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Amaya will indeed post pictures of the best, most affectionate and snuggly companion bird! LOOK AT THIS GUY!!! This is my Quaker Parrot (Or Monk Parakeet or Myiopsitta monachus) named Finn. Quaker parrots - in my experience at least - are giant fluffs of love and cuddle. They have very big personalities for something so tiny and are comical as hell. Finn does and makes the most retarded noises in the world but it's so endearing. I've only had/interacted with a small handful of birds but have never had one that is so eager and complacent with being held, flipped over, snuggled, kissed and mushed against your body. You'll often hear Quakers called 'potatos' in this thread - mostly because that's what they are. They're quite content just sitting on a shoulder or other area they call 'theirs' and puffing up and not moving much. The cons of a Quaker are that they're a BIT louder than a conure when they want to be. I've also read that they go through more drastic hissy fits during puberty. They also tend to be pretty territorial, which Finn is just beginning to show off being about...a year and three months(??) old. Some pros, they're about as much 'work' as a conure and only a slight bit larger. Much more laid back than most birds if you really enjoy being able to pet and scratch your bird. They're just as - if not more - talkative than conures and pick up words really quickly. BE CAREFUL THOUGH!! Quakers are HIGHLY illegal in some states. Past the point of simply fining you, I've read some states will kill the bird outright  Here's a list: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine (legal with permit, but it's a bitch to get), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and WyomingAnd HERE'S another photo! 
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Oct 26, 2012 20:55
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:I'm just agitating for people to make some more bird/species profile posts in the first pages of the new thread. I know conures were covered in the OP but the more info the merrier. You got it! We already have a little blurb about the SCIENCE details of conures so I'll just put up my oldest baby (I have no shame in referring to my birds as babies, deal.  ) Here we have my conure Marceline. She's some cluster gently caress combination of green cheek/cinnamon/pineapple, we're not sure what though. Marceline was bought from a petco like Finn was (try to avoid this if you can, pet stores aren't really the best to purchase birds from.) And thus is really skittish and nervous around hands. They would remove their birds from their cages with a massive black glove She's affectionate though and loves people - more than Zomo and I at times. She's a talkative bird and rattles off a good handful of phrases and will be 2 in February. The OP goes over conure quiet level and affection level well I think.Some other cons we've had with Marceline are really non existent. The 'worst' thing she does is beg for food...really...really.. REALLY....strongly. She'll sit on the day cage (right beside Zomo's desk) and leaaaaaaaaaaan as hard as she can while clicking and peeping at him for a bite. Pros are much more obvious though. She's affectionate (if not a little more standoffish than Finn) and whispers 'good girl' in both of our ears, rubs her beak against us and does try to feed us or snuggle against us when we're sick or upset. She acts very 'motherly' I'd say as she's often preening Finn or squawking loudly at him if he's mumbling too loudly or for too long. She loves to hang out on you rather than in a 'spot' like Finn and has a special love for sitting on mouse hands and chewing on it when you're not paying attention. MORE PICTURES!!!  Sweet babies<3   
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Oct 26, 2012 21:38
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I'm afraid we're starting to have a problem. Marceline and Finn are every once in a while having squwabbles that are getting more bad - but not more frequent. Today I took the two of them out and I usually make them give me and each other kisses in the morning when I first take them out... I guess just as a routine to make sure they're still being sweet to each other. Today Marceline started puffing up and posturing and being really aggressive toward Finn... which basically never happens. Finn on and off gets jealous of her/gets prepubesecent boy aggressive but for the most part it's harmless lunging that I put a stop to instantly - but Marceline? Basically never. She hasn't been aggressive toward Finn since the second or third day we had them both home so this is really strange. I wanted to figure out what was wrong so I sat on the ground with the two of them and did the whole separating them when they try to be aggressive, scold the aggressive one etcetc repeat till they were being nice and at least tolerating each other. Then I scooted them together slowly, basically like they were just being introduced again. They seem to get more aggressive when they're on me though, like they're both trying to be in charge of me? I kept working with them till they were being their normal sweet selves preening each other but I'm worried. Does anyone else with two birds have experience with this? Are they both just getting to that age where they're going to be bitch-bird and bastard-bird for a while? I'm really not looking forward to bitey bird time to be honest. Finn lunged at Marceline and I intercepted it and got a good bite on my finger - only a pinprick but that's really bad for him, he never bites me. It was cute though because he instantly put his head down and looked super ashamed like "Sorry mommy that wasn't for you. "
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Oct 28, 2012 16:04
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I'm really wanting to get the birds started on recall training but everywhere I've read says that clickers are basically necessary. I've found some places online that sell them but they're so cheap that I can't see the point in getting them shipped...I have something that makes the 'clicker' noise (it's a little half sphere with a smilie face on it that has a clicker inside) and was wondering if that would work? They just need a consistant noise right? Alternatively, is there anywhere I could just go to and buy one at? We have a pet smart and pet co but I've never seen any there? Then again I didn't look in dog or cat sections...
