eclectuswife
Meeting neighbors
Will try to work on getting some photos I can post on this computer...I adopted two Sun hens in June of this year. They have quite the story....I work as a caretaker at The Oasis Sanctuary in Benson, Arizona. Now, if you try to send a bird to the sanctuary, there is rather a long waiting list because we are full and normally only take about 50 birds a year, mainly little guys like Lovebirds, Budgies and Tiels if they can fly and live in the aviaries...other species, it's harder for us to find a spot unless some birds pass away or we have new areas build to house them. AND, all incoming birds are vet checked before they ever arrive at the sanctuary. Well, someone had two abandoned Suns and drove the out to the sanctuary one day as my boss, Janet, was getting off work. She could have told them we couldn't take them. Instead, she knew they had nowhere to go and took them herself to quarantine them in a back room of her own house, then tried finding an adoptee for them on Petfinder. As she got to know them, she started to fall in love with them...I birdsit for her, and also started to fall in love with them...and then I asked to adopt them. All their vet checks turned out fine, and I brought them to live at my house two months ago.
Now what I haven't told you is that they are both handicapped Suns. I decided to name them each after women in Beach Boys songs, since were my sunny summer birds. So Rhonda (from 'Help Me Rhonda') has part of her upper beak missing. She has trouble with harder pellets and large pieces of shelled nuts, but otherwise eats by herself quite well. Then there is adorable Caroline (from 'Caroline, No'). Caroline is missing a leg. But does it slow her down? No way! I have several platform perches in their cage, and she prefers to sit on those perches but she also likes to hang from the side of the cage or even perch balanced on one leg next to Rhonda. They are a little human shy yet, our vet guessed they are young birds, probably about 2 or 3 years old. Caroline is the more friendly of the two, though Rhonda will step up if she has to. Both love taking pistachio pieces from my hand. Rhonda is working on learning to fly, now that their wing clips are growing out. Caroline will fly but can't land easily with her one leg, so she tries to avoid flying. I am SO glad I adopted them both...have always loved Suns, and I'm not that noise sensitive as long as they aren't constant about it (again, they call when you come in the door, when they need to alert you, when a strange person or bird comes in the house or their room...totally reasonably yelling, in my book. Little sentinel/guard birds. And I adore how they preen each other and snuggle together in their yellow hut. Not much cuter than that! They have been very tolerant of both my Half Moon Conure and my Patagonian Conure, who they now share their room with. I will try to get a good photo of them soon to post.
Now what I haven't told you is that they are both handicapped Suns. I decided to name them each after women in Beach Boys songs, since were my sunny summer birds. So Rhonda (from 'Help Me Rhonda') has part of her upper beak missing. She has trouble with harder pellets and large pieces of shelled nuts, but otherwise eats by herself quite well. Then there is adorable Caroline (from 'Caroline, No'). Caroline is missing a leg. But does it slow her down? No way! I have several platform perches in their cage, and she prefers to sit on those perches but she also likes to hang from the side of the cage or even perch balanced on one leg next to Rhonda. They are a little human shy yet, our vet guessed they are young birds, probably about 2 or 3 years old. Caroline is the more friendly of the two, though Rhonda will step up if she has to. Both love taking pistachio pieces from my hand. Rhonda is working on learning to fly, now that their wing clips are growing out. Caroline will fly but can't land easily with her one leg, so she tries to avoid flying. I am SO glad I adopted them both...have always loved Suns, and I'm not that noise sensitive as long as they aren't constant about it (again, they call when you come in the door, when they need to alert you, when a strange person or bird comes in the house or their room...totally reasonably yelling, in my book. Little sentinel/guard birds. And I adore how they preen each other and snuggle together in their yellow hut. Not much cuter than that! They have been very tolerant of both my Half Moon Conure and my Patagonian Conure, who they now share their room with. I will try to get a good photo of them soon to post.