# The Anything Thread



## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Welp, I couldn't find the old confessions thread (may have missed it, or was just too lazy to dig back through pages of stuff). I was thinking about how there is a lack of a casual chat thread for all ages and topics. So here it is.

Talk about anything!

I will start it off with a couple of things. First, the wind outside is blowing like crazy, loud enough to make me think it's going to steal the window screen and throw it across the street!

The other thing is how adorable my little peachfaced lovebird looks sleeping in his cute little blue and yellow hoop swing. Seriously, so cuuuute! I am not the girly squeal type, but he makes me squeal with his adorableness.

Oh, I also had an adulting accomplishment today. I finally made that big old laundry pile that had been sitting there forever disappear, and I also overhauled the downstairs including decluttering.

Now I just have to get back to riding on a regular basis. Once the temperatures stop hitting over 100 fahrenheit everyday that is!

How was your day?

:cowboy: :gallop: inkunicorn: :blueunicorn:


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I worked in my mom's yard, all day today. I am covered in pine pitch and dirt, even in my hair. I am exhausted, and my back hurts (though it pretty much always does, so what else is new)

I went out and treated myself to 4 delicious fish tacos! yum!!! now, it's hot bath and icy whiskey and Netflix for me.

It's been hot here in the Seattle area, for some two weeks. but, what's worse is the air quality is terrible due to the wildfires in Canada, blowing the smoke south. It looks like we are in Beijing; brown sky, can't even see the mountains or the distant skyscrapers. it is gray, gray, gray , which is depressing because it reminds me of how it gets here in teh winter, for weeks on end. you have no sense of time, since you cannot see the sun at all. gah!


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

tinyliny said:


> It's been hot here in the Seattle area, for some two weeks. but, what's worse is the air quality is terrible due to the wildfires in Canada, blowing the smoke south. It looks like we are in Beijing; brown sky, can't even see the mountains or the distant skyscrapers...


We're even getting some of the haze down here on the OR coast. It's amazing how far the smoke can travel.

We've actually had some gray skies and rain these past several days. I think it's nice because the horses have had a break from the flies and mosquitoes, although from what I hear they should not complain because we probably have a fraction of the bugs that other areas of the country deal with. 

Our big summer project is trying to make an english laurel hedge out of cuttings. It is very scary because neither my DH nor I are remotely good at growing plants. Our yard borders on a large green space, and we've wanted to define our yard with a nice hedge. 

For various reasons we decided on the laurel; it grows fast, we like the brighter green color it has versus some of the evergreens, it can reach the height we want, and some of the other options such as the Arborvitae tend to have large gaps due to the elk and deer passing through. Because it is considered invasive, we have not been able to find a nursery that carries it in sufficient quantity to make our large hedge. We can't buy it online, or even find seeds that are guaranteed to not be a dwarf type. 

So we found a neighbor with a beautiful laurel hedge and they allowed us to take about 140 cuttings. We have a huge row of the cuttings in a sheltered area, and each day we have to take the plastic bag off each one to check on the plant and add water. It takes about an hour. So far so good...we are hoping to have about 90 viable plants next spring. Or they may all die....

Most of the info online about taking cuttings refers to marijuana. Our project is out of view of the neighbors - we don't want them to think we are starting an illegal pot farm.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Well, we are very dry, so I spend time hauling the hose to various locations, trying to keep plants and trees alive.
Unloaded 60 bales of hay, that I bought. 

Tried to get the house in order, as we are going riding at the YA Ha for the weekend, and always have someone stay here. Apparently,bought the wrong vacuum cleaner bags-so one job less!
Thought i only had raspberries and peas to pick, but discovered the beans have really made an appearance, so had to pick them also.
Luckily, my friend brought me a round bale, thus gave her the beans, getting rid of another job( freezing them ) She lives just further west, that she can't grow beans
Meanwhile, haven't stayed over night in the hrose trailer this year, so everything need to be packed
Amazing as to how much stuff you need to take, for just two nights away, both for yourself and the horses! 
Thought maybe the west country would be closed, because of the BC fires, and how dry we have it also. There was talk of doing so, but so far, still open
We do get very spectacular sunsets, due to the fires and the smoke!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Wow, I'm so out of the loop I didn't even know there were wildfires going on up in Canada. Heard about ones here in Arizona though, but our forests get so dry it's almost a given each year. The forest we were horse camping in was beautiful, but terrifying as well. Terrifying because there was so much dry, dead wood everywhere, I felt like the place would light up any second.

@Smilie yikes on the 60 bales! Were those 100 pound bales or 50 pound bales? I always cringe when I hear someone was unloading a bunch of hay, but then I remember most places do 50 pound bales which are easier to maneuver. I am exhausted after just 18 of those 100 pounders.
And yes, the amount of things needed for just a couple days, even if it's just people, I always feel is so over the top! Yet necessary at the same time. Sometimes, if it's just me though, I want to just go hobo style and bring next to nothing. If we are bringing an animal on the other hand (even just my little bird), I want to drag the whole house with us!

@tinyliny sounds like hard, dirty work. About to enjoy some netflix myself. On the netflix end, I think they are going to run cable out of business! Well, if they could cater to the 'live sports' people, they would anyway.

@gottatrot Lol on the hedge! I have a green thumb that is as sporadic and fruitful as the desert itself (so, not very good one). If you manage to kill plants in your climate though, I will have to applaud you. Cuttings are harder to grow though! Good luck on that end, I hope you get your hedge. 

I've got to order some Eco-vet to try on my mare. She's all bit up, and then oily coat too from my homemade fly spray. No incessant itching from what I've seen, but I'd like to make her more comfortable, less unsightly, and actually be able to pet her without a leftover oily residue. I will probably be giving her a bath with hypo shampoo over the next week.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Speaking of, what do y'all think about leaving a sleazy/mane tamer on 23/7 (would be taken off for an hour each day). My mare has a very strange bug allergy in that she gets bit up all over her chest and LOWER neck (so not threadworms, because it's not in the right place). I'm thinking either eco-vet as mentioned, or just some kind of mane tamer. It would need to be one that allowed good air flow though. I don't want to deck her out in a full fly sheet with hood as that would just be miserable in these temperatures.


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## Kaiit (Mar 28, 2017)

Yikes, glad we don't have to worry about wildfires over here (yet). Occasionally the stubble fields catch fire but it's been far too wet for that this year. We've just had torrential downpours but the sun came back out again yesterday. That means the flies are going to be even worse for the poor boys  

I'm glad the sun is back again though because it means I can enjoy some hack time. Sam has come a long way and isn't reactive to much anymore. We're riding on the buckle now and I don't have to be worried about whether the next bush holds a spook. He's also not dashing off ahead when he can't feel a constant contact like he used to. 

Bad news is my riding school is closing so my sister has nothing to ride anymore. She's as close as a daughter to me so I'm looking for a been there, done that kind of pony for her. The whole ordeal of finding a safe pony is stressful, though! I never realised how difficult it would be!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I think the wildfires must be pretty bad this year. this is the biggest and longest lasting 'smoke cloud' we have ever seen. it's really awful, but they say it will blow off soon, to plague someone else for a bit. I feel for the folks who are actually battling the flames, or evacuating.

Laurels are very fast growing, and that's great, and evergreen, but they seed , and seed, and seed . . . so . . you will soon have not a hedge but a forest. you just have to pluck out the starts that you don't want.

On another note . .. it is not long until the big Solar Eclipse event that will practically double the population of Oregon, overnight, with folks going there to view this total eclipse of the sun. I know folks who plan to go there and just camp in the national forest, by the road side. I don't envy anyone actually living there . It's going to be a NIGHTMARE of crowded roads and problems. I'll stay here and watch the eclipse with 90% totality, just fine and be really happy about it!


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## redbarron1010 (Mar 11, 2017)

I cleaned my house from top to bottom the other day and used "mop and glo" on my bathroom and kitchen floors. I have never used it before and they look great!
I cannot wait for Autumn, I am chomping at the bit, literally!
My sister who has been in a cast on and off for a year for a crushed ankle (horse riding accident) and who has had two surgeries is going to take her first ride back in the saddle tomorrow and I am so excited for her! I missed my riding buddy!
I have two shelties, Rainey and Raven. Rainey is normal, quiet and a sweetheart but my sheltie Raven is certifiably insane. She races the halls, chases her tail, guards nothing, attacks my feet under the covers, cannot get enough affection, and every time I am exhausted and so ready for sleep, she picks that moment to act like she has drank 3 Redbulls and jumps on and off the bed, burys her face under my pillows, jumps back and forth over me in the bed and bows and licks my face, and chest thumps me to keep me awake and playing. She is so fun, but I am sooo sleepy! But I love her, the little brat! (Raven is on the left)


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## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

This sounds fun! Today I'm cleaning the house, then this evening my mom (probably my sisters and I) are babysitting one of my sisters friends and her toddler brother. We'll most likely fight over the little guy lol. They'll be with us till tomorrow evening, so I'll be hopping! 


I'll probably do some trick training with one of my dogs this afternoon. She knows 2 tricks and almost has her 3rd one down! It's so much fun! 

My older sis lives in Montana and she says the fires are getting pretty close to them.....I'm thankful we don't have that problem in the South quite that often!
@redbarron1010 Your dogs are so cute! My dog Ida decides to keep me up late sometimes too! If I'm not paying her enough attention then she'll jump on me, and start licking my face...The worst is when she finds a ball though, we ain't going to bed in forever if that happens! She has a very big ball obsession!

My two pups Ida and Flint!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Just took a trip to petsmart while waiting for the car to get out of the shop. Well, my husband (who is a huge fan of all things Japanese) was all 'whatever' about the bettas until I told him they are Japanese fighting fish. Then it was 'oh, this guy is cool', and he proceeded to watch one of them for several minutes LOL! Every time we go in there though, he is always after the conures. He just loves those little guys. I am not so thrilled about the love for them, being 'in the know' on exotic birds myself. I used to volunteer in a bird shop and got a sense for the general temperaments of each. Conures are nice little birds, but LOUD! Like macaw or cockatoo loud in a tiny little body! Love conquers all though, so I don't think that future third bird I've been wanting for a while is going to be what I want (a goffin or bare-eyed cockatoo, or a macaw), but rather a conure for DH. However, no way we are getting one from Petsmart. Overpriced and unhealthy. I always pick up the rehomes people don't want anymore.

All I want is a silly little robo dwarf hamster. Sooooooo cute! Cutest little faces ever!

We were in the shop with mom. Mom felt accomplished that she managed to walk out of there without a new pet, as she was ready to take home almost everything we looked at, except the snakes and lizards! :rofl:


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## seabiscuit91 (Mar 30, 2017)

I'm currently at work counting down the minutes :lol:
Should be a crime to work weekends!

Tonight a group of us are going camping with the horses, and entering a fun team penning comp tomorrow! Only 1 of us has worked with cattle, so should be interesting! But it's just a fun day out, for any level, no experience needed type thing! So I am so looking forward to getting out of the office, sitting around a campfire, having a few beers and riding tomorrow!
Will be my first trip with my new horse, so should be fun!


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## Luce73 (Dec 7, 2012)

Its rainy and windy here. Didnt go to the barn today, even though it dried up a bit in the afternoon, I decided to try and finish up some work instead. Cleared out my to-do list! Aint that a great way to start the weekend xD 

We've been having crazy weather here, 3-4 days heavy rain and storms, then 3-4 days temperatures in the 20's (Celcius) with sunshine... Rinse and repeat. The bad news is the MOSQUITOS ARE BACK D: Its the middle of winter, this shouldnt be a thing D: 

Tonight I'm going to a Shaolin lesson because my teachers had a fight with the owner of the club we use because they were asked to cancel todays classes (after cancelling for a week last week because of renovations!) for a party they wanted to hold there. So they asked all students to show up in numbers to show that we NEED that space were paying for. I dont actually do Shaolin, I only do Tai Chi, but itll be fun xD 

Tomorrow I have Tai Chi, Ride the pony (if the weather clears up D and then in the evening/night I have a quinceanera of Moro's previous owner who's turning fifteen (duh lol). As an expat I've never been to one so I'm pretty excited!


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

@*tinyliny* I know how you feel. I’ve been on leave and rather than go away somewhere, I spent most of the week cutting back overgrown vegetation and digging the earth. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve really neglected the back garden this year. 

@*gottatrot* I didn’t realise there’s a haze affecting the north west. I’ve family in Portland, well Beaverton, and we usually get a detailed account of the weather in the area whenever we’re in contact. My cousin’s said nothing about it. 
We don’t get fires on the same scale but the heather moors and hills around me do go on fire most years. It’s been wet the last few months so I can’t see it happening in my area.

