The "Babies" and I

Ruthanne

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Location
Midwest
My life now consists of me and my birds and dog. Thought I'd start a thread to talk about them and my life.

Not a whole lot new going on in my life now. Just taking one day at a time and taking care of myself and my little buddies.

Alice and Jasmine are now 2 and 2.5 years with me so they are probably a few mos. older than that. They are very lively little girls. They chase each other around their new cage, play with toys, finally, and sing their hearts out, and eat of course. Gave them a millet treat tonight but should have given it to them around the time I feed them. That way they will eat it. They tend to eat earlier in the day and snack the rest of the day a bit. I always leave their food bowls in there and change their food in the mornings.

Parakeets, imo, are the ideal birds to have. Not all birds are as good as mine. People have told me how their birds chew on things around the room. Mine leave the cage to fly around the room a few times a day. Sometimes Jasmine flys more but Alice doesn't come out as much. They have a drawbridge on their cage and stand on that at times. It's a place for them to hang out on and also a launching and landing pad. I leave the cage open the minute I uncover it each day and then close it at their bed times. Sometimes they stay up later with me, mostly on the weekend. They never roam from their cage to chew on things like the walls and so forth.

Here is their new cage I got around my birthday last year:

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We call these birds budgies in Britain. I have one called Charlie and also a small parrot who doesn't have a name. I just haven't been able to think of one which suited him. I shut them in their cages at night but during the day, they are free to fly around the room. They make a lot of mess and noise, but they are very entertaining and they 'talk' to me. I have quite long conversations with them!
 
We call these birds budgies in Britain. I have one called Charlie and also a small parrot who doesn't have a name. I just haven't been able to think of one which suited him. I shut them in their cages at night but during the day, they are free to fly around the room. They make a lot of mess and noise, but they are very entertaining and they 'talk' to me. I have quite long conversations with them!
We call them Budgies here, too. :) Yours sound like fun and so are mine~
 

They look like happy little darlings, nice photo and great cage, nice and roomy! :cool:
They do love their new cage and run around up and down the perches, chase each other and have a good time. Thank you, they are happy sweeties~

Ruthanne they are sweet. I love that they have a nice roomy cage. I have two of the toys you show in the photo for my Kerby. The door is always open for my bird to come and go. Looks like they have a play area below the main cage. The one thing he won't use is a swing. I guess Cockatiels aren't swingers.
Yes, they do have a play area but for some reason don't go down to it any more. I have forgotten to put the ladder up for them to walk down to it, though, so maybe I should put it back up for them. Alice used to swing but now Jasmine is the only one who goes on it. Birds are funny that way...they stop doing some things and start doing other things.
 
The other night I did laundry and I always use the stoves timer to time the washer and dryer. Anyhow, when I came back up from the basement it was dark in the kitchen and I pushed the wrong button on the stove to set the timer. I hit the "clean oven" button and immediately went into a semi panic state. I know that using that function can kill parakeets; so I immediately tried to shut it off by pushing the "clear" button and it did not work! Instead the oven said it was going into "locked" mode! I knew then that the self cleaning oven was going on and my parakeets were in danger. I tried again to clean the panel on the stove. It did not work. I started to pull on the stove to pull it back to unplug it and also pulled on the door. Something worked right as I attempted to clear the panel again. The self cleaning oven shut off before starting to clean. Thank God! Right away I opened the window in the kitchen and shut the door to the living room. I was afraid fumes might emit. Nothing happened and what I did had worked. The self cleaning oven did not start cleaning. WHEW! Talk about a panic moment! I have to assure i never do that again. Have lived here for 6 years and have only done it twice but this time was the worst. Babies are fine!

Here is Jasmine:

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Glad you got it to stop Ruthanne, I heard how dangerous it could be. I need to clean my oven soon, but I'm waiting for the weather to be nicer so I can open windows and doors, and maybe my cat can be in the yard or garage. I figure if it can kill birds, it can harm other small animals too. They also say cooking with teflon in the same room with a bird is dangerous.
 
Glad you got it to stop Ruthanne, I heard how dangerous it could be. I need to clean my oven soon, but I'm waiting for the weather to be nicer so I can open windows and doors, and maybe my cat can be in the yard or garage. I figure if it can kill birds, it can harm other small animals too. They also say cooking with teflon in the same room with a bird is dangerous.
Yes, we all have to be careful of fumes with our pets. They are so much smaller than us. I have heard about teflon, too, and have not used it in ages. Gave away my frying pans that had teflon many years ago.

That was close Ruthanne. I was cleaning my rugs with my rug machine a few years ago and noticed after quite a few hours that right on the bottle of the solution I was using it said it could be harmful to pets. It was summertime and I immediately put him out on our screened in porch.
Yes, it was really scary. I'm glad Kerby is okay. I'm looking for a safe cleaner to clean my air conditioning unit. Thinking of hydrogen peroxide.
 
