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The feathered fiend getting petted. I love his face in the first photo, how he's holding on to my finger in the second one, and how he clasps first one foot then the other into a tiny fist. His nails need filing again though.    
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Jan 10, 2013 23:33
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Pile of Kittens posted:Aaaahaahaaa, good to know I'm not the only one that makes that grumpycat face at birds. I thought that was standard procedure!
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Jan 11, 2013 00:21
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Pile of Kittens posted:Aaaahaahaaa, good to know I'm not the only one that makes that grumpycat face at birds. It's scary when my Grey makes the same face back though.
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Jan 11, 2013 02:01
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Ohtori is gorgeous! Look at that guy! I love his colours! I've got some pics of Iro doing Iro things I'll put up when I've got a chance. She seems to have named me "Nice." Nice is the word I tell her when I rub her head and be affectionate and crap. Whenever I come into the room, she says "Nice!" or if I walk past the cage at night, once she makes her audible frown at being disturbed, she acknowledges me with clicks and mumbled "Nice, nice, nice." When she's throwing a strop and calling out for me, she screams "NIIICE!" She's such a weird thing. She knows a lot of words. I can tell the words she's trying to say because she gets the general sound right, but her diction sucks! 
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Jan 11, 2013 05:07
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So the birds didn't really play together or even want to get very near each other, so no video, but here's a few pictures from Zippy and Rilke's play date: Rilke's owner forgot she had lipstick on (what a little player):  This was funny. Zippy didn't give a poo poo, and Rilke wasn't entirely pleased, but it didn't really scare him.  Bird crazies! 
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Jan 11, 2013 05:16
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Oh the birds I've loved and lost. It started in 6th grade with a science teacher of mine that had finches, parakeets and a conure, in his classroom. I took care of two of his keets over the summer, cause I was the kid that always fed them and loved the hell out of them. I eventually got two of my own by high school (TuttiFruity and Sky, a green/gold and a blue, with a half white head) which I had until they got sick over a winter my senior year and died really without any signs. I was also a stupid kid, so what did I know? I couldn't deal with birds with a busy college schedule, so I didn't get more until after college. Around 2006, I moved back to my hometown after a multiple year adventure chasing down a big career and lots of money in the tech/manufacturing industry. I decided, as part of my return to normalcy that I really missed having birds. I went to a local breeder, and got a pure gold hand feed keet, and promprly gave him the dumbest name ever. "Puppy" was by far my favorite bird and I had him until about 2010, when I broke up with my long time ladyfriend, who also had birds. Long story short, she got the "kids" and the "house", taking the large communal cage and all the birds. I kept the smaller "hospital cage" which is good enough for one bird... but no birds. I went out and in the months that followed made some poor choices, visiting Petco and found some new feathered friends. Currently, my three feathered buddies are Turkey (he's a fluffy, bossy, awesome turquoise parakeet), Topaz (she is yellow and will sit on my hand but is very skittish) and Emmy aka Greenie (she has a shimmery emerald green coat and is super paranoid). Turkey was hand raised by the people at Petco so he's almost like Puppy was. Topaz and Emmy are seriously the derpiest birds I have ever ever owned ever, and are still, even after almost a year of ladder training, still hand fearing. They won't approach, even while Turkey sits inches away, chowing down, siting on my hand full of seed. I've actually started isolating Turkey into his own cage so this doesn't turn into a flock mentality, and he starts spooking with there every time I change the water and food etc. A friend of mine with a cockatiel, Quaker and sunfaced conure has been trying to help out and she is amaaazing with birds. I think maybe my birds just associate me with noise/movement, because she can handle Turkey and Topaz like babies. Emmy is still skittish around her. She brings her birds over everey now and then and we have bird parties, because three parakeets and three greater parrots hanging out in free-flight is hilarious.  Pic is of Turkey and Topaz. Turkey is not liking some guy making moves on his ladybird and is chirping and hopping all over him. Topaz is having none of it.
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Jan 11, 2013 17:12
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More budgies!  Budgies are the cutest little things. Every time I go buy ZuPreem/bird toys I have to stop and watch the budgie soap opera. The sweetest bird I've ever had was a little albino dude.vvv omgggggggg  They're even holding haaaaandssss
LITERALLY A BIRD fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 17:45
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Jan 11, 2013 19:01
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So I'm a little worried that I'm slipping into full bird-crazy territory. I have a budgie, and I'm getting a conure soon (still in egg form at the moment). Two birds, not that big a deal. But recently my budgie has been making me feel SUPER DEPRESSED by spending all day cuddling his cuttlebone and singing to the picture of the budgie on the nutri-berry bag, so if he and the conure don't get along I'm thinking I'll get another budgie for him to be buddies with. One bird becomes three...and I've had him for less than a year. Am I doomed?