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Oct 29, 2012 18:52
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mjs6643 posted:You can grab one in the dog section for like $1.99 or something. Sick that's exactly what I wanted to hear.
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Oct 29, 2012 19:17
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Deadly Chlorine posted:EDIT: Oh my god I cannot stand the adorableness I'M BUYING A RINGNECK RIGHT NOW UGHHH. I'm so glad they're not really available in stores or anywhere close to me or else I'm sure I'd have 50 different birds and snuggle them all in a big pile I was looking at videos though and found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtR-M7nihno  Why are they in drawers...? I know zip about raising babies and especially not macaw babies but uh this seems awful and horrible and :'(
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Oct 30, 2012 19:21
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Pip pip pip posted:Was it hard to teach your birds to leave your earrings alone, or do you just take them out when you handle your birds? I personally have my ears pierced three times, all three holes stretched at least a little, so just taking them out for all the time they're out of their cages isn't really an option. I also have my cartilage on my right ear done and 'spider bites' I think they're called on the right side of my lower lip. Finn and Marceline never bother them at all. Occasionally Finn will do his hissing and harmless cockatiel lunging at my bigger shinier pairs because he can see himself in them but that's it! It was 100% training though. I guess Marceline bit my lip piercings once. Only one time and I guess I reacted so quickly and was so upset that she felt bad? Because she has never ever ever EVER bitten them again. Occasionally she'll tongue one with her beak before I tell her that she knows better and she scurries away. Keep in mind this is with both of my birds loving to lick my ears to death for whatever reason? So it IS doable, just be ready to teach them that no means no.
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Nov 2, 2012 19:27
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Battle Pigeon posted:Steve is apparently hellbent on eating (dried) poop lately. He's got a mixture of vegetables at all times that he picks at, his seeds, his cuttlefish and lime block, and gets bits of human food throughout the day so I don't think it's due to missing something in his diet. Just a derp being a derp? derp being derp I'd say. Finn likes to pick up poop and chew it a little then drop it. I think it's just a 'OH LOOK A THING ON THE GROUND NEAR ME I WONDER IF IT'S FOOD.' symptom because as soon as he picks it up and breaks it in half he drops it and gives up. Other news! Finally bought a clicker and I'm going to start trying to train the birds to do... something. Marceline is responding to the whole 'BE AN EAGLE' thing really well, she doesn't mind having fingers poked under her wings. Finn hates it though so I need a good trick for him. I was thinking of teaching him to roll over since he's a huge potato? Ideas for a helpless potato trick?
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Nov 12, 2012 01:22
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Battle Pigeon posted:For the grip tape part, what would be best to use? Something that doesn't have glue or whatever that the birds could ingest, and won't go gross if used occasionally in the shower? Screw the grip tape. Wrap a towel or wash rag or something bird-safe to hold onto around that bitch and sew it! Maybe they'll eventually chew through it, then just put on another piece of fabric. Bam!  Me and Zomo are thinking about making one of these suckers for our shower, maybe if we get one done we can ship you one out for a not impossible amount of money?