We considered a laurel hedge along the side of the house that faces the road but went with red robin bushes instead - fast growing and evergreen. I wasn’t patient enough to use cuttings! I did grow a box hedge from cuttings and it took forever; this year is the first that it actually looks like a hedge. We had a Blackbird who seemed to like pulling the small plants out, so they had a slow start. 

@*Kaiit* It’s been wet over the past few weeks but dry and warm the last few days up here. We went from little or no rain for months to really wet. The bugs have been bad at times but we’ve got a strong breeze keeping them at bay. Sorry to hear your school is closing. I’ve a few around me but there’re not BHS approved and the approved ones are just a little too far to go for a lesson on a regular basis. 

Back to work on Monday.


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## Kaiit (Mar 28, 2017)

@horseluvr2524 I love conures! I think if my boyfriend were to have his own bird, it'd be a conure! They just love company and are so affectionate. He's more the kind of person to appreciate animals when someone else does all the hard looking after though, lol. Plus my Amazon hates other birds. Conures and pigeons used to wind him up in the sanctuary he came from and he was once attacked by a grey before I got him. Good on you for wanting to rehome! 

@Caledonian we often get droughts in the east so the wet has definitely been appreciated for the grass! Being close to the coast we always have a bit of a breeze but we don't tend to suffer from the little midges and things, just rife with horseflies and blowflies! The school is a shame because it seems to be so hard to find ones I get on in but I'm at the point where I'd rather have private lessons with my own horse anyway, and so would my sister.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Nothing like my husband yelling at me in his sleep. "Never, never mind! Forget it!"
:rofl:


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Well, I am very bad. My brain is now deciding that a new pet would be a great Christmas present for DH... finding excuses to satisfy the 'new pet syndrome'. *Sigh*... I wish my 'new pet syndrome' would stop showing up. Either that, or the animals need to stop being so fascinating and adorable.

My mind has been on the conure thing again... and then I find myself wondering if maybe he would be just as happy with a budgie parakeet who are one of the best species at mimicry, and honestly great little first birds! I used to have several.

Then my thoughts turned to maybe he would like a betta fish for his desk where he spends most of his day, as he loves all Japanese things. They are cool little fish. BUT a bird is easier to take care of, and interact with as well.

A new horse is out of the question. :wink:

I feel pathetic, using Christmas as an excuse for other animals, and to go so far as to say someone else needs one! lol. I need to seek help for my 'new pet/zookeeper syndrome', and stop justifying it as 'but he doesn't have a bird of his own, and he really likes birds!'.

OK, I feel better after venting and now I can get back to work (writing material to publish) and stop beating my head against a wall. :lol:

ETA: (What works is distracting myself on new items for our furry kids lol)


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I like the budgie idea. they are sweet little birds. I love the busy little sounds they make. I do not think they live as long as conures. you really make a committment when you get a parrot, as they live SO long.

Always think if this will be a good thing for the PET, too.
But, I know the feeling. I havent had a new pet in ages, and I want a DOG!! since I can't have a horse, I want a dog. at the moment, all we have is one cat. Now, Elvis is a sweet guy, but he is dumb as a box of rocks! my husband dislikes this noisy cat and says he has the IQ of a rake! ( I don't doubt it, but I cover Elvis's ears when he says stuff like that. I don't want him to become self concious.)


As for me, and horses, I had some time away from them. Then, today, I got out to the barn. X (my lease horse) could care less if I am there or gone for weeks. But, once I AM there, he gives me that. "what did you bring me look?" that melts my heart. He and I had a nice, calm ride in the woods, with the sun, leaning hard into the horizon, casting long glancing red slivers of light along the silent tree trunks. And we, two hearts, and a jumble of legs, just cruised through it. 

For him, it is "when can we head for home?". For me it is, "Oh, this couldn't get any better! how can I make this last?"


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

tinyliny said:


> He and I had a nice, calm ride in the woods, with the sun, leaning hard into the horizon, casting long glancing red slivers of light along the silent tree trunks. And we, two hearts, and a jumble of legs, just cruised through it.


Beautiful.
@horseluvr2524...Budgies are a first bird? :grin: I've never moved past them. Although I had some zebra finches once and loved those too. One got out once and at first we thought it was a giant bee buzzing around in the house. My first Budgie lived to be 10 before having a stroke. When I brought him to the vet to be put to sleep, the vet asked how old he was and when I said 10 asked, "10 months?" That still makes me smile, she didn't know they could live to be over 10.

My husband says I would be a pet hoarder without him. Yet when it comes down to starving baby rats or a poor cat that has hidden in a hole in the barn floor for a year, he never can say no to bringing them home. We are up to 9 pets right now - it's terrible but yet I swear all of them get excellent care, lots of attention and the best food. 2 cats, 2 rats, 2 horses, 2 parakeets...1 dog. 

Just pray that Ruby rat isn't pregnant since I didn't know her brother was a boy until 6 weeks...AND she got into his part of the cage yesterday since I'd taped a cover over a hole with duct tape and it came unstuck. If you ever want to feel cruel, take very social animals like rats that have been kept apart and are now clinging to each other with their little paws and pry them apart and separate them again. Only 5 days until the neuter...

I'm supposed to be sleeping at 6 am because I have a class from 8-11. But I don't sleep at night! So my body doesn't want to. I think I got two hours. Wish they'd do some required work classes in the evenings once in awhile...It's tricky living in a world where you live the opposite hours of everyone else. Yet it has it's rewards too.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

@tinyliny @gottatrot

Budgies live an average of 15 years when fed and cared for properly. Unfortunately, these pet store diets drop their life span to a mere 5 years.

DH is super loving with animals. While he always says "NO" to any new pet ideas, once the animal is here, he loves it too. lol.

Gottatrot, budgies are fantastic little birds (and yes, first birds, because they are so nice and even tempered). I used to have many. I had one pair that had a clutch (GORGEOUS babies!). They were tame, I tamed them myself, and could take them out and play with them. The female, Emma, loved to burrow into blankets, your shirt, anything.
One day, I just couldn't take the cleanup that an entire family of birds entails, and I sold them on to a reputable breeder, while the babies went to the local bird shop (I knew the owner really well) and got great new homes. The runt of the clutch (I called her Mezzi, which means ocean in Egyptian supposedly) did not find a home even after several weeks, so I bought her back and brought her home. She was such a beautiful sweetheart too! I left the birds here while I went out of state to Cleveland two years ago. While I was gone, my mother gave Mezzi away to a retired disabled couple, where she is well loved and apparently got a buddy of her own soon after. I was a bit upset that she gave them my nice cage (though I didn't tell her), but better that Mezzi lives in a cage appropriately sized rather than being given away in one too small with owners who don't know any better.

I still miss them sometimes. They healed my heart over the death of my first birds, two lovebirds. I thought there was something wrong with me and that was why my birds died. The budgies gave me the confidence to try again, and my third lovebird is still with me and is such a great little companion.

Are your birds tame gottatrot?

Poor little ratties! Well, they will be back together soon right :wink:

My mom's neurotic/phobic galah is getting a new cage. I've learned some about this syndrome in galahs, and one person compared it to autism as the birds seek darker, safe spaces. So he is getting downgraded from a huge macaw cage to something smaller. Then I will be putting partial curtains on three sides to give him a sense of security, and getting one of those bird tent perch things (it's a hanging perch with two sides enclosed by fabric).
The smaller cage will help reduce risk of injury when he has one of his freak outs and falls to the bottom. I will also be covering the bottom in bubble wrap, then layering paper over top of it. Cushioning. :grin:

The cage we are getting:
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/you-and-me-standing-parrot-cage


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

This is a fun thread. 

I am putting off doing work, (as usual). I am a Realtor and am listing a new house today which is exciting, and have a closing on Friday. Yay!

We just sold our personal house a few days ago and are staying in a temporary place for awhile. One of my vacant listings. We put most of our stuff in storage and we had to move out so quick that we didn't get to separate day to day essentials from storage stuff. So we are frustratingly making do. Ugh.

Is anyone else excited that fall is coming up? As much as I like summer, fall and winter are my favorite times of the year!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

I love fall, but don't get to enjoy it in the desert. 

How are you staying in one of your vacant listings? Are you squatters (jk) or do the owners know? :lol:


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

This is a fun thread! 

My hubby also says I would be a animal hoarder if it weren't for him... But HE'S the one who asked me the other day how much another mini would cost. My non-horsey hubby wants a team now haha

Just got back from the dentist. I went in because I broke my top left back tooth. He cleaned out all of the cavity and gave me a grave look. He said I might not have enough tooth left to put a crown on, and if I did want a crown, he would need to put a post mount in for it but it might not last more than 10 years. He then said, "Or we could just pull it and not worry about it." So I am back at work with a mouth full of gauze and clenched teeth. Talking on the phone is wonderful haha and I have fries and chicken nuggets I can barely eat. I'm so hungry, HELP!! haha First tooth I've had pulled... and I'm not really a fan. It grossed me out so bad.

I don't know how my Grandpa pulled his own teeth out... ICK!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

@gottatrot. if you are awake at night, and asleep during the day, how do you manage to do those beach rides?

I have a budgie story, but it will make you sad, and perhaps angry . . 

When I was living in Tokyo, oh so many years ago, I was walking home from the train station and heard the chirping of a bird I knew was not a wild one; it was a budgie. Following the sound, I saw the little blue fellow on top of a tall fence, and it seemed to be frantically calling to me. I stopped, put out my hand as close as I could, offereing it an inviting perch, and low and behold, the little guy flew down and landed on . . . . . my head. 

In order to not disturb him, I continued walking the several more blocks , very, very slowly, with a blue budgie nibbling my hair. Passersby smiled at the image of the Gaijin (foreigner) with a bird on her head. Once inside my flat, I put my hand up and brought him down. And I fell in love with him.

I went and bought a small cage, but when I was at home, I allowed him to fly freely about the place (of course, that meant doing poo patrol). when I turned on the water, he would fly across the apt to happily stick his head under the stream of water and flutter to bathe. When I was studying at night, he would walk all over my homework and follow my pencil as it scratched over the paper. 

And that was his demise. He would nibble at my pencil tip, which was a mechanical pencil. unbeknownst to me, he was crumbling it and EATING the pencil lead. Which, of course, proved poisonous. Birds can tolerate only the minutest amounts of pollutants, and of course, he sickened and died very quickly. I was really upset.

This came only a few months after I had picked up a baby miniature rabbit as a pet, in Tokyo.
that's also a good story, so here it goes:

Hubby and I were on our way to see a movie when we stopped to see some baby rabbits being sold on the sidewalk. this is rare in Tokyo (to sell live animals on the street), and I fell for it and bought a baby rabbit, which he gave to me in a shoebox. We went on to the cinema, and I could not resist checking on him , and worrying that the noise was disturbing to him. of course, I SHOULD HAVE taken him immediately home, but husband did not want to go all the way home after coming the many subway rides to get where we were. 

So, bring baby rabbit home and am enjoying petting him and feeding him and letting him scamper about the apt. One day, on a nice spring day, I took him out to the balcony (which was only a few feet off the ground, with a concrete 'fence' around it of about 5 feet in height). The phone rang, so I foolishly left the rabbit out while I went in to answer it. the concrete fence kept rabbit in, but did not keep a hungry cat out. I heard the most awful sound ever; the shriek of a rabbit being gripped in the mouth of a cat, turned just in time to see the cat carrying my baby over the fence, baby shrieking. I dropped the phone RAN to the patio, but could not stop the cat. I was so angry with myself. I caused that baby to be killed by my casualness toward his safety.

So, to then have the budgie die, made me very upset and figure I was jynxed with pets.

Just to let you know, I have since had several pets that lived good lives into old age and were put down when the time was best. I guess the jynx is over.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

@tinyliny

I think most people go through those 'oops' moments with pets, that often end fatally. As long as you care, and you learned from it, no reason to beat yourself up. One of my lovebirds died because I stupidly left the cage on the floor, and the dogs tore it apart and killed him. The other one died I think because of a draft but I am not positive (again, bad cage placement).
Also lost two cats to those dogs. They are still with us now, and co-habitate peacefully with two cats and two birds, but are always supervised with them. It was so hard not being angry with them over what happened. It is also so very hard to accept it was your own actions that caused the death of another being. But that is living, and that is learning. The important thing is that you learn from it.

What was it like living in Tokyo?
@KLJcowgirl
I had my wisdom teeth out a couple years ago. All four at once. I don't think I have ever been in as much pain in my whole life as I was then.


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

@horseluvr2524 That is NOT something I want to do! I still have all my wisdom teeth, and only one that has peeked through (the right top). He says with this tooth pulled today, it's likely that the left top one will take it's place (ish) and not need to be taken out.

Numbing has finally worn off and it's a bit tender, but not bad yet... still bleeding though... ugh.