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Jan 11, 2013 20:29
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Lookit all dem pin feathers. You need to interact more. That bird is probably itchy as all hell.
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Jan 11, 2013 20:37
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He makes major angry face and bites any time I try to touch him. Believe me, I'd love to help him out with those.
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Jan 11, 2013 20:43
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I have so many bleeding birds.  A blizzard has been going here for a couple days and last night the wind was so strong it was sucking my windows in and out, I woke up to hear Birdy going crazy in the living room because she was afraid of the storm, I took them into the other room but the power was gone and I couldn't see anything. In the morning when I took her out of the cage I could see where she had cracked off one of her big wing feathers and had blood all over her wing. I felt very lucky that she hadn't bled more. Her face is also covered in pin feathers like that other bird...she always preens Marcel but Marcel preens her like...once a month. And the other two got introduced when she was insane and hormonal so they're too afraid to be near her (historically she would attack their faces...).
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Jan 11, 2013 20:59
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So I need a crash course in tracheal feeding! I'm a member of WIRES(Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service) in Australia, because I thought, "YEAH, ANIMALS!". Too bad it turns out 90% of the animals we rescue need to be euthanized since they're all in really poor shape(malnourished to the point where we can't help them, head trauma from vehicles) So anyway, I'm such a greenhorn in this since this is actually my first animal which isn't going to die immediately! Here is the culprit:  A juvenile Willy Wag-Tail(Rhipidura leucophrys). A member of the public said he found it sitting on the pavement, covered in ants. It was about 40 degrees centigrade that day so the poor bugger must have just been exhausted. He took it in, gave it some water, which was about when I was called up to retrieve it and inspect it. It seems fine physically; it was pretty exhausted and kept falling asleep in my hands. I gave it a tiny bit of water and insectivore mix off the tip of my finger, and put it to rest. The next morning, I awake to the chirping of the bird, meaning all is well! Except, it seems quite hungry. I'm told I should be grasping the base of the beak, opening it up gently, and force-feeding it behind the trachea, but it has such a small head! I'm worried I'm going to crush it. Any tips/advice from you crazies?
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Jan 11, 2013 22:59
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You could do that, just be gentle. You may not need to force it down it's throat though, and one thing I've learned by giving my bird antibiotics (hookbill however) is entry from the side is the best, or the tongue will just push whatever comes in back out. The bird might also be so hungry that it may take the food without you having to do too much! Cute little feller, glad he's in good hands now
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Jan 12, 2013 00:10
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Tadhg Dall posted:So I'm a little worried that I'm slipping into full bird-crazy territory. I have a budgie, and I'm getting a conure soon (still in egg form at the moment). Two birds, not that big a deal. But recently my budgie has been making me feel SUPER DEPRESSED by spending all day cuddling his cuttlebone and singing to the picture of the budgie on the nutri-berry bag, so if he and the conure don't get along I'm thinking I'll get another budgie for him to be buddies with. One bird becomes three...and I've had him for less than a year. Am I doomed? Budgie pinfeathers are the best because they have those hilarious black tips. I try to preen Roo but my big clumsy fingers make her squawk and then I feel like a monster.
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Jan 12, 2013 03:37
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Tadhg Dall posted:So I'm a little worried that I'm slipping into full bird-crazy territory. I have a budgie, and I'm getting a conure soon (still in egg form at the moment). Two birds, not that big a deal. But recently my budgie has been making me feel SUPER DEPRESSED by spending all day cuddling his cuttlebone and singing to the picture of the budgie on the nutri-berry bag, so if he and the conure don't get along I'm thinking I'll get another budgie for him to be buddies with. One bird becomes three...and I've had him for less than a year. Am I doomed? Budgies are so low maintenance, and cheap. Just get another one. It's not crazy at all. NOT CRAZY
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Jan 12, 2013 03:45
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Yeah, budgies and tiels are low maintenance and derpy enough that I consider my tiels more as a unit than a group of 4 birds.
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Jan 12, 2013 04:41
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This bird is plotting the best way to poo poo on you.
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Jan 12, 2013 09:15
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Today Scout did her morning turd when I took her out of her cage. It looked a little small but I didn't think too much of it. Our morning routine is such that I get her up and we go back to bed while she preens herself nuzzled into my chin/neck for about half an hour while I snooze and give her scritches. Well five minutes into our daily routine she decides to take the other half of her morning poop right onto my pillow. Thanks birdie. Yesterday was laundry day. Birds are jerks and they know it.
