This is what being a "companion animal," is all about. [link] Regards

Mrs. McGrath "Now, Mrs. McGrath," the sergeant said, "Would you like to make a cockatoo o' your boy Ted? "With a fine strong beak, and a scarlet crest, "And powd'ry feathers, and all the rest?" With a do-ri-a, fol-a-diddle-a, A do-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-a, With a do-ri-a, fol-a-diddle-a, A do-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-a. So off flew Ted with the Cockatoo Corps, For the space of seven long years or more. Learned how to flap, and scream, and dance, And wear white feathers instead of pants. With a do-ri-a .. And Mrs. McGrath sat down to wait, And do her knitting by the garden gate. 'Til by came the flock sceamin'. 'cross the sky "Balaloo, balaloo, 'tis Ted I spy!" With a do-ri-a ... "O cockatoos dear, where ha' ye been? "Ha' ye been flyin' 'cross the Mediterreen? "Is my boy Ted amongst you there? "Has he got clean pants and underwear?" With a do-ri-a .. Then down swoops Ted, without any pants, Puts up his crest, and begins to dance. Hook-beaks up on his mother's hat, Ruffles up his feathers, and gives a Splat. With a do-ri-a ... "Oh, was you drunk, or was you blind, "When you left your fine new pants behind? "Or was it a-flappin' across the sky "Sent your fine new pants to the by-and-by?" With a do-ri-a .. "No, I wasn't drunk, and I wasn't blind, "When I left my fine new pants behind. "But now I'm a cockatoo, I scream and dance "And wear white feathers instead of pants." With a do-ri-a .. So Mrs. McGrath declared a war Between all mothers and the Cockatoo Corps. "By heaven, I'll make 'em rue the time "When they feathered the pants off a child o' mine." With a do-ri-a, fol-a-diddle-a, A do-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-a, With a do-ri-a, fol-a-diddle-a, A do-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-a. Copyright (c) 2008 Rev. Victor Bogdanoff

My wife and I raise and have pet Cockatiels. I'm 68 now; this may have lead me to more birds. harley [link]/ PS: Sorry to see the group drop off like this; no ones fault; seems most are going to pc's.

I would love to teach my YNA to answer the door like in this video. Greenie only says hello. He(?) is just over a year old. Thanks!

i want to buy a budgie and i love budgies a lot.But i am afraid of bird flu and swine flu.Because of that i am ignoring in buying a budgie.Please tell me what should i do..?

We have a 10 yr old cockatiel male and he's recently developed a little gray growth near his eye. Does anyone have an idea what that might be?

I've been trying to research stainless steel cages on the web for an umbrella cockatoo, preferably not less than 3' x 2' x 5' in interior dometop configurations. My main contenders with respect to cage manufacturers are: Avian Adventures A&E Featherland Freedom Kings My cockatoo is a master of disassembly, so any conventional nuts/bolts of any kind are likely to be removed, it'd be nice if the cage didn't fall apart when he does this. Since I'm making the investment in a stainless cage, I also want to make sure the cage has finish and construction that will last the life of the bird. E.g.: no corners where water or waste will collect and rust. What comes to mind here are drilled bar placements instead of welds, where a bar fits loosely into a hole that will collect moisture when washed, etc. All the sellers of these cage post basically zilch in the form of close up photos of the construction of the cage. I'd be grateful for any photos or tips from owners of these cages about what the plusses and pitfalls of the cages were. I like the Freedom Buffet on the Freedom cages, and the little stand in front of the feeders. I look at the food bowl loops on the stainless King cages and worry if they'll just rust like the powder-coated equivalents on their other cages. (I.e. the bowls don't rust, but the metal loops holding them do). Anyway, tips appreciated.

We just finished a 3 week, 5,500 mile, 15 state motor home trip. Whole family went. Wife and me, 3 small dogs, and our TAG. The TAG has been on several trips, and one of them was this long. He loves it. He has his special travel cage, which resides on the table when we're stopped and on the bench seat at the table when we're moving. From that exalted perch, he orders the dogs about. He orders them to "Stop it, Rocky," "kennel up, Lacey," "NO!" and, since he seems to like her, "Good girl, Zoe!" At home, he gets irritable when he wants either food or wants the light turned off, but on the road he only lets us know when he needs food or water. Since he's right in the middle of everything, the light can stay on all night if he gets attention. When my wife and I go exploring a new area, he is a LOT of company for the kenneled-up dogs.

Hi my budgie sticks his head into his perspex seed container muttering to himself, for 5 to 10 minutes at a time, is this normal behavour?

