Your Birds' Stories

[Ming-Ming]

There might be a thread like this already, but I figure I might as well start one, just incase there isn't!

I love learning about how people and their birds have been united!
My stories aren't very exciting though...

Douglas I found as a cellphone picture on Craigslist. This was a few months after my Quaker passed, and I thought I was ready for another bird. I wasn't ready for another Quaker, and have always been drawn to Caiques, so I thought I should email. I offered less than they were asking, but they said I might as well come meet him, as they really wanted to make sure he went to a good home!
Apparently a man was bugging them a lot as they wanted to breed Douglas, but they refused!
I met this shy little boy in a big empty apartment. He looked like he was well love, but the girl who owned him (15) had asthma, and the father, who he was staying with, was severely allergic.
He was so shy, and not very much like the Caiques I read about! He refused to step up, but there was something about him that drew me to him, and I wanted him.
They agreed to sell him to me, with some negotiations. I was going to wait to pick him up, but they called me suddenly one night because the dad was having a severe allergy attack. They were kind enough to give me the cage last minute, and actually drove me home, since I was planning on taking a cab home!
And that's how I got Douglas

As for Kyoko... I was in Grimsby for part of the summer, and my breeder said she had Quakers on eggs. I wanted one. I told her. And i said I wanted a blue one. She didn't have any blue ones, so she called her breeder friend, who said she had two babies, but no blue ones. She said since the baby was for me, she'd give me a deal
We drove the hour to go pick her up, and i saw two little bundles of fluff - they were about 3 weeks old. And one of them was mine!!!
As soon as she put them into my hands, I just burst into tears. It was such a great feeling, and it was almost like it was meant to be

That's my story!
Let's hear yours!

 

[ILoveTiels]

Copied this from my blog...


Coraline came from a pet shop. Her cage mate never let her eat. The woman who ran the shop told me that Coraline was a normal grey. The price was $80. I walk into the shop, take one look at her, and even after only seeing pictures of cockatiels, i KNEW my girl was a white face. I politely said "yes, i will take her." If the pet shop knew what she was, they could have easily charged $120-150. At the time, she was barely 5 weeks old. I was told before i came to see her that she was 2 months. She wasn't completely weened yet, and like i said, her cage mate never let her eat anyway. Thats probably why she ate so well the first night she came home.

Charlie was out in the sticks. Its about 45 minute drive from me. He lived in a rusty cage with yard sticks as perches. He lived with his mom and dad. Didn't receive love from the owner. The babies were, in her words, an accident. She meant to purchase 2 boy birds, and wound up with eggs a few days later. She also informed me she clipped his wings. Clearly, since he flew into the top of my door frame (twice), his wings were NOT clipped! Also in the home, there were small kids, dogs and cats. Not a bird friendly environment. Tucked away in a back bedroom that looked like it hadn't been dusted in a long time.

Daisy is a definite rescue. She came from a dusty, damp dark basement. Her cage was falling apart and the only light she got came in thru a dirty basement window. She was not socialized and fed seed ONLY. The girl didnt buy her as a pet, but someone for her boy to mate with so she could sell the babies.... not too smart for a girl who is 17 and in school still... ugh...


In a way, all of them are rescues... I say this because the home they came to was far better than before. Living loney, unsocialized and unhealthy lives. Granted, Coraline did die alot younger than expected, but at least she was loved and well cared for.

Now, the 4 that are coming saturday are not rescues. The woman bought them as pets. She soon learned her daughter is highly allergic. So, she has been trying to find them homes for months now. I posted an ad on craigslist and she responded. She loves the birds very much and I'm sure it hurts to let go, but we have been talking alot and she feels i am the best home for them. I know they will be a great fit here and eagerly awaiting their arrival.

 

[Leza]

Peanut--- I could say he's my rehome. I adopted him from my "bird lady" I was breeding cockatiels for. She had ALOT of birds(big guys) and this little sennie just wasn't fitting in at her place(she got him from another friend of hers.) He was 2 at the time. He's 14 now. He's my first parrot.

