Testing out the Atom

Petey, Zuri and Joey have all tested out the Atom.
They seemed comfortable enough on it to preen at times.
Both Piper and Shade are still unsure about it though.

Some pictures.

Zuri


Zuri


Joey


Petey


Petey

Finally found out Zuri's hatchday!

Out of all my birds, the only one who's hatch date eluded me were the Meyer's. I guess this is a reality of owning a rehome/rescue bird, you do not always get all the background information.

I was lucky enough that Joey's former owner gave me his hatch certificate when I purchased him; he had got Joey straight from the breeder which meant he got as much information about Joey as possible before he brought him home.

Petey I will most likely never find out his hatch date. The band isn't particularly explicit and I've joined online groups that find out the meaning behind what is on the band and was never successful figuring out what Petey's inscriptions stood for, other than the year of birth. As far as contacting past owners, there are a few and the first I know about wouldn't be much helpful.

Zuri, on the other hand, happened to be hatched as the same aviary as Joey but was sold to a pet store by the breeder, who I happened to know, and his former owner got him there. I also happen to know one of the people working at the pet store, this same person co-runs the rescue from which I got Zuri and Petey, but he couldn't remember when Zuri first arrived at the store. When I first got Zuri, I had tried contacting Zuri's breeder, who no longer breeds bird, asking if she happened to remember when Zuri was hatched, based on the band information. Nothing. After talking to someone who happened to have a bird coming from the same aviary and who got an answer from the breeder for the same thing, I tried again. This time I got an answer.

Turns out Zuri was hatched May 2, 2007. Meaning he turned three at the beginning of the month. I'm very happy I got this information; not that Zuri cares when it's his birthday or not, but I like knowing this information.

So, since it's still May and that he never got his birthday thread, happy belated birthday Zuri :)

A shopping trip to Parrotdise Perch

Last week-end I was in the Toronto area.
I've gone a few times before, however I never even thought of heading out to Parrotdise Perch in Mississauga. Well, I did do just that on Sunday.

I went knowing I wanted one thing: a Mother Pluckin' Atom. Yes, I've made homemade versions of the atom myself using an array of supplies; hula-hoops, stainless steel screws, rope and PVC connectors or simply hula-hoops and vet wrap. The birds didn't mind them but I knew I one day wanted to purchase the real thing. What has stopped me so far? The one bird store here that had them for a while charged an insane price for them. Ordering them online meant shipping from the States and although I finally did do this once, I'm still a bit weary that I will someday get stuck with custom fees (less likely brokerage since most vendors seem to be using USPS to ship to Canada). Then I saw the price Parrotdise Perch sold them for; while more expensive than the US, once you factor in conversion rate as well as shipping costs, it seemed like it was advantageous to purchase it at Parrotdise Perch.

And I did.


The Mother Pluckin' Atom

Does that thing ever feel solid and well built! Definitely tighter than whatever I did with mine, the core is a stainless steel rod and the hardware, which is also stainless steel, used at the top allows the atom to rotate fully on itself without ever blocking.

While I was there, I tried not going overly crazy purchasing toys; I tried to keep in mind the price of some of the items elsewhere and this alone allowed me to put stuff back on the shelf (or to not even pick it up in the first place) since not everything was necessarily a better deal there. However, I did indulge in a few more Mother Plucking toys, as I face the same dilemma ordering those online as I did the atom. I got two of the Small Refillable Stainless Steel Corkscrew (since it was all they had left, would have liked one for each of my Poi (this item was too big for Piper)) as well as a Avian Mini Maze Muncher, which I have wanted to try out for a while.


The Small Refillable Stainless Steel Corkscrew and Avian Mini Maze Muncher

I also grabbed a few interesting looking foot toys and a babble ball.

Overall, it was a pleasant shopping experience and I'll probably drop by the store more often when I am in the area.

A green head Senegal

This is what happens when you mix water (bath) and a toy with a food grade colour base..



A bird with a died head.
Mind you, she only ever dies her head green. Life as a green head must be nice :)