Hello Everybody

Welcome to the My Parrot Shop Newsletter for November 2008!

There's lots to look at in this newsletter including new website features, some exciting new products, news about cages, and the continuing saga of introducing a baby human into a Macaw household.

Website Upgrade

We upgraded our website software on Friday night so you may notice some subtle graphical changes next time you're browsing the site (we're planning a more substantial 'face-lift' soon). You may also notice other improvements - e.g. the Checkout process is smoother and quicker - and we'll be implementing some new features over the coming months. We welcome your comments or suggestions on our website design and functionality - send us an email :)

Special Note for "international" (non-Australian) customers - we've had some trouble removing the 10% GST (sales tax) for you during checkout. Until our IT guy can fix this software glitch we will refund you this amount via PayPal as soon as we receive an order. Alternatively, you can make a credit card order over the phone and we can work out the GST-exclusive price right then.

Gift Certificates

One of the new website features has allowed us to offer 'promotional codes' such as the 15% discount above. Just in time for Christmas, we are also now able to offer Gift Certificates (like a 'voucher'). There is a new category called 'Gift Certificates' which allows you to purchase a gift certificate for any amount you wish. We will then email the certificate to you (or directly to the recipient of the gift if you prefer). The Gift Certificate contains a code which is used during checkout on our website to redeem the gift amount.

» Gift Certificates on My Parrot Shop . . .

Cage News

Having difficulty finding a large parrot cage in Australia?!

We’ve been hunting for quality cages to sell for a long time now. We found some recently and plan to get them on the website by Christmas (call us if you want detail before then) but we thought it was worth making a point in the newsletter that the widest cage we’re likely to have for a while is 36".

None of the importers we spoke to have anything bigger currently in stock, nor do they have any short term plans to get them (by short term we mean arriving on Australian shores before mid-2009). This is partly because the large cages cost more and are harder to sell. It certainly doesn’t help that the exchange rate has shifted severely out of favour for importers (take note if you are shopping for a cage: ALL cages in Australia will go up in price by a considerable amount soon!).

But all is not lost! READ ON!

The possibility exists earlyish in 2009 to special order the larger cages if we can meet a minimum order quantity. If you are looking for a cage 40” wide and beyond, then please give us a call to discuss; we have measurements and photos of the possibilities (some of them are very cool) that we can email.

This special order idea is a work in progress and it can’t get to a pricing stage without expressions of interest, so let us know if a larger cage tempts you!

» Contact Us about Cages . . .

New Products!

Training Toys
We have some new very cool training toys! Ring toss sets where your bird can place shapes on a peg to improve co-ordination and have some fun, a puzzle that can be used for shape or colour training and basket ball sets too!

» New Training Toys . . .

Super Jumbo Refill Chain
This chain is for the really BIG birds who REALLY chew HARD. It uses our largest O-ring. Out of all the people in the My Parrot team (and various friends) only John can get it open and closed properly, and he’s REALLY strong. Not many people will need this refill chain but for those that do it will allow you to provide a safer toy for your precious companions.

» Super Jumbo Refill Chain . . .

Yucca Chew Toys for all the Fids!
Wesco Bird Kabobs. Dried Yucca, a very texturous and light weight wood (similar to balsa) that is heaps of fun for all parrots but especially wonderful for the little guys who often miss out on the really good chew toys due to their size.

» Yucca Chew Toys . . .

Behaviour DVD
Barbara Heidenreich has released another DVD, this time on understanding parrot body language. The DVD has excellent footage in High Definition and shows plenty of different parrots exhibiting various behaviours. Fascinating and, of course, useful!

» Understanding Parrot Body Language . . .

New Foot Toys and Hanging Toys

» New Foot Toys and Hanging Toys . . .

Blog: Keiko and the Baby Blob

Mid August...     (see the first part of the blog online here)

Henry, delightful as Richard and I find him, is really just a human shaped blob at the moment. He doesn’t move much and he certainly doesn’t fly. Keiko on the other hand does. Thus having her out of the cage with Henry in the room for the first few times was a trifle scary.

We started with careful vigilance. Richard held Henry whilst I invited Keiko out for a play, then within a couple of weeks I was holding Henry whilst Keiko hung out with Richard. Then a wee while after that we gained enough confidence for Richard to leave the room whilst Keiko was out with me and the baby. I’d go into more detail but to be honest it’s been all rather dull so far. Keiko has so far ignored Henry.

Her response to Leo, John and Jen’s first born, was far more exciting! She was totally and utterly enamoured with him - she would just stare and stare and stare when he was around, and would make little baby groaning noises to herself in his absence. She didn’t do this with Henry at all. Maybe it was because Henry was bigger than her from the word the beginning, whereas Leo was smaller (it surely must have been fascinating for her to be bigger than a human, even if it was only for a few weeks!).

With Henry Keiko has (so far) shown no jealousy nor indeed any interest. In fact her favourite past times since Henry arrived on the scene have been pulling his bamboo cloth nappies off the drying rack and trying to take a chunk out of the fancy fuchsia foamy baby changing mat thingy we have (its really cool but hard to describe).

Ah well…its better than if she was chasing the baby I suppose!

To be continued in the next newsletter blog: Who can scream louder?