Friends

On Saturday the 14th at 4AM UTC/GMT we will be upgrading the operating system of our network load balancers to a newer version, one that will allow us to use both CPUs! Nifty, because multiprocessing is nice.

Since we have 2 load balancers, the plan is to upgrade 1 at a time, and there really should be very little impact to our website. Hopefully you won't notice a thing and I'll get to go back to the hotel and watch some wonderful late night infomercials.

We've got a lot of exciting projects coming up for 2010 and we're hoping that we'll be able to deliver them all to you, that you will find it useful/cool/lovely and then you will use the site even more. Behind-the-scenes work like this will give us the capacity to handle the anticipated traffic, so expect a few more maintenance windows especially in the beginning of next year as we've got some neat ideas to improve performance around here! We had the recent 30-45 minute outage yesterday due to one of our logging databases filling up disk space -- not so great design coupled with my human error in handling the initial problem -- and it looks like we're going to finally have some resources to eliminate stuff like that. I can't wait!

As usual, I will be updating status.livejournal.org before and after, just in case you are not able to reach our main website during the work.

My fiance recently lost his job. We have a wedding coming up, plus the holidays, and we still have rent to pay and bills. Of course this means anything of value needs to go and this is all I have left- a cute little dolly with  custom face and decently nice wardrobe :)

Hi!

I am currently looking to purchase/trade for:
Chill's stock wig (Must be in new condition)
Drta's full stock with wig

( For sale items here )

My "Chilly" Dal who is in need of a wig. ^^

Feeler! Leaving hobby. Looking to sell Taeyang Arion. He's brand new and never been removed from box. Price set at $120 plus shipping. Location: Asia. Please PM me or leave a message here if you're interested. I accept PayPal in USD only. Will take photos if requested.

Cheers!

Tonight, we were shopping at the mall, and got some frozen yogurt. We were done shopping, but didn't want to sit down and finish it, so I suggested we wander through the mall pet store, mostly to do my usual routine of passing judgement.

This wasn't a terrible store, though they did sell just about every animal that exists, including puppies and kittens. And parrots, which is why I'm actually posting this here. They had several species of parrots that weren't completely uncommon: a grey, an Alexandrine, bunches of budgies, lovebirds, and cocktiels, a yellow sided GCC, a Meyers, and a rainbow lorikeet (green naped, and actually labeled as such, which was surprising).

However, they also had a "Toucamen" amazon (which is actually a Tucuman amazon), a species that I had never seen before. They actually had two, which astonished me.

So, being curious -- anyone here have one? Anyone know anyone who does? Anyone have any details? I couldn't even find anyone who breeds them in Canada, which strikes me as doubly odd.

There's my random queries for the night.

I found it on craigslist. It is a double stacker from avian adventures. and turns out that is what two of my other cages are. It is kind of neat as it can be two equal sized cages or one larger and one smaller sized cage or one cage completely. depending how you move the dividers and trays.

It can also be joined to others from the same line to make larger flights etc. And the bar spacing and weight of the bars is perfect for most of my "smaller" birds. Tiel fits, senegals fit, conures fit, finches fit, canary fits, rosey bourkes fit. Button quail will fit. The only birds that can not fit in some combo of this cage are the amazon or the severe macaw.

Here is a link to the add with the picture of the cage I just bought. http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/for/1447828847.html

Now this does mean that the Senegals are down sizing from the huge 3x3x6 flight cage but even that is not a big deal as they do not use the whole cage anyway.

I will be posting that cage on craigslist to make it go away as I need the space back. And if I want another of the double stack cages that would allow me to buy it. Here are a few pictures of the conures in the big cage. If any one is in the North Texas/Ok/Ark/La area and is interested please let me know. I am only asking $150 for the cage which is less than half of what I paid for it. and about a third of what it sells for online. BTW the cage is green.

I figure those who have looked at my journal would figure this out, but for the rest of you, I am officially back.

The mailing list for the mods is officially back.

All of my birds are in one place, which is also the same place I live.

And no, I've not yet found the camera in the boxes. :)

I've been working on making some home made toys for the babies and have a quick question...is the leather lace found at craft stores (ie Michaels and Hobby Lobby) something that's safe? I don't think they have any info up as to if it's treated with anything weird or not, according to the website it's Latigo Lace brand. I haven't been to the store in a while(going tomorrow) so I'm not sure on what they have exactly. Also, do they carry safe chain? Where do you get yours? windycityparrot.com? how do you cut lengths? aiee this turned into more questions than I intended!

Thanks for any answers :)

Edit: also another unrelated question, does anyone here feed Chopper's sprouts? We just got a sample of their Superior Sprouts and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with them :)

Items are under the cut, feel free to make offers on anything.

( souseiseki, fai, china, clothing, wigs... )

My fiance recently lost his job. We have a wedding coming up, plus the holidays, and we still have rent to pay and bills. Of course this means anything of value needs to go and this is all I have left- a cute little dolly with  custom face and decently nice wardrobe :)

( PICS! )

Good evening. Just a few updates:

I'm selling Arietta's partial stock along with some items I've crocheted. I also have some Barbie, Ken, Liv Doll and other items. Trades and offers are welcome.