Baby-- I adopted her the winter after I moved to Arizona, and I started working at a bird store. She was all by her self, 6 months old, hand fed, but unhandleable. No one took the time to train her to step up I couldn't let it go on like that, so I took the time to train her, and she bonded to me instantly. Because of all the training and socializing I did for her, she is my friendliest bird to other people. She will go to anyone.

Odin-- my first hand fed baby. We took her home when she was 6 weeks old so I could hand feed, She is 2 now. She was really a gift for my SO, and he originally wanted a bare eye too, I said no cause it wouldn't fit in with our flock dynamic as it is now
So I told him walk around the whole store(my work) and find the one that you just can't live with out. It was Odin I'm really glad we got her though, she is such a joy, and a great pionus parrot!

Loki-- my rescue. I saw an ad on CL for a BW that was 8 years old, and I messaged to see what he was asking, I never got a response. I was kind of disappointed, so just brushed it off, and thought just not the right time I guess. The same week, Loki's ad was on CL too, an 11 month old BW. I thought, what are the chances of 2 BW's being for sale at the same time? In 4 years of online search, I've never seen a BW here. I jumped on it, and the girl was THRILLED to chat with me, she thought I was a perfect match, and that she had been searching for months for the right home. I visited him for the first time, and I knew I needed to adopt him, it just felt right. He was living in a FRAT house! he was really shy at first, and a little nippy, but with love, open arms, and lots of food He has opened my eyes to love with a parrot. None of my other birds swoon me the way he does. He is my little love bug.

 

[Ming-Ming]

Thanks for sharing your stories
So great of you to take in those poor birds when they needed it most!

 

[Danita]

I have these funny little stories here

http://forums.avianavenue.com/feathered-photos-fairway/14326-once-upon-time-2-saemma.html

http://forums.avianavenue.com/feathered-photos-fairway/14065-once-upon-time.html

 

[Gilraen]

I've told Rydia's a million times so far

Basically, I went into Petco one morning and saw a cute little parrot sitting upside down on the ceiling of her cage. I asked about her and was told that she hates humans. Won't go near them, can't stand them, is scared of EVERYTHING. Sooooo, after work that evening, I went in and talked to her for a few minutes before she came over to see me. We've been best buddies ever since ^_^

With Selphie, I got her from a local breeder. She was going to be sold as a weanling, didn't sell. So she decided to hold her back for breeding. But last year decided she really didn't want any more breeding pairs of birds. She'd seen the way I keep Rydia and all of her toys and things in my room and offered her to me as a "buddy" for Ry. With the understanding that if it didn't work out, she could take her back. The two are becoming friends, Selphie is getting over her not being handled for a year after she was weaned, and I've got 2 cute little featherbutts to play with!

 

[Ming-Ming]

OMG DANITA!
I can't believe you got scammed!!!!

 

[suileeka]

I love hearing these stories, too.

My budgies, Piper and Pepper, were given to me by a (wait for it...) friend of a daughter of the wife of one of the residents where I work. I bring my linnies in with me on Sundays sometimes, and on one such occasion, B asked me if I would like more birds. One of her daughter's friends (J) had purchased the budgies somewhat on impulse after his cat passed away. His partner wasn't keen on the noise or the mess, and after getting a kitten, they were considering finding another home for them. They ended up dragging their feet for months, until I figured they had changed their minds.

Then one Sunday, out of the blue, B's daughter called me at work and asked if I would still take them. She was visiting her friends and J's partner said, 'You're taking the birds, right!?' I spoke with J on the phone, and learned the the budgies were not tame, didn't have names, and were never let out of their cage. . . . So that evening, B's daughter drove these two TERRIFIED little budgies over to my house, flapping around madly in their bare little cage. The first night they were home, they just clung to the top of the cage like little statues. But they came around amazingly quickly, and were SO excited to get toys and to try new food that I couldn't believe it! Within just a couple of days they were chirping happily, eating like little piggies, and destroying their toys.



