Sunday, September 19, 2010

And to the Parrot Club we go..

Tonight was Parrot Club meeting night.

I didn't really want to bring a parrot along given it was a trivia night and I might have been busy otherwise. However, part of me thought would be a good idea to bring Pixel along since she hasn't got into a carrier since we went to get her at her previous home and went straight to the vet with her. Not necessarily the best experience to associate "good" with "carrier". But part of me also thought that she might be quite stressed in the new environment and I wasn't sure what she might do once there.

Nevertheless, I did end up deciding on bringer her along. I did not have any trouble putting her in the carrier although once in, she didn't seem very pleased. She seemed a bit nervous during the 20 minute car rid to the meeting room.

Once there and once out of her carrier, she was very cuddly at first, wanting to be on me and nowhere else. However...she did end up getting comfortable and wanting to explore the place. She was also very chatty. She did the Red-bellied species proud in her ability to "show-off" and be a clown with strangers watching her (something Joey, her brother, is also very capable of).

All and all, it was a great experience for her I'm sure and she was very happy to come back home and happily went in her cage for the night.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Fluffed'

In the midst of an intense preening session..

General fluffiness


Major head fluff

The downward stretch

As presented by a Meyer's and a Red-bellied parrot.



A little eggie

Which Meyer's is it??

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Poifect Preening

Will you preen me?


I'll preen you


Self scratching


Back to allopreening












Saturday, September 4, 2010

An itchy Lovebird..

..must scratch it's head!










(I was so happy that for once Piper was willing to have his picture taken..but it was hard to resist scratching his head for him. )

Air filtration

Let's go on the topic of air filtration with parrots.

I do believe it is important to have at least one air purifier when one owns parrots; while I don't tend to over sanitize anything I give them, since their respiratory system is quite fragile, investing in a good air purifier is required.

Yes, it will benefit your bird's health to have such a thing as well as your own health, especially for all of those living with rather dusty birds (cockatiels, cockatoos, African greys to name a few). As it turns out, I do think I am allergic to the dander issued by cockatoos and African greys, as I had a terrible time being around my mom's birds without having itchy eyes and a runny nose. The installation of an air purifier helped tremendously, to the point where I had no reaction when in the same room as the birds (and the purifier of course).

Now how to choose which air purifier to go with? Because let's be honest - there is plenty of choice to go around.

While I don't pretend to know which one is better, it's clear to me that you will get what you pay for. Invest as little as possible at first, you'll end up having to buy a whole lot of replacement parts if not having the replace the whole thing early on. Filters can also add up in costs so it's another thing to look into for long term spending.

I have two air purifiers.

When we got the first one, I couldn't bring myself to choose so we ended up with this one (as posted about here). While that one was technically "free", we did look it up before hand and it seemed to be pretty good without being over the top. And while it does seem to do a good job with keeping the air clean, it's not particularly quiet (regardless of what the website say - trust me).

Now for years I was thinking of getting a Rabbit Air purifier. I have to say it's one of the few times that advertisement in a magazine has got me to actually want something but seeing it repetitively in each monthly issue of BirdTalk..well I just wanted it. But due to the price and the fact that it would have to come from the States, I held off purchasing it. That is, until it was posted on a parrot forum that Rabbit Air was offering a discount to anyone from that forum who would order the BioGS SPA-421A purifier. So I took the leap. One of the major selling point at the time? How quiet it was and people were saying it was true.

I received my purifier earlier this week and I concur with all the others - it is indeed very VERY quiet. By having it run all the time, it mostly stays on the low setting and I don't hear a noise coming from it. I do know it's on since the sensor is quite sensitive and the level will turn up if it feels the need to (which always surprises me as I forget it's on). The turbo setting on the Rabbit Air is quieter than the low setting on my other air purifier..just to say how quiet it is.

It's also very thin and doesn't get in the way.



Joey also modeled the purifier.



I ordered straight from Rabbit Air and must say, they gave excellent customer service. It was a pleasure dealing with them.

Tippy Toes!



Ok fine he's not quite on his tippy toes but he is stretched as far as he can I'm sure..