Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[liz]

Rambo is 20+ and has never been caged. (I think it should be Rainbow but he gets really upset if I mispronounce his name). Myrtle is pushing 5. She spent her first year of life in a cage too small for a cockatiel. I had Phoenix in it and could not wait to get him out.

Something I thought of the other day is I have the chicken syndrom
I don't get up until I see sunshine and head for bed at dusk.

[liz]

I just got back from a 500 mile trip to Florida to look at a home with a built in aviary. I loved it and my babies would have too but the owner was sending me too many different signals.
I got afraid that it was too good to be true.
I will keep searching for a home where I can build an indoor outdoor aviary.
Does that make me the biggest bird nut?

[liz]

I found an egg on the floor of a cage. It could have been Maggie or Lola but as small as it was I suspect Lola. She is the one who calls me between 6 and 6:30 am every day. There is no mating in that cage. It is just Maggie, Lola, Flutter and Phoenix.
I still have the problem with my first three birds. Shadow still has Tammy and Tommy is the odd man out. I hope to find a lutino female that needs me so I can add one that at least looks like Sweetie. That is all I can think to do.
I was willing to move my family 500 miles just to give my birdies an outside aviary to play in. I would drive 250 for a bird.

[Pajarita]

Well, all it takes for an indoor aviary is a spare bedroom or an unused attic. My dream is to live in a ranch type house (no more stairs!!!) and to have two dedicated rooms for the birds that open up to an outdoor aviary with dirt for flooring and trees growing in it for the good weather months.

[liz]

I don't like the idea of putting them in their own room. I want mine in the middle of everything. They seem to like it. They are never alone. If I am not there something will go through soon. I do like the idea of opening to an outdoor aviary with soil and plants.

[Wolf]

Liz sent me this picture of Rambo and Myrtle. Apparently Myrtle wants what Rambo has.

[liz]

Wolf, thank you for the post.
Yes Myrtle always wants what Rambo has.
That is the bedroom window sill that Rambo chews on while he watches me in the garden. He waits there to see if I find the kind of green bean he wants. If I do I lift the screen and give it to him.

[Pajarita]

And you can see where he chews the sill, too!

[liz]

Last evening when I turned the bird light off, Rambo and Myrtle were doing the wolf call back and forth. Then I heard tiny little voices chime in with the wolf call. It was so funny and heart warming.
I know I am not suppose to give the birds bread but it has been a couple months. I had a bread stick left over from Olive Garden so I shared it between the birds. When I got to the newby cage with Lola, Maggie, Flutter and Phoenix, Lola helped herself to the one in my hand. I held my hand still for a while and let her chomp. Then Flutter moved in and asked if he could do it. It was precious for a wild thing to want to do what Lola was doing.
I increased the food in the newby cage this morning. These four belong to the clean plate club. They never have leftovers. I give the same amount as the cage with five.

[Wolf]

Yeah, if there are no leftovers then they are not getting enough, at least that is what I think, with the exception of an obese bird.
About your window sill, you could get some aluminum flashing like roofers use to cover the sill so that the birds can't eat the paint. With no more than you would need a roofer might just give you a piece that is long enough if you told them why you wanted it. It is a product that I keep on hand and if I had known about your sill when you brought the budgies up I would have given you a piece right then. Even another board of untreated white pine or fir would work fine even though they would chew on that, but the advantage over the aluminum is that the aluminum might get hot enough to burn their foot where the wood would not.