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Nov 20, 2012 19:01
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I need to stop going to pet stores. Today we went out for dinner and a movie and stuff and had some time. There's a petsmart and petco really close to each other so we thought we'd go look at the birds or if there were some toys on sale or treats, you know, just killing time. Well we went to the petsmart and I wanted to cry.  This poor bird's feathers were disgusting, it had like three toys that were all clumped ontop of each other and the perch you see it sitting on, and that's all. It was fed a lovely mix of seeds and a couple pellets. It was missing a toenail completely and only had two or three tail feathers, the rest were broke off or preened and plucked till only the center 'stem' or whatever remained. I wanted to break the glass and steal it and nurse it back to health I'm sad, bird crazies, and my babies are in bed so I can't cuddle them. I hate that pet stores can put birds in conditions like this and completely get away with it. I hope someone decent buys this bird and gives it a good life
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Nov 26, 2012 01:33
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Battle Pigeon posted:Poor bird. The store I mentioned not long ago, where we got that food mix I made a photo dump of from, had the birds in worse condition than that GCC. It's sad when you write something like that and I think "at least it had toys", when standards are just that low. They were toys that were meant for larger birds and didn't look like they'd been played with at all. It was also sad because it was a long, low cage with one perch in it. Maybe I should look at adopting a bird or at least keeping one for a while. I tried before and the places near here had really high standards but maybe they'll be more alright with it when I mention I've had mine for a good while now. My heart breaks itself in half when I see birds in bad situations, it would be awesome to give one a good home or help an unruly bird be able to be adopted out.
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Nov 26, 2012 04:39
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Hey you guys, I'm a graphic designer/print maker and this semester my focus has been BIRDS.      Pictures are really large but I thought you guys would appreciate it! 
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Nov 29, 2012 17:27
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Thanks for the compliments guys The black and white ones are done in intaglio, which is basically carving into a plate and smearing ink all over it then running it through a press. The colored ones are reductive relief prints that are going lightest to darkest color while carving out stuff between every layer, much more time intensiv and limited in number. Funny thing though, they're all for sale! I do ten in an addition and I'm not going to lie, the colored ones are all going to be upward in price because of the work involved but if some bird crazies were interested i would be happy to work with you guys for prices? Also, alternatively, how would you guys feel about custom prints? Of your own birds! I always wanted to do prints of people's birds...
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Nov 29, 2012 18:59
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I want to just THROW money at you for that one of the grooming green cheek. oommmggggg !!! Thank youuu! Wizard of Smart posted:Holy crap Amaya! Those are so awesome. I'd love a print of Mickey being silly. mjs6643 posted:One of Archer would kick rear end since he loves to pose and have his ego stroked. We can totally work something out if you want! Pm's? Something else? DarkHorse posted:They really are great and amazing pieces, and depending on the cost I might be interested in getting one as a gift for my sister. Would it be possible to get the GCC one as a Jenday/Sun? I honestly don't know what the expected price for something like that would be, though. It doesn't work like that, unfortunately I can't just swap out the colors. When you start you begin carving away bits of the picture and eventually nothing's left, I have a set of ten and that's all. There are two options though! I could most certainly do the print again with jenday/sun colors but that would be expensive for you. BUT. I could do one black and white and then water color it to jenday/sun colors? Significantly cheaper!
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Nov 30, 2012 06:17
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uglynoodles posted:He's making a little piggy grunting noise and clambering about. Oh I didn't know you bought a quaker!!!!!(I know) This is all Finn does though. Makes little 'ruhruhruhruhruhruh' noises at me and purrs really low in his throat when he snuggles me or 'defends' me from Zomodok scritching his head. Love dat fat bird.
