We are home...HOORAY!! What a trip. We had to put the cage on top of my Explorer because UHaul wouldn't rent us a trailer. GRRR So I decided since we were going to look like the Clampett's anyway I'd strap a Santa in a chair inside the cage. Talk about laughs!
The birds traveled well. We stayed in a motel Wed. night and was carrying Gracie and Jazz inside. All was fine until Gracie spotted something that startled her and she hollers "What's THAT" as loud as she could. This set Jazz off and I thought we'd be thrown out before we could get in.
Gracie actually slept on her T-Stand with no problems. I was afraid she'd be overwhelmed with the open space.
She's done really good since we got home. Doesn't step up well but we are working on it. I've showered her daily and she doesn't like that either. She eats everything I offer with the exception of the Pro Gro. (Darn)

I talked to the previous owner to see if the vet records had been faxed. She said she'd called them on Wed. but DR Gina had not received them as of Friday afternoon. If I don't get them by Tuesday we'll go to the vet without them but the history would be nice.
The previous owner said that she'd never played with toys and she acted like I was killing her when I showed her one. Well...today I saw her chewing on one! YEAH Gracie! I also don't think she plucked any today!
Gracie tells the dogs to be quiet and the Greys say SHHHH to Gracie. Things should get interesting around here. ...so far so good.

Tiggers Tale

Tigger's Tale is told by Jean Clark.  To see her 'gang' vistit her webshots at http://community.webshots.com/user/jacdobe

Tigger's doing very well and knows how to step up into the palm of my hand with his little nubs. He flies gracefully and often, and is already learning how to fly to me on command. When he flies to me he lands neatly on my outstretched palm or my shoulder. We don't quite have the flying away from me down, but we are working on that. Despite not having toes he can perch on my arm, or my palm, but he prefers the shoulder, as he can hold on better. Given his disability, as long as he doesn't get nippy with my face or ears, I will allow him that privilege. He has recently learned how to climb up a ladder using his beak and little nubs and now can climb from the tray of the bottlebrush playgym up to the branches, where he sits and preens. When he wants down he just flies back to the tray, or to me and I replace him on the tray.

He sleeps standing up on his 1x2 inch flat board perch usually, but occasionally he sleeps sprawled out on his Tigger stuffed animal. He's starting to make more sounds in the cadence of speech, though he hasn't said anything yet. He is very smart and knows his name and the sound of my voice.

I am careful not to help him unless it is something he just cannot do on his own. That has been the hardest part, not being an enabler. However, he is very determined to do things on his own, so that helps. All in all, he doesn't even realize he is disabled.

at the time this was written Tigger was 17 weeks old.

In Love With Leah

This special girl is owned by Lee, one of my group list buddies.

When we first got a computer, I got on a quaker list and met some ladies who had Greys as well as Quakers, and because of all the cute stories pictures of the Greys, I wanted one. I had read of Greybird's story, he was a rescue that was cage bound, his mom loved him and she told me, why don't you get a rescue or special needs birdie, there are lots of them out there that are abandoned or need homes because they are left behind, because of age, or temperament, or are physically or emotionally handicapped?

I contacted several avian rescue sites on the web, but they had complicated adoption procedures. You had to come and meet with them, or attend classes, etc. All of them were out of state. I realized though that I could e-mail the local breeders. That they might have an old breeder bird, a handicap, or a bird that someone returned to them because they were unable to keep it. One day a breeder e-mailed me back that she had a 6 month old CAG (Congo African Grey) that had a broken leg in the nestbox. We set a date to meet at her home and I could meet Leah.

It was on October 22, 2001 that I met Leah, she was afraid, and bit me on the hands, and pooped on me, but I loved her anyway, so the breeder gave me the cage she was in, it was small, like 20X24 inches, and told me to keep her in small cage, so that Leah wouldn't  fall and get hurt.

When I got her home she was unable to step-up, and just had a concrete perch in the cage. The next day I took Leah to the vet. My vet was upset with the breeder, as there was no record of Leah ever being to a vet. Leah could hardly stand or walk without balancing on one wing and her beak. One wing tip was sore with no feathers on it. The vet thought it was plucked. Later, after the sore healed, feathers grew out and Leah never did pluck them.

Leah lost weight after I got her.  I knew she hadn't been fully weaned. She would mainly eat seed, but not much food. Her weight went down to 350 grams from 388. Tests were done and Leah was treated for giardia and yeast infection, within a few months after she was home. I taught Leah to step-up and take a bath with sprayer in sink sitting on a low perch.

At my vet's recommendation I bought Leah a large dome cage which is 36X28X70 inches, with swing in top, a boing in back, 2 rope perches, and long ladder, along with several toys. She loved the big cage, and wasn't clumsy at all. She learned to grip with her feet, even hang upside down with one foot. If she got too rambunctious, I would tell her to be careful, and she will get a tight grip. She steps up on my index finger, gripping good.

This summer I won an adventure pack in a contest, and thought Leah would be afraid to go outside, but she sits on the rope perch I have in it, and enjoys her walks.