And it is very hard to not hold grudges against your pets for some things... My lesson in that was when a mare we had took a hold of my brother by the shoulder when he was about 2, he waddled to close to her brand new baby and she got protective. He and I got a good long lecture about how and when to leave animals be. Of course my mother was angry at the mare, but understood why it happened and we got over it, and it never happened again. I learned to watch body language. My brother got a cool bruise that he was happy to show EVERYONE. 










However, I would be a bit of a mess if I had @tinyliny 's experience... that's rough.


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

Also... I don't want summer to be over, it's my favorite! Though I could do with the temp being turned down a bit this year. I very much dislike winter, never have enjoyed it too much. I hate being wet and cold. Hubby loves winter though, it means snowmobiling.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

here one can already see the change in the weather. it has to do with the angle of the light coming in. we are so far north that as we start into the shortening days, you really see that the sun is no longer overhead, but starting to angle in from the south again. And, as we approach the equinox, leaving the solstice months behind, the RATE of change accelerates. 
So, it's not the same every day. It speeds up, so each day is shorter not by the same amount as the day before, but even MORE shorter! It can be depressing. However, I LOVE the fall, so that's a consolation prize.

Tokyo was amazing. This was 30+ years ago, though. Very busy, very intense living. We loved it , and we hated it. But, I'd go back again. I've visited, but haven't lived there since 1990


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

I love the fall too, but it's a little sad because the days are getting shorter. @tinyliny, this time of year between the time changes is the best for me. I get off work at 7, so if I sleep from 8-4 I still have about 5 hours of daylight to ride on the beach and play with horses. Sometimes in the winter I have to short myself sleep in order to ride...not something I care for. Many night shift workers cut their sleep back to the detriment of their health. They seem to believe they must be up in the day, and plan things and allow people to visit and call, waking them up. I do this very rarely, and firmly believe sleeping 7-8 hrs this is not just important for my health but for the safety of other people in the world where I am driving and giving out dangerous medications.
@horseluvr2524, guess I need to get my Budgies living longer! I know I am learning as I go, and have researched about the feeding some. Probably the genetics of the pet store type Budgies also shorten their lives. Also even though I have a very large flight cage, my male and female are several years old but have never nested so I wonder why that is. I've always had male pairs before. They are not very tame...don't usually bite me when I need to catch them but sometimes they do. I've worried about them flying around rooms and running into things, and I just don't know how to go about taming birds so I never have. But I enjoy watching them very much and they're very social and chirp to me while in the cage.

I have a rabbit story. One day I was riding with friends on a gravel road when I looked down and saw a piece of horse poop. As my horse stepped toward it I suddenly saw two little eyes open and blink on top of the piece of turd so I yanked my horse to the side just before she stepped on the tiny rabbit. I picked up the baby and it had fur but was as tiny as and the color of a ball of brown horse poo. I wrapped it in my shirt and we rode home singing "little bunny foo foo." Sadly, right after we put it in a small box at the barn, it had a seizure and died. Probably it had been dropped by a raptor and had a head injury. But I had been hoping to keep Bunny foo foo as a pet.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

oh. I have another sad rabbit story.

I was visiting a friend who approached me with a little bundle cradled in her hands. It was a baby wild rabbit, that had 'met' the cat in a bad way. It had a small hole in its abdomen, and a loop of intestine was poking out. poor thing!
She brought it to ME becuase she said, "Caroline, you have a way with animals". Sadly, I assessed it to not be survivable, and told her putting it out of its misery would be the best thing for it. She acted squeemish and said she could not do that, but, could I please do it?

I got a plastic back and tried to suffocate the little thing, and each time it appeared to be lifeless and I removed the plastic, it revived and came back to life enough to move a bit. I thought, "Well, it's pretty strong, and it wants to live, so maybe I can help it heal".

So, I took it home, washed and shaved the hair around the wound, and pushed the now partially desicated intestine back into the abdomen, and used a butterfly bandage to close it. It would not stay closed. As I struggled with this, my husband came into the bathroom and asked what I was up to. I showed him, and he immediately told me I was being foolish and only prolonging the suffering of this doomed baby. 

"But I tried to kill it and it wouldn't die!" , I said. "Give it here", he said abruptly, and took it out into the carport and biff bam, he banged it's head against the wall and killed it. Now that's how you put a small animal out of its misery!
It was, however, utterly shocking in its abruptness, and business like manner. I was pretty upset for a while. NOw, it's just a story.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

@horseluvr2524 LOL it's funny you mention that, because while the owner does know we are staying here and paying rent, we were joking around and saying we should go squat in a foreclosure. Here is something interesting that has been affecting us a lot, especially recently: if someone lives in/maintains/squats in one area long enough, they could have legal ownership of that property after a certain amount of time. Not sure what the laws are per state. I was showing a property that was for sale recently and there was a small parcel in front of the property that was blocking the easy access to the building site.. very weird setup.. anywho, we looked up the owner of the small parcel to see if they would sell it. Turns out the owner that was on the deed had passed away and the county reassigned the taxes (I believe accidentally) to a lady years ago. So, while she had absolutely no ownership of the property whatsoever, now that she has paid taxes on it so long she could legally claim it! She had surrounding acreage which is why I think it was assigned to her.

That's a sad story about the bunnies and the budgie  My mom accidentally put my guinea pigs outside once for about an hour. It was a hot day and one died from heat stroke. It was sad. They're not tolerant to heat at all.

Oh, if this was mentioned already and I skimmed past it I apologize. But who's going to watch the solar eclipse?


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## tbrl (Jul 28, 2017)

Budgies are so cute. We always had one or two of them when I grew up. I had one of my own too, she was amazingly tame. I could actually go outside with her on my shoulder, and she would not fly away. (I used to forget that she sat on my shoulder)
Every day she sat in the windowsill waiting for me when I came home from school, and when she heard me, she started calling me. When I stepped inside the door, I would call for her, and she fly down the stairs and land at my shoulder. 
When I ate, she sat on my plate, when I took a shower, she would sit on the cabinet, and if I took a bath she would sit on my knee or the bathtub. 
My mother used to buy these big buckets with honey, and I still remember coming home after being away for a few days, and she was smelling (stinking) honey... she had taken a bath in the bucket with honey.. my mother had tried to wash it off, several times, but it still stank.. 
And when I ate cereal with milk, she would try to walk on it. 
She was also bat**** crazy. She used to make love to one of my stuffed animals ears, and if someone looked at her while doing it, she would attack them right away. She also had a thing for white socks..
I was so sad when she died (she was 16 1/2 years old then). She should have been at least 60 years old if you ask me...

I do have a story about bunnies too.. Eight/nine years ago I had two bunnies, and one day one of my neighbors came to me with another bunny and asked if I had lost one of mine. I told her it was not mine, but it could stay with mine while we were searching for its owner.. We put it in the cage, and it became a real ruckus inside.. so we had to take it out again.. 
it was not a bunny, it was a hare *deadpan* I should have known.. 
We released it where she found it, and it survived that year at least. I saw it several times later, stayed in our neighborhood.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

gottatrot said:


> guess I need to get my Budgies living longer! I know I am learning as I go, and have researched about the feeding some. Probably the genetics of the pet store type Budgies also shorten their lives. Also even though I have a very large flight cage, my male and female are several years old but have never nested so I wonder why that is. I've always had male pairs before. They are not very tame...don't usually bite me when I need to catch them but sometimes they do. I've worried about them flying around rooms and running into things, and I just don't know how to go about taming birds so I never have. But I enjoy watching them very much and they're very social and chirp to me while in the cage.


Haha, well I am a big time bird enthusiast. I was set on making them my career for a long time (I wanted to be one of those bird trainers at the zoo lol).

Typically what I have done is wing trim for the initial taming process. Then by the time they grow their flight feathers back in (usually a few months), we've built up a good bond. You can do all sorts of fun things with them like teaching them to fly to you on command, and tricks. Birds are good fliers of course, and parakeets are excellent at it. The only time they would ever really run into things is if they are in panic mode (even then, I've had birds freak out and fly into something, and they come out OK. I've never lost a bird to a flying accident). You just have to bird proof the room, and make sure it has decent lighting. Ceiling fans off, and windows covered in curtains or blinds so they don't fly right into them. Most birds, once they learn what windows are, don't have an issue with uncovered windows.

For parakeet taming, I had good success with just putting my arm inside the cage with a favorite treat and getting them used to climbing all over me. Then I progressed to catching them and very gently petting the backs of their necks, and they would get so very sleepy, they loved it. Separating multiple birds makes the taming process go much faster and smoother, but it's not really necessary if you are willing to spend a bit of time with them each day. They just don't bond quite as much to people when tamed in a group.
I found parakeets to be rather independent little fellows. They didn't mind being carried around on a finger, but weren't so much into the cuddling thing, whereas my lovebird adores kisses and nose snuggles into his chest.

Your birds likely have never made a nest because the conditions aren't quite right, and there is a lack of a nest box. Mine never bred until I put one in. For diet, if you don't want to do a homemade one, I highly recommend the pellets "Roudybush". Very good, healthy brand, and it's what I had my parakeets on. I figured out that the pellets were too high in protein, so they were causing serious hormonal triggers in my lovebird (24/7 masturbation and regurgitation on everything in his cage). That's when I switched to a homemade diet, consisting of different vegetables chopped in a food processor, and a cooked bean/grain/rice/legume mix. I keep the veggies ready for each day in a container in the fridge, and spend about two hours every couple weeks or so making up a fresh batch of each thing. However, I'm also feeding a galah cockatoo, so he eats a lot more.

If you are specifically looking to breed yours, increasing the hours of light they receive will do the trick. Just be aware that breeding of course heightens the risk of your female becoming egg bound, which often leads to death.

#thebirdnerd


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you are very knowledgeable. a wealth of knowledge, for sure. thank you for sharing.


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## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

Sad story about the bird and bunny @tinyliny Tokyo sounds like it was an adventure! 
@horseylover1_1 nope, I ain't watching it. Some of my siblings are, but that kind of stuff just doesn't interest me. Besides, it might rain here anyway.

Not sure if it was Budgies, but when my family lived in Costa Rica, the house we lived in had a cage of little birds we took care of. The had all kinds of stuff to play with and did all kinds of cool tricks. There was one though, his name was Loco and he was CRAZY!! He was yellow and seemed to have fits where he would act totally wicked and weird!!! We had friends who had Parots that could talk, but if I remember right, they were stolen several months after we moved there....


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I have never had a pet bird. Are they as messy as everyone says they are? I have a weird thing about bird poop.. it's icky to me (more so than another poo)


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## Kaiit (Mar 28, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> I have never had a pet bird. Are they as messy as everyone says they are? I have a weird thing about bird poop.. it's icky to me (more so than another poo)


I like to exaggerate how difficult they are to look after just so people without the dedication are put off (much like with horses as well, I guess). My Amazon is totally chilled out, easy to look after, not messy (he eats his food over his food dish) and will sit quietly for hours. That makes people want to go looking for a parrot when they meet him, especially when he's out on his harness with me. But in honesty, they're not that difficult IF you have the patience and time for them. Not all birds are the same so you just have to accept they may be messy/noisy/etc and deal with what you get. They will poop a lot, but you can toilet train a lot of bird species. If you're buying a parrot you also have to just accept that you'll be bitten, even if just by accident. Mine won't bite maliciously but if he's on my shoulder and loses balance he'll clamp down on my ear. I only change his cage papers and sweep up after him once a day, but he's not the kind of bird to shred things. 

One thing I will say about them though, they are super rewarding and so affectionate! I honestly didn't rate parrots before mine came into a rescue for rehoming but I saw him and just had to take him home with me. I don't regret it at all!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Pet bird poop isn't near so nasty as wild bird poop (like pigeon poop).

Yes, birds are messy. They rival horses in messiness, and are definitely messier than your average cat and dog. They are also loud. And just like you have to take potentially getting thrown off a horse with the territory of riding, you have to take getting nipped or bit with handling a bird. My lovebird mouths, but does not bite. Parrots (lovebirds are parrots too) like to be very mouthy with their beaks. They use them as their hands. The galah parrot has bit me hard before, but that was when he went through some rough neurotic episodes. For the most part, the worst he does is a pinch, and that is only when he is frightened or stressed.

BTW, a sure fire way to get bit, is yanking your hand/arm away from a parrot you just asked to step up, when they reach out with their beak. They always test the stability of a perch with their beak before climbing on. Your hand/arm is no different. Hold steady, and its not a bite or even a nip, feels like nothing. Yank away, and they will try to steady the perch (you)!

Biggest thing to watch out for as far as bird messiness is that projectile pooping. I have the backs of my cages wrapped in sheets so I don't have to scrub the walls lol.

I looked into sugar gliders at one point. I can tell you that birds are not as messy as sugar gliders, and their poops are really no big deal to clean up, especially the little ones. Vs. getting peed all over by a sugar glider when they come out to play. YUCK!