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Dec 1, 2012 22:12
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The Doctor posted:Is there a chance my bird might get more affectionate as she gets older? puberty is a hell of a bird-drug. I'm not really sure how it works with budgies but I do know that conures/quakers/other larger birds go through puberties that can range from changing 0 of their personality to making it do a whole 180. Nice birds becoming violent and aggressive or mean birds being super affectionate. It normally falls in the 'terrible twos' part of bird-life and lasts... a few months to years? iirc? Someone correct me if I'm getting this wrong but yes! There is a very good possibility that she will get more affectionate as she gets older. There is also, unfortunately, a very good possibility that she could get worse.
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Dec 2, 2012 09:25
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uglynoodles I'm really sorry for your loss, I wish your 'breeder hadn't been so lovely I never posted, but I watched you posting in a thread about your lovely anime roommate and was really excited to read the updates. So you might not know me really BUT I HAVE STALKED YOU ON THE INTERNET. That aside, I'm going to side with miss LAB here and offer myself up as an example. Zomodok and I bought Marceline living with my grandma in less than desirable conditions with not enough money to cover an expensive vet trip easily. Hell, my aunt's dog died a while back and she - with a full time job and a husband and child - didn't have enough spare money on hand to deal with the cash required. It's hard for lots of people ot have that kind of money set aside. But anyway. Marceline was in a cage that was probably a little too small for her eating the not-most-best food and had only a couple of toys because that's what the cage/our money could give her. Same for Finn. But we love our babies very much and take awesome care of them! At this point this whole rant is less to keep uglynoodles from regretting her decision and more making sure that newbies reading this don't think that because they don't have a spare 70-200 laying around they shouldn't think about getting a bird. Like LAB said, we figure things out when we have to
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Dec 5, 2012 05:51
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New trick: Teaching Parrot to Parallel Park.
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Dec 7, 2012 16:50
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Pip pip pip posted:I toss him into the air towards things he seems to want to go to: his cage, the playstand we have in the living room, or the couch. I feel like a terrible person, throwing my pets across the room, but it seems to be helping a little. It's really funny how slow he flies though, it seems like he is just hovering and only has forward motion because I toss him. I throw Finn and Marceline all the time. Obviously not like a baseball but little wrist flicks. Otherwise they just scream and lean and never go. Momma bird pushing babies out of the nest, that's all! LEARN TO FLY. OR ELSE. ...we have carpets. It's okay. it's soft.
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Dec 12, 2012 03:07
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Finn and Marceline are pretty laid back about touching. Marci has a big fear of being held around her back though - she doesn't roll over onto her back EVER. But I think that's mostly because at the Petco we bought her at when they were retrieving a bird they went at it with a big thick black glove I'm slowly getting her used to having a hand cupped gently on her back and trying to make her okay with that but otherwise she's ok with being touched. Finn is a potato and lets you flip him over onto his back and touch his tummy, legs, wings, head, back, tail, anything you need. He'll nip, but not to bite just to hold onto something. Or he'll chew his toes
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Dec 12, 2012 17:42
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Fart Puzzle posted:I know conures tend to like to have a nestbox or a happyhut in which they can sleep, but I do not want to encourage nesting/mating behavior in my bird, would a happyhut cause that? No nestbox unless you want a nest, bro. Happyhut is out for discussion though... some people say it makes their birds more territorial, but in my experience my bird/the birds of other people I know have no different behavioral changes. Also there were some problems with birds chewing on the edges of the hut and getting tangled and hurting themselves or dying. So... obviously THAT'S something to think about. I believe there were safer alternatives...? But I don't know what they are
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Dec 13, 2012 04:17
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Marci did this poo poo too when we first brought her home. Eventually Iroh will quiet down and not miss you so much. Stop being a mom though, it's not going to kill her if she's alone for a few hours! Let her scream, you don't have to go out and baby her, really! It'll pass, just stick with it and you'll have a quiet bird
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Dec 14, 2012 18:06
