More excuses than ever to show up here

[Logan]

And the reason is: We have added a BIRD to our house. It should prove to be interesting. Do cats ever understand the word "NO" ?? I think not. But we have devised a system to keep everyone away from the hamsters and on the new little fellow's ventures outside of his cage, doors will be closed and no dogs or cats will be around.

He is adorable, and nameless so far. Because Helen hasn't seen him yet!! :D He's her birthday gift, one that should live a long, long time. I picked him up, with all of his gear a little while ago. He is beautiful. Yellow and gray. I have LOTS of reading to do, but I can already tell that we will enjoy this newest member of our large family!! He's a Cockatiel and is approximately 2 months old. Very tame already, and very noisy!! He's been a bit quiet since we got home, but that is to be understood after the car ride, the new environment, etc. I'm sure he'll be fine, if our other pets are any indication.

I am soliciting any advice from fellow bird owners, especially anyone who has both cats and birds. I am so excited!! A new creature in our house. We now have two dogs, two cats, two hamsters (yes, our dear Phoebe is still holding on), two hermit crabs and now this new boy.

Any name ideas?? I know Helen would love ideas. I'll be sure to get lots of pictures tonight when she sees him. :)

Logan

[purrley]

Oh my gosh Logan a cute little cockatiel, what an avid animal lover you are. The only thing I can say is don't let the bird out around the cats!!!! - I did that once, BAM!!!!no more bird:( happens in a blink of an eye.

[tatsxxx11]

Congratulations Logan! Boy, did you take me by surprise!! I've ALWAYS wanted a bird. But, the cats and dogs being around always did concern me. Especially since all of the parrot owners I know of allow their birds to be out of their cage quite frequently. Seems they are just not the type of birds that like to be continually confined in their cages. But, I know you'll be very careful; especially if Butter's around!!:D And they are very demanding in the "attention" dept. as we have read on Pet Talks Parrot POTD'S!!:D:D:D Helen is going to be SO thrilled!! What a great, living, loving gift! And long-lived for sure! That's a good thing! Happy to hear that Phoebe is hanging in there. Bless her little Hammie heart:( I don't have any knowledge really, as to their care though. I know there are lots of websites re: Cockatiel care and message boards, as I already considered getting one myself before I got my piggie, Squeekers!! Yup, sounds like a lot of reading is on the menu for you and Helen!!:) Isn't having a "new one" such fun!! I'm so happy for you two. Keep us updated. I have a feeling we'll be seeing some pics very soon! Now, a name! You have to give us a brief personality profile first!!

[Logan]

Believe me, that birdie will not be out of his cage when any cats are around. No way!! He is in his little cage (well, it is not so little, as it cost as much as he did :o ) and has already come out very happily onto my hand. They did say that it would take a while for him to get adjusted. He is perched way up high, so the dogs can only see him from the floor and not reach him. The kitties, we will watch closely.

I have the feeling that we will have a terrific time with him. I am living out my childhood fantasies via Helen. And when we have to go out of town next week, he'll head back to the pet store to socialize some more.

Logan :)

[tatsxxx11]

That was my next question... I knew you guys were leaving next week. SO who's the BirdSitter???LOL!! That will be a nice transition for him. I can't WAIT to see the pictures!!!! Well, has Helen seen him yet, huh??????? UPDATE! I'm so excited for you two!:)

[Former User]

Originally posted by Logan
Do cats ever understand the word "NO" ??
Logan

LOL LOL,
Logan, the answer would be 'no' :D :D ;)

[Pam]

Logan congratulations on your latest arrival! :) I know Helen will be thrilled and we are all awaiting the PICTURES! I would never attempt bird ownership around here and it's not just the cats I would worry about. As you know, Bella decided to dine on a bird in the yard a few months back. YUCK! I wish you lots of fun with your new addition. Is it a boy or girl or can't you tell? :D

[zippy-kat]

I had a female cockatiel; her name was Jackie.

Logan, I have an aunt who just recently went out of bird rescue...if you have any questions, I'm sure she'd be able to answer them. If you'd like her email, let me know!

She's had everything from parakeets to african greys. Right now, she has Chedder and Cheeto (canaries) & there's another one but I can't think of his name/breed right now...:rolleyes:

[AmberLee]

Has Helen seen the bird yet?

You are one brave pet-mommy, but that's not a surprise, right?

Would love to see photos and get updates.

What's the bird's personality like? (So we can suggest names...)

[carrie]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

After we talked last night ( or the night before???) I just knew you were going to get this bird.

