DECEMBER 2 2007 Thanks to all of you who have been writing to check on ET. She continues to heal, and Dr Jo thinks she's doing well. She scared us last weekend when the pin in her wing decided to move on its own. Emergency night time trip to the vet, and had to extract the pin. But she's doing nicely. Her rehab will be a long term affair, and we don't expect to see her available for adoption for quite a long time. The big GOOD news is that Matilda has adopted a family! After all this time, she finally found someone she liked enough to go home with, though the trip won't be until after Xmas, to allow for holiday family stuff. We're very happy for her, and her new people. Sadie amazon also selected a new home this week, as did Charro macaw. We love to see these guys go out to new homes with great people. We're looking at in-floor radiant heating for the new bird building, so I'd value any experiences good ot bad that anyone has had with it. email me at iaparrotrescue@aol.com please. I've been talking a lot with a number of people who are interested in starting small rescues in their own homes, something that I think should be encouraged. So, I'm planning a seminar in the spring where interested people can get together here and talk about all of the stuff that it takes to do this. At this point I'm thinking a 2 day thing might work. I'd like interested people to contact me so I can start planning. December 18 2007 We've received very sad news this week. A macaw that we placed earlier this year became entangled in a toy and died. It was nobody's fault, just one of those things that can happen no matter how careful we are...but please check those toys for loose threads and other choking and hanging hazards, folks. Let's try to reduce the chances. A few birds that we placed earlier will be returning here because of disruptions to the families. At this point we expect a congo grey, a sun conure, a jenday conure, and a pair of cockatiels. Watch the available birds page for more info on them. Great updates on Charro...his new family is loving him and he's doing very well there. E.T. continues to heal and thrive. Her vocabulary is coming out, and she's beginnning to play and talk and dance for us. another 3 weeks should see her wrappings off, and then we'll be able to start the rehab process. She's living in a hospital cage in the family area where we can keep an eye on her. Herr next door neighbor is Arthur Amazon, and he likes to watch her. Sammy Scarlet Macaw comes to visit her daily, and they've been talking to each other quite a bit as well. We're still waiting for that special home for Sam and Dave. They are such a hoot to watch...preening each other, yelling and nipping, just as if they were both the same size. They'll make a great pair for someone...and Dave is super snuggly when he's out of the cage. Leo and Lacy are doing nicely in their new cage and playstand set. I've installed a divider in the cage so they can be together when they're locked up, but not touching...and both are starting to show a lot of new feathers. I doubt if they'll ever get totally regrown, but anything is an improvement. December 26 2007 Two new birds in this week; Shaka Zulu, a very fine 12 year old Congo Grey, and Baby, a sweet 10 year old Sun Conure. We've just received notice we'll be getting a red-lored amazon soon as well. Pirate has allowed a few new feathers to grow on his chest. I'm hoping he;ll gain a bunch, though the vet says he'll never be able to get them all back. Dave has become a major snuggler, and wants to hide in my beard every morning while I chore the small bird room. Sam now steps up perfectly every time, and is exercising his bad wing...I don't think he'll ever fly, but he's getting stronger. Arthur amazon wants to hold my finger every day, and loves to preen my hair. The ice storm this past week missed us by a hair...we only lost power twice for a few minutes each time...but we are very happy that our emergency power system is now fully ready. We have a 5700 watt generator in place, and in the event of an outage, we can just plug it into the special generator breaker box, fire it up, and power heat and light and the water well. It's a major relief to us to not have to worry about this in the future. Those of you within driving distance might want to remember that we're happy to do talks for schools, church groups, and service clubs etc. Ralph macaw loves to travel with me and show off for crowds. So please tell your groups that we're available. We only charge expenses. January 8 2008 And a Happy New Year to all! FIVE new birds arrived today! Actually, three of them are birds that we placed three years ago. There's a new baby in the house, and an allergy situation. In any case, we have Rainbow, a sweet friendly Jenday conure; Herkie and Sweetie, a pair of cockatiels; Charlie, a wildcaught lilac-crowned amazon; and Paulie, an Indian Ringneck. Shaka has found a home, and will move in a week or so. Baby is negotiating for a home trial. Pirate is showing some pretty wild behaviour when he's exposed to multiple people or another