ETA: my lovebird doesn't even like pooping on me. He flies off to poop, then comes back.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

The birds sound so interesting. I guess they have unique personalities just like any other pet. And @Kaiit that is the cutest picture ever. :grin:


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

That's a pretty bird! He looks so cuddlesome. I have never understood why some people are literally afraid of all birds. Something about he fluttering creeps them out.

I went to a banquet/auction thingy to benefit a non-profit 'farm' in the country not so far from here. they have like 15 horses and they allow anyone, literally anyone, who needs horsey healing time to come to the farm and spend time with horses. some of the kids are troubled, some are just kids, and some are adults who need some down time on a farm. It's a pretty cool place. Of course, I spent too much money! But, as we kept telling ourselves, "it's for a good cause!".


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Sounds fun tinyliny!

I spent my half of my day off (Mondays, as I work weekends, and then work on our in home business Tues-Friday) playing the original zoo tycoon. I don't know... anytime I waste half a day (or more!) playing a game, I never feel very accomplished! lol. Even if I build a whole fancy zoo, it's still not real. 

I'm looking forward to taking up crocheting. I've got a love for soft cotton and wool fuzzy blankets, scarves, and what not. Also, crocheted stuffed animals are very cute as well. It will give me something to do when my job at the weekend shop is slow.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

horseluvr2524 said:


> Sounds fun tinyliny!
> 
> I spent my half of my day off (Mondays, as I work weekends, and then work on our in home business Tues-Friday) playing the original zoo tycoon. I don't know... anytime I waste half a day (or more!) playing a game, I never feel very accomplished! lol. Even if I build a whole fancy zoo, it's still not real.


I love Zoo Tycoon. I have the aquarium and dinosaur animals too. Every once in awhile I'll work on a cute little zoo.

Thanks for the bird feeding advice. I have tried to research and I don't think I was very good at it... birds are different from horses and I'm not sure the sites I was looking at were necessarily reliable. What I've been feeding mine for several years is a seed mix: Healthy Select.


> Healthy Select Ingredients: White millet, oat groats, red millet, canary grass seed, golden german millet, flaxseed, dehulled soybean meal, heat-processed barley, steam rolled oats, safflower seed, corn gluten meal, rapeseed, ground wheat, calcium carbonate, ground corn, wheat middlings, niger seed, dehydrated chopped timothy hay, monocalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, ground oregano, caraway seed, dried cranberry, ground oat groats, dried carrots, dried spinach, leeks, dried calendula flower, dried chamomile flower.


I read it was good because it had grains and veggies/dried fruit rather than just millet seeds which is what I used to feed my birds in pure ignorance. I am going to buy the Roudybush you recommend. What would you think about mixing these two foods together? Or is that just making it less likely they get all the nutrients they need? I do feed some fresh stuff but not very regularly, I admit.

My rattie boy is getting neutered tomorrow. It cracks me up; he pulls both his food dishes close to himself and sits eating from both. My girl rat takes one small piece of food, then runs all the way back to her bed, eats it, runs back to get another piece, etc.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

It's highly likely that your birds won't touch the pellets at first, so yes mixing is the best way to go. Start with 1/4 pellets and 3/4 seed, then move up to half. Actually, a lot like introducing a new feed to horses 

I always got the 'crumble' size pellets for the parakeets.

One of the big problems with seed mixes is that though they coat the seeds with vitamins, minerals, etc., they are coating the hull of the seed. The birds crack the hull to eat the seed inside and never get the health benefits of those additives. Seed is not bad-so long as it's only a portion of the diet, not the whole diet. If I remember correctly, a good diet is 25% seed, 25-50% pellets, and 25-50% fresh foods. Sprouted seeds are a powerhouse of nutrition, and a really good thing to feed.

Both of the birds I'm feeding are special cases, otherwise I would have kept feeding Roudybush. Alas, one is prone to fatty tumors+hormonal behavior, and the other had some rather serious hormonal imbalances (the high protein pellets were triggering 'must have babies!!!'). Never had a problem feeding pellets to my keets though, and that particular pellet is a go to for many breeders and some zoos as well.

An excellent seed mix that was (and still is, if I were to feed seed) my favorite is Volkman Avian Science. I found out about it through a local parakeet breeder who had turned the good majority of her house into an aviary lol.

Then there is all kinds of fun treats to give them. My lovebird goes nuts for nutriberries. They also have these convenient cooked mixes that you just pop in the microwave (cooked food is a favorite of all birds, no exceptions lol!).

Nutriberries

One example of cooked food

Of course, it's even cheaper to make up your own cooked mix, but there is a lot more time involved in it (I have to let the mix soak for 6 hours because of the dried beans before I can even cook it. Thankfully, I make a huge batch and freeze most of it). The premade products out there are very convenient, and affordable for little birds like parakeets.

I love animal nutrition/keeping. I find it so fascinating to pick an animal, learn everything I can about it, and devise the best husbandry method. Designing habitats is another of my favorite things!

ETA: and no problem, I am ecstatic to help, believe me lol. I need to find a job as a pet counselor lol! The reason you may not have found this information for parakeets is that they can be rather disregarded, being that they are the little bird most people own at some point, and they just don't expect them to live very long. It's good to research 'parrot nutrition' not just parakeet/budgerigar, as they are parrots too!


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Since its not a confession, but bragging, I'm putting it here.

As of yesterday morning, I've lost a total of THIRTY pounds since February. Last time I mentioned it I was at 25 lbs.

Thank you horses and hard yard work!

TAKE THAT FAMILY DOCTOR who said a person can't lose weight riding horses! NYAH!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

*sigh*

so further confirmation for me NOT to go into horse training or lessons. Just saw jumping lessons with an established clientele for $35. How are these people putting food on their table anyway with prices like that?

Horse market still sucks. Not even a tiny profit in producing excellent trail horses (not a showing person, so practical use is what I'm good at training. My horses go through just about anything though, and I giggle inwardly at people who boast of their experience and show ribbons and then can't get their horse through a problem on a trail). Seems like the only ones even covering expenses are top show horse producers, and gaited horse people. Oh, and in this area, any miniature that can drive is worth $$$$$. In fact, miniatures in general are rather expensive here. Seen asking prices of $2000 for ones who don't even have ground manners.

See, I had this dream about training a mustang, selling it on as a trail horse or good foundation for any discipline, and then getting another one. I'm passionate about mustangs and want to help them find more homes. But, if I can't even cover my expenses for the time I've had them (4-6 months most likely), then it just wouldn't be doable.


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

You guys are so cool! I used to play Zoo Tycoon, now I'm just addicted to Suburbia 2 on Facebook.
@horseluvr2524 - Do you have any experience with linnies? I just got introduced to birds by training my friend's daughter's budgie who in one week has come from completely untame and biter to someone that wants to have everything I'm having (today she tried to dive in my coffee cup) and flies frequently on my head. In fact she has started to want attention so much, I assume, that she has started to use that very high pitched flock call a lot. The voice drives me up the wall. She is quite active and dominant person.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Fimargue said:


> You guys are so cool! I used to play Zoo Tycoon, now I'm just addicted to Suburbia 2 on Facebook.
> 
> @horseluvr2524 - Do you have any experience with linnies? I just got introduced to birds by training my friend's daughter's budgie who in one week has come from completely untame and biter to someone that wants to have everything I'm having (today she tried to dive in my coffee cup) and flies frequently on my head. In fact she has started to want attention so much, I assume, that she has started to use that very high pitched flock call a lot. The voice drives me up the wall. She is quite active and dominant person.


Yup, I think we are pretty cool here 

Hmm... linnies? Feel like I've heard that term before, but am not quite familiar. Your parakeet sounds like it has the personality of a lovebird. Highly recommend them, BTW. Big personalities in little bodies!

Parakeets do really well when they have at least 1 friend. Unlike lovebirds, they will not become untame when they are together in a flock, so long as they were tame before/tamed separately. I am speaking from experience with my pair that I had. That contact call is ear piercing! Mine did not do it unless one of their friends was in another room. Then they would start that up. Just saying that if she had a friend, she probably would not do that.  I really enjoy those cute little contented chirps they make. My lovebird picked that up, so he speaks parakeet. It is very cute, and a lot nicer, softer sound than the natural voice of lovebirds.

A couple pics of our two. The little green guy is Baby, my peachfaced lovebird. The big pink guy is Lina, a galah cockatoo (aka Rosebreasted cockatoo).


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Oh, just looked it up. "Linoleated parakeet". I have seen them before, a long time ago. They are very pretty! have no idea if my previous info applies to them as well, as I really should have been saying budgerigars.


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

Baby is adorable  I love the look of lovebirds, but I have understood they can be quite eh temperamental and noisy? I can handle chirping and chattering, but I hate when they scream and contact call.

But yes, I think the budgie I'm having now is high maintenance :lol: for a budgie. She had a hissy fit when I didn't let her get on with diving in my coffee lol. She likes to bite and mouth things, and races up and down her cage and occasionally throws her seeds out of the cage when she sees me coming. She had a friend (they were sold to the family as two males btw), but she injured her and she died.

Linnies are around the size of a lovebird. They have couple nice colours to choose from and they are supposed to be more parrot like, but very gentle and rather "quiet". They also like to burrow.






Btw, I also have that Zookeeper Syndrome, since always to my parents great joy as well. Once I tried to buy a pony and put my mum's phone number in the advert... Well you can guess how happy she was when someone called lol. 

So I can only sympathise for an excuse to have more lol.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Well, perhaps my lovebird is the exception rather than the rule, but he does not fall under the description most people give of lovebirds. Then again, most lovebirds are not raised and handled the way mine was/is! Most lovebirds are kept in pairs, due to the odd old wives tale that they will die if they live alone. NOT true. All birds need companionship, but it does not have to be the same kind of species. Lovebirds are territorial, passionate, fierce little birds. They bond very closely with those that handle them. Well, I wrote something up on a bird forum a while back. I will post it here. BTW, I read some on linnies yesterday. Seems they can be prone to the same phobic syndrome that the galahs get, so beware of that as it truly does come out of nowhere and seemingly for no reason. Linnies actually seem more aggressive than lovies, I'm shocked yours killed her cage mate. :shock: Lovebirds can be aggressive when housed with other species, but from my experience they are fine out together for playtime. Most bird species should never be housed together, but usually they are fine with their own.

Anyway, here is that thing I wrote. Sorry, it's long! I just wouldn't want anyone turned off lovies. For some reason people think they are mean, and provided you have proper handling, that is so far from the truth. Mine I got from a breeder who raised her babies using 'co-parenting'. I got him shortly after he was weaned, and handled him often. Now, I don't need to handle him every day (like some people claim) and he stays tame and sweet. Not a biter at all. And quiet pretty much all day. He only gets loud if we put on music he likes, or he hears other birds chirping outdoors or on youtube.

*The Feathered Dragons*
"Lovebirds didn't become known as 'feathered dragons' for no reason!

My own peachfaced lovebird, known as Baby, or Baby Boo, or R2 Baby Boo (husband's nickname for him referring to the R2D2 whistles he makes), is a perfect example. He is such a bright and funny little character, who loves to be a part of everything. 

He loves it when we come and play with his toys with him, ringing the bells and such, and gets so excited and begins chirping and ringing them along with us. Another one of his favorite games is peek-a-boo. We will hide around the corner, pop our head out and make a kissing noise, and then duck back. He chirps excitedly, rings his bells, and also hides behind objects in his cage and then runs back out, playing along with us.

One day I was sitting down sorting a huge pile of change. Baby was so interested in what I was doing, he was running back and forth obsessively in the cage, chirping at me. I decided to let him out. He flies right over to the huge pile of coins and begins picking them up and dropping them, his imitation of what I was doing. He also playfully nipped towards my hands as I tried to continue sorting 'his' coins (very much like a dragon lol!). Then he figured out what I was doing, jumped up and sat on the coin jar, and started to take the coins I held out to him and drop them in the jar. He always surprises me with his intelligence.
This is still one of his favorite games. I was a bit concerned about the toxicity of the coins and made sure that he did not chew on any!

While I was at work over the weekend, my husband was watching TV on my laptop, when suddenly he heard a flutter of wings and here comes baby, mysteriously escaped from his cage. He promptly begins to clean up the pringle crumb mess my husband made (and now he is hooked on pringles, though I don't allow him to have them, he still gets extremely excited when he sees a pringle jar). My husband decided to allow him to hang out, and now calls him his 'little buddy' and likes to have him out with him. Well, I came home to little bird poops on my laptop, but as long as the boys had fun right?

Another time I had let Baby loose in the room. I was drinking coffee at the time. He sat on his cage door and watched for a minute, and then flew over and LANDED ON MY COFFEE CUP! I sent him back away to his cage. As soon as I took another sip, there he came back to sit on my coffee cup! And he tried hard to get a sip! I did not allow him, but of course when my husband wasn't paying attention one day he managed to get a sip, and decided he REALLY likes coffee. Gosh darn it bird! You can't have coffee! lol. Now that I think of it, maybe I'll have to look into whether decaf coffee would be OK...

