Hi everyone, Hi Arty if you read this! I have been getting help from Arty with an injured pigeon and that is why I am on parrotchatter - however, NOW what I have done is rescued two lovebirds from a friend who was in over her head, and had 4 lovebirds in a very small cage, and her children were not very nice to the birds. ANYWAY - here I am now with 2 new lovebirds and a bit of a dilema: My dog wants to eat them, and so I have to keep them around me & in the (big) cage at all times (unless I put my dog in his room - which then is fine) BUT - the best place for them is on my kitchen counter in my great room, or on a tall stand near the counter. I have been reading up on care of the birds, and it says to never keep the birds in the kitchen. A friend who used to raise lovebirds says she kept hers right there and even cooked with non-stick cookware around them, & never had it on high temps, & her birds were always just fine. ?? Is this really a chance I want to take? My choices are so limited, it's either in the kitchen, or in a rarely visited room, which I think would be a bummer for the birds. I know that I can give them a much better life than where they were, I just need to make sure I am doing things right. I know not to burn scented candles, insence, etc. I have heard not to use non-stick cookware (which is what I have) - but I also have a gas stove, and gas oven. I know not to ever let them fly around in the kitchen, but I honestly don't know that much about the other hazards?? I can read myself silly online, but I need REAL PEOPLE ADVICE from people who actually have these birds. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated - I don't want to do the wrong thing and end up hurting them, and I don't want to be neurotic about it - I'm not sure where I draw the line between the two - Thanks a million for any help! Thank you too ARTY - for everything if you see this one!!

Hi Jodee, There are no teflon pans in our home...NONE...Yes I miss them but what "could happen", is simply not worth the risk.
Allowing your birds to free fly in the house is also risky, the "what ifs come into play", there are folks here that free fly there birds, they don't clip the flights or secondaries, they report no problems, here, we have lost 2 from broken necks...so we clip.
Specially if you have other animals such as cats and dogs, free flying could prove fatal, if you sense you dog may harm your new family members, then by all means lock the dog up while out of cage time.
As I said before, best to visit the health forum and see what other members have posted about hazzards and what to look out for.
Take Care my friend.
Arty

Hi again Arty! Yep, I posted in the health section as well, and am getting many suggestions. Thanks a million! NO WAY would I ever take the birds out when my dogs are around.

I wish I was confident enough to clip their wings myself, but no can do. I will be calling my vet though to have him do it. They are not socialized, and if I let them fly around - it could prove impossible to get them or protect them. Do you happen to have suggestions on how often to let the little guys out of their cage? I plan on asking this one in the lovebird section as well. Prissy is a piece of cake! She pretty much tells us what to do - and we do it. She can see into our souls, I swear it. She's REALLY smart! Anyway - We let her out in her big cage during the day, little one inside at night - and on weekends (and during the week if we can swing it) we let her run around in the big dog run. The lovebirds are a different story. They bite. Hard. I'm positive that little kids have mistreated them at some point, they don't trust us at all. Anyway - I'm struggling too with the "out of cage" time that I'm sure they need...Even though I have them in a pretty good size cage with lots of things to do, it just seems like they should be allowed to come out...? Xoxo

Better for the vet or someone else to clip then you wont be the "evil" person. They would enjoy daily out of cage time. They will probably go back themselves to go to sleep. Maybe time this out of cage experience for and hour or so before bedtime. Don't feed them outside the cage because then they have to go back for food, this will remove any kind of chasing or catching and it is less stressful for the birds. If they are clipped they will need a ladder or rope to get from the floor to the cage. At first maybe just leave the cage open but don't take them out. When they have enough confidence they will explore on their own. You can also try taming and making friends while they are in the cage and choose not to let them out until they are more trusting. There is a blinking game thread that is helpful to tame while inside the cage.

Thanks 2horse! GREAT advice! I think you're right - I'd rather not be the "evil" person! haha! Sorry if this is a dumb question, but where or how do I find the blinking game thread? Sorry, I'm not real savvy on the forums. Thanks again so much!