Hi all,

This morning a friend dropped off a small new life for us to take care of:



The above bird is an approximately 4 week old prikichi - a local type of lorikeet. According to our friend she must have fallen out of her nest, and for some reason our friend thought of us. We had the lorikeet checked out by Marlies, our local baby bird specialist, and have been given care & feeding instructions. However, one problem is that we don't have a pet store on Bonaire, and are in need of a small birdcage - the only thing we have been able to find today is something large enough to fit two or three large adult parrots comfortably. Linda recalls having seen small rectangular shaped birdcages which could be folded almost flat in U.S. pet stores.

So, the question is - is there anyone coming down soon who knows about such cages and could bring one down? We think they are, when assembled, about 12x12x18 inches or so in size.

Any help or assistance with this would be greatly appreciated by us, our kids, and the newly dubbed "Spirit Shoo Shoo" (the kids named her, not us, in case that wasn't obvious ;-) ).

Thanks,

Jake

jake I can go to the local petsmart and see if they have what you are looking for if you would like as we are flying down next sat.
Christine

Oh.....I love the little critter..someone else for us to babysit, ya?? SWEETTT..I cannot get the cage Jake..I am already laden down with badmitton, boxes, clothes, gear..lol.

See ya next week..Annie

Christine,

That would be great. Thanks.

Jake

Jake - Red Creek can help! Our school district, in its infinite wisdom, has banned all animals from classrooms. We gave our birds to the local college greenhouse, and we do have two very nice cages. If someone is going soon, I could send the cage to them and they could bring it down. You would be doing me a favor - I tend to hang on to stuff like that and it creates storage problems sometimes. Let me know...

Dang it hazel...you beat me to the punch...I was thinking of my birdcage with all of the "accoutermants" in my garage that I would gladly put in a box and ship to whomever wants to take it down with them...

jake, linda, bas and yana congratulations on your new addition! How does grendel and blijke get on with spirit shoo shoo? we have had two cockateels and they used to eat the puppy food with our puppies!

well if you can get it to me by next friday. we are leaving on sat I will be glad to take it down with me. I live in fl.
Christine

whomever wants to send it to me let me know with your email addy and I will privatly email you my address.

jake and linda, the cage is about 2-3 feet tall, and maybe a foot wide (round)...i would be happy to send it somehow, if you don't want it, or hazel's or someone elses would be better, let me know. if you want the accoutermants, let me know too. I can box those up and send them along...

How CUTE!!! So sweet! Best of luck to all of you....what a nice feeling being able to help a little critter like that! We expect to see "baby" pictures on occasion as he/she grows a little older, Jake and Linda! OK? Meryl...this one is right up your alley! Nice things...isn't it wonderful, folks??? Carole

If you're in immediate need, I've seen some before for sale at the pier from the venezuelan fruit boats. If they're too large you can cover the bars with a finer mesh. PVC pipe elbows make good "homes" inside the cage. Living here makes us inventive, doesn't it?

Ruth,

Thanks for the tip - we'll check that out tomorrow!

Cynde - thank you very much for the offer, but that is too large to ship - that's why we want a collapsible one.

Christine - yes, please, if you could check at Petsmart we'd really appreciate it!

Hazel - thanks! If they are collapsible, please hook up with Christine. I'd be happy to send you a check to cover shipping if that's what happens.

Spirit Shoo Shoo is looking a lot less bedraggled today than when we got her a couple of days ago, and I suspect the Nestle Infant Rice Cereal formula we were told to feed her hourly, and the special love and cuddling Linda has been giving her as part of the feedings are both to credit for this :-)

Jake

Jake,
Petsmart has this cage

it says online is 99.00. Is this what you are looking for ?
Christine

Nice cage, Chistine! That is a birdie condo deluxe compared with what we have. The cage I have is not totally collapsible. The top comes off, and the sides collapse to a flat 13 1/2" x 24." The top and bottom fit together to form a box that is 14" x 11 1/2" by 4" deep. It is metal, with a yellow plastic floor. The floor has a plastic "drawer" that you may pull out to clean the cage. It has two perches, a little bell hanging from the top, and a couple feed cups. It also has a water tube. Let us know what you prefer, Jake. If Christine has room, and if I mail it tomorrow (Monday) I could get it to her by Thursday.

Nice cage, Christine!

But, if you can fit the one from Hazel, that sounds like a less costly alternative. If you can't fit the one from Hazel, please get the Petsmart one!

Thanks again for all your help!

Jake

your welcome Jake its the least I can do for you and your family who are so wonderful to all of us bt. Do you think dutch caribbean will let me just leave the one helen has in the box and I will just pay the extra shipping that they might charge because to be that would cost alot less than the pets mart one. Also is thier anything else that you linda and the kids needs. Do you need me to go to best buy or some place else for any computer parts ? do you have a dvd player Jimmy Neuron a kids movie just came out on dvd. I plan on bringing you krispy kreme doughnuts . I really dont mind bringing anything you might need my husband is retired military and i remember what it was like living overseas and couldnt get the things you wanted or the things that you miss
Christine

All the airlines which get you to Bonaire allow two checked bags per person plus one carry on (plus a purse or computer bag). If you exceed that they will likely charge you about $50-80 extra. Not sure how many bags you have. It might be safer putting the cage from Hazel in a suitcase or something. That would also make going through customs on Bonaire a bit easier (they inspect every cardboard box that people bring in).

