Tiffany, I bow down to the queen of all bird pushers...

Having said that...yeah, I think,...I think I'll just go and get him. What the hay. We have a HUGE and I mean huge cage that's sitting empty right now. Hubby made it for the tiels when we had them. It's really pretty too. So I think I'll fix that up nice and snazzy for rainbow boy and I'll probably just go get him this weekend. There? Are you happy now? I'm kind of sad that I may not be able to touch him ever, but maybe one day I will. Hopefully. And if anything goes horribly wrong with him look at all the lovely people I can lay blame on!! No, it really means a lot to me that I'm getting all this support and help, but everyone know that I'm probably going to be on here non-stop crying, "What do I do?!!!"

Oh that's great news! Can't wait to see pics of him in his new home!

I am kind of worried though....I'm afraid that me being obsessed with trying to get him to be comfortable is going to take loads of time away from Tully and Will. I guess I don't know how to juggle yet. How do you guys do it and have everyone stay happy?

Oh and the eye method sounds great Sarah! It makes sense too. I'm definitely going to try that.

Yay!!

I think you work into a routine once you have so many birds. I do laps around the living room at night time, playing, talking, snuggling, and kissing my birds. Making sure they all get attention. Even Danny who doesn't like me to touch him loves it when I talk to him and will "talk" right on back. I have hope that as time progresses he will trust me more and maybe let me hold him. We have only had him since early December.

I keep taming sessions short, 5 or 10 minutes a couple times per day. The rest of the time I just spend being near Winston - like last night I ate my dinner with him in the bedroom and we watched TV, and the other day I folded laundry in there with him and talked to him, little things like that. I pop in and out of the bedroom all the time and when I have some down time to watch TV or read when I'm not with the other birds, I just try to take those things in the bedroom and just be near him. I was worried about the time it takes to tame him too, but it's not been hard at all thus far. He's still getting used to us and our daily activities. I take a peek at him when I'm in his room and doing stuff, and he likes to watch me. He's still observing us. He now feels comfortable enough to eat in front of us - for a couple of days he would not eat while we were in the room with him.

What really amazes me so far with Winston is that he's not been scared of the new environment changes - cats pawing at the bedroom door wondering the heck is going on in there, my alarm going off before daybreak during the week, us constantly popping in and out of the bedroom and the door kinda sticks and is not quiet. So he seems to be adapting to these changes really smoothly.

But he hasn't been out of the cage yet either. Once that time comes, hopefully next week, that will take more time. But soon after he's able to come out of the cage and interact with us a little more, then we should be able to introduce and incorporate him with Jerry and Lulu and their daily activities. I still need to think things through about that, but we're not ready for that yet anyways.

Just what Sarah said - I agree.

With Mom's Tiel - he'd saw away at your fingers. So i know about the hurt feelings - the pain was amazing! Getting near him was a big thing. He was good at hissing & lunging. Just sitting beside the cage reading & talking & looking at him now & again really made him feel better about me. This was all over a 3 month period, over a year ago. Now when I visit, he & Alice literally throw themselves at the cage door in excitement. I thought I was making it up but the last time my husband came too & he was really amazed at their obvious excitement.

I'm as gentle as I can be with Mo. But because he isn't my bird ,nor do I have much time to tame him - he still isn't all that tame. But i'm convinced he could be tamed.

I agree with everyone! I try to look at it like this. I dont like people touching me that I dont know. If someone stuck there finger at me I would react too. Since the beak is like a hand for them, he was just saying "look lady! I dont know you yet! Gimme a break!! Strange people staring at me like Im in a zoo all day makes in a bad mood! Id like a little privacy please!!" Then when he's home with you, an you are the source of food and water MOST LIKELY things will change!

Okay so here's what happened today....*big sigh* I swear, getting a new bird is NEVER even remotely easy for me. So I do my daily gym stuff, and then hit the pet store. I walk in and the manager sees me and we chit chat a bit and I tell her that I'll go ahead and take him. I just want a day or two to fix his cage up nice and pretty. So she says, "Oh....well, a guy came in this morning, I tried to call your cell phone but you didn't pick up..." I get freaked out and look to where his cage was...he's still there. WHEW! So I relax a second and then said, "What?" She tells me that a guy came in and REALLY wanted him. He's a retired guy, has an aviary and "collects" Australian parakeets. It's his hobby. Okay....and? She told him that I have first dibs because I'm the only one that has shown this guy any attention in several months. He goes on to ask her to call me and tell me that he's really interested and that rainbow boy will live out his days flying around in a huge aviary with other birds. He just thinks he's the greatest. She calls, can't get ahold of me and then there we are...

So then she tells me that he is heading out of town this afternoon to go to Monterey, I think it was, to visit relatives, and won't be back until next week. But he gave her his cell number and said to ask me to think about it and then let him know if he can have him. I told her that I'd like to think about it for a day at least. I mean, he's not coming back for a week.

So.... once again, I have no idea what to do... It sucks though. Am I being selfish wanting to keep him? I just got used to the idea of taking him. Though an aviary would be Heaven for him I'm sure. Better then being in a cage the rest of his life. But on the other hand if I can get him to come around and be civil toward me, I'm not asking him to be lovey-dovey, just ride around on my shoulder that would be a good life too right? Although he may never be comfortable with that, and then I've ruined his chance at a happy life. Am I being selfish? I am I think. I need some help to talk this through. There are other birds that need homes right? Although I was prepared to give THIS bird a home... I just don't know what to do. Please help. And be blunt with me. No one will hurt my feelings if you think that I'm being a big selfish brat, because that's what I'm thinking about myself right now.

Oh man Vicki, that is quite the situation. I wonder what the aviary is really like. I would want to see it. Make sure it is really as grand as everyone is making it out to be. I hate to say it but if it really is nice, I bet the little rainbow man would like it better there, since he isn't used to humans. I hate that you were put into this situation, but maybe it is fate. And a way of letting you know he will be okay and well taken care of. (((HUGS)))