Just the other day while Jasmine flew around the room on several different occasions Alice or Allison started flying into and out of the kitchen real fast. She's really good at it so far but I'm afraid she might hurt herself going in there somehow. I close the door when cooking so she can't go in there at that time. I've also started closing the door when their cage door is open. I'm just worried that she might fly into something in the kitchen like the toaster or something or another.:eek:

Here is another picture of her:

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Budgies are clumsy fliers. A friend of mine came home one day to find that her budgie had flown into the kitchen and drowned in a bowl of water. One of mine got caught up in the venetian blinds. Thank God I was there when it happened, otherwise it would have strangled.
 
I like birds, wild ones more than caged, but as far as letting them fly around the house. Don't they "pee/poop" on everything? I know you can clean up, but doesn't the fabric become soiled? What about your curtains? Plus ours threw birdseed everywhere. When they escaped their cages, it was hard to recatch them.

How do you get them back into the cage at night? I have dogs. When they are babies they are confined to the kitchen. As they grow older, crated in various parts of the house unless I can give them my full attention. Free roam when we are home only after they are 16 months or so and well house trained.
 
Aneeda, I can't answer for other people's birds, but mine definitely have a sense of time. As soon as I start switching things off, they know it's bedtime and go back in their cages. I also have guinea pigs loose and they do the same. As for the 'poop', yes they do make a mess but, quite frankly, you have no business getting any pet unless you are prepared to clean up the mess they make. Every night, I'm on my knees, cleaning up the toilet areas my guinea pigs have used,....but they give a lot of pleasure, so I don't mind.
 
Rosemarie,

Lol, everything makes messes especially the large, muddy, dogs which I have. I let my dogs dig in the backyard, which is rocked, because they enjoy digging. When they come in, I frequently have to scrub walls since they shake mud everywhere. I am simply curious about how the bird thing works with them flying around. Ours were always caged.

We also have had hamsters but not Guinea pigs. Anyone who has done a hamster search in the house knows what a pain that can be. Hamsters will die if not found. Since Guinea pigs are bigger I imagine they are easier. Do you have an outside area for them? I understand you can make an interesting secure outdoor enclosure for them.

We also had a pet rabbit at one time, mice, a bigger bird, cats, but mostly dogs. We did foster care for over 30 years, sometimes they came with their pets, but mostly not. I sometimes think I would like a rag doll cat, but not sure.
 
My bird Kerby is always out. Over the years he has found favorite places where he likes to sit. Those areas I protect. Under his cage is a large plastic sheet. He sits on top of the cage and sometimes depending where he is sitting it hits the plastic. Easy cleanup. At night he sits on the back of my recliner. I have an old towel there. That gets washed once a week,same by my computer. He will sit in my lap to get his head scratched so my throw gets washed as well. 90 percent of the time during the day he is on my shoulder and yes I get pooped on. That is why I have my old "poop sweaters". In the summer I have a piece of light material I drape over my shoulders. If anyone comes he goes in his cage for safety. I have hardwood floors so when he flies from room to room it is easily cleaned up.

I have no problem cleaning up after my pets. If you keep up with it there is no problem and the pets deserve a clean environment just as much as their owners.
 
Yes, I have had a hamster go missing! Somehow it managed to get out of its cage during the night, it was eventually found curled up underneath a cabinet. I don't have a garden so my guinea pigs are indoors. Hamsters are silent, guinea pigs 'talk', so if you call their names, they will answer. They poo constantly, in one end and out the other, but it's dry and doesn't smell so it's easy to sweep up.
 
Parakeets poopies are about 1/4 of an inch big and they dry up really fast. They are very easily cleaned up and removed. They don't poop like crazy when they fly, once in awhile I'll see one of their poops on the wall and then clean it up. Mostly the poops dry up and fall to the areas I have for them like the cage bottom or the fabric I have around their cage. I take a paper towel and push the loose dried up ones on the carpet and vacuum them up. Lager birds make much bigger poopies. It's never bothered me that they poop.

I never have to "catch them" for them to go in their cage. They automatically fly back to it after a flight around the room. They also sit atop the cage at times and then on the drawbridge of their cage. Most of the time they like to perch inside their cage with the door open. They like their living quarters. :)

This is their playpen when I had it next to the smaller cage. Now it is on another shelf.

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Haven't kept this up lately so here I am.

Trying to adjust to life on life's terms which I don't always like. What choice do we all have though.

While in facebook health groups it made me realize so many are going through and dealing with health issues. I fear some things happening with my challenges. As I've done my research and know what can happen have had so much anxiety. Thankfully my doctor prescribed something for that. It's helping some.
 
Lately dealing with much frustration, aggravation. It really bothers me that I can't do all the things I used to do anymore. Trying to motivate myself to find some new hobbies then think "what's the use?" I know how negative it sounds too. But it's just how I feel at the moment. :sneaky:

Learned how to get transportation to my doctors' with my health care insurance. Glad I realized I can use this service. Now to try it out and see how it works. I hope they get me there in time. Perhaps if I make the pickup time a half hour before appointments it will go better. Gotto keep exercising this old brain.

The little birdies are yapping up a storm today; glad they are happy. It's always good to see my little babies happy! Wish I could get Jasmine to stop pulling on Allison's tail, though. Allison does not like that one bit and lets out a shriek. Jasmine always looks like she feels bad after doing it but then does it again in a few days..can't figure that one out.

Well, that's about all I have to say today.
 


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