I have been waiting on posting anything, just in case, I didn't want to jinx it, but now that everything is set up.....at this time in 2 weeks, GRACIE WILL BE HOME (as long as she doesn't hate me!!!)!!!

Take a look at my beautiful girl!!!



Yes, she is a special needs bird, but that doesn't keep her from doing everything everyone else can. She's just a little slower getting there;) We're in no rush over here and my heart just fills with love everytime I think about little Gracie.

I will write more later!!! Sleepy....

The Lazy Way to Make Your Bird Happy- Chapter 1- TOYS!

Alot of bird parents put a toy or two in their bird's cage and think that's good enough for the bird's lifespan. Imagine if you were kept in a room for 30 years with only a couple things to do. No wonder our birds develop behavrioral issues! They're bored to the point of insanity!

Or they might buy them a new toy every year or so just for a treat. Just to put this into perspective for you- depending the species and region, most birds in the wild fly miles a day, hitting up all different types of places, foraging for their food, pretty much for 8 hours. They see lots of different things, different places, and are constantly in a changing environment. So compare that to sitting in a cage all day with one or two toys, eating out of a dish. Painfully B-O-R-I-N-G and overall just really bad for your bird on many many levels. Frankly, nothing that we ever do will ever provide them with equivalent enrichment. But since humans have decided to bring these creatures into homes, it's our job to *do our best* to make sure they're as happy as they can be.

Making toys on toy making day!

I try to make sure my birds have a new variety of toys at least every 2-3 days, depending on what the toys are and how into them they are. If they are just having a great time with a particular toy seemingly daily, I'll
leave it in for longer. And I do leave Gus' favorite toy in year round, because he's a quaker and had an anxiety fit if I don't. But everything else gets constantly rotated. "But Kate," you say- "My bird isn't interested in toys!" Alas, to this I say "keep trying!" I was told that Sid was toy phobic. He wasn't, but he was definitely not happy about being presented with most. So for the first month he was here, I'd hang toys a few feet from his cage for a few days.Then I'd put it on the outside of his cage. If he seemed interested, I would just put it in his cage. if not, I'd leave it there until he did seem itnerested. I still have to do that with some toys, but most I can now just put right in and he'll go right to it within 5 minutes. It's especially helpful if I have him *WATCH* me stick a treat somewhere in it. Another thing is that sometimes birds won't play with things in front of you. I look for signs that they've been played with if I'm gone- has it moved? Is there any piece that looks disturbed? Also when I am home, I try to peak into the bird area sometimes to see. Most of the toys I thought they hated, they do play with, just in thier own way. Lastly, I would say to change up the types and function of toys. Sid loves toys he can tear up. Gus loves shiney things and things that he can preen. Sid will will rip things up when he forages, Gus likes to pick things out of various items the most. Try everything and be persistant. Also, reward him for going near a toy, if you see him interacting with it in any way. Also, try
playing with it yourself first. Make it seem like the most fun EVER. Do it often. Don't give up!!!!

You don't have to spend alot of money to have a wide variety of toys for your bird. Now, the bigger your bird (or more active your bird), I would say the more you'd have to spend due to their ability to annhiliate a toy in 5 minutes flat, but you still don't have to break the bank to do so if you'd willing to just put in a an hour or two once a month or so. Once a month or so, I bring out several boxes and containers of toy making
parts. This includes treats, paper items such as dixie cups, coin rolls, stuff from the dollar store like fingercuffs, bird safe balls, a roll of hemp twine, a roll of cotton twine, thicker rope, wood that I sawed off of
untreated blocks I bought on the cheap, vine balls, tongue depressors, toilet paper rolls, index cards, straws, half destroyed toy parts or toy parts that were on a toy they didn't go for, and all sorts of other stuff.
And I just sit and make toys while watching a movie. I try to make half of them foraging toys or have some foraging aspect to them, a fourth of them destructable toys, and the other fourth other random toys. Most of the toys are simple and take me a minute or two to make- tops. Bigger/more complicated toys take a little longer. My birds get kind of freaked out by large toys anyways, so most of my toys are super simple and
unintimidating. But you can go as simple or as creative as you want. The advantage to making your own toys is that 1.) You're not spending 10-20 bucks on a toy they may or may not even like 2.) You can put things onthat you KNOW your bird will go for 3.) Most of them are free or very very cheap . Google "Parrot Enrichment" for some great DIY toy making ideas!

Then I try to rotate the toys daily. Now, sometimes if I've seen that they obviously haven't touched a toy, I may leave that one in for a couple days. Sometimes they just need a couple days to decide that it holds interest for them. Some toys just got the birdy thumbs down, so I put their parts back into the parts box for recycling into another toy the next month. Because alot of the time, they just didn't like that toy, but may be interseted in those parts if on different toy. However, you need to clean these. I either soak them or scrub them with 50/50 Vinegar Water depending on what it's made of. This is the only disinfectant that I feel safe using and confident that it will do the job. I know that other people also
use GSE, but I'm old fashioned and like my vinegar!

