are indicated with a red dot in this picture.



Have fun with this project and send me a picture of the perch you build!







So why can't a parrot have a Blog?

I have a lot to say! Just ask my humans! They will tell you a talk A LOT! So I decided to become a Blogger where I can get a few things off my feathered chest.

Truth is... I don't really have a lot of time to blog. You see I spend a good deal of the day playing with toys, eating, bothering my humans, and watching my humans clean up after me. See, it's not easy being a parrot! I'm noisy, I make a mess where ever I go, and I need to hang out with my humans as much as possible. I'm a flock animal! Unfortunately, most people just don't understand that! So they get a parrot... because the think "OH! How CUTE!" or "Gee! I would love a bird that TALKS!", then they put it in a cage and forget about it! SHAME ON YOU! (Sorry, I didn't mean to get emotional.) You see, we are really great to have as pets, but you REALLY need to know what you are getting into when you get a parrot. So... allow me to explain...

#1. How noisy is a parrot?

This is what a 5 year old Moluccan Cockatoo sounds like. Cockatoos, Macaws, Conures, Amazons, and African Greys are the top 5 loudest parrots.

Loud enough for you? Now, granted we don't do this 24/7. But we often know when you are watching the news or a favorite TV show and we usually choose that time to exercise our voices. I'm not as noisy as some of these parrots, but I certainly can be annoying with my constant chatter!

#2. How messy is a parrot?

Think a 2 year old is messy? It's like having a 2 year old for the rest of your life!

Here is a picture of me having dinner! It was yummy too!

#3. I need YOU!

This is a hard one to explain, so bear with me. Parrots are among the most intelligent creatures on earth, and their 'intelligence scale' may very well be alongside the higher primates, or even, in some cases, in the range of a two to four year old HUMAN child! (Such a statement may startle some people, who think of parrots as only 'bird-brained' imitators of human speech.) In fact, parrots are socially and psychologically complex beings, and exhibit the same range of emotions that humans feel, like love, sensitivity, anger, frustration, revenge, humor, pain, sorrow, fear, loneliness, anxiety, excitement, happiness, anticipation, and, of course, sexuality. Dr. Irene Pepperberg has been studying the intelligence and reasoning abilities of the African Grey parrot for almost 30 years.

Like human children, parrots NEED to be held, to feel warmth and love. They NEED companionship in order to avoid loneliness and depression. They need reassurance and security. They need physical and intellectual interaction with their environment and with other creatures, in order to grow and learn and prosper. They need to escape boredom, and the frustrations of being kept in a cage for hours on end. They need good nutrition, and a sanitary environment...
The list of needs could go on and on, just as in the case of human children.

OK, I'm on my soapbox now! Don't believe me? Well, here is a picture of Lola.

Read more about Lola here

I could go on and give you more examples, but if you want to learn more, do some Googling. Just Google: "Parrot abuse", "Parrot rescue", and/or "Parrot sanctuary".

What is a day like living with me? That will be the subject for my next post! Stay Tuned!