Thanks, could of warned me though, as the shock has made me go all Funny-er than normal... :o)
Moving house, children, one of my African greys hated children and would run across the floor to bite them on the toes, he was really mean he had to go to a house with no children, apart from that he was a loving kind bird, I wanted to have more time to myself, be able to go on holiday, because if like me at one time you had 300 hundred plus birds its hard to find someone to look after them, so sadly i let them go, miss them but hey, sometimes you have to make sacrifices dont ya!
Wow. 300 is a LOT! It's true. Even my two little birds tie me down. I hate leaving themeven overnight, because they get night frights, and hurt themselves. When I've left them, I had to leave the lights on. I've found a woman who will come and check on them every day, but it's $10 per day. Still, it's worth it to me.
I used to have a friend with a sulphur crested cockatoo. Every time I went there, the thing would chase me around the room. I was terrified of it! Those things can bite! It couldn't fly, so I would have to stand on a chair while the owners got rid of it. It was so cute, really. It never shut up, and could say hundreds of things.
Yes its true, i had hundreds of birds, mostly in outside flight cages, but canaries made up the bulk as i would show them at all the big events in the UK, i shall have to see if i have photos of the set up i had, at that time i was more into painting than photography so few photos, The parrots are my favourite, like you said, so intelligent :O)
My father used to breed Old English Game fowl and show them. He won a lot of ribbons over the years. Maybe that's where I got my love of birds. I love all animals, but birds are complex and really interesting. I wouldn't have gone out and bought them, but the two I have were strays, and I felt obliged. I love befriending the wild birds. You get to watch them, they trust you - to a point - and you see their natural behaviours. At the end of the day, they fly away, free.
Yeah, I am a Animal magnet, birds,cats,dogs, fur or feather make a bee line for me, personally i think i get on better with animals than with some people i know, excluding you of course Dezzie, I mean, who wouldn't/couldn't get on with you hey? My cat loves me now, even lets me stroke him, pick him up, and comes running home when he hears the car coming, he's a real little furry friend now, only took 2 years of me being nice to him too!!
I'm more of an animal welfare worker. I'm the annoying one who asks if the animal has water.
Yeah thats me too, i was up on top of a old quarry once somewhere in Wales, and i came across a horse trapped behind a electric fence, he had eaten every last scrap of grass so he had been there a while, no water, No food, and he could not turn around, luckily there was a office close by and in i went firing all guns, within minutes the owner was there removing the horse, with me glaring over the wall...giving him the evil eye treatment!!!
It should be illegal to keep animals unless you can prove you will care for them properly. Some people have no hearts. And what they do to an animal, they'll do to a person.
Its neglect, I have had animals birds, fish, all my life and part of enjoying them was learning how to care for each animal properly, not wishing to blow my own trumpet but, locally people call me the vet, Even now, I am still asked to trim parrots nails, health check visits, and phoned at silly o,clock with questions like, how do i get my birds to breed, what shaped nest box should i use, what is the best supplement to hand rear parrakeets/parrots, I also use to keep and breed tropical fish, selling the off spring to local pet shops, I still get many How do i's for fish keeping, I dont mind really though, Some times its nice to see the result of the information i have given, Something as simple as keeping fish in water that is not suitable for them, ie Ph too high or too low, change it slowly to the correct Ph for the fish being kept and watch the fish come alive in activity and colour... I loves it i does!!
You're a man of hidden talents. I guess it's yer Mam's false teefs wot confuses people. I wish you lived nearby. You could trim my cockatiel's nails. I have never been able to hold them in a headlock like the vet. And one of them can draw blood, so I am cautious with him - even thought he's the snuggliest little thing, and doesn't think he's like that other thing in the next cage.
Here's a little trick my friend Dezzie, buy yourself a sheet of course sand paper, remove a perch from the cage, wrap the sandpaper around the perch and wire twist tie on, or just tape on, now, when he walks along the perch he will wear his nails dow, it does work, they also enjoy chewing it off the perch which keeps the beak in check :O)
I heard that cuts their feet. Is that not true?
Not true, the bottom of their feet are very hard, you can also buy ceramic perches now which do the same thing!
I will look at that. Their nails aren't that long, and they use them to climb, but when I used to let them out all the time, they wore down quite naturally. I just can't in this place. it's brand new, and I'm only renting. They'd have it chewed up in no time.
I won't be back until a bit later than this tomorrow night, Mike. I'll talk to you then.
Okie Dokie.. :o)
Has it been a warm spring/summer there?
No, absolutely rubbish/trash/crap traditional English summer, Rain,Rain,more rain, Grey sky's, Horrible horrible :O(
Well, I think we have experienced some of your misery this year. We had a nice rain-free week, with very cold days. Now the rain is coming again, and probably for all week.
Melbourne weather is something like the English weather. Very changeable, lots of drizzle, with the occasional sunny day. But they have some stinkers of hot days as well. I think you guys don't have as many heatwaves. Or dust storms.
Wouldn't it be lovely to always have a moderate, dry climate? It could rain at bedtime and clear up by breakfast.
Hotter the better suits me fine, roast like a hog id still be smiling, a lifetime of UKland weather makes me pine for the sun, my family could not understand how i could tolerate the really hot weather when on holiday, I just loves it see!
We're all built so differently. I always hated the heat, although humidity is the worst. I've lived in a lot of places, but I was born in Townsville - in the tropics - and although I left there when I was about six, I went back and did about 6 months of high school there. I remember my shoes melting into the tar on the roads. Riding a bike, and the tyres sinking into the molten asphalt. It is a searing heat there, not much humidity, but it was okay. I'm paying the price now with skin cancers. But Townsville is mostly sunburnt and brown. Dry and tiring, and looks drab most of the time. Everywhere needs some rain to look nice.
Mmm, we have to pay, and pay heavy prices for heat here, so its nice when i can get a little warmth into me bones for free, FREE, such a nice word, gives one a warm glow in ones wallet :O)
And we pay dearly for both air conditioning and heat, as our houses are built more for the hot weather. However, the place I'm in has not a breath of air getting into it, so it's quite warm in winter, once you heat it (I do air it regularly). I had to buy a portable air conditioner this year. My birds would have died in the heat inside. My last quarter's power bill was over $600 - a record for me. If I wasn't working, I couldn't afford to run the thing.
Phew, whats that in real muny, bout £300 quid, thats horrific for a bill...