Toy Making Supplies

EASY ACCESS TO FORAGING SUPPLIES

I start with what I call my "Foraging Filler Tub"- During toy making day, I fill a tub full of different foraging fillers appropriate for their species' size (paper, twine, broken off toy pieces that couldn't really go onto a toy, buttons, river rocks (large enough there's no risk of choking), twigs, larger beads, cotton rope pieces, balls, caps from water bottles, pieces of finger cuffs, etc.) So every day, I can just reach in, grab a handful or two, and throw it on top of some pellets (luckily, they both seem to think that pellets are treats as good as sunflower seeds (YES!!!), so about 5-10% of thier diet ends up being pellets, which is good for Vitamin D supplementation during the winter when I can't get them any sun, and random treats in a tray. Literally takes 5 seconds. Gus LOVES it. I also change the tray type a few times a week to make it interesting. Sid doesn't like foraging trays much, no matter what I put in there. But Gus will visit his over and over throughout the day, as he LOVES ground foraging (which also means I had to drop his cage bottom so he wouldn't forage in his poopy catcher, looking for whatever he's dropped and which also means I a have to be very deliegent about keeping him off of our floors since I never know what the little bugger will find, no matter how clean).

I also make easy destructable foragers ahead of time and put them in a container, filled with fillers from the filler tub and various treats and throw one of those in the cage daily. Dixie cup foragers I put in a variety of locations to increase the challenge (hanging from a perch where so he has to lift with their foot to get it, putting cup inside a foraging cage, doubling or tripling the cups to make it harder, hanging from outside of the cage when I'm gone so they have to really work to get it all out, etc. Another destructiable forager I keep a stock of is that I put half a millet spray through a paper coin holder roll. These are a huge hit with Sid. I also stick other things in there and tie the ends. Another thing is Bird Bagels- I stuff one end with scrinkled gift paper, throw some random treats in the middle, stuff the other side with more paper to hold the treats in.

The third foraging staple I keep in stock is coffee filters. I use the non Bleached ones, throw a bunch of stuff in it, tie it and voila! I also sometimes just fill them random things and non food items like buttons or  maybe just a foot toy. It's like a slot machine. People get addicted because they don't know the outcome. Keep em guessing!!!

HANGING TOY ROTATION

 I have a 30 pocket over the door shoe holder. You can get them at Target for about 7 bucks. You can also use a tie hanger rack, or you can just put a bunch of toys in a container or box or whatever you have sitting around. Whatever works for you. I like my shoe hanger because I can easily grab a new toy, I can see the toy through the clear plastic, and I basically use the 30 pockets to represent 30 days of the month. So I just work through each pocket- row by row until I get to the end and then it's toy making day again! I also can easily put in two toys, specifically if I know Guswill not like a particular toy, I'll put a second one in that might hold more interest for him.

Keeping your bird busy is like keeping a young kid busy- it makes them smarter, better excercised, and alot better behaved all around. Remember, a busy bird is a quiet(er) bird! Enrich your birds life and do it in a way
that doesn't inconvenience your own life- the easier you make things on yourself, the more consistent you'll be in keeping things exciting for your feathered babies. And the less time you fiddle around with stuff daily, the more one and one time you can give them! And don't forget, use toy making time as fun time for your bird too! Let them "help"- yes, it may take you more time but it will likely be great fun! If your bird is a little flightly around new things, put them a few feet away so they can see you making the toys and make it seem like the most fun thing you've ever done.

Eh, who needs a Blackberry?

Gus likes to by my assistant with pretty much whatever I'm doing. He often feels that I'm not doing things well enough and will chatter away at me and whatever I'm moving or touching. He only does this chatter when he's being bossy or for some reason he does it in his food bowl. Or if he decides that he really doesn't like something, he'll just hiss and try to bite it.

It took a long time to get him to stop attacking my phone. He would stalk it, no matter how far away, run and try to kill it. He's so good now that while I'm texting, he sits on my hand right next to it and just watches the screen and my fingers moving, supervising as always. Well I was texting last night and I stopped to look up at something and for some reason, I heard my phone still texting. Confused, I looked down and saw that Gus was imitating the clicking texting noise! That's the first brand new sound he's made in several months! Who needs a Blackberry when you have Gus? He can just text people for me!

So adorable! And such a good assistant

The Gustexting I can get use to, but it would be great if I could talk him into giving up on redesigning my shoes and giving me haircuts when I'm not looking... But apparently he needs to assist me in my fashion life as well.