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Jan 12, 2013 09:20
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Just turned around because I heard my cage shaking furiously...all I could see was three birds sitting quietly...and Cirrus vibrating slightly. On closer inspection he was flapping his wings so fast I couldn't see them moving.
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Jan 13, 2013 02:10
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Not sure why but Hannah just spent 10 minutes making nasty fart, burp, and cough noises.
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Jan 13, 2013 02:13
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Joe Don Baker posted:Not sure why but Hannah just spent 10 minutes making nasty fart, burp, and cough noises. I've read that greys are particularly into mimicking rude bodily noises. I have no idea if it's true, but I'm ready to believe it.
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Jan 13, 2013 02:47
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The Doctor posted:Just turned around because I heard my cage shaking furiously...all I could see was three birds sitting quietly...and Cirrus vibrating slightly. On closer inspection he was flapping his wings so fast I couldn't see them moving. Humming budgies
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Jan 13, 2013 02:59
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:I've read that greys are particularly into mimicking rude bodily noises. I have no idea if it's true, but I'm ready to believe it. At Zazu's the greys in the special needs aviary can make some pretty funny sounds when they feel talkative. I don't spend much time in that aviary though, so when I do walk in the birds always go silent and stare at me. The only noise is songbirds. However, it's the middle of winter and there are no songbirds outside. It's the greys filling the silence
Lenswork fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Jan 13, 2013 |
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Jan 13, 2013 03:17
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Lenswork posted:At Zazu's the greys in the special needs aviary can make some pretty funny sounds when they feel talkative. I don't spend much time in that aviary though, so when I do walk in the birds always go silent and stare at me. The only noise is songbirds. However, it's the middle of winter and there are no songbirds outside. It's they greys filling the silence  Greys are awesome and weird.
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Jan 13, 2013 04:08
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:I've read that greys are particularly into mimicking rude bodily noises. I have no idea if it's true, but I'm ready to believe it. I don't know about greys but Charlie loves making fart noises and sneezing noises.
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Jan 13, 2013 08:53
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Lenswork posted:At Zazu's the greys in the special needs aviary can make some pretty funny sounds when they feel talkative. I don't spend much time in that aviary though, so when I do walk in the birds always go silent and stare at me. The only noise is songbirds. However, it's the middle of winter and there are no songbirds outside. It's the greys filling the silence This is hilarious. But clearly the next step is to get them started on cricket-chirping.
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Jan 13, 2013 13:45
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Pookie's very into her weird litle noises; if you eat something she really likes, she make human-style chewing noises at you until you give her some. She also burps a lot, squeaks like the kichen door every time you open it, does a perfect "download finished" ringing sound, snuffles like the dog if she's on the floor, twitters like the budgie if I'm paying the little bird too much attention, beeps like the microwave, and her latest is totally unidentifiable - she's taken to saying "WEHHHH!" very loudly to get attention. She's 
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Jan 13, 2013 15:41
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This is probably the cutest cockatiel video I've seen in a long while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGhVXgMoz4g
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Jan 13, 2013 15:56
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Pookah posted:Pookie's very into her weird litle noises; if you eat something she really likes, she make human-style chewing noises at you until you give her some. She also burps a lot, squeaks like the kichen door every time you open it, does a perfect "download finished" ringing sound, snuffles like the dog if she's on the floor, twitters like the budgie if I'm paying the little bird too much attention, beeps like the microwave, and her latest is totally unidentifiable - she's taken to saying "WEHHHH!" very loudly to get attention. They definitely pick up the weirdest sounds but a lot of times it makes perfect sense why they start mimicking them.
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Jan 13, 2013 16:13
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Wizard of Smart posted:This is probably the cutest cockatiel video I've seen in a long while. Cockatiels are the best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsmSdwKHzb4 Why can't my bird learn all the cute things. Not sure how long it really takes for tiels to pick up noises- Ive had bart for maybe half a year + and he came with his own assortment of songs/noises but I dont actually think he's picked anything up while living here.
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Jan 13, 2013 20:17
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Amadeus makes chewing noises when he wants me to share, too. It's adorable. He also mimics Rosy's shrieks, running water (especially when he wants a bath), and, somehow, the BEEP of a smoke alarm being tested. I think that one is because the landlord at my old apartment spent a week messing with carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms while I was at work. Last night when I was putting him to bed he told me "goodnight! goodnight!" for the first time.
