Thorsmom
Checking out the neighborhood
Hi Everyone!
My name is Cathy. My husband, Frank, and I are proud parents of a 15 year old female Moluccan cockatoo named Thor, and a 7 year old Alexandrine parakeet named Fred.
Three years ago, Frank and I walked into a local pet store just to see what was in there. Bad idea. Of course, there was a bird room, and of course we went in. There was several large parrots sitting on their ONE perch with their ONE toy in their TOO SMALL cages. In spite of that, most all the parrots were nicely feathered and friendly... except one. Sitting quietly in the far corner of the room on a PVC pipe in a 2x3x4 galvanized ferret cage was a Moluccan cockatoo. Most of the feathers were missing on her chest, her back and her legs. She looked at my with sad, dark eyes. We were immediately smitten. I inquired to the pet store owner how they planned to get such a high price for a bald bird. Six weeks later, after weekly visits with Thor and a much lower purchase price, we happily drove home with our "purchase/rescue."
That night, Thor sat on a rocking chair and watched tv with us. She was so tired that she fell asleep on the chair. She didn't make a sound as I put her back in her tiny cage and covered her up. The next morning, I heard a tiny wolf-whistle coming from downstairs. In my half-awake state, I thought to myself, "Awww, that'll be nice to wake up to every day...." Five seconds later, a sound erupted from downstairs that could only come from avian lungs meant to carry miles and MILES across the rainforest.....
I could feel a spot on my face getting hot from a molten stare coming from the general direction of my husband. Sure enough, I turned my head to find one half awake bloodshot eyeball glaring at me from just above his pillow. "What in the name of God have YOU gotten us into?" he muttered.
And that was how it all started with Thor. We sure had some challenging moments with her in the beginning. What did WE know about owning a cockatoo, anyway? Well, we sure found out...quickly. And initially, we thought Thor was a "He," but when we took her to UTKnoxville, they did a blood test ( she had zinc toxicosis from that stupid cage) and it was then that we discovered that Thor was a "he." Couldn't change her name, though... after 15 years, she says it pretty darn well! Had we only waited a few more months, we would have found out for ourselves that Thor was a female- she happily laid an EGG in Frank's lap. And oh, the vocal celebration that followed THAT!!
We love Thor. She is a big, fat challenge and often a pain in the butt. But... that's what it's all about in Cockatoo-land. That's what we've learned and have accepted. And as much as people warned us about how difficult it is to care for a bird with such a "needy" nature, we have found out that we love caring that a bird with a "needy" nature! So... that works for us. Might not for some people.
Then 2 months ago, we adopted Fred, a 7 year old male Alexandrine. He was in the middle of a nasty divorce situation and had also spent his life in a small cage... VERY small. I was so intent upon rescuing him that I did not stop long enough to find out about Fred and the Alexandrine nature. Well, it's sure a lot different than Thor, that's for certain! I think he's still adjusting, but he's really not a cuddly sort of guy... and he has decided that he loves my husband Frank now, so I'm out of the "Fred Club" at this point. I wonder if I'll EVER get back in....
Before Thor came along, we had adopted a Caique and a Hahn's macaw that were best friends. During the time that we were searching for a forever home for them ( we have too many cats that were FAR too interested in those cutie-pies ), I fell in love with both of them... but most especially with that little Hahn's. He talked and talked and talked, and we had such a wonderful relationship... in spite of his occasional nippiness. Luckily, a wonderful family adopted them both and now the Caique is best friends with their Blue & Gold Macaw, and the Hahn's is buddies with their Red-Fronted macaw... AND their 10 year old son.
And I'm still stuck with Fred.... he even took the peanut that I offered him tonight and threw it right in the FLOOR, right in front of me. I know this was his way of "giving me the bird"... he was looking me right in the EYE when he did it. What the heck did I DO?
So.... time will tell.
I look forward to getting to know some of you all, and thanks for letting me be a part of this group!