All set on Best Buy & computer stuff, thanks :-)

Jimmy Neutron on DVD would be great! I've wanted to see that as much as the kids have!

And Krispy Kremes are always welcome and desired too. Thanks so much!!!

Jake

we are great than on luggage because we have two suitcases full of snorkel gear, hubby and I are sharing one and girls are sharing so that gives 4 more suitcases we can bring full of stuff told hubby that is good in case i find some artwork that i like from the art festival happening while we are there.
Christine

Super! We are set, then! Please do give us updates on Spirit Shoo Shoo. Oh, and I *DO* happen to have an iguana cage if you should need it...kidding, because it is all glass, and it is six feet long. Hmmm...wonder how we could carry that on...

Christine, I am sending you an email with my address, or, you could simply click on my profile to find it. I just need an address. I will probably send it via US Mail Priority. Thanks for doing this - we've got to take care of Bonaire's best ambassadors.

4 extra suitcases, eh? How "bout letting me hitch a ride in one :-) Have a super trip!

Spirit Shoo Shoo! That's a great name, even better than Texas Twinkie, a cat owned by some relatives when I was very young.

No, they weren't from Texas, nor was the cat. I don't know for sure, but I suspect the Lone Ranger's popularity at the time might have had something to do with it...

Yana called the bird Spirit (after the movie she wants to see, presumbaly), and Bas added Shoo Shoo (no idea where that came from).

Christine - you should see Linda's art at the Art Show too. We're getting ready to make a bunch of prints of her oils so those can be shared (and sold).

Thanks again to both you and Hazel!

Jake

PS Annie - unless you're up to doing hourly bird feedings with a syringe during the day, each day, we'll be leaving Spirit Shoo Shoo with Marlies, the resident baby bird expert while you're house sitting for us :-)

Jake,,,when they are still that small ...fledgelings...our parrots stayed in fish tanks...No water of course...and had heat lamps put on top with special outside lighting lamps....until they can perch....When able to move to a cage the perches should be low..as they are clumbsy at this stage....I even put towels down to make their fall if any more comfortable...and towels are an easy clean....are you hand feeding it? We use Powedered baby bird cereal mix, even now they are grown...gives them every thing they need,,,and they make pellets for when they are older....I will bring a bag if you would like in Nov.....

Also on the feedings the temp has to be right...as to not burn their crop....and you have to put syringe on a certain side of their mouth as to not get the windpipe.....The "grool" mixture as I call it has to be the texture of pancake mix....We were on 3 feedings a day....for quite awhile...I have a ton of literature if you need any help...Tell Annie to email me if she has questions....

Spirit is residing in a green laundry basket with a small weave. The holes let me stuff a couple perches through for her only a inch or so from the bottom so her feet can develop properly. She can perch at this point. Yesterday she walked out onto my finger for a feeding. Little rewards to keep the human feeding her, I think. She is clumsy.

We are using a powdered baby cereal for humans. Sorry no real pet stuff here. The locals told me to use just cooked watery cornmeal which does not seem very nutrient rich to me. We also can add very soft mushed banana when I can find one. We just mix room-temp water with the cereal which on Bonaire is warm all the time. I didn't know about the windpipe thing. Spirit seems to choose which side of her mouth she eats from. She goes for her left side. We were told to feed her originally every hour but she isn't hungry that often. She prefers 1.5 to 2 hours.

Someone warned me about temps. so I keep her out of the wind and dry. It has been in the high 80's day and night so it hasn't been a problem.

Spirit loves to snuggle. She dives into my hair and goes to sleep. Spirit loves Yana's hair as well.

Any advice would be great. Other than the occasional bird rescues, we're not very experienced at this. I looked up the type of bird - Prikichi (our local name), Aratinga pertinax (species), Caribbean or Brown-throated Parakeet (common English name)

I have a couple of cockatoo's and when I was younger raised baby cockatiels.

Keeping her out of a draft is extremely important. One of the leading causes of death in baby birds (and a lot of adults as well) is complications caused by a draft - things such as colds, hypothermia etc. If she does seem to be getting sick at all - coughing at all, looking miserable and staying on the bottom of the cage, change in stool consistency, excessive vomiting, keep her warm in a humid environment. Another thing to watch out for with baby birds is crop burn - make sure the food you feed her isn't too hot of it can actually burn a whole in her throat. Also be sure to steralize the syringe/spoon - put it in boiling water. I used to do that daily. Another good thing to do is to regularily weigh her. Thats a good way to see if she's putting on weight - although you have to have a postage type of scale for that to work.

As for the diet, I'll see if I can find some info in my books at home tonight. Off the top of my head I'm not sure about parakeets.

Linda I will bring down the Parrot "gruel" as I call it when we come...our parrots are 7 or so years old and we still suppliment them with this...great stuff all they need and they love it...I also give them baby food jars...oatmeat, fruits, veggies mixed in....couscous is a favorite too....you can soak some beans and they love them.....at the begining we tried canned or frozen peas , carrots, and beans....any questions please ask I have a ton of info! Cant wait to see her!

Thanks Meryl.
Spirit is doing well. Already more feathers to cover that little naked spot. We'll have to see what she thinks about being weighed - like a lady before eating so as to be as lite as possible. :-)

They make little perch scales...she stands on the perch and it will weigh her.....makes things easier....