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Jan 13, 2013 21:36
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Man I need a GCC too. Or a better cockatiel. Due to messed up sleep schedules while I was away, Ohtori is pretty hormonal right now. Steve is the same potato, he doesn't seem any different except for being more likely to sing the earlier he's uncovered. The most hormonal he gets is wolf whistling to Ohtori. Ohtori however, is more bitey and prone to temper tantrums than usual, harasses Steve by trying to feed him and climb on to his back, and sometimes gets intimate with his hut after being covered at night. Looking forward to when he's settled back into a routine involving 12 hours of sleep.
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Jan 13, 2013 22:20
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Hi there, me again. I posted about my skittish birds, the three parakeets? I went back to Google and looked up a bunch of hand training exercises after I made the post in this thread last week. It's amazing how quick they changed. Turkey is a natural and flies to me and is pretty much my best buddy again. Topaz, the yellow one, is getting on my finger again, and "walking" when I put my fingers up to her repeatedly. This is new but it took a treat, a calm, quiet environment, and a slow approach. Emmy is still kinda afraid of me, but seeing the other two birds on me gets her to flutter around and climb the side of the cage closest to me. She'll still spook if I put my hand in the cage too long, but recently, she's just sat there when I put it n and wave it at her. Turkey and Topaz both eat out of my hand now which is awesome, and I've just kinda been letting Emmy see us playing and hear them chirping and she seems to have calmed down a lot. Anyone else have exp with skittish birds AND found a trick? I turned off all fans, noise, even my noisy old furnace got turned way down so it doesn't go on. Is there music I could play or treat people recommend? I'm already halfway thru a Seed to Zupreem switch (half and half mixture) and they're eating it. Vitamins? Toys? I already have a ton of good sticks/ladders I use for stick to hand training.
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Jan 14, 2013 21:31
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H110Hawk posted:We're meeting Jerry this weekend, we are going to buy it from him if we go down this route. Thank you for the gram scale suggestions, we will pick one up off Amazon. Met with Jerry yesterday. Things went well. We've pretty much decided we're getting either a green or ivory-billed aracari. Just trying to secure or build a cage. I wish we could find a cage around here for free to extremely cheap which could house birdy while we build a nice looking one.
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Jan 15, 2013 00:03
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So birdgoons, I want to get a bird. I've always wanted a bird but for some reason I thought that all birds were either like finches (not really handlable) or african greys (need near-constant interaction) with no middle ground. I was poking around this thread out of boredom and started reading about conures and cockatiels and how they are able to be left alone for a work day and be fine. At first I wanted a cockatiel but after reading through this thread I'm really wanting a green cheek conure. I'm just not sure where to get one. I think there's one or two non-chain petstores that might carry birds. I would prefer a breeder but I can't find one anywhere near me (Nebraska, btw). There is a bird rescue in my city but they don't have any conures at the moment. Whatever, I'll find one eventually  I have a question about cages. Would this cage be big enough for a GCC?
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Jan 15, 2013 01:46
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Good luck with the hunt! And yes, that cage would be plenty big. Although it's not too wide, conures are climbers, so the taller the merrier. That's about the same size as Ritz's daytime cage, the sleep cage is about half the height, but a little wider. As long as they can comfortably spread their wings and not hit sides, they'll be fine as a rule of thumb, but bigger is always better.
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Jan 15, 2013 01:49
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Forgot to buy more Harrison's this weekend, so Zeke and Zoe are enjoying a bean and pasta supper. Content little warks filling the room.  -- wait no I just looked over and Zeke is using my kindle to wipe the mess from his beak. BIRD.
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Jan 15, 2013 02:10
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Official Bizness posted:Forgot to buy more Harrison's this weekend, so Zeke and Zoe are enjoying a bean and pasta supper. Content little warks filling the room. We have sort of trained Squirt to give kisses and normally its all fun and games and hilarious and cute, but sometimes he wants to give kisses right after eating and his face is covered in wet/dry mix and bird I dont want to eat that. On the plus side, I have almost finished the outdoor aviary, so he can from his little indoor cage to a 1.2m*.9m*1.5m cage and be much happier. Just gotta finished the door, and then get all the planted stuff settled before we move him in. Hoping to fill it full of stuff he can eat like as well. Problem being that now we need to make the aviary dog proof as well.
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Jan 15, 2013 04:50
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H110Hawk posted:Met with Jerry yesterday. Things went well. We've pretty much decided we're getting either a green or ivory-billed aracari. Just trying to secure or build a cage. I wish we could find a cage around here for free to extremely cheap which could house birdy while we build a nice looking one. I just spent some time googling aracaris as pets and their care needs and I am now super loving jealous of your pet-to-be. Someday I swear I will have a large flight and a toucan, they sound like fabulous pets!
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Jan 15, 2013 06:58
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