So excited!

[lisascannell]

You can get Violet ringnecks for about $250 in Australia but some breeders try to sell them for more.

 

[Anansi]

Wow! That violet just looks more and more beautiful with each pic! But the blue is quite the jaw-dropper as well. So from what you said earlier, are you pretty much decided on the blue, Chantal? Or are you still on the fence?

 

[Dinosrawr]

I'm pretty set on the blue It's by far my favourite colour for the IRN's, and while I do think the violet is gorgeous, I'm quite particular to the more brilliant feather variations. Violet is jaw dropping, but it's quite tame to me tone wise. It's deep, but not in-your-face like the blue is

I just set up the cage today It's two months early, but my boyfriend and I just can't contain our excitement. It's not as big as I was hoping, but I was starting to question the cage I wanted previously due to bar spacing. I ended up with a cage that's 36 x 24 x 66:

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000OPBGSG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Select Bird Cage, Pewter: Amazon.ca: Pet Supplies[/ame]

I'm hoping it's large enough... I always fret I'm putting my birds in too small of a cage, especially since there are the occasional days that I can't take them out for more than two hours. I'll have to upload a picture of it set up here and update it as I decorate it

 

[Dinosrawr]

Here's it all done up at home:

 

[RavensGryf]

I like the cage. It's really hard to find cages that size (besides skinny bar flight cages) which still have less than one inch bar spacing!

 

[Anansi]

Sweet cage! Make sure to post pics once all the "furniture" is moved in!

 

[Dinosrawr]

I will!

And exciting news, everyone! The breeder just e-mailed me and told me I'm the proud momma of a blue baby boy! Now I have my baby girl Avery and my baby boy who I believe I will name Shiko. It's a really cute name (or so I think ) and it's shortened from Shikoba, which is Choctaw for feather. I'm having such a hard time containing my excitement!

 

[RavensGryf]

I can FEEL your excitement way over here! Lol Congrats, I think blue IRN's are really pretty birds.

 

[Anansi]

Congratulations on your bouncing blue baby boy! Believe me, your excitement is contagious!

I love the name! Does the use of Choctaw hold any special significance for you?

 

[Dinosrawr]

Thanks, guys! And I suppose it does. I come from a very critical social justice perspective, and I do believe in the integration of the original languages from North America into society. I think it's ironic that secondary languages are French or Spanish when honestly it's English that came second.

But that's a very long, controversial debate that's neither here nor there. I was thinking of shortening the Cree word for feather (Mîkwan) because I'm Canadian, but it didn't quite shorten to anything that I felt would embody and personify (or rather anthropomorphize) a name. I looked through quite a few Canadian languages, but none really hit the nail on the head like Choctaw did

 

[Dinosrawr]

Whew! It's been awhile since I posted on here! I won't be able to upload more photos for a bit, but I was very excited with the email I received from e breeder the other day, so I thought I'd share to indulge myself and everyone else about my future fid (ps: I get him on the 30th! 15 MORE DAYS! !)

Anyways, here's the email (it's rather long, but enjoyable):

"Hi Chantal

I will snap a pic of him tonight for you

He is the youngest born on February 25. He is already going through his bluffing stage which is good for you because I'm so immune to that I don't even flinch. He is really sweet though I can pat him from head to tip of tail as he sits on my chest. I talk to him in a little baby voice and he just sits there and soaks up the attention.

He already has a very distinctive personality. He is very sweet but yet able to communicate when he doesn't like something. My husband likes to try to get his attention through the bars of his cage and I guess he sees that as a threat because he gets upset at that. If you go through the front of the cage through the door ( like he should be doing) then there are no issues. He also tries to get away with not getting down from your shoulder which is a display of dominance ( birds tend to go up on your shoulder as a dominance thing ) it's convenient for us because we don't have to hold the bird but not a great hobbit to be in. I don't allow him on my shoulder.

I absolutely adore his quirky personality he is actually my favourite. He's super sweet and cuddly with a pinch of attitude just the way I like it! He's a very pretty and good sized bird also.

The little bugger still takes a few cc's of formula from time to time when I feed the younger babies but he is completely weaned now and not at all dependant of the formula he just likes to have some lol

He has been in a cage on his own for about 3-4 weeks without being with his brothers so he would be use to being on his own and honestly he actually squabbles with his other brother when they are out together. If they are on me at the same time they also fight for my attention so I don't do that anymore!