Leah is 3 years old, loves to eat, soft foods like cereals, warmed frozen mix veggies and peas and carrots, pumpkins and seed, birdie bread, and her bedtime treat of milo millet. The only way anyone could tell if Leah was handicapped is to see the lump on her hip, or notice her walk if she is on a flat surface. On perches, swings, and boing, she is as normal as any bird. I have enjoyed the challenge of helping a handicapped birdie know the fun of living a normal life, to see her healthy happy and enjoying life.

Benjamin is one of Bev's many birds and she has shared his story.

Benjamin came to me a cage bound 5 to 7 yr. old who never was treated well, he had green scummy water and a filthy cage. A dear friend of mine knew I wanted a timneh someday and she told me I could have him. She had rescued him from someone who had her birds in a crowded little room (app. 40 birds) with Benji in the farthest corner of the room. He was terrified, but I saw something in his beautiful eyes and knew he was meant to be mine. No, I am not being silly! I really knew this and I think Benji did too. We had a more than 3 hrs drive home with my husband, Vern and me. Benji played with toys in his carrier and seemed to love the drive. When we got home we had a difficult time, but what I did was leave the door of his cage open. Benji would come out and run back in the minute he saw me. I would sit and read and sing to him a lot. We kept him in quarantine for about 45 days after all the blood work. During that time I managed to get him out of his cage. I started (after 3 wks.) by asking him to step up. He would throw himself on the grate screaming. I told him softly, "I am sorry Benjamin but we must follow through with this" and I got a towel and gently toweled him. I would cuddle him (he growled and whimpered), give him a few skritches, then open the towel and he would climb onto my shoulder. He never bit or tried to and never held it against me. AFTER THE 4TH DAY when he saw the towel, he held his foot up for me to pick him up. He knew it was the towel if he did not come out. I always ask him to step up first. Today he is so happy, he loves new toys, plays, loves to be out of the cage and explore the house with me. This is Benjamin's 5th home and God willing, his last. I tell him daily, since our first meeting that he always was my baby, we just had a hard journey until we found each other.

A Challenge Named Chuckie

This story is by Tiffany, who lives in in Calfornia.  She has named her photo album Tiffany's Zoo.

It  started some 6 or 7 years ago? My husband and I would frequent pet stores as we both were animal crazy!  Well we came across this one pet store that was filthy and it had a lot of parrots.  I was disgusted looking around and tried reporting this store many times with little being done about it. The birds were kept in small cages and not well cared for. Some were plucked and most looked unhappy and were aggressive. When I came up to a round cage and looked in I saw a beautiful Grey. I said Hello, ~ Chuckie said HELLO. Every time I tried to walk away Chuckie would say HELLO and hang upside down. I loved him and read the paper above his cage saying his name was Chuckie and that he was very unpredictable and would bite. I did not know much about parrots back then, so I just sat and talked with him. My husband was off looking at fish and what not. We chatted and he let me stroke his head.  He was so sweet! I asked about him and they said he was not for sale because he was the owners bird. My husband and I visited the store weekly bringing treats for the birds. I would sneak in nuts and fresh apple. They  loved it.

Months turned into years and we stopped visiting the store as often because every time I left there I was in tears for those poor birds. We visited other stores and started falling in love with birds. We still visited the store occasionally, but it was so hard. Before long I had my own Grey. As I learned more and more about birds my sorrow for Chuckie just kept growing. We had stopped visiting the store now and it had been well over 4 months since we had been in there. We tried our best to avoid it, but one fateful night we had dinner in the same town as the petstore. We were getting out of the car and I decided I would just leave my purse in the car as I had a car alarm and did not need it. The next morning I was frantic. My purse was not in the car! My husband mentioned me leaving it at the restaurant. I said IMPOSSIBLE! I did not even bring it in there! Well, after calling and canceling half my cards I called the restaurant to make sure. SURE enough they had it. We had to make an unexpected trip that night to get it.  Zed needed to go by the good petstore for some supplies. We pull up and it's closed, only on Thursdays. He REALLY needed some fish tank stuff. I said I guess we have to go by the bad petstore. We walked in and I knew something had changed right away. There was Chuckie with a HELLO, but there was a lady I had never seen before running the store. I asked if it was under new management? She said YES, she had taken the store over that her Uncle left the state. I said WHAT about Chuckie? I guess he is for sale then? I said it jokingly as I expected her to say no, she said YES! for 1800 bucks. I swear time about stopped. My husband said WHAT? 1800? He was not going for it. We headed out of there to the restaurant to get my purse and decided to have dinner. All through dinner it was all that I could talk about. My husband said, "even if we had the money it's to much!"  I was feeling down as I made a promise to Chuckie a long time ago that ever if she was for sale I would buy her.

I came online and started telling everyone that My Chuckie was for sale! Everyone got so excited and they helped me realize what I knew in my heart! I had to bring Chuckie home!  SO many wonderful people started pulling for me and Chuckie. I started selling everything I could and many good people sent me money. Before I knew it I had my deposit and not long after, Chuckie came home.

