I'm back

[KimBear]

We were on vacation on a cruise to Alaska. What a cool trip!! Now I'm back and can get back to business.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I spent most of it packing for my trip.

By the way, I tried to respond to the post about the cockatiel, but for some reason the post is closed, so here's my reply....

When tiels do this, it's worth a visit to the vet because there's a good risk of health problems from the chronic egg laying. She may need some extra vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, and your vet can help you with that. You can also help by making sure her diet is at its best, and add cuttlebone or mineral blocks in her cage. Sometimes hormone therapy helps, but there might be some environmental changes you can make, too.
First, try to make the conditions less favorable for egg-laying. Take away anything that could be made into a "nest", like paper, boxes, etc. Either put a grate on the cage floor, or just put a single layer of newspaper on the bottom and change it if she chews it to make a nest. Second, decrease her "daylight" hours to only about 8 hours a day if you can. And make sure no one is accidentally reinforcing any breeding behavior by petting the bird on her back or near the base of her tail.

[TooLover]

Glad to have you back Kim!
More details about the vacation?

[KimBear]

We were on a Carnival cruise ship that went from Vancouver, BC up the inside passage to Ketchican, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka. I've got pictures of whales, seals, sea lions, bald eagles and more, plus lots of scenery with plenty of glacier photos.

I'll be posting many photos on my website once I get them uploaded, cropped, etc. They won't do the place justice, but should at least be fun to look at.

I highly recommend if anyone gets a chance to do this cruise, they go for it because even just being on the ship is fun, too. Food everywhere!! At least they also have a good gym....

[Dayna]

Awww Kim, you should have said you were going to be in Alaska! I live in Juneau, and could have given you a real Juneau tour for free!

[mamalovesrico]

Welcome back Kim. I want to see Alaska so bad. Glad you're back and glad you had a great trip.

[KimBear]

I would have liked that! But I don't usually tell many people that I'm going out of town because I don't want anyone to know that my house is empty. We have a good pet sitter that comes in, and we live in a safe area, but there's something about letting the whole world know that you're gone that makes me a bit uneasy!

I guess I could have said something like, "We'll be out of town for a while, and boy am I going to miss all my really big dogs while I'm gone!"

Anyway, Juneau seems like a really cool place to live. I always thought that if my husband's company ever sent him to Alaska, I'd be very upset, but after visiting I know think it would be pretty awesome. We'd have to live near Anchorage, since that's where he'd get sent if he did get transferred, but that seems like an okay place, too.

Maybe someday. I really love Flordia, but I sure could get used to those mountains!

[ParrotletLover]

Kim,

Welcome back to BirdBoard. You didn't have to post your leaving on the board, though. You could have contacted Dayna privately to tell her you would be in the area. BirdBoard members are trustworthy.

Again, welcome back.

Blake