Hi from NY

Hi everyone,
We have several animals including; dogs, cat, an Egyptian Spiny mouse (ESM), and two fish tanks (a 20 gal community tank with tetras and angelfish and a 110 gal African cichlid tank). I am interested in adding several new pets this year. I am interested in adding to our mouse collection (I had no idea how many amazing colors/patterns of mice, for example- hairless, angora, silky, etc.) and we are considering an Timneh African Grey parrot.
Looking forward to getting to know everyone.

Welcome!! Very interesting collection you have there. Good luck finding what you are looking for. There is quite the array of animals on here. Take care.
Chris
B and S Pythons

Yes, like Chris said, welcome to the site Gina. Very interesting collection. Used to raise hamsters for snake food years ago, not traditional I know. Came to really enjoy all the varieties of hamsters, sure the same applies to mice too.

Welcome again!

Thanks Chris and Robert! We used to stay home all the time, never even went on vacation. Now we have an RV and bring all but the fish with us! We are still on the fence about getting an African Grey. I am not sure how well camping neighbors would appreciate the hours they keep and the noise they make when they see the sun. I thought I wanted to help one that was in a situation that needed to be rescued. It seems like everyone on Craigslist selling them are scammers and want a moneygram and ship them to you, or they have neglected the bird and want all the money they invested back. I understand wanting to make sure your pet is going to finally find a forever home after you were unsuccessful but giving you back all the cash you invested in an animal does not guarantee that. Checking vet references and doing a home visit is much more effective.
One the other hand, i cannot find a hairless mouse anywhere. I started looking at the laboratory wholesalers to see what they have available! Has anyone ever done this? I know the hairless species are immunodeficient and the laboratories can outbred, inbred, create hybrids, as well as genetically alter. Just started that route. If anyone is interested let me know.

Welcome to the forum Gina. That is neat you have an Egyptian Spiny Mouse. I have not seen one of those. Would love to see a photo of one. I have had pet rats & Chinchillas before. And yrs ago in the mid 1990s I had a Mouse Buddy, that's what my son & I named him after his snake refused to eat him. For a $2.00 mouse I went out and bought a $ 59.00 habitat home for him. LOL

Hope you can find a Timneh African Grey that needs you. They are out there, but I agree craigslist is full of scammers and folks who think their birds are dipped in gold bird seed. I would never buy anything unless you can meet in person and not alone.

Now you should be able to take a Grey on an RV with little trouble. Most Parrots learn to love traveling. There are folks who take their birds on vacation and on daily shopping trips. I Co-Admin on a small parrot forum and I read about how much fun the parrots and owners have. One of my Super Moderators takes her birds on outings with her girls even to their soccer games.

Your pet fetish sounds about as bad as mine. I have dogs, parrots and tarantulas. Used to have snakes, tortoises and lizards. But I had to downsize my work load. Got to be too much to care for & work 12 hr shifts too.

De' Andrea,
Thanks for the welcome. I could see me doing something similar like you did for Mouse Buddy! That is funny. My husband helps me keep it real when it comes to what pets we add to our family. My craigslist comments was a bit of a rant after a week of looking to help rescue a bird and searching for a hairless mouse breeder and a small ESM colony online. It is ridiculous how people on craigslist use charging so much after they practically ruin an animal a 'rehoming fee' and their way to make sure their pet gets a good home. We all know giving money is not the answer to that. I think we are going to meet with a lady that breeds large hookbills this month and see where that lands us! Twelve hour shifts make alot of things difficult. I am sure the tarantulas don't miss you much when you go to work though! What kind of parrots and dogs do you own?

Hi Gina, Good luck on your meeting with a breeder. All the birds in my signature photo are my current parrots, except one Green Cheek Conure (Peta) that past away last yr and my Blue Throated Macaw that I go pick up this coming Saturday. I have 4 macaws, 1 female Solomon Island Eclectus, 1 Rose Breasted Cockatoo, 1 White Capped Pionus, 1 Pineapple Green Cheek Conure, & 8 Budgies. They are super fun and not nearly as noisy as you would expect. All of mine I actually got from breeders as weaned babies except the Pionus. She came from a local pet shop. I have nothing against rehomed birds and there are lots of them out there. But like you, either the timing wasnt right, I didnt trust the sellers or they wanted too much for a bird they hadnt cared properly for. And there are no rescues close enough to me to go that route. I am actually at my limit of birds now and would not be getting this last one, but he falls into the special needs category and my Co-Admin told me he was in need of a home and was fairly close to where I live.

