Taking My Parrotlet To Work

Hi Sandee

I have been a huge fan of your site and all the work you put into it and
your birds for quite some time. I've always been a huge fan of
parrotlets in general. I've had 2, one when I was in high school (mom's)
and one I just got a few weeks ago.

I had a question about traveling and your small travel cage. I work long
hours as a fire fighter, sometimes 48 or 72 hours at a time. I work a
mile from home. Do you think bringing my parrotlet to work would be ok,
or would it stress him out too much?

I also saw you sell the small travel cages. What would the cost be for
the smaller cage with shipping to zip code 04654?

Thanks for your time. I understand and appreciate you are very busy with
your feathered friends and all that, so I understand if you can't get to
this email right away. Thanks. :)

Colby

Hey Colby. Thank you so much for the nice compliments. I am so glad you are
so enamored of parrotlets! :)

Yes, you can bring your bird to the fire station as many people do bring
their parrotlets to work and most of them love the attention as well as
change of scenery. The small travel cage would not be appropriate as it
really is made for transport and is not big enough for a parrotlet to get
enough exercise for an entire day. The larger one would be better but
honestly if you had another full-size cage, that would be the best. Then you
could transport the bird in the small travel cage and it would have a place
with lots of toys and room to exercise during the day.

As for the cost with the shipping, I really can't tell you since all that
stuff in automated. I ship via the postal service to its cheaper than UPS or
Fed X. Sorry. Apparently my talents lie with birds and not business.

Btw, not sure if you have a Facebook page but I do have one for The
Parrotlet Ranch and I post a lot of blogs and information. You can also see
my speaking schedule and check our latest products.

I hope this helps and btw, thank you for being a fire fighter. I live in the
country in California and I know how important fire fighters are to my
health and well-being as well as my birds. I also think you guys are being
unfairly punished these days in the court of public opinion so THANK YOU
COLBY and I thank all of your colleagues as well.

Sincerely yours,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.
The Parrotlet Ranch, Owner, www.parrotletranch.com
Join the International Parrotlet Society, - the World's Largest and Oldest
Parrotlet Organization www.internationalparrotletsociety.org

A Chattering Bird Builds No Nest.
Camaroonian Phrase

Thanks for the quick reply Sandee. I knew the small travel cage wouldn't
be appropriate to house him, I was thinking just getting him from point
a to point B. The breeder I bought the bird from actually thought it
would stress him out too much and advised against it.

I suppose I could try it and see how it works. I have another cage at
home thats larger but would do the trick. I would obviously have to put
some new toys and stuff in it for him or transfer the toys from his
other cage over when I work here. I'm part time/per diem
dispatcher/firefighter and volunteer when I'm not here.

I was inspired after my brother was in a horrible car accident and the
fire department responded to use the JAWS. Their quick action ultimately
led to him surviving despite all odds. I've been on the fire department
since 2003 and have actually worked shifts so the chief could go fight
wild fires in Canada. I figure if I can give anything back to the
community that saved my brothers life, I have done all I can.

I've seen your Facebook page and "liked" it and read a lot of
information on there. I've had a bit of a problem getting my guy to eat
pellets. He doesn't go for them at all. I feed him the Volkman parrotlet
diet primarily and currently have him eating long-grain rice with it,
but no luck with peas and corn yet. Its a work in progress, but I'm not
giving up.

I live in Maine and we have 1 breeder who has parrotlets. I often
thought it would be neat to breed them myself to offer fellow Mainers
another option other than going to Massachusetts which is the next
closest breeder (Where I got my blue) I'm just worried about being
inexperienced and having no avian vets in the state at all if I had
problems. Then there is the problem of getting proven or bonded birds
to breed. I'd still very much like to do it but I'm adamant about it for
the aforementioned reasons.

Again, thanks for your input about bringing my parrotlet to work. It is
nice having contact with someone as competent as you. Its nice talking
to other people who are as "enamored" with these little feathered
creatures as I am. I honestly couldn't think of anything more rewarding
than raising my own for other people to enjoy but as I said, I am just
worried about the availability of help, and getting health certificates
for mailing them would be next to impossible without an avian vet.

I appreciate your thanks for my service as a firefighter. It means a lot
and its always nice to get complements from the public about the work
and time we devote to helping others. I work as a driver for the
ambulance service as well and help out there when I can.

Dear Colby:

I know hundreds of people who have taken their parrotlets to work with them and but for one or two, I've never heard of a parrotlet getting too stressed over that. I ship them all over the world, they travel thousands of miles by car, I show them in various cities and I know people who take them on vacation regularly - never has there been a problem with stress. Indeed, people who take them to work with them report the birds absolutely love the attention from coworkers and the change of scenery. The small travel cage is geared for travel in that the bird does not have enough room to fly or gain momentum in order to get hurt.

The spare cage sounds like it would work and I would recommend setting it up independently of his home cage. This would be the most convenient for you and allow the bird to have a 'home away from home' in which he can feel safe and secure yet still have playtime.

I understand your commitment to give back to those that saved your brother. I was in a bad car accident almost 5 years ago - a rollover accident in my SUV. Had I not had on my seatbelts, I probably would not have survived and they too had to use the JAWS of life to get me out. Also, since I live in the country in California, twice I've had wild fires get within a few miles of my home and it was firefighters that saved my home as well as my birds' lives.

I have to admit I am not a big believer of pellets. I don't eat processed foods myself and I don't like feeding them to my birds. Especially when you realize that pellets were developed for the convenience of the owners and they are simply processed seeds (mainly corn which is not a normal part of a parrotlet's diet and is very much lacking in nutrition but its cheap) mixed with artificial vitamins. It is much better, in my opinion, to have your bird eat a wide variety of fresh, whole foods like fruit, vegetables, greens, legumes, grains, sprouts, nuts and seeds than to force them to eat pellets. Also, if the bird is a mutation, there have been many reports of kidney and/or high uric acid problems in mutation parrotlets that are fed a primarily pelleted diet. This may be because mutations process the pellets differently or that they are more susceptible to problems since they are not large consumers of water and being on a lower fat diet does affect hydration.

As for breeding, that is something only you can determine if you can do or not. I do understand the situation with not having avian vets conveniently located and I think that goes to show what a caring, knowledgeable person you are when it comes to these birds. Perhaps your situation will change in the future (although Maine is a gorgeous state and I could see why you want to live there).

In them meantime, I think it is awesome you care so much about parrotlets. If there is anything I can help with, do not hesitate to ask! Best of luck and perhaps you can send me a picture of your parrotlet near the fire engine for an IPS journal cover...:)

Sincerely yours,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.