I got Bowie about 3 Summers ago. I had this great idea that because I was working three jobs, my only pet bird at the time ammie, needed a friend while I was away. The pet store recommended getting another boy, so that I don't end up with babies. Bowie would bully Sammie everyday. And he wouldn't even trust me as Sammie did for years. In fact, Sammie stopped trusting me. One day, Sammie was holding his wings up like he was trying to fight or intimidate. I went up to the cage and put my finger in, and he just flew out of the room and out the front door that was left open by my roomate. I was upset with Bowie for a long time, because he bullied Sammie everyday, Sammie flew away. But it was really my fault for trying to get him a friend while I was a way. I was going through a really hard time trying t make ends meet, and I wanted my friend to stay happy while I was away. But now, forgiving myself and Bowie, I want to make the best of our friendship so as not to regret anything later as I do now. Bowie sometimes lets me grab his feeding bin. He scurries onto the highest branch. But most of the time he'll fly around the room as I am approaching his cage. He bites me really hard if I try to hold him and acts frieghtened sometimes when I talk to him. After Sammie flew away, I was mad at Bowie. My roomates talked me into thinking he was a bad bird for bullying Sammie everyday. I didn't even want him after Sammie left. But I still took care of him everyday. I just didn't be careful when I was reaching into the cage or care if we had a bond because I resented him so much. I just want to make sure my bird is appreciated regardless of the past. He is in my home and I take care of him. If I had a bond with him, it would make me happier. Please help me to bring trust into Bowie and I's relationship. I don't want to lose him as well.

Hello: I took the enthusiasm on the matter of one of the parrots, unfortunately the female parrot moved a lot the head but I wanted to maintain the photo of preference by the expression of the male parrot: [link]/ Thanks for your comments. Miguel M. Yalán [link]

My dog kicked my bludgie's feathery little ass. It's still alive, but just barely. What's the best way to put it out of its misery? I'm thinking hammer and anvil but I'm open to suggestions.

I have taken a little ribbing from my sister regarding the number of birds I now have. I managed to get a couple very young violet females, and a light grey grey-wing male that is 3 years old. I didn't expect grey to be attractive on a bird, but it actually looks OK. Not as nice as the violet birds, but ...Anyway, she (my sister, not the baby birds ;-) was at a baby shower yesterday, mentioning all the animals we now have in the house, and one of the ladies there asked if she'd take in her bird. She'd had two, but one escaped and she couldn't bear to see the other escape. In our area, a budgie that has escaped has little chance of surviving, particularly if it escapes in winter (we are presently getting more snow - where's global warming when we need it?). Anyway, the budgie that she brought home is a standard green with a yellow face. I am not sure it is the best of health, so I am keeping it away from the others. The colour of the cere is odd. It looks dark grey to me. But it is active and vocal: it can hear the others singing. I thought a bird with this colouring would have a cere that is clearly either brown or blue. Are there exceptions to that general rule, for birds that have wild type colouring? And the cage was filthy, and the wire floor that that kind of cage normally comes with is gone; and the bird has apparently never been provided with grit. Is it likely to have anything contagious, or is it more a matter of giving it a little tlc and time? It is likely still in some stress because of the move, and it probably has never seen as many birds of its own kind. As far as I can see, the eyes are clear, the feet are fine, there is no apparent discharge from anywhere. She was apparently not informed about the needs of the birds. She had a larger cage, in which she apparently kept both birds before the one escaped, but the larger cage has a wire mesh that has about a spacing of about 0.75 inches between the wire. The cage is quite sturdy, though. I would guess it is intended for a larger parrot. I am not sure it could safely contain something just a little larger than a budgie, such as a cockatiel or love bird. My guess is that the one bird escaped from the larger cage. She has apparently had this bird for three years, but God only knows how old it was when she received it. It was a gift from her son's ex-girlfriend (they were together at the time of the gift), so apparently she never did want this bird, but she wasn't so cruel as to let it loose in our climate. I am not sure that was kind as instead of letting our weather kill it, she exposed it to tobacco smoke for three years (everyone in that household is a heavy smoker), so I would not be surprised if the bird gets hit with some form of cancer (I have read that budgies are particularly vulnerable to tumours, but I don't know if it is true), as we all know the nasty concequences of second hand smoke. Any thoughts on how best to treat this bird? And what to do with these cages? Cheers, Ted

I bought a couple female violet budgies on the weekend. I don't know how the breeder could tell when the birds are so young, as she said the birds are about a month old, and were weaned a couple weeks before I bought them. Anyway, the one with a white face is fully feathered, but the yellow faced one has a patch the size of a pea, on her breast about 1 cm below her beak, that has no feathers. Is this in the normal range of variation among young birds, or is there something wrong with her? In every other respect, the birds seem fine. The eyes are clear; there is no discharge from any orifice; the feet are perfect. They're eating well, and quite active. Apart from that one naked spot, they are beautiful. They get along amously with the 3 year old male light grey grey-wing in their cage (bought at the same time from the same breeder: she had them in the same cage). They engage in "dialogs" with my other birds, which they can hear but not see. Fortunately, these dialogs are comprised of singing rather than squawking. ;-) Thanks Ted

I noticed that they had problem swallowing a small slump of bread, when the sparrows could just dice it with their smaller, straight beaks.. @~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY. / v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you! /( )\ (Xubuntu 8.04.2) Linux 2.6.28.9 ^ ^ 20:20:01 up 5 days 7:33 1 user load average: 1.00 1.00 1.00 ???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ?? (CSSA): [link] pubsvc/page socsecu/sub addressesa