Because I am self-employed, I have the freedom of decorating my office any way I prefer. I have found that a few key additions can make a drab office much more conducive to spending long hours in front of the computer or on the phone. I have a small fish aquarium with a waterfall which gives me a peaceful atmosphere. I keep a few small tropical fish and a Betta which adds color.

I also have a small desktop container I purchased at Sharper Image with two Dwarf African Frogs which add a little more flavor to my desk with a very minimum of upkeep. A few pellets added twice a week is all they require and so far they are both doing fine. One frog is over 3 years old and one is slightly younger.

However, my true love is my birds. I have a large cage- they call it a flight cage- with a number of singing finches and one large orange/yellow male canary. I listen to classical music during the day and the birds love to sign along with the violins. I travel extensively throughout the world, and I thought it would be interesting to have some finches from around the globe as well. I have a matched pair of Lady Gouldian finches that are multicolored and quite expressive. I have a Peter’s Twit finch from Africa with red markings and large white dots on his body. I have a Blue nested finch which has a very distinctive call. I also have a Parrot finch from Australia which is deep green with a red underbelly. This particular bird is an escape artist. Each time I open the cage door, the Parrot finch does its best to escape and fly around my office. I usually wait until it gets tired before catching it harmlessly in my net and returning it to the cage. Lastly, I have an orange beeked waxbill finch that is simply the fattest bird in the cage.

I feed them a varied diet of Canary and Finch seed mix, broccoli and apples, prepared egg food, and sprays of millet. For a special treat I go to the pet store and buy refrigerated meal worms. By refrigerating these worms it retards their activity. As soon as I put them into a bird tray, the warmth makes them more active and this attracts the finches. Meal worms to finches are like filet mignon to us.

I also like to include a package of Timothy hay for the birds. They do not eat this hay, but they love to make nests and simply play with it for hours on end. While this can be a little messy, the enjoyment for the birds is an easy trade-off.

Supplying plenty of water for baths is absolutely necessary. There is nothing these finches enjoy more than a splashy, messy bath and they take every opportunity to enjoy this activity.

The birds add a unique dimension, sound, and a great deal of pleasure to my office and I hope you try similar ways to enhance your own working atmosphere.