Ah, I almost forgot. Baby is best friends with our cat as well. He likes to follow her around, tries to sit on her back (which she hates), nips at her tail, and is generally just an extremely annoying little brother. I'm always super careful to supervise any interaction, but he adores her and always does his best to annoy her, whereas she just wants to get away from him. It is funny watching her try to walk out of a room and him flying after her.

Lovebirds really are amazing little critters! I adore them. They are what first got me into birds, and I still think they are one of the best companion parrots you could possibly have."


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

"Most bird species should never be housed together, but usually they are fine with their own."

Meant to say, you can't really mix bird species in the same cage. They do fine with their own kind though (most of them. apparently linnies are an exception).


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

GAAAAAH!

I take it back. Don't get ANY birds! Baby has picked up the hum/squeak of the ceiling fan. Now today, it's been constant... "squeaaak...squeaaak...squeaaak", mimicking the fan, but amplified noise, though in actuality it's still very quiet. LOL, was driving me nuts!


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## jumpingtothemoon (Jun 16, 2017)

It sounds like we're talking about birds, so I'll just pitch in my two cents worth of thought.

Recently in the past two years, I've taken an interesting in parrots, and I dream of owning an amazon of my own one day. They sound like really amazing birds - fun, spunky, stubborn, smart, talented, and the list goes on... ! I have my eyes set on a Double Yellow, a Mealy, or a Panama. I'm still in school (sigh...), so I need to get through school, graduate university and law school, and have a stable adult life before getting the bird of my dreams. I'll probably have to wait at least 15-20 years, and by then I'll be in my late thirties or forties. Oh well!

What are your thoughts on "starter birds"? For example, in doing my research, I've come across websites that say "first time owners should start with a budgie or a cockatiel, and work their way up to the macaw of their dreams". 

Personally, I don't like this idea at all, as it isn't fair to the bird, nor yourself, to have to take care of a bird for 20+ years that you never really wanted in the first place. I feel as if you would not be able to bond with it, and never fully appreciate it. That's not saying I encourage reckless decisions! I believe that people should just go ahead and get the bird they want as their first bird, but prior to that, do lots, and lots, and lots of research!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Well, it's like with horses. You don't start out riding a professional top level barrel racer, show jumper, dressage, etc. You're not refined enough in your riding to speak the language of that highly trained horse, who is likely to get very frustrated. It's not about all the facts you know about the discipline, it's about your skill in actually riding that discipline.

Birds have their own language too. Their language is so very different from dogs and horses, everything is practically the polar opposite. The bird has to think he is the boss, and you have to make everything his idea, or else you get bitten rather severely, and/or the bird picks up all sorts of phobias and behavioral problems. In addition, birds are messy, loud, require a specialized diet (which unfortunately is usually lacking), specialized veterinarian, need a variety of toys to keep them happy, and each individual bird has specific needs which it is up to you to figure out.

So smaller birds are recommended as first birds, because they are less temperamental, less of an investment, and far easier to rehome than the large birds. Your idea that you couldn't bond with a bird that isn't your dream bird is the same mentality that new horse owners get about wanting their 'black stallion' or 'black beauty' or 'top quality show jumper'. If you're a beginner, the best horse for you isn't necessarily the horse of your dreams. Birds are the same way. And all birds are endearing! Except cockatiels, I really do dislike them :lol: I think if I was stuck with one though, I would warm up to it. But their voices drive me up the wall. I will take a sweet tempered budgie with the capability of learning over 100 words any day over a cockatiel.

The exception to the mentioned rule above of course is always the person that has years of hands on experience but never owned. If you want your first bird to be a big bird, donate a few hours of your time to a parrot rescue. There are tons of them around now due to the sheer number of parrots out there who need homes (they live SO long!), who were given up because of behavioral problems. I say parrot rescue, not bird shop, because at the rescue you will learn first hand the specific behavioral problems of each species. I volunteered at a bird shop years ago, and since I was mainly exposed to the baby birds who are always sweet, I was not made aware of all the behavioral problems older parrots can get because frankly most parrot keeping is very sub par what they need.

At the rescue, you will spend hours scrubbing cages, cleaning up, feeding, and learning how to handle temperamental birds. You will learn how to speak their language, which will save you a lot of heart ache and problems later!

I highly recommend budgies. They don't require much of a time commitment and truly are such endearing little birds! They can even learn to talk/mimic (though it is rare). Your best chance for getting one to talk is to get a young male, and don't get any others (so you need to have other pets around or you be around several hours a day so he isn't lonely). Once he learns to mimic, you can get a budgie friend for him and he will retain the ability (and should stay tame too!). Budgies come in a rainbow of colors and have great personalities. Their chirps are actually very soothing too. Don't put down the little birds. They are more fun (and less trouble) and you would think! Just check out these cool little fellows!


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

horseluvr2524 said:


> BTW, I read some on linnies yesterday. Seems they can be prone to the same phobic syndrome that the galahs get, so beware of that as it truly does come out of nowhere and seemingly for no reason. Linnies actually seem more aggressive than lovies, I'm shocked yours killed her cage mate. :shock:


It was the budgie that killed her friend. They had a mirror in their cage at the time and a 10-year-old owner who lost her interest quickly towards the untame birds.

Could you tell me a bit about this phobic syndrome, or tell me where I can read about it? 

Thank you for re-posting your post about lovies  They say that the males are easier and more docile than females? I have always been a female kind of person - they connect with me well and I guess I like the challenge - and kind of hate the idea of having to take one gender over the other just because the other could be impossible to handle. If you get what I mean... I could take a male as well, but I'm always more drawn to females.

*- Horrible owner warning lol.-* My rabbit loves Pringles. She got some pieces first when some dropped on the floor, and I have given her her own whole one sometimes.

I love Disco! He is incredible. Also this one:





That lovie is just like me in the morning when someone tries to bother me. :lol:


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

horseluvr2524 said:


> *sigh*
> 
> so further confirmation for me NOT to go into horse training or lessons. Just saw jumping lessons with an established clientele for $35. How are these people putting food on their table anyway with prices like that?
> 
> ...


I'm feeling your pain but still trying to pursue the dream although it is hard! The barn I am at now only charges $25 an hour for PRIVATE lessons and it's a very reputable barn, does well at shows, has indoor arena etc. Though I am not so much interested in training people to ride as horses, it still hurts to see horses selling so inexpensively. 

I will say though, I just saw an ad for someone that wanted a decent hunter mount with some show experience. Wasn't asking much - just something solid that has consistent w/t/c and something under 17 years of age. Something that could jump at least 2'. Their budget was $5000 and they didn't get one response. Low level hunters in our area bring a lot of $$ so that is probably what I will train. Not to mention that it's my passion as well. We are near the Kentucky Horse Park so there's quite a bit of industry and potential here.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

Bunny story: When we were kids (me, 16, my sister, 12) my sister had two angora rabbits. She didn't brush them as often as she should (she was 12 and forgetful). She went on vacation for a week with friends, so I was taking care of the rabbits. On the first day, I was brushing them, and one had a mat that just would not brush out, so I tried to clip it out with scissors and accidently cut the rabbit's skin. I felt awful, but very carefully shaved around the wound and used some of my Mom's sewing thread to put three stitches in. I removed the stitches the day before my sister came home and she never noticed. The rabbit healed and lived for another year - when my sister lost interest and gave the pair to a friend.

Bird story: My Mom used to raise and breed cockatiels. They were kept in a 6'x10'x4' aviary on the back patio. One of the young males had a mad crush on Mom's German Shepherd. The dog would lay down near the cage and that bird would fly down and reach through the cage wire to nuzzle in the dog's fur. He even learned to call the dog over. The dog seemed to enjoy the bird's company as well. Another of the birds (a white) was hand tame and often brought into the house for cuddle time. His favorite perch was on the cat. The cat didn't seem to mind and sometimes the two would actually cuddle, with the cat's paw wrapped around the bird as the bird snuggled into the cat's chest. 

We used to joke that Mom's menagerie didn't know what species they were as they often interacted contrary to breed. The dog would hop into the rabbits day yard and nibble the lettuce; the 'tiel played with the cat; one of the rabbits played fetch. It was odd, but fun.


As my kids were growing up, we didn't have birds. We had iguanas. And, of course, although the three iguanas belonged to the kids, I was the one who had to take care of them. The largest, a 5' female named Floyd, was hand-tame and I'd often toss her up to my shoulder while preparing their food. I had to be careful, though. She loved banana, and if I was prepping anything yellow, she'd run down my arm for a bite - and occasionally my finger would be in the way. For a toothless animal, they have VERY sharp jaws.

I say we didn't have birds... well, not as pets - but a wild raven sort of hung out at our house. We'd toss it scraps which it could catch on the fly, and it would tease our dog - pulling it's tail to get it to chase him. Occasionally, it would sit outside the window, looking in, and sometimes tap on it, asking for a snack. Made me think of Poe and, "quoth the Raven, Nevermore." LOL. Ravens are really cool birds with a ton of personality. I have to admit, I prefer the crow/raven family of birds over the parrot family.


Now I just have a pack of 4 sweet, cuddly pit bulls and 2 horses. That's enough for this old gal.


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## jumpingtothemoon (Jun 16, 2017)

Fish story: When I was in the fourth grade, I convinced my teacher to get us a class pet by writing her two detailed essays. So naturally, when the school year ended, I took home a beta fish. I don't remember naming him anything, but I do recall buying a female fish to keep him company. Fast forward a month, and the female started to lose her fish feathers (?). She died soon afterward, but that wasn't the issue. A couple months later, my family and I traveled to Florida for a family vacation! We couldn't find a fish sitter, so my family decided that he would be fine if we left extra food on top. When we came back, the house was super cold, and when I came to check on the fish, he was in the middle of his bowl, completely grey, with half of the food untouched. On closer inspection, we realized that the water in the cage had become ice, and that he had become frozen in his own bowl! I swore off from owning fish ever again, I believe it is for the best. :sad:


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

We used to put feeder goldfish in our horses' water troughs. My dad was taking care of the horses one weekend and when he broke the ice in the trough, he 'broke' one of the fish in half. When he came home, he was super apologetic for 'killing' one of our pets. We had a good laugh at him when we explained they were 10 for a dollar fish used for algae control.


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

Awww Those birds were awesome! R2D2 cracked me up. Never considered one before... but now... hmmmmmmmm :think: maybe. But probably not, I'm afraid I wouldn't be responsible enough. I think it takes a special person to give them the care they need (maybe I'm over thinking that haha). But they are neat creatures.

My mother has a friend who's kids have brought home all sorts of reptiles, rodents, and birds they caught while out playing for pets. The latest was their oldest boy brought home a Magpie. It would come to it's name, do tricks, and learned how to talk. Only really said simple things like "Hi" and "Oh". Magpies gross me out, but this one seemed pretty cool.

We had bunnies when I was younger. My Grandpa bought 3 females and one male. We kept the females in a little room in the barn. Kept the male in a rabbit cage opposite them. Went out to feed one day and found two nests of little pink babies. Grandpa thought maybe they had been bred before they came to us. Well.... turns out he had only bought 2 females. Also turns out they are able to breed way earlier than you might expect. We quickly ended up with about 50 babies... I know I know, totally irresponsible ;-) haha But we got figured out which were which gender and got everyone sorted out and never had a problem again. Boy was that fun for a kid!!! I would take them out and let them run all over the yard and be covered in a bunny pile, which is almost as fun as a puppy pile. A few even ended up roasted, can't say I'm a huge fan of rabbit, but I'd try it again (I think I disliked it because I loved them).


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

Change said:


> We used to put feeder goldfish in our horses' water troughs. My dad was taking care of the horses one weekend and when he broke the ice in the trough, he 'broke' one of the fish in half. When he came home, he was super apologetic for 'killing' one of our pets. We had a good laugh at him when we explained they were 10 for a dollar fish used for algae control.


Hahaha I like that! Sad for the fish, but funny.

We had gold fish in all our large water troughs, some still surviving. I didn't know gold fish could live so long. Grandma's got some going on ten years. And they're HUGE. But boy to they keep the gunk down. One specifically I remember got a huge growth on the side of him, and it swam sideways. We called him gimp. He lasted a long time.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

So, the trough is never actually upeneded and scrubbed out? never needs that? 

Dumb question, but if the fish are pooping in the water, doesn't that make it unpalatable or unhealthy for the horses?


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

No we got to clean it out every so often. The horses kick up dust that settles, and the fish poop. But it cuts down on that nasty green slime. We had a cement trough that grew long green strands of goop. ICK I hated that. And so did the horses. Never had to clean that ick out again after the fish.

