About Us

Location

Flying Gems is Located in Wareham, Massachusetts, Near the Cape Cod Canal.
 We are willing to drive to meet people who live in the surrounding New England States including New York.  Buyers located near New York; we will be happy to meet you at the CT or MA border.

For those people who are not close and would still like to purchase a baby from us we offer
Airline Shipping

History

Flying Gems Aviary was started back in 1998.  We first started out with a pair of Cockatiels and a pair of Peachfaced Lovebirds.  We never bred the cockatiels not knowing whether they were related or not.  We left them to be pets. 

Fred and Ethel produced many clutches that first year (1999).  We kept one baby, Emerald.  When Emerald was old enough we searched for a Dutch Blue Violet to place with him.  We drove to the Berkshires and purchased a female.

The following year (2000); we kept a baby from Emerald and Sapphire.  I started thinking about a mate for Malachite.  I fell in love with a picture of a Peachfaced lovebird on a website.  I wrote to the owner and within the year was able to purchase a baby.   The baby was a Silver lovebird.  A couple of months later I was contacted by the breeder, she was going to stop breeding lovebirds and start breeding larger birds.  I bought the 7 remaining birds that she had.  So began Flying Gems Aviary.

In 2001 I received as a gift an Indian Ringneck parakeet.  We named her Zipper.  I had always wanted one.  In August, I adopted Jake and Ticho, 2 Blue Crown Conures.

In 2002; We now have 7 breeding pairs of Peachfaced Lovebirds.  We concentrated on the lighter mutations like silver.  All our birds are pets first breeders second.  We had been searching for over a year for an Indian ringneck to go with Zipper.  We finally found one and flew the bird in.  The bird seemed fine but when we took him for his exam and had blood work done he was found to be positive for PBFD (Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease).  We retested Austin in November and he tested Negative for PBFD.  He was slowly introduced to the other birds in the house.

In 2003; We now have 7 breeding pairs of Peachface lovebirds, 2 Blue Crown Conures, 2 Indian Ringnecks and 1 Black Cheeked Lovebird.  We are looking for a female Black cheek lovebird to place with our male and hope to breed them in the future.
Our human side of our family is starting to grow.  We had to reduce the size of our flock and take a vacation from breeding birds.  We have reduced our flock to 1 breeding pair.  We hope to start breeding again in Late Spring 2004.

In 2004; We reduced our flock of lovebirds.  We now only have 1 retired pair of Peach face and 1 breeding pair.  We still have 2 Blue Crown Conures, 2 Indian Ringnecks and 1 cockatiel as a pet. In the spring of 2004 we acquired a pair of Black cheeked lovebirds.  We now have 3 black cheeked lovebirds.
  In the summer of 2004, we shipped in 6 mutation Black Cheeked Lovebirds.  In the winter of 2004 we lost one of our green Black Cheeked lovebirds to egg binding.  We plan on breeding both black-cheeked and Peachfaced lovebirds in the future.  We also hope to bring our ringnecks closer together in hopes that they will breed in the future.

In 2005; We are hoping to continue offering pet quality Peachfaced lovebirds from our one breeding pair.  We will start breeding are mutation Black-Cheeked Love birds this year.  We also hope to get our Ringnecks together and let them breed.  In the spring of 2005 we purchased an Opaline female and a split to opaline male.

In 2006; We did little breeding this year.  We hope by next spring to breed our Ringnecks.  We also hope to have successful breedings between our Black-Cheeked Lovebird mutations.

Questions and Answers

We get many emails asking us different questions.

When will you have babies?
We have babies at different times of the year.  We like to breed in the fall and winter/ spring time.

I have a bird and I no longer want it, will you help me?
We will help you find a suitable home for your bird.

Will you take my bird?
We will take your bird, if we have the space available.  We can offer some permanent homes and we can also help you to find a good home for them.  At this time we we will only consider taking in Medium and Small birds.  We are unable to take in finches and similar sized flighty birds.

Do you sell Cages?
We do not sell cages but if you would like us to help you find a cage, we can point you in the right direction.

Do you give tours of the Aviary?
At this time we do not allow visitors.  If you would like to see our set up please visit this page.

How many miles/ hours will you drive to meet someone?
We will drive approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Will you sell an Un-weaned baby?
I will not sell un-weaned babies.  If a breeder insists they must prove that they have hand feeding experience and I (Flying Gems Aviary) will not be held responsible for any health problems or deaths.

Do you require a Deposit?
We do not require a deposit.  If the bird is being held for a long period of time, we would like some money in good faith to hold the bird.

How long will you hold a bird?
We will hold a bird till it is able to be shipped out, you are financial capable and up to 1 year.

Where Do you meet people from other States?
It really depends on Where you are coming from.
CT:  Areas along 95
MA:  Rest areas along the Mass Pike
NH:  BOAF expos in Manchester NH
NY/PA: We have met people at the first rest area going North Bound on 95.  It is about 12 miles from the CT/NY border.  We have also met people in Lee, MA which is located in the Berkshires on the NY border.

My Babies

     I care about my babies very much.  I always want to make sure that the new parents and the babies have a happy life together.  I ask that all new owners if they ever have a problem with the baby or are no longer able to care for the bird, to return the bird to me.  I have worked with a family and their new baby to insure a happy relationship. I went to the house and showed them proper handling.  They call me on a regular basis to ask questions and to tell me their progress.  I understand that there are bird people and non bird people.  I want the non bird people to have the same enjoyment as the bird people do.

Owners

Gina: I am a Certified Veterinary Technician.  I have worked at animal hospitals for over 11 years. For the past 7 years (95'-02') I have worked at the Brookline Animal Hospital in Brookline, MA, which is now owned by the Healthy Pet Corp.  As of September 2002 I started working at Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists in Buzzards Bay, MA.
The location where CCVS is, houses two practices a general practice and a specialty practice.  Buzzards Bay Veterinary Associates is the general practice side, I sometimes help out there when needed.  As of October 2003, I left CCVS because of the increase in our family.   
     Most of my pets were adopted.  If you have any questions for me about animals or my own pets please email me.

 Enjoy my website!   You will meet many different characters.  I have grown up with animals and there is not an animal that I can think of that I have not worked with or owned.  While in College I worked at an Aquarium, a Zoo, and a Museum.  At the aquarium I worked with penguins.  At the Zoo I worked with everything.  My  favorites were the otters.  At the museum I worked with a variety of educational animals.  They ranged from birds of prey to alligators to porcupines.
 I have decided that I really enjoy everything about breeding birds.  I love the babies the most but I find the genetics fascinating.

Paul:  I am a software architect.  I have been in the field of software development for over 11 years.  I enjoy the challenge of the ever changing technology.  I currently work at Ocean Spray in their IT department.
I am the programmer and the financial backer of Flying Gems Aviary.
I write the programs that Gina uses to run Flying Gems Aviary.  It is a bird management program. Soon we hope to offer it the public.
I am not into the birds at all but I do enjoy the happiness and joy it brings to my wife.