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Hey you bird crazies. I finally got around to making a thread for my sicknasty prints. I have some new ones I didn't post here before if anyone wants to give it a look see (and maybe pretend like everything's great and you all want it super bad?) http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3523359 In bird related news: Zomo and I are heading out in a few days to do the Vacation Thing so soon we're going to have to clip Marci and Finn's wings. I feel like a monster but I would feel WAY more awful if I didn't clip them and then an ignorant family member smooshed one of them in a door or accidentally let them free or they fluttered into the room with dogs and were eaten
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Dec 18, 2012 07:08
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I'm very angry. Zomo offered to get us another bird for Christmas if I found one I liked. Of course I hopped right on this, but I really wanted to adopt instead of buying one from a store or breeder. We were fine with driving a few hours if need be so I started looking... How about every single sanctuary around here has really insane requirements? I remember looking before, but it's way worse than I remember. One place requires you to take four classes (that you have to pay for) before you're able to adopt a bird. In addition to that you have to pay a fee from 10-200 dollars depending on the size of the bird. And THEN you have to pay for any vet bills the bird may have received. Another requires you to be within 35 miles of the sanctuary. Another requires you to be within an hour drive of the sanctuary. Another requires they come to your house and do an inspection - AND you have to be within 40 miles so that they can drive there an inspect your house. Am I crazy... or are these really extreme requirements? Please let me adopt your birds, I'll take good care of them I promise I mean, I understand why they're trying to be thorough but at the same time, jesus christ.PS MERRY HOLIDAYS BIRD CRAZIES.
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Dec 26, 2012 10:22
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I called two of the places and emailed a third (no number available) and none of them would budge. I'm just very frustrated because one of the sanctuaries had a quaker that had plucked all of her feathers out and I would be MORE than willing to work with her and try to stop the plucking and give her attention and such... Sigh. I guess I'll keep patrolling craigslist to see if I can save a bird that way ...in other news we went to petco today to buy some more nutriberries and there was a beauitul nanday with a blackhead and blue throat I've never seen before. I wanted to hold him! He's a lot bigger than I'm used to seeing. I didn't know they were larger than green cheeks? Anyway, he was super adorable and kept rubbing himself against where I was touching the glass. Poor baby EDIT: btw, I understand entirely why they want to make sure only the best people adopt their birds, I would be the same way... but I REALLY wanted some of these birds and I would take such good care of them... they just won't give me a chance to prove myself. Amaya fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Dec 27, 2012 |
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Dec 27, 2012 04:24
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holy loving christ. I might have to get a new bird if Finn or Marceline did that D:
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Dec 29, 2012 04:47
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Sounds like Rosie is the larger version of my aunt's cockatiel Willy. He's been neglected all his life and instead of screaming like baby birds do when they want attention Willy is so beaten down from life that he doesn't even bother, he just sits there looking content in his too-little cage. At least she has him out in an open area, I guess. The biting could probably be worked out of her if she's given enough attention and care, but if you're gone just as much during the day, taking her might not help at all? I just did some quick googling and from what I'm seeing crimson rosella's require a lot of attention and working with to stay tame, not like conures and other 'first bird' birds. As far as the cage, I'm not sure... it's hard to tell by that picture what size the cage is but it looks a little small. Especially if she spends all day for days at a time in the cage you should try to at least coax your mother into getting her a nice sized cage. That's just my 2 cents though.
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Dec 29, 2012 10:55
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Hey guys, zomo and I are working on a little project... I thought you would like to see our protagonist!
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Dec 31, 2012 08:28
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Thanks you guys! Here's another:
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Dec 31, 2012 11:57
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"Who needs space for clothes WHEN I HAVE BIRDS?!" -Every bird crazy 2013 (I would do this so fast.)
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Jan 2, 2013 07:51
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RaspberryCommie posted:Where do you guys usually pick up pellet foods and how much are they? My local pet store only carries seed mixes (four different brands! While they have three entire aisles devoted only to different dog foods) You HAVE to get your Quaker off of seed mixes if that's what he's on now. Like, REALLY REALLY need to. Quakers are even more prone to fatty liver disease than other parrots. If he/she's eating all seeds only and has been for a long time that's worrying. Try to get some pellets as soon as you can.
