Hello Everybody
Welcome to the third My Parrot Shop Newsletter!
In this newsletter we're looking at Starbird products, new DVDs, our new pamphlet and more.

New Parrot Toys Pamphlet
We’ve created an unbiased pamphlet absolutely chock-full of information about parrot toys covering subjects like materials, selection, presenting them to your bird, assessing dangers etc. We are generally putting one in with any orders we receive but if you’d like a few more to share around, just let us know with your next order. We are keen to get this information out and about to help improve life for as many caged birds out there as possible!

   

Starbird Toys!
After months (and months and months) of effort we can finally announce the imminent arrival of the awesome natural products of the Starbird range. Why months and months? These products consist of natural materials that are very difficult to bring in to Australia, especially if you want to avoid fumigation (which we do)! Combine that with our newness to importing and the extraordinary bureaucracy that goes with it and you have quite a few tears.

 

The ultimate product in this range is the Get a Grip, a climbing grid made of abaca rope. The abaca, thoroughly safe for parrots to chew, has a lovely rich colour, awesome texture and is remarkably durable. It is also easier to clean than other kinds of rope. The Get a Grip can be hung or draped in a variety of ways to provide a unique and exciting play area for your parrot, it comes in a range of sizes and works well outdoors as well as in. Many of you have already noticed the one Keiko has had for a while (from our 1st test import of these products) because it is in the background of many of our product photos, and recognised its potential immediately.



These products will go up on the website later this week. To find them quickly and easily just click on the Starbird heading on the left side of the website under 'Latest Products', or type ‘Starbird’ into our search box.

Nominate Us!

This Pet Industry Association of Australia (PIAA) and Australian Birdkeeper (ABK) magazine are running a competition for 'Best bird product or service award'.  The idea is to give people a chance to acknowledge the excellence of bird products and/or services from a bird/pet shop, supplier or manufacturer (My Parrot Shop falls into all of these categories).

So if you're feeling like sparing a few minutes please have a look at the nomination form and support our fledgling business.   Note that applications are due by Friday 7th September, and that you can fax the form to (07) 5590 7130.

New DVDs

We've added two more DVDs to our range.

Captive Foraging
Fantastic. The avian vet David Nicholls, who made this DVD imparts in-depth and invaluable information of the benefits and ‘how to’ of incorporating foraging activity into your pet parrot’s day to day life.

The main demonstrator, a dishevelled looking umbrella cockatoo called Missy, will forever hold a place in your heart after watching this DVD.

With the introduction of the Captive Foraging DVD we have also added a few products to our website that will aid you in starting your own foraging setup. We would also like to take this opportunity to point out the Baffle Cage again. Our Baffle cages come filled with toy parts but take those out (or wait for your parrot to do it for you) and use it to provide fruit and vegetables. The baffle cage is a relatively quick and easy way to provide your parrot with a time-consuming and deeply satisfying foraging activity. It also does remarkably well at reducing waste – a virtual miracle when it comes to birds! In our opinion the baffle cage is, and will probably remain so forever, one of the best parrot products ever invented.

A couple of other convenient products on our website for presenting fruit and vegetables is the kabob (love it) and the curly cue (useful for the foliage style greens and pesticide free dandelion etc from the garden and for presenting wet foliage for leaf bathers).


Preparing for a Vetinary Exam
This DVD continues the training concepts covered in Barbara's first DVD, applying those techniques to train behaviours that will make the next trip to the vet much easier and less traumatic. This DVD is bigger and better than the first and the behaviours demonstrated and taught are useful way beyond the walls of the vet clinic. This DVD is a must have.


Extra bonus – The process of getting this DVD resulted in us getting a better source for both Barbara Heidenreich's training DVDs so we’re pleased to announce that we’ve managed to reduce the price of each by 18 dollars, making them AUD 32.00. Hopefully this reduction will help tip the balance for you to purchase these wonderful DVDs!

Good Bird® Magazine
We are pleased to be able to offer Australian and Asia/Pacific subscriptions for the Good Bird® Magazine. Founded and edited by respected parrot trainer and behaviorist Barbara Heidenreich, Good Bird® Magazine is the ultimate resource for individuals seeking to learn kind and gentle ways to create desired parrot behavior. Full of information for companion parrot owners, it comes out quarterly and is a fantastic read. When our first shipment of these magazines arrived we certainly didn’t get much work done!

If you are interested in purchasing back orders of the Good Bird Magazine give us a bell and we can let you know what’s available!

 

Indonesian Bird Charity Day Seminar
Looking after pet and wild birds in the Indonesian/Australia region!

Museum Victoria, Melbourne - Sunday the 7th of October

A coming together of pet bird owners, bird watchers, aviculturalists, vetinarians, wildlife carers, ornithologists and pet industry people.

Not only will this seminar  provide much needed funds for a very worthy cause but it is a great opportunity for those interested in birds to listen to some of the world’s most respected avian veterinarians, breeders and ornithologists. Click these links to the program and registration form for the day. There are several talks being given specifically related to keeping companion parrots, including a talk on Environmental enrichment for pet parrots by Scott Echols, creator of the Captive Foraging DVD, so don’t miss it!

Indonesian Bird Charity Day Seminar Program
Indonesian Bird Charity Day Seminar Registration Form

Gallery updated
We've added another two pages to the photo gallery on our website. Some really nice pictures have been sent in by our customers and we've added a few more of our own. New additions include the Alexandrine, Cockatiel, Macaws, Eclectus, Cockatoo, Sun Conure, Rainbow Lorikeets Indian Ringneck, Amazon, Quaker, and Galah!

Email us a photo of your bird and we'll load it up. It's best if you don't reduce the file size before emailing the photo.

My Parrot Gallery Page 2
My Parrot Gallery Page 3

Other New Products

In addition to the new Starbird range, the following products have recently been added to My Parrot Shop:

Hanging toys
Barrel of Fun
Beada Blocker
Palmtop Shredder
Preening Snuggle

Foot Toys
Flower Press
Boxy Weights
Spit Roasts
Steam Rollers
Flower Pot Forage

Other Toys
Foraging Paper Cups – 20
Foraging Paper Bags – 100

Toy Parts
Shredders
Dice Beads Small, Medium & Large
Manzanita Beads
Notched Rings
Button Shapes
People Buttons

Books
A Guide to Cockatiels and their Mutations as Pet and Aviary Birds – Revised Edition
How to Care for and Tame your Budgerigar

 

That's all, hope you enjoyed our third newsletter!

The My Parrot Team.