It will be a pain, a worry, become your main concern (as in, "Did you shut the door?!") be always on your mind (as in, "Are you sure? Go and check! NOW! QUICKLY!!!!!!") and wake you up really early at weekends and keep you up really late on summer nights (did I forget to mention that?).........but keep handling him and within two weeks you will not be able to imagine life before he arrived.

Helen is going to flip!!!! She will just love this.

She's going to have a problem deciding on dogs, cats or bird in the bedroom though. If Birdie is going in her room don't think a cage will keep him safe from dogs and, most certainly not, from cats!!!!!

Ask Karen!!!

[Logan]

I'm going to try to make this short, but I have to explain it the way it happened.

When I picked up Helen after her piano lesson, it was a few minutes after 5. She didn't say anything about the bird. I headed towards home, and about half way home, she said "is there anyway we can go to see the bird and get some information about them?". :p I stared at the road while I drove, and told her that I had something I absolutely had to do first, but if they were open later than six that I would consider riding over and buying a book about Cockatiels. She made a little pouty face, but turned her head towards the window, so I couldn't see. I reminded her what a huge decision this is, and that it is very expensive, so we would just have to wait and see.

When we pulled in the driveway, I tried to cheer her up by telling her that she had received a package from Sandra. "Could it be a birthday gift? Wasn't it sweet of Sandra to remember your birthday, Helen? The package is on the couch. " She came in and headed to her bedroom!! Then she asked me why the doors to the living room were closed. I told her that I was getting ready to vaccuum and I didn't want the dogs to go back in there until I was finished (what a lie!!). So she went in, sat down on the couch, and opened the package. There were two envelopes inside in addition to the package and she asked me to get her the letter opener, please. She NEVER looked up to the piano. I couldn't believe it. He was sitting right there in broad daylight!! LOL!! Then all of the sudden, as I was headed towards the office to get the letter opener, we heard a loud "chirp"!! You can't imagine the look on her face!! She looked at the bird, she looked at me and then jumped up and ran to.........................ME!!!!!! I have never gotten a hug like that, at least not since baby Honey ran across the room to greet her three years ago.

Roger immediately got on Helen's hand, walked up her sleeve and settled down on her shoulder. You know what he did? He went to sleep. He had not slept all day, and it was almost like he was saying "she's here now and I can rest". So, so sweet....YES, I cried. And that girl's eyes were full of tears too.

He had not talked since I brought him home, but when Helen put him back in the cage and left the room a while later, he YELLED!!! I think they are going to be best buddies.

We have decided that at night, Roger will go in the spare bedroom with the door closed. I don't want to ruin the routine all the other animals have in the evenings. Honey and Mimi sleep on Helen's bed (I know what you're thinking, Carrie :o ) And Lilly sleeps on the floor at the foot of the bed. Butter sleeps with me, when he is inside. At 9 pm, we went back to the room, covered his cage with a sheet and told him "night night". He has been quiet since then. I think he is exhausted!!

The only ones who have noticed him are Butter and Lilly. Lilly has been frantic to get in the room with him, and right in front of our eyes, Butter jumped up beside the cage in the living room, thus our decision to move him to a safer spot to sleep. He can spend his days on the table in my office, where I can see him and talk with him. But my other furry friends have already made me realize that I will have to watch them closely. I'm sure the newness will die down in a while, but I will be diligent about the separation.

I'm exhausted!!! :) But I'm happy, because my girl is so happy.

Logan

PS..no Carrie, you did not tell me that I would be awakened early....I'm going to get you for that! LOL!!


I am such a ding dong :o . Aly, thanks for catching my slip up!!! His name is ROGER!!! And for some reason, I keep wanting to call him Ralph!!! LOL!!

[auggie]

Logan, you're such a great Mom!
Congratulations on your new feathered addition.
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY HELEN!!

[aly]

Oh I have tears in my eyes after reading about Helen's meeting with Ralph (I thought you called him Roger in another post?). That would be my absolute dream birthday. You're a great mom, Logan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Helen!!! I already know it was a wonderful day for you :)

[gini]

Happy Birthday, Helen and yes, you have the world's best Mom.

Your birthday surprise story brought tears to my eyes as well.

I hope you and Mr. Ralph have a long and happy life together and soon he will be talking to you all of the time, instead of yelling at you when you leave the room.

We will need some pictures as soon as Mom can handle it.

Love to you all!

[Logan]

Thank you, Aly for noticing I screwed up the name!!!! :o He is Roger, and is darling!! Yes, Helen had an extremely Happy Birthday!!! :D

[AdoreMyDogs]

Logan,

Congrats on your new featherbaby :) He sounds lovely. So he's mostly yellow? That would make him either a pied or a lutino cockatiel. I love cockatiels. As long as they are hand fed or hand tame, they make great pets for kids. They rarely go through the "hormonal stage" that the conures and larger parots do. They are very charming and long living :) and they remain gentle.

