I put Tacha in BoBo's old cage two days ago.

When I put her in there, she was not a happy camper at first; she went to the bottom & stood on the floor grate, stuck her beak between the bars, & commenced to

squawking for attention. She reminded me of a convict, looking at me thru the bars, hollering "let me out!" (The scenario would have been complete if I could have dressed her up in a black & white striped pantsuit! heheee!) Anyway, I had left the top open, and also

the door in the front, but she stayed on the bottom squawking. So I looked around to see what it was that I was forgetting. Usually, if you put their favorite toys & other familiar things in the cage, they'll be comforted. Well, I found I had forgotten her hanging "sun porch." So I put it in, then went to the little white cage I'd brought her home in & got that one out, too. I hung it on the inside of the door, then left the door open. That made her happier. She stood on it & seemed a little more content, although she begged to get on my T-shirt every time I walked into the room. I felt so bad for her. That was at about 5:30 p.m. Well, when bedtime rolled around she climbed up to her little 'condo,' like she always does & went in it. So, then I knew that she realized this was her new home.

I had forgotten to tell Tacha's previous 'Mom' about how well she took to her condo. (You know, the little triangular hut for birds to go into to avoid drafts.) As far as I know, she's never had one before. By the second night the condo had hung in her cage she had figured out what it was for. She goes to bed each night about 1/2 hour before everybody else is ready. She goes up to the condo & gets inside; her tail hangs conspicuously outside but the rest of her is ready for nite-nite. Dinky likes to nap in his during the day. BoBo thinks the condo is for playing with; he sticks his head inside & starts yelling! Jerry, Tuxie, and Sox think the condos are chew toys and the other three birds completely ignore theirs. But Tacha knows exactly what it's for. She is one smart birdie. I'm very proud of her.

I am still having a bit of difficulty getting Tacha used to the hands. She & Jerry both act the same way; they love to get on your shoulder & chew away, but are not interested in being held on the hands & ogled. I don't know what causes some birds to be this way but maybe it has to do with some event that ocurred in their past. But we are taking it one day at a time in that respect. However, I have only one bra left to my name! Guess who's chewed up the straps in the others? Jerry & Tacha. Oh well, they were old, anyway. Frequent washings had already broken them down & they were just begging to be pitched anyway. Now I have an excuse to buy some more.

When Dennis went to pick up our newest flock member, Luther, he brought home two corner cages, also.

We were planning on buying two more just like the ones we already had, but he called & said there was a corner cage which measured 32 inches across at its widest point & it was much taller than the cages we had. There were two of them available; $400 cages but we could get them at $199 each wholesale. Luther has all his primary feathers because he can't fly anyway. He sustained some type of injury in the past which left him with limited range of motion in one wing. So he can't fly although his wings are not clipped. You should see what the primaries look like on a patagonian conure. They are turquoise & show up brilliantly in contrast to the dark green that covers their other wing feathers, back, and head. So the longer cage will be beneficial to keep those long feathers intact. A patti's tail feathers are extremely long, usually measuring over a foot in length. They are very much like a macaw in that way; some people think they should have belonged to that family instead of the conures. I think they are classed as conures because of the periopthalmic eye ring, which is a conure trait. However, they are the largest of all the conure species, weighing anywhere from 250 to 400 grams. Except for KiKo, she was only 215 grams when I got her. She's 230-something right now, but I don't remember exactly. KiKo eats twice as much as BoBo, and three times as much as everybody else. She's still hyper from her hurricane experience & she shivers all the time; I'm sure it's a nervous thing.

Anyway, we got two corner cages & this will allow me a bit more room in there, also. With standard cages the birds would all be so close that they'd almost touch one another, but not so with putting the cages in the corner. She only had two left, one green & one gray. I'll put up pics as soon as I get everybody situated & get the camera out.

This morning I took Tacha, and later, Jerry, out to work with them on the hands issue. They're coming along nicely & will soon be more trusting, I hope. The biggest thing is sudden movement; they get spooked with sudden movements & go to biting. As long as I remain quite, calm, and slow to move they're okay. I always try to 'telegraph' my movements so they're prepared.