Meet the Flock...Tripp!

Tripp is my own personal bird, he's a male Peach Faced Lovebird!  He's my second Peach Faced lovebird, my first was Beanie and we were together for 16 years. Beanie's photo can actually be found in a lot of our advertising and packaging. So proud!

Beanie!

Tripp lived in my office with me (yes, past tense!) and a typical day for him would start with housekeeping, fresh food and water...all while he sat on my shoulder and we visited.  When he'd get bored he'd set out on his "daily adventures". 

After he left my office each morning he would "bust out" his buddy, which was another lovebird that lives in a large gazebo enclosure. As you can see Tripp and his buddy pretty much thought they owned the place!  You can see them visiting with their friend Sydney the Cockatiel and meandering around on all sorts of adventures, until...

Tripp decided he was going to take a stab at living in the Gazebo!  That's right one day he followed his buddy (now his lover!) right into the Gazebo and he was over me! :(  Ok, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic because he still comes out and visits with me but it's just not like it used to be.  I feel like a Mom who's son just decided to move in with his girlfriend and leave home for the first time.  Sorry, enough of my wallowing because honestly I've never seen Tripp happier!  Those two are always preening one another and snuggling...they are doing what lovebirds love to do and that's a good thing!  Do you have any cute stories of your crazy furry or feathered family? Please Share!

Heart Touching Short Film that should wake us all up!

Hello again!

Someone shared a link with me to a short film.  This film should be viewed by EVERYONE, please repost to help gain awareness.  Before I say anything more, take a moment to watch the film. Click Here to view.

Ok, take a moment to gain your composure because if you're like me this broke my heart and made me ashamed of us, humans.  40% of the Laysan Albatross chicks die each year because they have been fed plastics that their parents picked up while searching for food.  A study showed that 97.5% of all the Laysan Albatross chicks had plastic in their stomachs...97.5%!   It is estimated that around the world 100,000 sea turtles and marine mammals as well as one million sea birds will die from eating plastics.  That's astounding and unbelievably sad.  We all need to go GREEN and take recycling serious.I know this is a bummer/downer post, but sometimes we need those as a wake-up call.  My goal is to spread the word on how terrible our plastic water bottles, plastic shopping bags, etc. are for the environment and the animals that call it home. Please share and think twice before you use or dispose of something plastic.  Thank you.  Pass it on.  If you have recycling, reusing, reducing tips...please share!

Scrub-a-Dub Chin-chillin'

So, we've talked about how cute it is watching a bird enjoy a bath...but it's nothing compared to a Chinchilla getting his "groove on" in his dust bath!  Just like bathing a bird, it's important for a Chinchilla to bathe as well.  These lil' guys need to roll around in their species specific dust to keep their fur clean, dry and oil free.  Check out the video...sorry, you have to turn your head to watch it!

Bathing your chin is a win-win...he gets a healthy coat and you get a few minutes of entertainment.  We make sure our chinchillas bathe 2-3 times a week, be sure their bath stays clean because sometimes they like to multi-task and make their "bath tub" the toilet too.  If you have a Chinchilla and any stories about bath time or anything else that is fun to share...please do!

Meet the herd....Ping & Ling!

Ping and Ling are our education pigs! 

Guests visiting the Learning Center get the opportunity to feed Ping and Ling a healthy snack!  On days we have visitors their diet is limited, so we don't over feed these lil' oinkers!  The squeals and squeaks that guinea pigs let out are some of the most entertaining sounds that come out of an animal and you can count on hearing it every time they hear their timothy hay bag rattle or the treat bag rattle or anything that crinkles even if it's not food or not for them! 

The video above is a sample of what Learning Center guests get to do...feed a lil cavie! If you have a guinea pig story, please share!

Fabulous Feather Earrings!

Ok, so your bird molts and some people may look at it as a mess and more to clean up...but an opportunist like myself looks at it as a way to make accessories!  Save your birds beautiful feathers!  There are so many things you can do with them, but my favorite is to make earrings!

It's so super simple and they are totally cute too!  If you have friends with birds you can swap feathers so you can work with more colors, and get a pair to match every outfit.  Come on bird nerds, go to the dark DIY side with me....

Supplies:

• Feathers, cleaned (2-4 feathers, preferably matching so you get pairs)
• 8mm Crimps (found in jewelry section of a craft/hobby store)
• Wire Earring hooks (found in jewelry section of a craft/hobby store)
• Needle Nose pliers

Directions:

Pick out your feathers, pair them up or however you like and crimp them in the 8mm crimps using your needle nose pliers.  Now attach them to the earring hooks...Tadaaaa...new earrings!