My cockatiels all came from the same person, whose ad I answered on Craigslist. She was going back to college, and couldn't take her birds with her (she had quite a few besides the ones that I adopted, but most of the others were show tiels). I contacted her, interested in one bird - the whiteface male. Buuut, as it turned out, he (Pogi) was bonded with Cookie, so they'd have to go as a pair. (Clementine was a single girl, but A was having a lot of difficulty with the idea of parting with her, since she'd had her since hatching.) We set up a time for me to go to her house and meet them. Pogi and Cookie were a given - she handed them to me, and they fluffed up and settled right down for a nap on my arm.

However . . . I found myself smitten with Clementine, who was trying her best to sneak into another bird's cage to steal his food. I just had this feeling about her - I KNEW I didn't want to leave there without her. A had described her as very shy until she warmed up to someone. Well, as we were talking, Clementine flew right over and landed on top of my head! Not only that, but after we got Pogi and Cookie into my travel cage, Clementine kept trying to get in there with them. A asked me to see if Clem would step up for me, and she did so without any hesitation. So I ended up with three tiels instead of the one I originally planned on.

 

[dolldid]

Ok i was new to internet and my dog of 13 yrs was dignosed with bowel cancer and had a few months to live well i calle my son at 4:30 one morning to get grover to a yet he came didnt take him 1/2 hr and off they went to the vets

well being in a wheelchair it was to hard getting a dog out in winter so decided a parrot dint care what kind but it had to be free , 3 yrs i looked called emailed one place i emailed for months same bird but never an answer
then one day phone rings do you still want a bird
( me ) yes i do ( phone ) ill call you back have to take my son to hospital be ready to get the bird when i call . (me) where are you ) him) ill give you information when i call. Bang went phone
\
me i dont drive have no money,,lol how the devil am i going to get this bird i ask around who has cars all are to busy any ways couldnt say where we had to go i was like a crazy woman .
Phone rings ( you have an hr to get bird want it gone befor my daughter gets home from school , call me as your leaving ill have him ready oh cage id big wont fold you need truck, bang went phone

a nab our sugested i call a taxie get price so did cost round trip cause i was a senior $30.00 i couldnt beleave ir well nab our gave me the money i was off

it was a dyha age not sure about 20 small bit of food and cage home we came bird in a box..lol eatting its way out


ok thats how i got boggie was told nothing and they refused to answer phone bonding was comming but hormones set in and i was attackled 5 times one right after the other
yes i was afraid decided he had to go
my place is very small this bird had power i live alone if i new back then what i do today the out come might have changed but cant change what i did

i went back on internet answering all adds about traiding birds saw one add yr old didnt know what a ysa was,,lol for sale $1900.00 or trade sent email got phone call next day spoke for about an hr asked if they could come see me came next day

mango was bought as a breeder him and 2 brothers i have no idea why he was being sold but we traded birds they took boggie i got mango who wasnt handled from age 3 months or new toys at 1 yr old i got him just after his bd
hes the best thing to come in to my life , it took almost 6 months befor i could handel him it was sure worth the wait he will be 4 yrs old this month

as for boggie he was sold im told he has a girlfriend and could soon be a daddy

im sorry for this all in caps but my eyes are bad need to find new sp as my guy retired

 

[Shade]

Piper - A breeder who was a friend of my mom's had a few baby lovebirds. One day when my mom went to see her I came along to see the babies. The moment I walked in, Piper, who was on the breeder's shoulder, flew to me and cuddled as close as he could, on my shoulder behind one of my ears and under my hair. He picked me and I couldn't resist

Shade - I had been looking into getting a second parrot for a year or so. I wanted to wait until I graduated though, so that gave me plenty of time to do research and to meet different kinds of parrot at local pet stores and at parrot club meetings. I finally decided that a Poi would be good for me, which specific one I couldn't pick so I figured whatever was available when I was ready would be good enough. My mom knew of my decision so in April of 2006, she found a breeder who had Sennies and told me I could go visit and pick a baby and that my parents would offer it to me as a graduation/birthday present. The breeder was in the Montreal area so one day I went there with my dad. When we got there, we were shown two small balls of fluff, Shade and her brother (who now lives with my mom). They were a month old, obviously not weaned but Piper's breeder had agreed to finish the weaning process if we came back with one. Both babies looked injured and were - Shade had a broken leg that was not healing properly (not that we knew the problem then) and her brother had both his legs sticking back. Shade had made her way to me so I figured I'd go with her (not that her brother was able to move much) and the "breeder" said he'd throw in the other for "free" (all the vet bills added up to it being far from free) and my dad just said we'd take them both.