It was March of this year I believe when she finally came home . She was so scared and everything frightened her.  Now she is starting to blossom and take flight. I love that she is out of her cage and able to enjoy life.

They had called Chuckie a boy, but a DNA test said Chuckie is a girl

Captain

Captain was re-homed by Natalie and her husband on December 18th.

Captain is a mollucan that we've been watching for about a year at our local birdstore. We had thought about getting him in the spring, but were worried that we couldn't handle two cockatoos - much less two mollucans. Then we ended up getting Abigail who is a whole lot more cockatoo than Lahlo ever thought about being.  We started literally avoiding this store. Captain started to pluck when we were there and then got better. I just couldn't continue to go there and watch.

So we went back, and even though he was mostly better, he had really skinned part of a leg. No bite wounds, but had irritated the skin to where it bled. So that was it. He was horribly overpriced - BIG time, the store says that "they're not making anything - that the owner is asking this price" (to which I say a hardy B.S.), and he was dusty so thick that it felt like grease. His diet continues to be crappy, and the toys that they give him are all more hard woods that I've found Lahlo just doesn't like. She likes soft woods that can be destroyed easily. Apparently Captain doesn't either because he doesn't bother with them.

He's the sweetest bird I've ever met - will let anyone pick him up, leans on you. When I picked him up this last time, he crushed his face up against my chest and then looked up at me with one big glistening brown eye and sighed. So Steven and I just looked at each other and at Captain and knew it was time we stopped avoiding him.

We talked to the store owners, they gave us the b.s. line about what his owners wanted, and then we had to decide whether or not we would reward the store's mishandling of the bird and the owners' stupidity (the man bought the bird without consulting his wife as a present for her for Christmas, you see - and they travel most weeks out of the year) with our hard earned money. We decided that yes, because the bird is such a sweetheart and we wanted him when he was healthy, much less when he needed more care, that we would be the Suckers Of The Year and pay the ridiculous "ransom" price that they're asking.
 

I can't wait to bathe that bird. I'm just a little worried about the water stinging his skinned place, but I have some real aloe plants here and think I'll use that on his wound, good non-chlorinated water bath and a couple of George's followups. A good diet, some attention, some good toys that he can destroy, and alot of praying are going to be our hope.

Captain is officially home for Christmas. He was withdrawn and sullen when we got there. (I got a picture of the guy taking him out of his cage, but I was trying to get one of him IN his cage....alas). When we picked him up, Captain instantly did his "I love you" snuffles and turned his chin up to us for loving. The store had apparently been trying chamomile tea and an ointment on him this week, to their credit. He had grown some soft pins back in on his leg and his scab (in the crease where his leg connects to his body - underneath) was healing over. He had gained a little weight.

Everyone at the store said they would miss him which I can believe because he's wonderful! Thankfully, they didn't clip his wings (they're fully in) and they offered on the nails, but I said "no thanks". They gave us the tube of ointment (when I get it out of the car I want to check it with you guys) and his tea bags. We picked up a nice wide sleeping perch and some (ack) sunflower seeds. They've been working on weaning him to safflower mix with buckwheat and other things in it, which is what I was going to do to get him off of the sprayed on vitamin coating on the seeds. :P So we picked up enough to get him through a while.

He went in the carrier easily, and he did the cha cha cha all the way home (Jo, do your mollies do this?). When we got him home and his carrier out of the car into the sun, he started talking a blue streak!! Of course, other than "hi" and "good girl" I have no idea what he was saying. ha! But he whistled a quiet little wolf whistle, and said all sorts of things. He looked out of the front of his carrier all the way to the house. (Steven said "Of course he did - he's a Captain, an explorer!") We were greeted by a chorus of dogs and birds, to which he didn't react. Then we wisked him away for a good non-chlorinated shower! He drank a whole lot of the water and let us soak him - especially his leg - really well. He didn't love it, but did much better than Lahlo had on her first shower.

So then off to the gym for some drying off. Right now he's totally destroying some wood blocks and paper towels (which he doesn't do at the store) and is looking very very happy. He's been making all the little tongue waggles and snuffles and grunts that our Lahlo does when she's safe and happy, so that's a good sign. I've not expected anything else from him since he's amazingly tame. Of course, I'm sure we'll have bad days, but hopefully not many.

I got a good look at his wound, and boy it's more than a scrape. But all we can do is work on it with our vet. I put some natural aloe on it tonight and on his leg from my aloe plant and he stopped messing with it. He was too busy tonight playing with paper towels, and wood, leather thongs, and plastic duckies. And he danced and danced, sang, did the whole male display. It was gorgeous! He finally wore himself out sitting on his cagetop (which he loves - he's not had one in at least a year if ever) and was sleeping up there when I took him down to tuck him in.

I think he said "Are you going to bed"! He talks constantly and alot of it is clear, but it's such a baby voice that it's hard to tell exactly what he's saying.

So day one is done. He ate well - ate his new food, drank almost a half a baby food jar worth of pineapple juice, ate as much babyfood squash from a spoon.