Since Sydney is out of quarantine and has been adjusting well to us humans, I decided it was time to introduce her to Lenore and Digby. Digby and Lenore have been able to hear Sydney ever since she came home, and Lenore and Sydney will often chirp back and forth. Digby and Lenore have also seen Sydney several times now.

Because Lenore and Sydney "talk" to each other all the time, I let them meet before I introduced Digby to Sydney. Lenore really liked Sydney. There was almost zero squabbling from the two of them. They sat perfectly content on my knee for quite a while. Since Lenore likes everybody, I already expected the two of them to get along pretty well because Sydney is very laid back.

Moments after meeting (FYI, bird pictures taken with phones usually are no good)

A couple days after that, it was time for Digby to meet Sydney. I knew that if I was going to have trouble with introductions, this was where it would be. I was right. I got Digby out and let her play with Lenore for a while. Then Lenore was ready to go to bed, so I put him in his cage. I spent a few minutes with Digby by herself, then put her on the playstand. I went into the other room and got Sydney out of her cage and just cupped her in my hands against my body.

When I got back to the dining room, I sat down in the chair next to the playstand and just held Sydney and petted her. After a minute, I let her go and she perched on the napkin holder. Then Digby came and sat on my shoulder, watching Sydney. I put Digby on the table and Sydney came over to say hi. Then Digby went after Sydney! She grabbed onto her back but thankfully wasn't able to get a good grip before Sydney flew away and back to the napkin holder.

Digby came back to me for a couple minutes, then decided she wanted to go to Sydney. She walked straight across the table to where Sydney was perched and tried to bit Sydney's leg. Sydney was, again, too fast for Digby. That was the end of attempted introductions for the night. I put Digby back on the playstand and held Sydney until Sydney wanted on the playstand and I switched the birds around. The two girls sat within a few feet of each other, Digby on my shoulder, Sydney on the playstand, and they ignored each other the rest of the evening.

A very interesting question was raised on Avian Avenue yesterday.

The question was, "Do you ever feel guilty about aviculture?"

A lot of people chimed in saying they did and one person said they'd give up their birds if it meant that owning birds could be illegal. Only a very small number of people said they didn't feel guilty; I was one of those. Somebody said that with this question, a can of worms was opened, and I completely agree.

I don't feel guilty about owning birds. I don't feel guilty about aviculture. I really think guilty is the wrong word. I find that ashamed is a better word, and I do feel ashamed about the state of the industry and at times I even feel angry about it. There are many, many things wrong with not only the aviculture industry, but the pet industry as a whole.

I think in order for one to feel guilty about something, they have to have had a big part in causing it and have some power to either have prevented it in the first place or change it. Seeing as I didn't cause the current state of aviculture and I certainly can't change it by myself, I don't feel guilty about it. I am guilty of at times supporting it, and I am trying to get better about that. I no longer shop at big box pet stores unless I have no choice, and I certainly will never purchase another animal from a big box store. I am guilty of being part of the industry, having spent a year working at a big box pet store, and that is something I will never do again.

No, I don't feel guilty about aviculture. I can't feel guilt because I didn't cause it, but like I said, I am ashamed of and angry at the shape of the industry. There are too many birds without homes, too many birds dying too soon, too many birds being taken out of their natural environment, too many companies selling products that are dangerous or just detrimental to the health of our birds. This is not something that any one pet owner is responsible for. I think we, as a community, have helped it on its way, but I also think that the community, at least those members of the community who care about these things, are trying very hard to correct the problems caused by our predecessors in the hobby and the industry.

When it comes to my own birds, I don't feel even a tinge of guilt. All three of them are quite happy. They have everything they need, plus some. They have fresh food and water, they have a safe place to live in, sleep in, and relax in. They get to go outside sometimes. They have enrichment and foraging opportunities. They don't have to worry about predators; they seldom have a reason to be afraid of anything. They have the companionship of not only their human flock members, but also their feathered flock members. When they are sick, they are cared for.

Things aren't perfect for them, but that is what I strive for while knowing perfection could never be met. My three have never known a life outside of the type of life they have (except maybe Sydney, but I don't really know what her life was like). They know nothing about what life is like outside of being pets and companions. They don't know what they're missing, and so I don't feel guilty. I would feel guilty if they had been given that freedom and then had it taken away.

It's been quite a while since I last posted an update about Sydney and getting her to like people.

There hasn't been much change. I've worked with stick training her a bit. She refuses to step up. If I can get her to fly off the surface she is on, she will land back on the perch I am holding. That's the best I've been able to get her to do.

Up until this past week, I haven't really done much with Sydney other than letting her out of her cage and being in the same room as her. This week though, I got brave. When I was letting her out of her cage, I didn't wait for her to come out. I reached in and grabbed her.

I had never held her before then.  I expected that I would be bit and she would struggle to get away. Not so. I discovered that I can pick her up and put her on my shoulder. I can simply hold her cupped in my hands. She doesn't struggle. She doesn't bite.