macaw...I think he'll probably need to be either a single bird for a single person, or go with another macaw to someone who's content to look and not touch. Mac is out of quarantine, but we're still not sure what the cause of his intestinal upsets is...we're thinking a food issue right now. It's not dangerous, but we want to try to get it resolved before he goes anywhere. We also have two temporary visitors. PJ the Senegal is back for his second winter vacation. He suffers from a bad case of gout, and his feet don't work too well.; but he's completely sweet and we love to see him. Lucy is a very aged Blue-crowned conure, whose family can't have her right now for medical reasons. We've agreed to take care of her in the hope they can recover her some time. Finally...ET has an appointment tomorrow to take the wraps off her wing! She's going to be unrestricted at last! Now we can start rehabbing that damage. JANUARY 12 2008 More news today, mostly good. Mac has gone home...his medical issues turn out to be non-threatening, and he's back with the guy he loves. Also Shaka Grey went home today with a lady he clearly has fallen for. ET's wraps came off, and the healing is complete on the wing. The bad news is that the bone healed in such a way that she'll probabl;y never be able to extend that joint. But she has mobility in the shoulder and wrist joints, and the skini and feathers are fine...she's playing with toys, eating well, and learning to climb and perch again...all in all, a very fine outcome from what could have been much worse. We hope that ET may make friends with one of the gentler lady macaws here, and if she does, we'll hope to place them together. FEBRUARY 7 2008 Much coming and going this past three weeks, mostly going. Arthur is in his new home, as are Sam and Dave. Baby and Rainbow went together to their new home. Herkie tiel and his friend Sweetie are in quarantine because Herkie has an eye infection...we're treating that with Terramycin. A new boy on the block is Charlie Amazon...he's a gorgeous guy, with a lot of fears bcause of poor past treatment. He's improving rapidly though, and I have high hopes for him. We also added Paulie, a male ringneck parrot...he's pretty untame. The big happy news is that ET appears to have selected a family! She has been working with a long-time friend and supporter of the rescue, and it looks like she can go home sometime next week. It's been a long hard road for that girl, but it look slike things are coming out nicely for her. As winter wears on, we're getting eager to get started on construction. We're close to selecting a contractor, and have firmed up a lot of the building plans. FEBRUARY 16 2008 Much news this week. ET went home today, and she'll be a happy girl we think. Charley is making progress with not being so scared, and Paulie is starting to accept some handling. It appears that Herkie's infection is clearing up nicely, but he'll need another week in quarantine to be sure. Verdi seems to want to make frinds with PJ the handicapped Senegal that we're caring for...they may become permanent buddies. We've chosen a contractor and an excavator for the building, and they'll start work as soon as the ground is ready...and this morning we were notified of a new $10,000 donation! I'd estimate we're 90% toward the money for the new building, and can start thinking about equipping it. Please keep in mind that donations to Iowa Parrot Rescue are tax deductible, and are deeply apprciated by the birds. MARCH 15 2008 Lots of stuff to tell you today...for starters, we will be hosting a seminar on how to start and run a rescue in your home. Dates will be May 3 and 4, location here in our house. Registration will be limited to 12, so talk to me early if you're interested. Next, a new policy here; Abi and I have long felt that birds do much better if they aren't alone. So, as of now, we'll begin encouraging birds who come here for placement to find a pal that they can be placed with. We plan to place single birds only in homes where there are already birds they can see and hear. We won't require cage-mates, but we don't want any bird to be an "only" New voices in the house...mostly birds we placed who've returned. Ki ringneck came back because she couldn't get along with the other females in her flock. Four other ringnecks returned because of a health issue in their home, along with Sunny cockatiel. Verdi is off the board...he'll go home with PJ We're waiting eagerly for dry warm weather so the contractors can get started on the building...it's going to be a real dream come true. MARCH 22 2008 Charlie is now the major snuggler of the western world, and has shown that once he accepts a person, he's going to be a major sweetheart. We'll be looking for someone who can take the time to work with him to bond. Paulie and Ki ringnecks are now officially pals and cagemates...they'll be placed as a pair. Tomorrow Sunday March 23 I'll be in Des Moines for the MACBS bird fair. I'll have T-shirts, bonkyballs, and other stuff for sale. Hope to see everyone there! |
Dec 2007-Mar 2008 |