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Jan 5, 2013 22:08
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Uhhh I dunno that seems like a big exaggeration. I scratch Marci and Finn's heads and necks and backs and stomachs and they haven't even so much as tried to hump me? I'm not...a bird fucker...
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Jan 7, 2013 03:14
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Pile of Kittens posted:God, I'm joking. Okay! I thought so but I was still like "Whoa that's an intense response!!" haha. IT'S SAFE. EVERYTHING'S OKAY. NO ONE'S loving BIRDS IN HERE. GOOD. In other news: while sulking over not being able to adopt that bald quaker I looked at her page again t osee if someone else had adopted her and saw that ACTUALLY the shelter that I thought had her doesn't... They were just posting up the information for the person trying to rehome her.... who's information was also there... .... ....so I emailed her instead and maybe she's not as batshit crazy as the sanctuary and I can adopt her up and get working on those feathers regrowing! HERE'S HOPING FINGERS CROSSED.
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Jan 7, 2013 05:32
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A toucan is the first bird I ever wanted. Is it true that they can't really bite you and they just kinda gum you with their soft bills? it sounds so precious. I saw a video of a toucan bapping his head against his owner a while ago too, it was so pathetic and aaaa adorable!
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Jan 15, 2013 08:56
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post ALL the tiel videos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9NZnpleU0s He claps oh my goddd
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Jan 16, 2013 09:39
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uglynoodles posted:Iro hates it when anyone pours liquid or uses the sink. Running water seems to make her upset. She makes this loud BEEP warning noise whenever we do the dishes, turn on the tap to fill up the kettle, or pour the hot water to make tea. Are you sure it's an alarm noise? Marci makes a really high pitched BEEP when she's excited about something. An alarm noise for my conure at least is more WARKWARKWARK rapidly.
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Jan 19, 2013 21:26
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I've taken long naps with Finn multiple times. I sleep on my side usually and he just snuggles up into the crook of my arm and purrs at me while I pet him till I fall asleep Finn is me in a bird's body.
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Jan 22, 2013 00:00
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Guys, I think I'm buying another bird. This is like a sickness. On a whim we stopped at a pet store that was called like "Wet pets and friends" or something. I saw some bird cages in the window and figured it was worth a shot. Well, this guy is AWESOME. He buys from local breeders and all the babies are hand raised and sweet as hell. They have a pineapple conure that's two months old and sweet as pie. I was holding it for a really long time and it kept cooing and fluffing up its feathers for head scratches. I really wanted the lady to get back to me about the plucking quaker but that's a huge pain in the rear end that wasn't working out at all. Someone convince me this is a bad idea? You know, even though I have enough cash to take care of it and enough time and two successful birds already.... (Finn will be pimping all the ladies like a Sir....)
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Jan 23, 2013 10:33
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Pip pip pip posted:Well, since you asked... Are you currently a student? Do you think you will have time for 3 parrots that are all going to want a lot of your time and attention once you have a full time job? I say this because I got all 3 of my birds while I was still in college, and it definitely is a struggle now that I have a full-time job. For a while I was taking night classes on top of work and I felt like the worst bird-owner ever This is something I was weighing back and forth. To be honest? I think it'd be fine. Zomo and I aren't really 'party' people. We're hermits, basically. We spend practically all of our free time at home and find it relaxing. My 'full time job' will (hopefully) end up being something I do from home. If not, not much would change really. I already spend the bulk of the day in class and I'm also balancing a job on top of that. Basically, the only time we wouldn't be home would be when we're working, but there's another 16 hours in the day left after that. Finn and Marci will love the new baby too. Or else. (Basically I just mushed these two together over and over again until they loved each other. The same will apply for new-bird.)
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Jan 23, 2013 16:04
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 08:36 |
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Wizard of Smart posted:Only if you name the new bird Jake. If it's a girl we're naming her PB, if it's a boy his name will be Marshal Lee, obviously!!
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Jan 24, 2013 00:49
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