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MarleneGill: Winchester, TN Let me tell you my story. I have had my cherry headed conures together for 6 years, they laid twice for me but no luck......come to find out they were two females. I have been looking for males for a while. They were out there but weren't old enough, and the thought of shipping one was out of the question because I was so scared it would arrive stressed and might die.Well low and behold I had found Dona on the internet. I felt so at ease with her I tought I would try to ship a bird. She reasured me it would only fly out if the weather was right and timing was right, she also told me if anything was to happen to the bird my money would be refuned. So I sent the money for the bird, the crete and a DNA test, also understanding I would pay for the bird COD at the airport when I picked him up. I thought "this is to easy," and still had some doubts in my head, but I agreed. We kept in touch day after day until the weather would let the bird fly. The day I would get my bird, I went to the airport with my fingers crossed and saying "please let him be ok." I went to the counter and told them who I was and what I was picking up. The man said "hang on, he is here waiting on you." The bird was 50 minutes early! Any way here he came and I heard nothing, so I peeked in the crate. I saw him looking right at me and he seemed fine. I felt good. We had to drive an hour before we got home, time just wouldn't pass. When we made it home, I took him out of the create and put him into a cage. He looked just like Dona had said he would. He is so pretty and I had no surprises. I was so happy and relieved! I sat and talked to him and he seemed to understand. I was really glad to see him and he was fine. Thank You Dona for helping get over the fear I had....Mars Tami: Dallas, TX Hello Dona! To begin, I want to thank you for having Harley (that's what we named him) ready for our arrival. I appreciate all the time you and your grandson spent with us. You answered all my questions. After seeing you with the birds and all the love you illustrate, I am so thankful we purchased him from you. I've told everyone how wonderful you are. Our trip back went well. Harley, was perfect on the way back. We have all been adjusting to the changes. I am trying to establish good habits with him. I've been taking him outside each night after work. He loves it. He's becoming very attached to me. In the evening he wants to be held all the time. I find myself rocking him in the evening, just before bed time. In no time at all, he will be singing the Barney song. He's with me in the morning as I get ready for work. He's so lovable!!!!! I find myself talking about him to everyone, just like a new mother would with her first child. Take care, I'll be talking to you soon! Have a great weekend. Tami The Oloteo's We met Dona thru our newspaper and over the Internet. My husband had always wanted a bird. So right before Christmas his mother had an African grey parrot fly on her roof. She called him to come get it and he brought it home. It was scared. Our two kids enjoyed the bird. But we knew it had to belong to someone so I looked in the paper under lost and found and sure enough there was an ad for a lost parrot. We called and the lady thought she'd never see her bird again he had been lost for 5 weeks and it was right around the time a cold front came through our area. She was so grateful she helped us purchase our first bird with a reward. We knew the bird was hers by the way it acted. Our kids were sad when it left. That started my husbands desire to have a bird especially since our 2 and 7 year old enjoyed the bird and missed it when it was gone. So we started with a small bird a sun conure. He is a beautiful bird. Dona was very helpful through the entire process. She has quite a bird collection. While we were at her house picking out this bird my husband caught his eye on a cockatoo. She said they will be laying eggs soon and she would call us if she had any available. We wanted a bird the children could handle so we thought the sun conure would be perfect. The children enjoy him very much. Well in late January , Dona called to say she would have an umbrella cockatoo hatching in a few weeks would we be interested? I was skeptical because of the cost but the kids enjoyed Artie so much and my husband wanted a larger bird. So we put a deposit down and Dona called us on February 2 and said the bird hatched so we could come see it in a few weeks. When we first saw the bird at 4 weeks old it was ugly. We would call Dona often to learn about the bird. Then the time came to take it home at 3 months old I was scared. But Dona helped us through everything. She would call us and we would call her daily to talk about the bird. Our children love this bird too. It is a beautiful bird now. This cockatoo is very gentle and loving. It loves our 7 year old son to hold it like a baby and cuddle it. You could not go wrong by purchasing a bird from Dona. She is truly a bird