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DECEMBER 2 2007 Thanks to all of you who have been writing to check on ET. She continues to heal, and Dr Jo thinks she's doing well. She scared us last weekend when the pin in her wing decided to move on its own. Emergency night time trip to the vet, and had to extract the pin. But she's doing nicely. Her rehab will be a long term affair, and we don't expect to see her available for adoption for quite a long time. The big GOOD news is that Matilda has adopted a family! After all this time, she finally found someone she liked enough to go home with, though the trip won't be until after Xmas, to allow for holiday family stuff. We're very happy for her, and her new people. Sadie amazon also selected a new home this week, as did Charro macaw. We love to see these guys go out to new homes with great people. We're looking at in-floor radiant heating for the new bird building, so I'd value any experiences good ot bad that anyone has had with it. email me at iaparrotrescue@aol.com please. I've been talking a lot with a number of people who are interested in starting small rescues in their own homes, something that I think should be encouraged. So, I'm planning a seminar in the spring where interested people can get together here and talk about all of the stuff that it takes to do this. At this point I'm thinking a 2 day thing might work. I'd like interested people to contact me so I can start planning. December 18 2007 We've received very sad news this week. A macaw that we placed earlier this year became entangled in a toy and died. It was nobody's fault, just one of those things that can happen no matter how careful we are...but please check those toys for loose threads and other choking and hanging hazards, folks. Let's try to reduce the chances. A few birds that we placed earlier will be returning here because of disruptions to the families. At this point we expect a congo grey, a sun conure, a jenday conure, and a pair of cockatiels. Watch the available birds page for more info on them. Great updates on Charro...his new family is loving him and he's doing very well there. E.T. continues to heal and thrive. Her vocabulary is coming out, and she's beginnning to play and talk and dance for us. another 3 weeks should see her wrappings off, and then we'll be able to start the rehab process. She's living in a hospital cage in the family area where we can keep an eye on her. Herr next door neighbor is Arthur Amazon, and he likes to watch her. Sammy Scarlet Macaw comes to visit her daily, and they've been talking to each other quite a bit as well. We're still waiting for that special home for Sam and Dave. They are such a hoot to watch...preening each other, yelling and nipping, just as if they were both the same size. They'll make a great pair for someone...and Dave is super snuggly when he's out of the cage. Leo and Lacy are doing nicely in their new cage and playstand set. I've installed a divider in the cage so they can be together when they're locked up, but not touching...and both are starting to show a lot of new feathers. I doubt if they'll ever get totally regrown, but anything is an improvement. December 26 2007 Two new birds in this week; Shaka Zulu, a very fine 12 year old Congo Grey, and Baby, a sweet 10 year old Sun Conure. We've just received notice we'll be getting a red-lored amazon soon as well. Pirate has allowed a few new feathers to grow on his chest. I'm hoping he;ll gain a bunch, though the vet says he'll never be able to get them all back. Dave has become a major snuggler, and wants to hide in my beard every morning while I chore the small bird room. Sam now steps up perfectly every time, and is exercising his bad wing...I don't think he'll ever fly, but he's getting stronger. Arthur amazon wants to hold my finger every day, and loves to preen my hair. The ice storm this past week missed us by a hair...we only lost power twice for a few minutes each time...but we are very happy that our emergency power system is now fully ready. We have a 5700 watt generator in place, and in the event of an outage, we can just plug it into the special generator breaker box, fire it up, and power heat and light and the water well. It's a major relief to us to not have to worry about this in the future. Those of you within driving distance might want to remember that we're happy to do talks for schools, church groups, and service clubs etc. Ralph macaw loves to travel with me and show off for crowds. So please tell your groups that we're available. We only charge expenses. January 8 2008 And a Happy New Year to all! FIVE new birds arrived today! Actually, three of them are birds that we placed three years ago. There's a new baby in the house, and an allergy situation. In any case, we have Rainbow, a sweet friendly Jenday conure; Herkie and Sweetie, a pair of cockatiels; Charlie, a wildcaught lilac-crowned amazon; and Paulie, an Indian Ringneck. Shaka has found a home, and will move in a week or so. Baby is negotiating for a home trial. Pirate is showing some pretty wild behaviour when he's exposed