My name is Cathy. My husband, Frank, and I are proud parents of a 15 year old female Moluccan cockatoo named Thor, and a 7 year old Alexandrine parakeet named Fred.
Three years ago, Frank and I walked into a local pet store just to see what was in there. Bad idea. Of course, there was a bird room, and of course we went in. There was several large parrots sitting on their ONE perch with their ONE toy in their TOO SMALL cages. In spite of that, most all the parrots were nicely feathered and friendly... except one. Sitting quietly in the far corner of the room on a PVC pipe in a 2x3x4 galvanized ferret cage was a Moluccan cockatoo. Most of the feathers were missing on her chest, her back and her legs. She looked at my with sad, dark eyes. We were immediately smitten. I inquired to the pet store owner how they planned to get such a high price for a bald bird. Six weeks later, after weekly visits with Thor and a much lower purchase price, we happily drove home with our "purchase/rescue."
That night, Thor sat on a rocking chair and watched tv with us. She was so tired that she fell asleep on the chair. She didn't make a sound as I put her back in her tiny cage and covered her up. The next morning, I heard a tiny wolf-whistle coming from downstairs. In my half-awake state, I thought to myself, "Awww, that'll be nice to wake up to every day...." Five seconds later, a sound erupted from downstairs that could only come from avian lungs meant to carry miles and MILES across the rainforest.....
"WAKE UP !!!! WAKE UP !!!! AAAAAAAAAAH !!!"
I could feel a spot on my face getting hot from a molten stare coming from the general direction of my husband. Sure enough, I turned my head to find one half awake bloodshot eyeball glaring at me from just above his pillow. "What in the name of God have YOU gotten us into?" he muttered.
And that was how it all started with Thor. We sure had some challenging moments with her in the beginning. What did WE know about owning a cockatoo, anyway? Well, we sure found out...quickly. And initially, we thought Thor was a "He," but when we took her to UTKnoxville, they did a blood test ( she had zinc toxicosis from that stupid cage) and it was then that we discovered that Thor was a "he." Couldn't change her name, though... after 15 years, she says it pretty darn well! Had we only waited a few more months, we would have found out for ourselves that Thor was a female- she happily laid an EGG in Frank's lap. And oh, the vocal celebration that followed THAT!!
We love Thor. She is a big, fat challenge and often a pain in the butt. But... that's what it's all about in Cockatoo-land. That's what we've learned and have accepted. And as much as people warned us about how difficult it is to care for a bird with such a "needy" nature, we have found out that we love caring that a bird with a "needy" nature! So... that works for us. Might not for some people.
Then 2 months ago, we adopted Fred, a 7 year old male Alexandrine. He was in the middle of a nasty divorce situation and had also spent his life in a small cage... VERY small. I was so intent upon rescuing him that I did not stop long enough to find out about Fred and the Alexandrine nature. Well, it's sure a lot different than Thor, that's for certain! I think he's still adjusting, but he's really not a cuddly sort of guy... and he has decided that he loves my husband Frank now, so I'm out of the "Fred Club" at this point. I wonder if I'll EVER get back in....
Before Thor came along, we had adopted a Caique and a Hahn's macaw that were best friends. During the time that we were searching for a forever home for them ( we have too many cats that were FAR too interested in those cutie-pies ), I fell in love with both of them... but most especially with that little Hahn's. He talked and talked and talked, and we had such a wonderful relationship... in spite of his occasional nippiness. Luckily, a wonderful family adopted them both and now the Caique is best friends with their Blue & Gold Macaw, and the Hahn's is buddies with their Red-Fronted macaw... AND their 10 year old son.
And I'm still stuck with Fred.... he even took the peanut that I offered him tonight and threw it right in the FLOOR, right in front of me. I know this was his way of "giving me the bird"... he was looking me right in the EYE when he did it. What the heck did I DO?
So.... time will tell.
I look forward to getting to know some of you all, and thanks for letting me be a part of this group!
to the Avenue Cathy!
Oh boy!
and 
Welcome to Avian Avenue!