lady. She loves her birds and takes very good care of them. She picks the right bird for the right person. We have kept in touch with her and consider her a friend now. Sincerely, The Oloteo's Jack and Bev: Farrington, TX Our Second Family In our later years, after raising two girls, I guess we figured we needed a new challenge in life. Our first adoption was Sammi, a five year old umbrella cockatoo (he is now nine), who we "rescued" from a pet shop. When we took him to the vet we found that we had acquired a very sick bird. After much time and (and money) spent curing fungus and viral infections we found ourselves with one very sweet bird. He is a lover and snuggler, always wanting "kisses" and affection. Or he can be the joker playing pranks like stealing pens from pockets and glasses or hats off Jack's head. Usually the hats are returned with a hole in the bill! He is destructive and cannot be left loose unsupervised. He has survived stripping wires twice and dismantling a battery charger. His goal in life is to dismantle everything within his reach! He goes through toys like candy. The only thing he doesn't chew on much is food. He is a very picky eater. At present he is busy "remodeling" his second house (actually a carpeted cat tower). He has also learned to move the ball on the mouse so he can see the Snoopy screen saver on the computer. Soon after we got Sammi I was having a restless night and decided to get up for awhile. I was quietly passing his cage, when I heard a whispered "What're you doing". Much of his speech is cognitive. "Uh uh" definitely means no. "Night night" means it's time for bed. And of course we know he means it when he says "Love you Baby". He says "Did it" if you try to get him to go potty and he doesn't have to. He is pretty much potty trained and lets you know when he has to go. Unfortunately, he thinks being on the edge of a table or chair arm is the same as his perch. It wasn't long after we adopted Sammi that we began looking for another breed of bird to adopt. Dona led us to Chukki, a nine month old Solomon Island eclectus, whom she had hand fed . We wanted to see what it was like having a baby around. Looking back I could have gone without going through "the terrible twos". He is now a fun three year old. It was not love at first sight between Sammi and Chukki! It took a year before they would play together and they have never been together unsupervised. Chukki is the typical bratty little brother. If Sammi has something Chukki decides he wants (food or a toy) he will go and take it right out of his beak. Sammi lets him get away with most things except pulling his tail or biting his feet. If Chukki only realized that Sammi could take his head off with one bite! Unlike Sammi, Chukki will eat almost anything at any time, including fingers if he doesn't want to do something. Anything that is said, within Chukki's hearing, will be repeated. If Jack says it, it will be in a very deep voice. If I say it, it will sound just like me. Jack will sometimes hear Chukki talking and think it's me! He doesn't talk directly to us unless others are around. If we have company for dinner, instead of soft music and stimulating conversation everyone is quiet, because that's when Chukki really talks. He doesn't always get things exactly right. We tried to get him to say "It's not easy being green" but it came out It's not Sammi being green". Once when we took him on a trip, when I put him in his cage in the van he said "Here we go". He and Sammi don't speak the same bird language, they communicate in people talk! Chukki often calls Sammi a "turkeybutt" or if Sammi gets too noisy he will say "Night night Sammi". When he wants our attention he will try calling "Jack, Jack". If that doesn't work he will try "Ma, ma". Then as a last resort he will do his phone ring imitation. Our daughter and her family have a 160 pound great dane, Henry. When Henry comes to visit Chukki ignores him completely but Sammi wants to be friends. Henry will put his nose up to Sammi's cage and Sammi will gently pet him. However, if things get too quiet Sammi will start flying around his cage and start barking. This of course elicits an immediate response of very loud barking from Henry! As we try to calm Henry down, my daughter always reminds me that "Your kid started it!". Yes the boys can be a real pain in the neck. Sammi manages to cover every surface in the house with white feather dust. Chukki is an extremely sloppy eater and food can be found stuck on windows and anywhere within flinging distance. They would both like to have our constant attention. However their entertainment value is priceless. They constantly come up with new antics to keep us amused. Actually, we could not imagine life without our boys. When we go to bird shows we fall in love with all the birds there. We would love to have an African Gray but don't know if we have that much attention to give or (minor consideration) room in the house! Babies | Breeding Pairs | Comments | Spirulina /Wheatgrass | Order | Links | Home | Email