Not sure about the poop changing the water... Horses never seemed to have an issue with it? But I've never really done research on it.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

I doubt it would hurt the horses. They drink from ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, etc. 

Just guessing here, but fish poop feeds the algae, and then the fish eat the algae. Self-sustaining ecosystem? I'm surprised the fish do OK though without the water being conditioned and all that stuff.
@Fimargue

Oh, they were housing linnies and budgies together? That explains it. :sad: Thus why the majority of bird species can't be housed together. Budgies and cockatiels seem to do OK together if the cage is large enough.

Most of the behavioral problem information you will find on bird forums from other owners. Typically, it's not official published information, for whatever reason. If you google "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about Lineolated Parakeets" you will bring up an article written by an owner. As per HF rules I can't link to it.

Before we brought home the galah, I read everything I could about them. They were portrayed in every publication as near the perfect pet bird. Not screamers, generally sweet tempered, etc. etc. Nowhere did I find information about the sudden change some of them go through after sexual maturity. It was absolutely heartbreaking when our sweet cuddly bird suddenly began acting like a wild animal, not wanting anyone to touch him, with no known trigger or cause. This story is repeated numerously among galah owners who owned their birds for any length of time. It doesn't happen to all of them, but it does happen to a good percentage. Now after a couple years of trial and error, he's almost back to the bird he was. One person related the galah's phobic behavior to autism, so that helped me because I got the idea to get him a smaller cage and wrap part of it in a blanket so it was a darker atmosphere. He has improved so much since then. Never would have thought of it on my own, because most birds like a lot of light and a lot of space.

If I ever did get another bird (well, it would probably be a conure for DH, but speaking about me here) I would probably want to go with a lorikeet. They are such gorgeous little birds, and they do that silly thing of rolling onto their backs and flinging foot toys like the bare eyed cockatoos do, minus the noise level of a cockatoo!


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## Kaiit (Mar 28, 2017)

jumpingtothemoon said:


> It sounds like we're talking about birds, so I'll just pitch in my two cents worth of thought.
> 
> Recently in the past two years, I've taken an interesting in parrots, and I dream of owning an amazon of my own one day. They sound like really amazing birds - fun, spunky, stubborn, smart, talented, and the list goes on... ! I have my eyes set on a Double Yellow, a Mealy, or a Panama. I'm still in school (sigh...), so I need to get through school, graduate university and law school, and have a stable adult life before getting the bird of my dreams. I'll probably have to wait at least 15-20 years, and by then I'll be in my late thirties or forties. Oh well!
> 
> ...


As someone who owns an Amazon, I'd like to say great choice 

I agree with you 100% about "starter birds." I personally hate the term, it encourages people into buying an animal they don't want and belittles the smaller species something terrible. You still need to be committed for 20-odd years to own a budgie, so it has to be the right animal for you. In some ways, I'd say they could even be _more dufficult_ because they're smaller, so quicker in flight, easier to lose out of a door or window and harder to handle in hand (much more delicate)! They're also much more susceptible to accidental toxin inhalation due to their tiny respiratory systems, so teflon and air fresheners can potentially have a much more serious affect (not that anyone should be overheating teflon with any bird in the house). I've worked in a pet shop for 7 years and ran a bird rescue for 3, so I've seen a lot of birds and a lot of people unable to cope with what they were told was a "starter" bird. They still need the same levels of patience and commitment. 

I'd personally suggest going for the kind of parrot you wanted and learn along the way. Rescues and parrot centres are a great place to start learning if you can volunteer (or even just go along to for a chat with the keepers) and give you an idea of what it's like to keep different species. They are definitely something to consider seriously, not least because they live so long. I adopted my Amazon two years into the bird rescue and he'd been there a month, so I really got to know he was right for me (I never have owned a bird previously, I might add). 

I'm not an advocate of wreckless pet purchasing, but I got my Amazon knowing I'd be leaving the rescue centre to start university. I'm a major miser though, so I hoarde money for rainy days, which meant I definitely had enough put aside to keep him and pay emergency vet bills. It really annoys me when older people suggest young people like us shouldn't have pet parrots because of "an unstable lifestyle," but if you're the kind of person who can commit to it and afford it, I say go for it when you're ready. I'll keep my boy until he dies, which can't be said for a lot of older owners (if you buy a baby Amazon at 30, chances are it would outlive you). Of course, the benefits of being an older owner are that you're probably more settled and financially stable, so there are benefits whichever way you look at it! But I don't think there's an ideal time or species to start with. You just have to be dedicated.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

tinyliny said:


> So, the trough is never actually upeneded and scrubbed out? never needs that?
> 
> Dumb question, but if the fish are pooping in the water, doesn't that make it unpalatable or unhealthy for the horses?


The tank where dad killed our goldfish was actually just a 55 gallon drum, and yes, those got cleaned out periodically. A net, and bucket and the fish was safe whilst the deed was done. Our 6' round, 250'+ gallon tank never got dumped unless we decided it needed to be moved. The goldfish keep down the algae, prevented mosquito larvae from hatching (2nd favorite food) and can grow to the size of small koi! The most cleaning we would do to that tank is using a pool type vacuum to suck the dirt accumulation off the bottom.

Goldfish are wonderfully hearty fish that need little aeration, can withstand huge swings in temps (if frozen goldfish hadn't broke, he'd have defrosted and been fine), and are cleaning machines.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

@Change and @KLJcowgirl 
Fish in the troughs is such a good idea! Simple yet does the job. Is it widely used in your areas? I’ve never heard of it before. My troughs are deep enough to be difficult to clean but probably too shallow for fish to survive. I don’t think it would be the cold that would get them, rather the seagulls and herons, as I live close to an estuary.


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## KLJcowgirl (Oct 13, 2015)

I honestly don't know if it's common in my area... We started it after we brought home a bunch of gold fish from a family Christmas party (they were a gag gift haha) and had nowhere to put them.

Like Change said though, they are pretty hearty. Pretty much no maintenance too. We do put heaters in our troughs when winter hits, so I didn't know they would survive frozen water, that's cool.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

So... the past couple days I have discovered the cause of my seemingly random headaches, fatigue/weakness, shortness of breath in cardio exercise, cold feet and hands, getting cold easily in general, etc... Apparently I have been deficient in iron for a very long time and not realized it. And my two favorite drinks (tea and coffee) PREVENT the absorption of iron! So now I'm trying to eat a diet more rich in iron, and not drinking coffee or tea anymore, and very minimal dairy (that prevents iron absorption too). I'm relegated to water with lemon and lime in it, because I admit that I hate drinking water and I have to find some way to make it taste better lol.

These headaches suck though. I can't wait until my body is adequate in iron and I won't have to deal with this anymore.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

horseluvr2524 said:


> not drinking coffee or tea anymore, and very minimal dairy


Nope. Lol. I am sure I am very deficient in iron, coffee would be the absolute last thing to go. Though honestly if I HAD to, I would be able to drink decaf.. I just genuinely like the taste of coffee.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

well, unfortunately (and also fortunately) it's not the caffiene that prevents absorption of iron, it's coffee itself. Dairy does similar, but completely giving up dairy isn't realistic (believe me, I've done it before. maybe if I lived in Asia I could, but not here on the American diet!).

Part of my massive headache today was the lack of caffiene. picked up a soda and it's helped immensely. stupid caffiene addiction lol. I do fine without it, other than getting headaches after a certain period of time from not getting it.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

horseluvr2524 said:


> So... the past couple days I have discovered the cause of my seemingly random headaches, fatigue/weakness, shortness of breath in cardio exercise, cold feet and hands, getting cold easily in general, etc... Apparently I have been deficient in iron for a very long time and not realized it.


Better get built back up! A friend of mine kept working on her fitness after having a baby several months prior and the doctors never told her she'd lost so much blood during the birth she was very anemic. So whenever she'd exercise her heart rate would go sky high and she'd get dizzy, but she kept thinking she just needed to get in better shape. Poor girl finally figured out after nearly passing out on a mountain hike that she should go into the doctor.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I always thought that the cure for anemia was simply to take iron supplements, but I guess you're saying that the problem is not necessarily that you're not taking in enough iron... it's that your body isn't absorbing it? Or a combo of both? 

Regardless I'm glad you found out what was wrong, so you can start feeling better!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

@gottatrot

Sounds similar to me. Remember when I asked you about jogging? Well, perhaps my inability to breathe during cardio exercise has nothing to do with the "exercise induced asthma" (forget the new name for that) or an acid reflux, but actually an iron deficiency.

@horseylover1_1
Well, if you drink enough coffee, tea, and dairy, and you're not consuming enough, or barely enough, iron each day, kinda shooting yourself in the foot!

At first I was just going to eat foods with a lot of iron in it. Well, iron is very hard to get in adequate amounts. So it's hard enough just to get the minimum (18 milligrams), and then you have to consider that I need more than that because I'm deficient. After researching into it, I figured out that it would be better to just take an iron supplement, don't do coffee or tea and avoid dairy, and consume more citrus.

So, maybe by the time it cools down, I'll be ready to try jogging again. Heck, if I could jog the 2 miles out to the barn rather than walk, I'd get there a lot faster! I was very frustrated when I figured out that the fastest I could walk 2 miles was 40 minutes, maybe 35 on a really good day. It's so frustrating when you desire to be more active but you feel physically unable to do so.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

horseluvr2524 said:


> So... the past couple days I have discovered the cause of my seemingly random headaches, fatigue/weakness, shortness of breath in cardio exercise, cold feet and hands, getting cold easily in general, etc... Apparently I have been deficient in iron for a very long time and not realized it. And my two favorite drinks (tea and coffee) PREVENT the absorption of iron! So now I'm trying to eat a diet more rich in iron, and not drinking coffee or tea anymore, and very minimal dairy (that prevents iron absorption too). I'm relegated to water with lemon and lime in it, because I admit that I hate drinking water and I have to find some way to make it taste better lol.
> 
> These headaches suck though. I can't wait until my body is adequate in iron and I won't have to deal with this anymore.


where did you learn this, about coffee, tea and dairy preventing the absorption of iron?

Coffee and tea have little that is similar except the presence of caffeine, same with dairy. So, what IS the problem element?

I , too, have a shortage of iron. I have taken iron supplements, but I am very sensitive to iron in vitamin pills. I take 'iron" vitamins and within mintues I am throwing it up again. I can barely manage prescription style . best is an injection.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

@tinyliny

Here are just a few links. BTW, it appears that I am incorrect about the caffeine: that can prevent iron absorption as well. I am going to try to get unaddicted to caffeine, as the fact that I get such intense headaches over not having it for a couple days is not a good sign.

Is your daily cuppa leaving you lower in iron? - Nutritionist Resource

Iron Disorders Institute:: Diet

Iron Deficiency & Caffeine | LIVESTRONG.COM

A lot of contradictory information out there too it seems. Gosh, it's so much easier putting animals on a strict diet than people!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

A person can drive themselves crazy trying to follow dietary advice these days!


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

I agree. I’m on a restricted diet due to being allergic or intolerant of a lot of foods and shopping and eating has become a nightmare. 
Over the last few years my Doc started removing stuff from my diet and now if I miss something in a packet, I get an even worse reaction than when I was regularly eating the food. I’ve had to replace milk with an almond/water substitute.
I’ve never felt so lethargic and I’m becoming increasing unfit because of a lack of energy.
I think I was healthier before and I wonder what I’m missing by cutting out milk. I’m not sure if I can replace the calcium by eating certain veg.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

Seems like dietary advice changes every 10 years or so. Has anyone else noticed that? Granted, there are people with true sensitivities to certain foods such as those who are lactose intolerant, have celiac disease, or iron deficiency (just to name a few). But whatever happened to eating just about anything in moderation? I know a lot of doctors today are going back to that. I guess whatever makes you happy and healthy, go for it!

Since this is an anything thread, has anyone else had a frustrating weekend so far? Like, chasing after a horse you're working with for an hour just to not catch them? Or paying $60 for a less-than-stellar lunch? Or had to deal with bad weather? (Though I absolutely cannot complain when the people of Texas have had probably the worst week of their lives. Very heartbreaking.)


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Gosh, no. My weekend's been wonderful! the weather is clear, and hot but not ghastly (about 85F), I 've been riding practically every other day for the last week. I've ridden with some really lovely people. I've had some oh so sweet moments with my body next to 'my' horse's body (I lease a horse, so I can't say "my"). My adult kids are home, and while they need to go about and get on with growing up and out of this house, for the time being, I love having them home.

no, life is good. I just finished an awesome ride, did the food shopping, put it away and am now enjoying a cold brewsky with you fine people. What could possibly be better?

