An old bird

[liz]

I have been thinking of the 70ish woman who wanted a bird but the daughter said she would not care for it when the Mom was gone. I don't know why I did not think to tell her about fostering.

[Pajarita]

When any of my animals needs to be put down or, in the very rare occasions when one dies on its own at home, I grieve terribly for them as each holds a part of my heart which ends up with a 'hole' when one of them is no longer here but, as I have so many that still need their 'mama', my routine remains the same and I think that helps A LOT with the healing process. That's why I always tell everybody not to wait and to get another one right away. I have a cousin who refuses to get another dog because the one she had (Simon, a German Shorthaired Pointer) 'could not be replaced' but what she doesn't understand is that the new one is not a 'replacement' of the one that died, no person or animal can replace one that is gone, they/we are all unique. The new one is just another baby to love and an opportunity to do a kindness to a homeless animal by giving it a good home. One doesn't find one child more 'irreplaceable' than another so why would an animal 'child' be different? Plenty of love for everybody!

[Navre]

Georges Mom, I can't help but think that you saved all those birds, and in return, quite literally, they saved you.

[Georges mom]

That's exactly what everybody said and I suppose it's true. Emergency responders called it canary in the coal mine . You read and hear those stories on the news but you just don't think it can happen to you. Anyone reading this thread get yourself a good carbon monoxide detector for every level of your home because they said if you're lucky, the pets die first. Lucky? Yes, but my heart was in pieces.

[Pajarita]

Yes, this is the kind of thing that we all think will never happen to us... It was the same with my friend, the one whose house caught fire from lint in the dryer (who would have thought, right?!)
I learned my lesson with window screens... It happened in my birdroom during a storm in Pa. We had been careful to make sure no trees were close enough to the house that a falling one would crash it but I never thought about large branches flying through the air and crashing against a window, knocking down the screens and breaking the glass, leaving a big hole for the birds to fly out. I lost a dove and some budgies this way and I never could find them...

[Georges mom]

Pajarita--- That can be even worse because you never knew what happened to them. No
Closure. Changing the topic ..... Can George eat cherries?? Can't seem to find anything on it. He doesn't like everyday fruits yet I keep introducing them to him. Bananas and grapes yes but all melons, berries nope! He likes the more exotic fruits. He's really up in my face when I'm eating cherries but I just didn't know if he could have them. He gets his fruit in the morning with a baby carrot. He's a carrot addict.... loves them.

[Wolf]

Cherries are listed as a safe fruit for George, but he can not have the pit or seed whichever you prefer to call it. Additionally the wood and foliage from the tree is toxic.

[Pajarita]

All my birds love cherries (even the canaries get a half each) and, as they are in good price right now (they need to be organic), they have been getting them, at least, once a week. And they get them whole, too! I've never had a problem with any of them swallowing the pits. The only thing you need to do is remember that you fed him cherries because you are going to find scary black poop after and, if you are like me, you will panic BIG TIME if you don't

And try giving him blueberries, July is the best month for them, they are highly nutritious and my zons LOVE them! (Bad poop alert for them as well as blackberries, another favorite of them).

[Georges mom]

I've tried blueberries for the last 5 days and he won't touch them. I'm going to keep trying because sometimes George can be a slow mover on new things. I have a concern though, I've ordered George a new cage and it should be here this week. Is it traumatic for them to go to a new cage?? It's exactly the same size but the color is different. I was just going to take him upstairs leave him to hang out then I'd go down and transfer his gazillion toys over to the new one. I'll keep everything the same in the transfer. Is that the right approach?? Would appreciate advice/comments on this.

[Wolf]

I am certain that George will notice the difference in the color of the cage because they see more colors than we do. This may or may not have much of an effect on him, I guess that depends on what he thinks about the color. Changing cages does not need to be stressful for any parrot. I would place the new cage right next to the old one with food and water in the new cage, a perch or two and one or two of his favorite toys. I would probably try to feed his dinner to him in the new cage and then allow him to move into the new cage at his own pace.