Read those previous two sentences again: She doesn't struggle and she doesn't bite. She does struggle just a tiny bit sometimes, but it's the not biting that amazes me. She is actually extremely careful to not bite me. The other day, I was picking her up and she was going to use her beak to grip my hand a little better. I would have no problem with her doing this. But she open her beak, put it on my hand, and then just as quickly removed it.

So, I tried something else. I held her in my hand with her feet on my thumb and my palm over her back. I flipped my hand over so that she was on her back. She didn't struggle. I only made her do that for a second, but she let me do it more than Lenore lets me.

I am just amazed by how she acts. She doesn't bit me, and once I pick her up, she doesn't try to get away. When she first came home, she acted like she had never been out of her cage. I don't believe that to be the case now. I think her previous owner loved her quite a bit and spent a lot of time teaching her to be nice.

I still can't get her to step up. When I offer her my hand and tell her to step up, she just sits there. I wonder if her original owner wasn't American as her son's name was José and had some sort of accent, but not Mexican. Maybe Spanish. I wonder how Spanish people tell their birds to step up.

Our miniature schnauzer Maggie needs a job. She is a ball of energy that needs to be put to work. She's pretty good with basic obedience, though her "stay" and "heel" could use some work, especially her "stay".

I would like to get her involved in a dog sport (gee...it almost sounds like I'm talking about a kid). I'm considering both agility and earthdog. I think she'd do well in both and enjoy both of them. I did agility for a little while with Bella before she got hip dysplasia. We never got to enter a show before it became too difficult for her. I had a lot of fun doing it (so did Bella) and I think Maggie would like it too.

As for earthdog, Maggie is our squirreler. That's like a mouser but with squirrels. She is small, too, and that's something that is needed in an earthdog.

Maggie is small and fast and smart--all things that would give her an advantage with both agility and earthdog. The advantages of doing earthdog with her are that it can be done with a minimal amount of equipment and a lot of training isn't necessary. The disadvantage is that there doesn't seem to be any group in Kentucky or Indiana that does it. The advantages of agility are that there are several groups in the Louisville area that do agility. The disadvantage is that it requires a lot of equipment and quite a bit more training.

What I would really like to do with her is dock jumping, but I don't think she's much of a water dog.

Avian Avenue, the fantastic bird forum I'm a member of, is having a sidewalk sale. They've had these in the past, but this is the first since I've joined the forum. A bunch of vendors offer sales to members of the forums.

Last week, they announced the dates of the sale. The sale will take place 10 June-12 June. Friday, they announced which vendors will be having sales. There were three stores I was hoping would participate and all three of them are.

For now, I'm just planning on stocking up on some food. If, by next weekend, I have more money to spend on the birds, I'll also be buying some other stuff. I'd love to place an order at Things for Wings, and I'd also like to try some food from Avian Organics.

I'll have to make a list of what I need to buy and what I want to buy.

For those who have been reading my blog for a while, you may remember that I had a container of Zupreem Natural pellets that Digby and Lenore both refused to eat. I wasn't too upset that they refused them as it forced me to research pellets and pick a much, much better one (Totally Organics Pellets is what I feed now when I feed pellets).

But for some reason, I had been hanging onto these pellets. Maybe I was keeping them in case of an emergency. Maybe I just didn't want to throw away food that I had spent money on and wasn't spoiled. Most of the time when I made bird bread, I'd toss some Zupreem pellets in the batter just to use them.

However, while I was in Florida, my mom threw out the pellets. She called me to tell me she had gotten the container out, forgetting about the other pellets still in the bag. She started to get some pellets out and saw something absolutely nasty.


She saw weevils in the food! I am glad that she's the one that discovered it and not me. She took the entire container outside and threw away the weevil-infested food.

Now, to be clear, I don't think the weevils are from the pellets. I think the weevils are from one of two small bags of seed mix that were in the container along with the pellets, but I'm not sure which one. The more likely one is the one that I got from a bulk bin at one of the pet stores because I had nothing else (not doing that again!). The other seed mix that was in there was...I can't remember the brand. It came in a red bag and was also bought because I needed to buy some locally (not buying that brand again either...I didn't like it anyway).

This food wasn't being used, which is why I never saw them. But the fact that there were weevils in the food grosses me out. I think I may have to start storing bird food in the fridge or freezer. 

I got home from Florida yesterday afternoon. I had a lot of fun being in Florida and caring for somebody else's birds. I also decided one my first choice for a graduate school--Nova Southeastern University. I looked at a couple other schools, too. I liked them a lot, but really liked Nova.

My own birds certainly missed me (well, except Sydney, who doesn't really care much for me...we're still working on that). While I was gone, Lenore refused to come out of his cage for my mom unless Digby was also out. Digby was mostly good, but bit my mom on the ear once and made it bleed. When I got home, I went to say hi to them. Lenore came out of his cage right away for me. Digby didn't really want to at first. I think she was mad that I had been gone. Today, she is back to her happy self.

But the animal that really missed me was my cat Delilah. She has hardly left my side since I've been home. Last night, she slept on my chest. At least, I'm assuming that's where she slept. She was there when I fell asleep and there when I woke up. Even right now, she is laying beside me.

I had an awesome time in Florida, but I am quite happy to be home.