Sorry, though, that your week hasn't been as lovely as mine. I'd share if I could!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Caledonian said:


> I agree. I’m on a restricted diet due to being allergic or intolerant of a lot of foods and shopping and eating has become a nightmare.
> Over the last few years my Doc started removing stuff from my diet and now if I miss something in a packet, I get an even worse reaction than when I was regularly eating the food. I’ve had to replace milk with an almond/water substitute.
> I’ve never felt so lethargic and I’m becoming increasing unfit because of a lack of energy.
> I think I was healthier before and I wonder what I’m missing by cutting out milk. I’m not sure if I can replace the calcium by eating certain veg.



ceasing to eat dairy should not cause you to feel so bad. you probably need to UP your carbohydrate consumption. eat more rice and beans and nuts! let yourself have a nice sloppy peanut butter and honey sandwish on toasted wheat bread! yum! maybe with some hot tea? with honey and almond milk in it. 

hummus with carrots , stir=fried zuchini and tomato and garlic, with lots of virgin olive oil, over linquini pasta. toss in some marinated artichoke hearts, maybe, if you can tolerate a wee bit, a tiny dusting of grated, real, parmesan cheese. or, some brewers yeast in powdered form.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

@tinyliny I'm glad you had a great week(end)! Hearing about other people's good weeks is refreshing. Good that you're able to get out and ride, especially with some awesome people. Since winter is coming it's good to get as much ride time in as possible!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Haha! Winter is coming, winter is coming! An end to the H-E-double hockey sticks weather! MY riding weather is on its way  Summer is my winter. I do not ride in this heat, just no.
@Caledonian

It could be the calcium you are missing. Collard greens, turnip greens, and mustard greens have good amounts of calcium (I looked it up because of the parrots' custom diet).


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

winter is coming.. I don't want to admit it but I have to agree.. our mini is starting to get wooly already.. it just hit September.. and since its our last winter in an area that will get snow, I have a feeling this one will be bad  Been working myself to the bone, feel a cold/ something coming on.. getting house ready for move, and 2 jobs, and trying to work my horse at least 5 days a week. at least my horse is sound finally so I can trail ride again.. he injured his hoof and had to have a large hunk of wood removed from it.. took a couple of months to get better, but he has to wear boots/ shoes if I ride on anything but grass from now on on his fronts


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

Caledonian said:


> @Change and @KLJcowgirl
> Fish in the troughs is such a good idea! Simple yet does the job. Is it widely used in your areas? I’ve never heard of it before. My troughs are deep enough to be difficult to clean but probably too shallow for fish to survive. I don’t think it would be the cold that would get them, rather the seagulls and herons, as I live close to an estuary.


I haven't tried it here in Alabama because my water trough is small enough to dump and scrub, but we always had fish in the tanks in Arizona and the California high desert. I don't know if they'd survive a Kansas/Oklahoma winter, but the 2-3 day winters in AZ weren't a problem. Besides, feeder gold fish are cheap.



horseylover1_1 said:


> Nope. Lol. I am sure I am very deficient in iron, coffee would be the absolute last thing to go. Though honestly if I HAD to, I would be able to drink decaf.. I just genuinely like the taste of coffee.


They'll have to declare me dead before I'll give up my coffee. I know it is potassium depleting, didn't know if interfered with iron. I take a potassium supplement, but - even though coffee is about the ONLY thing I drink besides Gatorade when I'm working outside or riding - my iron levels are usually higher than average. And I'm with you, *horseylover *- I like how coffee tastes!




horseluvr2524 said:


> Haha! Winter is coming, winter is coming! An end to the H-E-double hockey sticks weather! MY riding weather is on its way  Summer is my winter. I do not ride in this heat, just no. @Caledonian
> 
> Yeah - AZ summers are no fun for riding! I'm not looking forward to winter here, though I will enjoy the heck out of the cooler fall weather for however long it lasts.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I am helpless without coffee.

And, I am even , sort of, looking forward to a change in the weather. I know we here in Seattle are thought of as moss covered inhabitants of this endless rain bog, and we are, in winter. But, we have had almost no rain since mid June, and it's been rather hot. today was mid 80's, and the next few days will be in low 90's. we don't have AC, so it's a bit hot in house. 
Yeah, I am ready for Fall, and pumpkins, and rustling leaves on the trails, and crisp mornings with a hint of frost, and new crop apples, and planing chrysanthemums, and the low angle of the light. 
We haven't mowed the lawn in months because it is so dry.


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

horseluvr2524 said:


> @Fimargue
> 
> Oh, they were housing linnies and budgies together? That explains it. :sad: Thus why the majority of bird species can't be housed together. Budgies and cockatiels seem to do OK together if the cage is large enough.


No, budgie killed another budgie. Both females. Sorry if I was unclear.

I would probably go for a linnie or green cheek conure. GCCs really fascinate me. I unfortunately can't handle the sounds of lovies as they are way too high pitched and constant. :neutral:

*Diets* 

I could never give up coffee - it's the only thing that keeps me going. But, that would explain why I always seem iron deficient. I have had anemia many times. I have digestion problems so that probably doesn't help.

I have a restricted diet. Can't eat much dairy, so it only goes in pizza and chocolate. I really crave for cheese though... Then I have several other foods that can't eat. The biggest being that I have to avoid anything with onion or garlic, and can't eat fruits. Figuring all this out has at times done my head in.

*Weekends*

Mine sucks as per usual lately. Working around the clock as we have an orphan foal to feed, so it means waking up during night to do it as well. The nights are starting to get cold so have to make sure she stays warm. 

I got kicked last week to my injured knee (fell with my mare on the road last december), so have been trying to take it easy, but yesterday one of the new horses (the most insensitive Arabian to date - she feels like a traditional WB to handle) tried to run through me when I was closing the gate so managed to whack myself with the rope as well. 

So, more coffee and pray I make it through the day lol.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

@*tinyliny*  Peanut butter and honey, I’ll have a go tomorrow when I’m at my work. I’ve also never tried peanut butter and jam (is that the same as your jelly?). The Doc told me to cut out gluten so I’ve lost certain carbs. I’ve been trying to replace it with other things but it’s very hard. 

I’ll give the rest a try as well. Cheese/dairy is absolutely out. I used to be able to tolerate it but now I have an allergic reaction as soon as I eat it. It usually starts with an itchy throat. 
The tea sounds good though.

@*horseluvr2524* thanks, sounds good I’ll give the veg a try. 

@*Fimargue* I can’t eat fruits as well. Shopping used to be so easy but now it has to be planned in advance and every label read. It takes forever.

@*gingerscout* 
The Shetlands nearby have started to grow their own rugs. By winter they’re usually walking furballs. I hope it’s not a sign of bad weather to come.

Re Coffee. Do I get banned from here if I say I hate coffee lol?

I love the smell but hate the taste, far too bitter for me. May be a country/cultural thing. My American relatives think I’m strange as they live on the stuff. I rarely make it and it’s always for someone else, so they have to suffer the results. 

Our weather went from warm and very dry for months to rain and showers every day. We’ve only had a few days that were too hot to do anything. Autumn started here in mid-August which is a lot earlier than usual. I think our weather has really changed in the last few years. It’s a lot colder earlier and the trees around the house have been dropping their leaves for a while now. I also miss the light nights. As much as I like Autumn I much prefer the Spring.


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

I hate black coffee.. I need my hazelnut creamer.. only way I like it.. french vanilla will work in a pinch but hazelnut hands down winner for me


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

ugh I said I thought I was coming down with something.. my left ear is throbbing and my sinuses hurt like heck oh goodie, sounds like a sinus infection and ear infection for me yuck


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

Fall and winter are actually my favorite seasons. It's not that I like being cold, because I don't, but who wouldn't love sipping warm coffee on a cold day, watching snow fall from their window, cuddling up by a fire, or wearing fuzzy socks? That's what I think of when I think of winter/fall. Not to mention making warm soups and cookies. 

@horseluvr2524 I bought some iron pills at the store because the hubby bought some vitamins and they're always buy 1 get 1 free at Kroger/Walgreens. I've felt considerably better recently but I still have an issue w/ fatigue and hands and feet. Haha. So maybe this will help. Let us know how you start feeling with your diet change.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I love that 'ideal' of winter, and we do have days like that. I have some super fuzzy warm socks, and I make the best cookies. Don't do a fire anymore, as it sucks more heat up the chimney than it offers, unless you are right next to it.

But, in reality, most of our winter days are gloomy, gray, rainy and bone chilling with the damp. Repeat. Repeat. Rep . . . .


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I have to admit that the winters around here are notorious for being 40 degrees and rainy. Which is frustrating. If it's going to be cold, it may as well snow. I guess that's easy for me to say because me and the husband can usually work from home...


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

horseylover1_1 said:


> I have to admit that the winters around here are notorious for being 40 degrees and rainy. Which is frustrating. If it's going to be cold, it may as well snow. I guess that's easy for me to say because me and the husband can usually work from home...


 see I'll trade.. I am only a few hours from you, and we usually have lots of snow and Ice.. and without an indoor most people around here just quit in the winter.. which I don't plan on unless there is like 3 feet of snow/ ice and really cold


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

@Caledonian All these diet things really suck... Checking ingredients gets tiring as well.
You get a pass this time for not liking coffee haha :wink: I have a weird English friend who only drinks tea, and only water if she really has no other choice. We Finns just love our coffee. Nobody would ever survive the winters there otherwise. It's like Game of Thrones without the White Walkers lol.
@tinyliny Same bloody here for the damp, cold, wet, bone chilling winter... Worst than England what comes to humidity. Then we get several days of minus degrees and if we are lucky, tiny bit of snow.

God, I miss snowy Christmas! :sad:


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Still have yet to get the iron pills. People think that when you work from home you have all the time in the world... not true! lol.

Solved my mare's chronic bug allergy. I've owned her 8 years and never would have guessed. I took her off alfalfa... and she stopped getting bit, stopped getting welts, and is far FAR less itchy than she used to be. Apparently, eating alfalfa caused her to have some kind of reaction that attracted bugs to her!

I'm rarely out at the barn in daylight hours, because we have a feeding system where I only have to feed once a day so I can beat the heat (slow feeders with constant access to hay, I go once a day to clean stalls, fill water troughs, and feed supplements). When I was there one afternoon a couple weeks ago, I noticed that there were hardly any flies on the mare that was no longer eating alfalfa, and the flies were practically swarming the other mare that was eating alfalfa. Interesting huh?

On the really bright, really happy side, a population of lizards and praying mantis have moved into the stable yard. They are eating all the roaches and flies. Yay! My husband is happy because he loves praying mantis, and usually one flies over to check us out when we go there in the evenings.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

This thread got me interested in researching iron supplements. What I read was that you're not necessarily supposed to give up dairy and coffee altogether, instead, it just shouldn't be taken WITH the supplement. (One or two hours before or after). Of course I haven't consulted a doctor. Just Doctor Google. Lol. But multiple sources said the same thing. Apparently you're also supposed to take it on an empty-ish stomach. So a couple hours after your last meal of the day I guess. I decided to take iron after reading your experiences because I've felt particularly fatigued lately and cold even relatively warm areas. 

That's really interesting about the alfalfa. I wonder if it's because of the protein?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I've never seen a real praying mantis. they look SO creepy.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

I have no idea about the alfalfa. I don't think it's the protein, at least I would hope not because my mare is going to need protein when she is in work. Now instead of alfalfa, they are getting a little beet pulp with their supplements. Hair is growing back over the bites now and she is starting to have a nice smooth coat over her neck and chest.

I'm just afraid of taking iron on an empty stomach. I think it would make me feel very sick. Most pills do when you take them on empty.

Praying mantis are creepy! lol. I don't want to hold one, but I'm happy they are eating all the bugs, so they can hang out.


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

I actually saw 3-4 in my yard this year.. one was on the side of my pool, and one was acting tough and challenging my push mower when I was edging.. no I didn't run him over..lol


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I've never seen one other than on TV.


We are in the midst of a huge wildfire season, all around us, and today we literally can stare at the sun, the haze is so thick. It is the brightest hot pink orb, in an all white sky. Ash is literally falling out of the sky, all over the bushes. It was very creepy in that it reminded me of how the residents of Germany who lived near concentration camps where they burned victim in mass ovens noticed a fine , white ash descending all over the town. Forturnately, this is the ash of trees! (which is in itself a sad thing).


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

tinyliny said:


> I've never seen one other than on TV.
> 
> 
> We are in the midst of a huge wildfire season, all around us, and today we literally can stare at the sun, the haze is so thick. It is the brightest hot pink orb, in an all white sky. Ash is literally falling out of the sky, all over the bushes. It was very creepy in that it reminded me of how the residents of Germany who lived near concentration camps where they burned victim in mass ovens noticed a fine , white ash descending all over the town. Forturnately, this is the ash of trees! (which is in itself a sad thing).


