I am in Naples, Florida and bird sitting. I'm having a lot of fun. I've discovered I really like this area of Florida. This week, after I'm done bird sitting, my cousin and I will be going to the Fort Lauderdale and Miami area. In addition to bird sitting, I'm checking out colleges while I'm here.

Remember that first post about dream birds when I said that I wasn't sure I could handle a cockatoo? Well, I can. At least the smaller ones. One of the birds I'm taking care of is a Goffin's cockatoo. She is very sweet and not as loud as I imagined, though she is quite loud. It's really been a leaning experience being here and handling her.

I'm also taking care of four lovebirds. I thought any trouble I would have would come from the cockatoo. I was wrong. The only trouble I've had with any of the birds is one of the lovebirds. She is sitting on eggs right now and is understandably protective of her eggs. She has bit me five times since being here, three times she has drawn blood.

Overall though, I'm having a blast and enjoying the Florida weather (it's been raining at home) and going to the beach. Pictures to come later.

A couple of weeks ago, I placed an order at Blu's Bird Toys. I had been dying to order stuff from them for ages, but just hadn't done it. They recently had a 9th Anniversary Sale with free shipping (I love free shipping, by the way) and 10% off the entire purchase. I decided to go ahead and order stuff.

The big thing I wanted to order, a Jolly Ball, was, and still is, out of stock. So I got a few toys (one for each bird) and toy making parts.

The first toy is for Lenore. It is the Tiny Balsa-n-Spools toy. Lenore loves balsa wood. He attacks any balsa wood he sees. We discovered this when my mom and little brother were working on a pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts. Lenore walked over to where the car and extra materials were, discovered a discarded piece of balsa, ran across the table back to me, and proceeded to destroy his prize.

The second toy is for Digby. It's all shreddable material, which she should love. It's slightly bigger than I expected. I haven't decided if I'll put it in her cage or outside of it.

The third and final toy is for Sydney. She gets a beaded millet holder. Normally, I don't give my birds sprays of millet in the cage, and so this is somewhat of an odd thing for me to buy. But, Sydney won't play with toys, and that makes me sad. My hope is that by giving her millet in what is basically a toy, she might be encouraged to play with her other toys.

I also got lots of toy making stuff. I got beads, wood, tiny baskets, cotton rope, poly rope, raffia, and seagrass, as well as a few other things.

The order also came with a couple of freebies. One of the freebies is a little basket filled with various beads and whatnot. The other freebie is a tape measure. I'm actually pretty excited about the tape measure. Why? Because it retracts! And it's pink! My current tape measure is hideously colored. It's yellow and red, and while that makes it easy to spot, it's ugly. It also isn't retractable.

I'm happy with everything I got and will definitely order from there again.

I am sorry I haven't updated my blog in a week. I haven't had much to write about and I was getting ready to go to Florida. I'm currently at the airport waiting for my flight.

I'm really excited about this trip to Florida. I'm going to birdsit for a member on Avian Avenue. She has a cockatoo and four lovebirds. I'll also be checking out some colleges while I'm down there. One of my cousins is also coming down to be with me.

While I'm in Florida, my mom is taking care of my birds. I'm going to miss them. I'll be gone for twelve days.

I've got another post ready to go, I just have to add pictures to it. It'll probably be this evening before I can do it.

I had just walked in the house after getting home from going out to eat. All of the sudden, I heard a quiet "squawk-squawk", with the second squawk being a higher pitch and a tiny bit longer. It was quiet for a couple seconds, then came back. The pattern repeated several times. It was a strange sound to be coming from any of my birds, but I checked them all anyway.

It obviously wasn't Lenore. It was much too quiet and the wrong pitch for him. The most likely of the other two birds was Sydney, but it seemed too quiet for her too. It seemed to be the wrong pitch for Digby for the amount of volume that would be required for me to hear when she is in my bedroom in the basement.

But, since the only bird I could complete rule out was Lenore, I stood in the hallway between the door for the stairs going down to the basement and the door for the room that Sydney was in. I listened carefully, trying to figure out which direction it was coming from. When I heard it again, I realised that, no, it was neither of them.

The only other thing I could figure out was that it was a bird outside. But the sound was so obviously a parrot sound. Had somebody's bird got outside? So, I stepped outside, worrying a little that it might actually be a lost pet. I heard nothing. I thought perhaps the bird had already moved on.

I went back in the house and was greeted by the sound again. My little brother informed me the fan was squeaking. I dismissed him; it didn't sound like a squeaky fan. After going outside once again, I came back in, giving up. I went into the living room and sat down with my computer. But then I heard it again! Louder this time, and much less psittacine sounding. It sounded like it was coming from the fan. I stopped the fan's oscillating and the sound stopped.