to multiple people or another macaw...I think he'll probably need to be either a single bird for a single person, or go with another macaw to someone who's content to look and not touch. Mac is out of quarantine, but we're still not sure what the cause of his intestinal upsets is...we're thinking a food issue right now. It's not dangerous, but we want to try to get it resolved before he goes anywhere. We also have two temporary visitors. PJ the Senegal is back for his second winter vacation. He suffers from a bad case of gout, and his feet don't work too well.; but he's completely sweet and we love to see him. Lucy is a very aged Blue-crowned conure, whose family can't have her right now for medical reasons. We've agreed to take care of her in the hope they can recover her some time. Finally...ET has an appointment tomorrow to take the wraps off her wing! She's going to be unrestricted at last! Now we can start rehabbing that damage. JANUARY 12 2008 More news today, mostly good. Mac has gone home...his medical issues turn out to be non-threatening, and he's back with the guy he loves. Also Shaka Grey went home today with a lady he clearly has fallen for. ET's wraps came off, and the healing is complete on the wing. The bad news is that the bone healed in such a way that she'll probabl;y never be able to extend that joint. But she has mobility in the shoulder and wrist joints, and the skini and feathers are fine...she's playing with toys, eating well, and learning to climb and perch again...all in all, a very fine outcome from what could have been much worse. We hope that ET may make friends with one of the gentler lady macaws here, and if she does, we'll hope to place them together. FEBRUARY 7 2008 Much coming and going this past three weeks, mostly going. Arthur is in his new home, as are Sam and Dave. Baby and Rainbow went together to their new home. Herkie tiel and his friend Sweetie are in quarantine because Herkie has an eye infection...we're treating that with Terramycin. A new boy on the block is Charlie Amazon...he's a gorgeous guy, with a lot of fears bcause of poor past treatment. He's improving rapidly though, and I have high hopes for him. We also added Paulie, a male ringneck parrot...he's pretty untame. The big happy news is that ET appears to have selected a family! She has been working with a long-time friend and supporter of the rescue, and it looks like she can go home sometime next week. It's been a long hard road for that girl, but it look slike things are coming out nicely for her. As winter wears on, we're getting eager to get started on construction. We're close to selecting a contractor, and have firmed up a lot of the building plans. FEBRUARY 16 2008 Much news this week. ET went home today, and she'll be a happy girl we think. Charley is making progress with not being so scared, and Paulie is starting to accept some handling. It appears that Herkie's infection is clearing up nicely, but he'll need another week in quarantine to be sure. Verdi seems to want to make frinds with PJ the handicapped Senegal that we're caring for...they may become permanent buddies. We've chosen a contractor and an excavator for the building, and they'll start work as soon as the ground is ready...and this morning we were notified of a new $10,000 donation! I'd estimate we're 90% toward the money for the new building, and can start thinking about equipping it. Please keep in mind that donations to Iowa Parrot Rescue are tax deductible, and are deeply apprciated by the birds. MARCH 15 2008 Lots of stuff to tell you today...for starters, we will be hosting a seminar on how to start and run a rescue in your home. Dates will be May 3 and 4, location here in our house. Registration will be limited to 12, so talk to me early if you're interested. Next, a new policy here; Abi and I have long felt that birds do much better if they aren't alone. So, as of now, we'll begin encouraging birds who come here for placement to find a pal that they can be placed with. We plan to place single birds only in homes where there are already birds they can see and hear. We won't require cage-mates, but we don't want any bird to be an "only" New voices in the house...mostly birds we placed who've returned. Ki ringneck came back because she couldn't get along with the other females in her flock. Four other ringnecks returned because of a health issue in their home, along with Sunny cockatiel. Verdi is off the board...he'll go home with PJ We're waiting eagerly for dry warm weather so the contractors can get started on the building...it's going to be a real dream come true. MARCH 22 2008 Charlie is now the major snuggler of the western world, and has shown that once he accepts a person, he's going to be a major sweetheart. We'll be looking for someone who can take the time to work with him to bond. Paulie and Ki ringnecks are now officially pals and cagemates...they'll be placed as a pair. Tomorrow Sunday March 23 I'll be in Des Moines for the MACBS bird fair. I'll have T-shirts, bonkyballs, and other stuff for sale. Hope to see everyone there! |