( Sale Items This Direction )
Thank you for taking a look.
~Shannon

http://www.bird.com/item/aviantelligence-amazon-playtop-cage/501702/?srccode=09NOV05B&emid=09NOV05B

Normally $600 on for $80!!!

I picked up my latest Mickaboo foster on Saturday - a little cockatiel. The information I had received had been very limited, prior to meeting him. I knew he had been a stray, that he had received a thorough medical evaluation and nothing had been found wrong with him, the he was a normal grey male, and that he had been named Prince, somewhere along the line. When I finally met him, I was surprised to see... well... this.



I... wait, whut? Cockatiel? Plucked? (Or, to be more accurate, barbered). Is he not the most ridiculous little cockatiel you've ever seen?

He's shy, and scared, not very good with hands. And... Prince is just not a name I'm terribly fond of, nor do I find suits him. Therefore, I've chosen to give him a name which I find far more appropriate, and... well, cuter. I've named him Squiggle, or Squig for short.

( One more photo, and a close up )

I've joined the 'pickinparrots' yahoogroup, now that I have this sudden and somewhat unexpected responsibility. I'm going to try environmental enrichment/foraging type stuff, and see if that helps him keep any of that new feather growth intact (unfortunately, I'm pretty dubious. I don't think he would be so dramatically nude, as a cockatiel, if environmental enrichment alone was the problem). If it doesn't help, I plan on trying a diet restriction program to start testing for possible allergens (ie: feeding Roudybush Rice diet to see if that stops it, and then slowly introducing potential allergens to see if I can pinpoint the exact cause).

I'll also try frequent baths. I may pick up some of that 100% aloe stuff, to see if it helps at all. Any other suggestions are welcome!

sixwordstories
Whether you're in the mood for a creative challenge or you're short on time or attention span, this semi-addictive community is perfect for those who find flash fiction way long. Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to stop. The prince turned into a frog. The girl ran home to mother. Tough to write. Easy to read. It's a double threesome of fun.

dailyfoodie
Delicious, ambitious, and occasionally nutritious dishes make for an eclectic, all-you-can-eat feast. Whether you're searching for recipes for your next dinner party or you're jonesing for a late-night brownie fix, your cravings are sure to be well sated. A warm and inclusive community that welcomes all orientations, from carnivores to vegans, from gourmands to junk-food junkies. Guaranteed bias-free, food-positive, and pan-epicurian.

I feel like an awful bird owner. D:

I think Lenore has something going on with one of her eyes. I went to take her out and one of her eyes is squinty, and the best thing I have to compare it to is this picture (pretend it's a linnie, not a parrotlet). She CAN open her eye fully, but has been squinting. I got her to stay still long enough to take a look and it almost looked like there was a seed shaped lump in her bottom eye lid. She was extremely calm while I tried to push it forward, but it seems to have just disappeared. But she's still squinting.

The best way I can describe it is that it's probably like when humans get a bit of dust or something in the bottom eyelid and it's a massive pain to get removed.

So, the obvious question: wtf should I do? It's midnight and she doesn't seem to be in any serious OH GOD I'M DYING type of mood. She was playful when I had her out, if a bit nippy when I tried to gently hold her down to look at her eye.

My current plan is that if she's not better by tomorrow, I'll call the vet. I'd take her asap, but I have a test I can't miss at 12:15. What advice can you give me, o wise parrot_lovers?

I recently came to the realization that when I go into my fourth year clinical rotations next May, Jasper will probably be spending very little time out of his cage. It doesn't make me happy, and I'm sure he's not going to be thrilled about it either, but it's a fact that I'll be required to work 12 or more hour days and weekends. It's also a fact that Jasper views my SO as a rival and thus they are not endeared to each other such that he'll be letting Jasper out and playing with him daily in my stead.

The cage he has now: http://www.blueribbonpet.com/showprod.php?id=1634

It is really the bare minimum for a bird his size. He's HUGE for a Zon (720g), so 'normal' Zon requirements are a bit of a joke. He can move around and play some, but he can't really flap full out without hitting something in the cage, let alone actually flying or flutter-hopping.

So, now I need to find something that's big enough for him to comfortably stay in for long periods of time. I do not have the budget for cages by design or stainless steel... I may well wind up buying something like that eventually, but it'll have to wait until the student loans are paid off. I'd like something with a little bit of width to it, rather than the 40x40" square macaw cages. I'm not in a rush to buy since I'm pretty much going to have to completely re-arrange my life to fit a bigger cage and that will take a little bit of time anyway.

I was looking at this: http://www.bird.com/item/double-macaw-cage-64x32x73-1-4andquot/533484/ I also found it on allpetfurniture for $639 (out of stock, free shipping)

What do you guys think? Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of this cage? Do you know of other, similar cages that you like/like better? Any info about AE brand cages in general? They make the single-door version of the EFC that several people have, right?

Per a previous post: I also realized that buying him a new cage for home means that I might as well just send his current one along with him to my friend's house when she watches him, since it'll already be dis-assembled and ready to go.

ETA: I found the HQ version of the same http://www.mybirdcage.com/double_macaw_cage.html for $699 (free shipping)

ETA2: Kings's cage http://www.kingscages.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=ELT_6432

Do people like AE, HQ, or King's better?