I don't know how many times I've tried to convince Digby and Lenore to eat sprouts. The best I've been able to do is get Digby to eat quinoa sprouts. Lenore ignores all of them.

A few days ago, I decided to try sprouts again. It has been a couple months since I last tried. I did my usual sprouting mix of quinoa, mung beans, adzuki beans, and lentils. I also added a couple new seeds--rice and Kamut. Currently, the quinoa, mung, and lentils have nice size sprouts between 1/4" and a 1/2". The rice and Kamut have tiny sprouts. Most of the adzuki have yet to sprout at all.

I went ahead and gave all three of the birds some sprouts tonight. I picked out the adzuki beans since they aren't ready to feed. I handed Lenore a lentil sprout while he was out and he started devouring it. So, I put some more sprouts in his dish and put him in his cage for the night and he chowed down on his sprouts. I put some in Digby's dish as well, and she ate some too, though she picked through it and only ate the quinoa. I also gave Sydney a little. She hasn't tried them yet.

I guess I'll be happy with just having one sprout eater for now. If Lenore will eat them, then I just have to feed both Digby and Lenore together and Digby will probably eat them as well.

Let's get something straight. Digby is not mean. I am so sick of people saying, "Oh, she's the mean one, right?" I'm left with a confused look whenever they say this. My dear, sweet Digby is not mean. She is, however, shy and a bit picky about things. If you try to do something she doesn't want you to, she will warn you. If you don't listen to the warning, she will bite you.

Digby is very clear when she gives a warning. I don't think a bird could get much clearer than opening the mouth and growling. If she does this, do not mess with her anymore, at least for several minutes. Chances are she will not let you touch her anywhere other than her tail, she will probably not let you scratch her neck, and she WILL NOT step up onto your finger. These are Digby's primary rules: (1) Don't touch me unless you first ask me and I give permission, (2) Don't point your finger at me unless you tell me what you are doing, and (3) I will not step up onto your bare skin or your finger.

Everybody in my family knows these rules. They all know that she would rather bite than to step up onto a finger. They all know that she is very picky about who pets her and how. These are not a product of her being mean. These are because she is shy and sometimes grouchy. Even I don't mess with her when she's in a bad mood.

Seriously, does this look like a mean bird to you?

Do you have a plan for your pets if there is ever an emergency?

I feel it is important to have such a plan should an evacuation be needed or if there is ever a natural disaster. Having a plan for an evacuation will more than likely also be a plan that can be used in other circumstances. Years ago, I thought the only people who needed evacuation plans were those who lived in areas prone to hurricanes and similar things. However, disasters can happen anywhere and an evacuation can be necessary for anybody. I learned my lesson in 2007 when a train derailed very close to my house. Because the train was carrying hazardous materials, an evacuation was necessary. Since then, I've made an effort to be at least somewhat prepared.

The first part of an emergency plan is figuring out a way to transport pets if the need arises. In my case, all three of the birds have travel cages. I have a carrier for the guinea pigs. Our three little dogs all have crates that can be easily carried. We have carriers for the cats as well. The big dogs have crates too, however, they would be difficult to use for emergency transport, but they are okay being without a crate. The travel cages and carriers are kept in easily accessible areas. Right now, I do not have designated carries for my turtles or bearded dragon, however it would be very easy to find something for them in an emergency.

The second part is food. This is where dry food for all the pets comes in handy. It would be difficult to keep fresh food on hand and ready to go if there's an emergency. For the birds, I make sure I never run out of seeds or pellets. The same is true for the guinea pigs and the turtles and their pellets. I have some freeze-dried crickets set aside for my bearded dragon. Dog and cat food is easy as well; both the dog food and the cat food is located by the door.

The next thing is a plan in case the electricity goes out. Unless it is winter or in the middle of the summer, the mammals and birds will be fine--they don't rely on anything like that to keep them alive. The reptiles are harder as they are cold blooded and need heat. I keep Hot Hands for using in an emergency. These things warm up once you open them and stay warm for hours.

The final thing is to make sure to have any paperwork that might be needed ready to go. This includes vet records, emergency vet contacts, any medications needed, and general information on each animal. Personally, I have a binder that has all of the information I could need on my pets, excluding the dogs and cats. For the dogs and cats, we have a folder for all of their information. The information that is kept on hand needs to be kept up to date. I'm also in the process of making electronic back-ups to save online.