His last brother is leaving Friday morning so he will be the last of the three musketeers. The two oldest girls from my younger clutch will go in the cages beside him this weekend so he will have company from a distance

Nicole"

 

[Anansi]

Sweet, Chantal! And enjoyable, indeed! He sounds like a treasure and it seems as though your breeder is very good about socializing him. "Sweet an cuddly with a pinch of attitude..." Love it!!! Haha!

Looking forward to pics when you get the chance, Chantal.

 

[Terry57]

Oh my gosh, only 2 more weeks is so exciting! He sounds like quite the character and I can't wait til you have him home with you. Looking forward to pictures!!!

 

[Dinosrawr]

Thanks, guys! And I agree Stephen, when I read that statement all I could think to myself is that I'm about to welcome a male version of Avery into my flock, hahaha!

I've been crazy busy with summer classes lately, as they're only 15 days long and I'm taking two at a time... so 6 hours of classes, one test and assignment every week, and then my finals for the two are on the 30th. So it'll be nice to finish those and then have tons of time for Shiko when he arrives! But because I've been so busy, I haven't had much time for putting everything I've bought thus far into the cage. It's kind of just been sitting around waiting to be placed.

So here are the pictures of what I have so far! I still have a few more things on the way that I'd like to place, but it's about 90% complete I'd say. I'm quite happy with the outcome! I have a bit of a story afterwards, but let me know what you think













It was really fun decorating it. I did have to do some work for a few things though... when you purchase large lima root branches, they often only come with one hole for placing a rope or chain through for attachment. So we had to drill the appropriate sized holes through both ends, as the chains we had were too large, and then work on placing it properly. I also took the pictures with the top pan out to let some more light in for the pictures. It's rather dark with it on, so I've decided to go out and buy a nice soft lamp for beside the cage to brighten it up a little more.

We also got a STEAL of a deal for the Java wood perch in there. Awhile ago I was looking at perches, and I've always been fond of Java because it's quite sturdy stuff, easy to clean, and often has lots of branches to it. Well, when I was in Petland, I found one hanging with the other large Java perches for $32. I grabbed a few toys, and in my head I was like, "yeah! $80 including taxes isn't too bad of a haul if I'm getting this perch!"

Then, the cashier rings everything through while I twiddle my thumbs, looks at me all innocent and says, "That will be $244, please!" !

I almost dropped dead. I don't think she knew how to react when she saw my face because I was NOT expecting that price and my jaw honestly just dropped, hahaha! After a second I collected myself and told her that I saw it for $32, not the $175 it rang up for. Turns out it had been misplaced and is actually meant more so as a perch for the table stands and such, not the normal cage branches. The employee that had been chatting to me while I was choosing my perches strolled by, asked what happened, and kindly asked me to patiently wait as he went and spoke to his manager.

At the end of it, I got a $175 branch for $32 It was awesome! I did feel guilty and offered to go choose a normal $32 branch, but my boyfriend immediately shushed me and ushered me away with our new excessively large Java wood perch, haha!

 

[Dinosrawr]

Oh! And I haven't received any new-new pictures yet, but here's one of the babies when they first came out of their little tanks and were placed into a cage. She had one of her males that has yet to be paired come out with them to keep them company and help them relax:



You can really see the pretty violet colour in the one baby, and I think Bauer also has a very beautiful turquoise colour. I'm waiting for her to send me a few more pictures before he arrives, but she's so busy working full-time, being a mom, a wife, and dealing with 3 clutches and my little guy plus her own companion birds. I can't imagine, haha! I'll update with those when she sends them to me

 

[Anansi]

Sweet setup, Chantal! I love it!

And props to your boyfriend for shushing you in time! $175?!? That's crazy talk! Lol! $32 works for me!

 

[RavensGryf]

I really like that set up! Looks very nice

 

[MikeyTN]

Very nice setup!!!! My neighbor have that same exact cage, it looks great!!!

 

[Dinosrawr]

Thanks everyone! And yes, I agree Mikey At first I was a bit meh about the colour when I was ordering it, but now that it's set up I really like having the lighter colour. It kind of helps brighten up the cage, and doesn't make it appear so confined like the darker colours do.

I'm so excited for the 30th to come! I wake up almost every morning with butterflies, haha!