Oh my goodness that is scary. I would imagine people can't exercise or ride in those conditions. I had no idea there were wildfires going out west until a couple days ago. Between that and the hurricane(s) (since Irma is getting more powerful!) the United States is really suffering. I feel fortunate that the worst weather we've had has been hot, muggy weather.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I wanted to clarify that none of the forest fires are near enough to actually threaten my city. But, the smoke is so widespread that it is covering huge, and I mean huge areas. the wind has blown it over the mountains to our are.


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## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

My sister and her whole community were evacuated from the fires in Montana. It's a sad thing! Her church friends went camping and have NO idea their nice, big house and shop were burnt! It's hard for her because she's 7 months pregnant and has a 10 month old baby! It's been suggested that she and her hubby just fly down here till it's all over! (I'm not sure about them coming though, my sis gets really grumpy when she's preggo :-?) 

We're going to get hit by Irma most likely....Not a good time of year!
@tinyliny, I can't believe you've never seen a praying mantis! I've seen hundreds! We've had them come in the house and they often hang out with us at the barn. It used to be a big thing when my siblings or I would find one when we were really little!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

It is so sad all of the disasters happening. I just can't believe it, it's like we are under siege!

The fires are terrible. I had a thought, and I don't know if it's true or not but... People have been controlling/stopping the burning of forests for years. I remember learning that forest fires are a natural part of a forest's life cycle, and the fire is necessary to allow for rebirth/new growth (thus why some areas practice controlled fires). Perhaps, in the areas that forest fires were stopped/prevented (excluding the ones that were caused by people), the fires are worse than they would have been if they had a natural burn (more build up of dead material).

We went camping a couple months ago. While riding through this particular forest, we were shocked at the sheer amount of dead wood laying everywhere. I've been in plenty of forests and know what they are supposed to look like, and this place was just a complete hazard! We even had to watch out for dead trees falling on a near constant basis while out riding (we trotted the horses past one point that we heard lots of creaking). I felt very unsafe there.

We got to speak to a ranger before leaving. We asked why they hadn't done controlled burns, or hauled more of the wood away, etc. Basically, it was because of restrictions from bureaucracy, that created the dangerous situation in this forest. :sad:


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

@horseluvr2524,
I've heard that also, that some of the regulations have made our forests more likely to burn. We watched this amazing show called Earth From Space that showed how many fires are always burning around the world at one time and all the necessary processes that keep the world going. It's really incredible how the dust storms in the Sahara feed the plankton in the ocean as one example. There are many species dependent on the aftermath of large fires. 
The stupid thing about the fire in the Columbia Gorge that is sending smoke my way, is that it was started by some dumb teen shooting fireworks. 

I shampooed all my carpets today and washed the floors after cleaning the whole house. A large undertaking, and one I put off as long as possible. But my mom loaned me her carpet shampooer and it was quite satisfying to get it done. If you're going to have a lot of pets in the house you also have to be willing to clean a lot. 

Out of all the plant cuttings we took, it looks like about 15 or 20 are actually surviving. We're not sure how many things we did wrong, probably at least several critical things. One thing we did was over water at the beginning. This would be terrible news for our hedge project, except last week we were able to find someone with a laurel hedge that was let go a bit wild, so we found about 100 small plants growing around the base. We dug them all up and potted them, so now we have live green plants with roots to winter over and hopefully plant next spring. 

My Papillon is going for teeth cleaning tomorrow morning. I'm a little worried because he is 9, and I hope there won't be any danger from the anesthesia. He's had his teeth cleaned a few times before (Papillons are a breed known for poor teeth) and did fine. But I can't help worrying. One of his teeth is loose and we think it bothers him, so it needs to be done.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I remember in grade school being taught that wildfires can be beneficial to forests. I imagine that the biggest problems wildfires cause is how they impact humans. That, and left unchecked they can be nothing short of devastating. It's really interesting to hear and read about that. I wonder how long (approx.) it takes for the "average" forest to recover fully from an "average" fire. 

Irma is getting to be scary. I think I overheard someone at the barn today say they were still planning on taking their Florida vacation next week. :shock:


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

years and years of controlling burns has left a HUGE stockpile of flammable material that makes a simple forest fire into an inferno.

Additionally, an accidental import, the Asian boring beetle, is killing MANY fir trees in the local forests, making the fierce tinder should flame catch.

It's possible that we NEED a good bit of burning to clean things out. should be done in a controlled manner, if possible.,


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

going on another state park ride tomorrow.. can't wait.. sure a nice change from before once I found some people who actually ride, my horse and I are learning a lot, and hes getting less skittish in new situations, and he's learned to load in a slant load, straight load, stock and brenderup trailer.. so that's nice


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

@gingerscout Jealous! What a great way to start off a weekend.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

@*horseluvr2524* , @gottatrot 
A lot of places now leave the deadwood. Our Forestry Commission has stopped clearing and tell landowners to allow decay, as they say that clearing affects the biodiversity of the forest. It’s a good policy if it’s not going to affect people’s homes and health. I think it might be a policy born from limited finances and manpower, as well as protecting the environment. 
When I was riding in the north a few years back, I noticed that the ground around and under the remnants of the ancient Caledonian pine forest had been cleared back to pristine grass. They’d get in a lot of trouble if these Granny Pines were lost in a fire so there’s some double standards.


We’re coming into Muirburning time – October to April. Landowners got in trouble a few years back for setting fires in the heather and letting them get out of control. The fire brigade had hundreds of fires some of which threatened homes. Here it’s predominately used to provide new grazing for animals, so it’s gone far beyond a natural process of rebirth and into profit. Some areas do use it as a way to prevent wildfires and it has been used since Mesolithic times to manage the land but never on this scale. Some are now saying that it’s affecting the plants, land and rivers and are looking to control the burning, so it may go the same way as the forests.


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

Irma is going to make landfall in Florida soon, my relatives are not worried and are staying at home.. one of my uncles was on FB today joking that he's boarding up his windows and its going to ruin his d*mn siding ( 90% live on water or less than 10 miles from it). My ride the other day was great but not great.. if that makes sense.. I loved the ride and my horse did awesome, but the new trail we went on had you riding next to some very busy roads for 25% of the ride. I could have taken him to dairy queen or Mcdonalds though.. almost thought about it.. but lots of heavy trucks/ dump trucks/ motorcycles whizzing by at 60 mph like 15 feet from you. also the trail by the road was littered with trash/ bottles/ papers/ metal chunks/ and a dead deer which smelled awful.. both of us were not impressed so we decided that just stay on the tried and true trails from now on.. also was told he's going to ride 5 days a week at 2-3 different parks to get his horse in shape fora trip in october and I could go with if I wanted.. granted I don't have 5 days a week available with time, but man I am so tempted.. getting out 25-30 more times this year sounds like a great bonus for me and my horse:loveshower:


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I guess riding near roads is a great desensitization exercise. :lol: Riding 5 times a week sounds amazing! But yeah, work tends to get in the way. I have a schedule that's somewhat open and there's still no way I would be able to do that.


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

going to be a rough day or so.. waiting to hear how much damage my family got from Irma.. watching my relatives post before videos of their houses on FB, at least the ones directly on Tampa Bay got off the water and about 5 miles inland.. if that helps any. One of my cousins hasn't been heard from in 2-3 days they lived further south.. so everyone is praying they are ok.. I have a feeling that a lot of places I spent my time growing up in mu Summers, even places I spent last summer at will be damaged or destroyed


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I'm really curious to see what damage was caused by Irma. Is Jose a threat at this point?


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## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

@horseylover1_1 This is what my place looks like right now:

A shed had the roof blown off and it's all twisted up.








The gate is blown down in the front yard and lots of tree branches on the ground








Some shutters have blown off, but nothing much other than that! 












It really isn't as bad as I thought. Irma sure has tricked a lot of people!


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Well, Irma in the Caribbean and South Florida wasn't tricking anybody. That was serious! By the time it hit GA, it wasn't even a hurricane anymore but a tropical storm.

I have not gotten to look into Jose much yet, I just know that it's following behind Irma and slowly becoming a threat. If I remember correctly, I read this morning it's about 300 miles off Florida and they don't expect it for several days.

To be honest, I don't much understand people who want to live in Florida. It's quite literally nothing but a sandbar, terrible water, HOT, expensive, and very prone to disaster (as is California). To each his own I guess. I find the Carolinas just as beautiful, but less dangerous.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

@GMA100 Glad it wasn't worse! We are getting a little leftover rain from Irma now.

I feel the same way (about living in Florida). To be fair, the weather is good 99% of the time if you don't mind heat. But I don't know how people can afford the flood insurance in Florida because you know it has to be extremely expensive. My grandparents have a condo in Fort Myers which I think was literally the worst spot to be in. But she told me they had no/minimal damage, which was good.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

*Sigh* So my life kinda fell apart over the past week. I will forewarn you that it is a pathetic and stupid tale, but if you must read it: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-health/help-weight-opinions-needed-775546/

Anyway, I contacted a lady who was looking for someone to care for her horses on occasion when she has to leave. Mind you, it's a very last minute, sudden, on call type deal, and not steady work at all, and of course the pay isn't any good. I told her up front about my real job that I have to be at early in the morning 3 days a week. She sets a time to meet with me at 7:30am this morning. I haul my tired butt out of bed and get ready to leave. She calls me right before I'm about to head out the door "I slept in too late. Can we reschedule". Then she gets angry that my availability is spotty from now until Monday, and that her horses would have to be fed at 5am on the weekends whenever I would care for them (which she knew ahead of time), and said that it wouldn't work out.

My gosh. I can't rearrange my whole life over something that probably wouldn't even pay $50 a month. What is wrong with people? Why do they think others should care for their animals for free? Or be available at their whim like a butler, without providing the pay that a real job does which you can actually live off of? And (I've had this happen before) be angry when you miss volunteer (no pay!) hours you usually show up for because you had a family crisis (my grandmother died and I had to leave state, only to be called up on the phone by the bird store owner where I volunteered scrubbing cages and cleaning, to be told I'm not reliable etc. etc. without even asking why I hadn't come. This happened when I was a teenager. She sorely regretted it later too and admitted I was the best volunteer she'd ever had).

I just needed to rant. I have really lost faith in people. Feel like I get treated like trash by people when I have been nothing but respectful, kind, and helpful.


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## gingerscout (Jan 18, 2012)

sorry to hear that.. I have to agree with you though, people just suck.. everyone expects something for free or unrealistic expectations. I am tired of people saying I'll do this/ that or if you do this/ that I will do this.. especially when money is involved, then stuck up, or I do my part and whoops story changes. I believe it when I see it anymore, if it actually happens the way its supposed to happen, great, but if It doesn't then I won't get upset over it. I am the kind of person who used to give you the shirt off my back if I felt you deserved it, yet anymore I am more reserved and keep to myself because of people using me.. so like I said I understand fully. I had a job where I was employee of the month, got free lunches/ tips etc all the time for doing a great job and after a year and a half I called off once to take a sick kid to doctor.. I offered a note, never late, always willing to stay after etc, and I was fired.. only thing they could put on the papers, is I needed to take a sick kid to doctor hindering their busy saturday coverage, and it wasn't a good enough of an excuse.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Sorry to hear that happened to you @gingerscout . That is really horrible. Your responsibilities to your children have to come before anything else. But people don't know what it means to be a good parent anymore.

I have to admit that I look around at the world today and go "what the _heck_ is going on?". People are so crazily unreasonable. They don't have common sense, and they are so ridiculously selfish. I used to be big time into volunteering. I volunteered at a lot of different places, always looking to expand my knowledge of animal keeping. I did a lot of hard work for free, or for a piece of pizza and a soda, as a teenager. But after being called on the phone like that by the bird store owner while I was grieving my grandmother, I have not volunteered anywhere since. I help good, respectful people as I see fit. For example, the other boarder and I have worked out a deal. She picks up my hay for me with her truck, I clean out her stall in exchange.

I didn't think it was possible, but I feel like I am becoming even more reclusive than I was before. I just don't want to associate with people anymore. They quite honestly break my heart over their selfishness more than they anger me.

Thank God everyone at my weekend job is amazing. It's a really nice place to work. I'm not going to get rich off it, but at least I'll have a house, horse, and food, and be able to stay sane.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

The world is going from bad to worst. Even the so-called "good people" of the world are flaky, unreliable, and selfish at best. Other than the occasional lunch or girls night out, I pretty much hang out with my horse or my husband. The people I work with are mostly OK but they're just people at work.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I'm a happy hermit. I'm the first to admit I really don't like people, and after having to deal with them all day at work (and I will admit, I work with a Great bunch of people) I just want to go home and pull my driveway in behind me. My dream retirement is either to go gypsy with a LQ horse trailer, or find some remote off-grid large patch of land to hide on! I'm quite content to shovel manure and talk to my horses, go for a ride, watch the birds, play with the dogs....


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