Ok now is where you will think I've gone off my rocker. I have 9 dogs. 5 small, 2 toy poodles, 2 shih tzus and 1 pekingese. And I have 4 large dogs. 3 female standard poodles and 1 sheepadoodle (Old English Sheepdog/Standard Poodle cross). He is no relation to my standard girls. Phew, did I miss any? Nope don't think so.

De' Andrea,
I am rotflmao right now. We currently have nine dogs at our house too! I have 5 tiny toy poodles, a chihuahua, a pitbull and two toy poodle puppies (that will be moving to a new home as soon as they are fully weaned). My six small dogs equal approximately 23 pounds, the alpha in our house is the oldest toy poodle. She bosses the pitbull (is older and by all rights should have the alpha status) but our last rottweiler scared him to death as a pup one too many times and he has no interest in the position!
I did not know cockatoos were considered Macaws! I even lived with a lesser sulfer-crested (my exs) for years. he cockatoo was my favorite. My ex also had one of the first spot billed toucanettes born and bred in captivity, and a blue front amazon. It was an awesome experience getting to know all of them but sad leaving them.
(Rant warning) I hate to support breeding large hookbills after watching the documentary on Netflix about Parrots, but after volunteering with five rescue groups over 15 years, they have ridiculous rules, they weed out more than they rake in and many pets end up lonely in a cage for too many years unnecessarily. I have not reached out to any of the rescue groups in NY state, I may be wrong in assuming avian rescue groups are like dog/cat rescue groups. We are extremely experienced pet owners. I have always owned a pitbull. When we were looking for a pit after my last one passed we were getting turned down because we had kids under 13! The local humane society had an african grey and I called, they do not adopt large birds to any homes with children under 13 years old either. I understand getting burned out rescuing but that is crazy for a few reasons. They weed out experienced pet owners and great homes. People are having kids later in life now. If someone waits until they are 30 to have their last child, they would have to wait until they are 43 to adopt a bird. How many owners is that bird going to have if it keeps ending back up at our humane society? Another rant... sorry. We are not closing any doors and I am sure the right bird will find us when the time is right!
I am not able to see your siggy pic very well, maybe time for a prescription upgrade on my glasses... sigh. No windows 8 for two more weeks here.
So, I think you have me beat and with those birds... yes you are crazy but loved! The dogs... yes you are crazy and once again loved! But the way society is who wants status quo? I go for crazy myself!

Too funny on the dog population!! Your one of the few I've met who does have so many at one time. All of mine I chose to get, meaning no puppies for me. I love puppies when I get one, but dont like to raise them myself. That's just me tho, no reason other than I'm just not interested in breeding any pets, just love them as my babies. I bet your baby poodles are adorable. Poodles are my favorite. My old male shih tzu is the alpha and my oldest female standard poodle is the alpha. Both of them use their status quite well too.

Cockatoos are not Macaws in any way. They are a completely different species from different continents. I have 3 macaws in my signature and one I will pick up this Saturday. That one the Blue Throat is not in my signature yet. The photo is quite tiny on here and is hard to see, but that is as large as is allowed. Its ok tho I don't mind, after all this is a reptile based forum and my birds are kinda out of place here. LOL

I totaly understand your rant on rescues. The only one closest to me which is over 200 miles one way,has some strict rules I would never pass such as requiring me to volunteer and get to know the bird I chose a certain number of times before I took it home. A good rule if I lived close enough for it to be feasable. I can understand the resues reasons for the requirements, but your right very few looking for a bird will be able to pass them. Sad either way for the bird's sake. 3 of my macaws are considered special needs, but I did get them from their breeders. I chose to bring them into my flock and of the 2 I have at home now, neither one needs any special care. They are a joy to have.

You have a lot of parrot experience already I see. So you should have a smooth time with your future parrot when it comes along. I have enjoyed visiting with you about all our critter kids. I do have 3 maybe 4 threads with a few of my birds photos in the bird section here on Fauna if you'd care to view sometime.