I had a cockatiel, a rescue actually, named TuTu (I didn't name him :) ) but he fell victom to a terrible accident while I was asleep during the night before my high school graduation :(

I have also had dogs and cats with birds. Since I started getting the bigger birds ( I had a breeding pair of maroon belly conures, a cockatiel, and a goffins cockatoo) the dogs and cats realized that those birds were off limits.

They actually became AFRAID of them! Especially my cockatoo! Pica would walk on the floor looking for mischief, and if the dogs or cats were withing eyesight, she'd RUN over to them and start biting their tails playfully...then the dogs or cats would wag their tails in annoyance and it would make Pica want to nibble on that tail more and more until the cat or dog just couldn't take it anymore and got up and ran away :) Pica then promptly nipped at their ankles until they ran out of sight :)

My suggestion would be to use a water bottle and squirt the dogs and cats away from the cage, but you probablly already thought of that :)

I wish you all the best with Roger. I hope everything works out and the doggies and kitties learn that he's not a toy!

Happy birthday, Helen. Logan, you're a GREAT mom!

[aly]

Are there any pictures of him yet? I'm dying to see the cutie! Just wanted to make sure I'm not missing them if they're on a different post.

[Logan]

I've taken pictures, Aly, but haven't had them developed yet. I'll post them right here, as soon as they are developed so no one will miss any!! :)

[lbaker]

So Logan...how are things working out with Roger et al?? Has he settled in yet? Rest of the crew forgive you for the latest "intruder":rolleyes: pics??

[Logan]

Oh, Laurie, Roger is a wonderful addition to our family!! Helen and I both simply adore him. Mimi ignores him completely (this is not a bad thing), Butter has expressed a lot of interest in him, but now knows to run like heck when he sees me coming, and Honey and Lilly are very fascinated with him and the noises he makes. But none of them are ever in the room with us when we take him out of the cage. Believe me, no one is deprived of attention though. Each one gets their own session with Mom or Helen every day. :)

Roger loves life, and especially loves playing around the computer I have found. It is always fun to try and type with a bird standing on your hand! Can make for some pretty interesting spelling! I should say, atrocious spelling!

Thanks for asking.

[RachelJ]

Just as I expected the surprise for Helen was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. What fun you two will have with Roger and keeping busy with a new baby is the best way to keep your mind off of the sad loss of Phoebe. I don't envy you with the logistics of cats, dogs, hamster, and bird though. That's where my age shows I'm afraid. I just couldn't do it.

[Logan]

UPDATE!!!

Roger has found his voice. Now it is not the one pitch "cheep" or "scream". He's singing!!! And he has discovered his swing too!!! I wrote some of my Pet Talk buddies this morning and said Roger is "singin and swingin". He is!! All of this was discovered during last night's Super Bowl!

Gosh, we're only one week into bird ownership, but it is fun, fun, fun!!!! I AM NOT GOING TO GET ANOTHER ONE! :o

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by Logan
I AM NOT GOING TO GET ANOTHER ONE! :o

I give her a month before Roger-ette enters the picture...what do you guys think? lol ;)

[NoahsMommy]

hee hee Zippy!!!! :D

Logan....I am SOOOOO jealous!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE birds! Especially cockatiels! They are the GREATEST birds...you and Helen are going to be in love with Roger (I almost called him Ralph!). When I moved out to get married, my mom gave me her parrot cage so that I could get a bird. Well, Noah came along and did this:
http://www.photogra.com/galleries/35179/curr/3927685_20020124_181156_20020124181156.jpg

I think the poor thing would die of a heart attack! :(

By the way, they are VERY frail creatures when it comes to that. Just think of them as a really frail/ill person, someone who can't handle drafts (at all) or any sudden outbursts. They are known (just like bunnies) to have heart attacks with out any notice. :(

They are such a JOY! I look forward to hearing all about Helen's new buddy! That is SO cool that they have bonded so quickly. Cockatiels tend to bond to certain people and they are like most animals, very perceptive to the character of people. Our bird was "Murphy" (after Murphy Brown...mom liked that show) although he was a boy. He would chirp and sing when he heard mine and/or my mom's car coming down the road...he'd be so happy we were home, but he only did that to us...until my hubby came into the picture and he would love it when David came over. Too cute!! :)

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Happy Birthday, Helen!!! It sure sounds like you had a wonderful day!:) ;)

Congratulations on your sweet Roger!!!

[NoahsMommy]

Any pictures yet?? I cant wait to see him!!! :)