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Hi,
I"m Palmers mom ( he looks just like you Sherwin )
Palmer is a real success story too, as my husband recued him from the great outdoors! Apparently he got out of his home and became a refugee in our backyard! We looked all over for his family, posted fliers, and called a vet, but it was to no avail and Palmer was adopted by us. We never had a bird, but soon learned what fun they could be. We love our little guy, and now he has been our little boy for almost 6 yrs. our vet
said he was about a yr to a year and a half, when my hubby found him.
Here is his story. It was on a Palm Sunday, I was in the shower, when my husband Bob came in the house saying there was a bird just sitting in our yard. He said he thought it was a cockatiel, and that he was going to go out and catch it! I thought he was nuts, but lo and behold he came back into the bathroom and had a soaking wet cockatiel in his hands. Palmer got his name because he came to us on Palm Sunday. there's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!!! We hope to talk to you again!
A big welcome to you and Sherwin!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

Well - Palmer obviously knew where to go!! I love that name by the way. You should click on a few of the other topics to see pictures of resident birds......we have Casper, Mr. Lou, Woody & Twinkie-Dink just to name a few! Palmer is a lucky guy. What a fantastic story!!

I do love Palmer and Sherwin, both great names!

(from Sherwin) Thanks Miss Lisa! Tell Casper I think she's cute!

Do we have a little crush???
I think my lovebird has a crush on Casper too! That would make a funny pair!
Casper and Sherwin...hmmmmm
Love is in the air!

When I picked him up from the rescue, he had been in a cage with a female tiel named Happy. He had only been there 2 weeks but paid absolutely no attention to Happy. He was all about his new toys! I wonder how he would be now?? I have thought about getting him a friend, but I wouldn't know what would be better....a male or female?

Just a reminder to use caution when giving your bird cereals like Cheerios (which my tiels love also!)....some kinds of cereals contain a lot of Zinc....like 100%.....and too much Zinc is toxic to our birdies....they can handle some every day but too much in one day would be toxic....so don't give your birds cereals with a high amount of Zinc in them.

I want my bird to have full flight, but until he gets more comfortable with us and his surroundings, I will get his wings clipped because he has flown into walls, and I don't want him getting hurt. He is very good natured, and did well with going to another home while we were away on vacation, and adjusted pretty quickly to his new home when we first got him, so I think he will get over having his wings clipped pretty easily. My parents cockatiel got SO upset when they took him to get his wings clipped that he wouldn't even eat! and he wouldn't talk for a week! it was like it was traumatic for him! BUT their bird was also very moody and had strong likes and dislikes, and made sure everyone knew what they were! My bird seems much more easy-going.

HarpSpirit - Thanks for the zinc warning! I don't give him the Cheerios daily and when he does get it, he only gets 2-3 pieces. A box lasts forever! I also wanted to ask you if you have had any instances of regurgitation with any of your male birds. Sherwin was in a brown, paper grocery bag the other night and was beak tapping. Next thing I notice, he has thrown up. He did this 3-4 times before coming out of the bag. He's not sick.....he only does it when he goes in that bag!

Sherwins Mom...

Gosh that is a puzzle! Mr. Lou has never regurgitated seeds and why your bird does it only in a paper bag...is curious behavoir....hopefully somebody more experienced will be able to answer that question.

I thought so too. I'll ask his vet and see what she says. In the meantime, I think I'll remove the bag!

I talked to his vet today about the regurgitation issue and she says that he sees the paper bag as a nesting spot which is causing his hormones to spike. Hmmmmm.....I thought that nesting issues only related to females. The vet said that if he had a female companion, he would be courting her, showing off his pad and regurgitating to show that he can be a good provider to her and babies. Isn't that interesting!! The bag and boxes need to go in order to prevent any behavioral issues down the road. I'm sure those who have males already know this, but I thought I'd share anyway!!

Noel,

That is a very interesting tid-bit. I'd have figured it might have something to do with orientation loss, but it does make sense. A nice dark area big enough for building a nest.. perfect! Definitely have to put that tid-bit in the memory banks