Joey - I was browsing at want ads for no specific reason. Then I came upon a rather old ad for a male Red-bellied parrot and figured he wouldn't be available anymore but still sent an email. And he was still available and it turns out I knew his owner through the local Parrot Club. Joey was well loved in his previous home but due to personal issues his owner couldn't keep him anymore so after having visited him twice and having my boyfriend say that we should get him when I was concerned about the impact on the harmony I had between Shade and Piper, we got him.

Petey - I got through a local rescue. I knew he was a women-hating bird and that he had a rough past but took him in anyways. He absolutely adores my boyfriend so that is ok.

Zuri - I got him from the same rescue as Petey. I wanted a Meyer's that I could handle a bit more. He was really shy and nervous as first, but started to trust me early on. He's my youngest parrot and he has quite an independent streak but it's ok since this means he plays a lot and I enjoy watching him do so.

Pixel - I first met her in a local pet store in 2008. I resisted purchasing her then since she was already an adult and was ridiculously priced and, most of all, I didn't want to help the pet store along. One day when I went to visit she was no longer there, which made me regret not having got her when I had the chance...But, luckily I guess, I met her new owner on a few forums online and got to chat with him. Then he disappeared for a while and I was looking really hard to get a rehome female RB and when that seemed unlikely, a baby, which didn't happen either (I followed a clutch but they were all males). Then in May of last year the owner came back online and sent me a message asking if I was still looking and that he had to rehome Pixel. So that's how she came to be in my life again.

 

[kitsunebandit]

I'm not going to do all of my birds 'cause in total I have 89! (The majority are in aviaries outside haha don't worry!)

Chalkie (Harris' hawk) - I was looking around for a bird of prey for ages and I didn't quite know what I was looking for, well I did, it was a choice between a Eurasian buzzard, a Harris' hawk or a red-tailed hawk. I found an ad for a female Harris' hawk in a newspaper. I went to check it out and it was the most beautiful Harris' I'd ever seen, she was huge and very dark with a vivid orange on her wings. The person had two Harris' hawks in the garden, the other was a tiny male, who hadn't gone through his first moult yet, never been trained, really scruffy and looking pretty poor. I had to have him instead, I begged the guy to let me take him for the same price, so I ended up with the rough looking feller who wouldn't be handled. In the car on the way home I could hear him from the traveling box grunting and peering at me through the hole. He kept poking his beak through it and I was stroking him. He was only 16 weeks old. When I got him home I let him loose into his flight. He just kinda sat there and stared at me, so I went over and picked him up and he didn't care, he was comfy with me, which made me feel wonderful. Within a week I had him flying free!

Tom & Alfie (budgies) - I felt so bad for these guys. A man came to my door demanding I took these two budgies off him because nobody wanted them. They came with their (tiny) cage and everything. He didn't have the birds on them at the time. I said no because I felt like I had enough birds (for once) and that people shouldn't dump them on me at no notice. He left and was driving half way up my road when I changed my mind and ended up sprinting after the car, I just shouted I'd have them at him and he drove off. The next day I was in my garden and the doorbell had gone. I went outside and the guy had just left them on my porch. They had no food or water, no toys nothing. But the mans wife had left me a tiny bag of food to last me for a few days. I took them in and put them in a much larger cage. I then found out that they had never been handled before when the lady called my grandmother. I got them out with millet and had them playing with me and landing on me and stuff. They're amazing little birds.

Joey - I found an ad online for a hand tame cockatiel for £15. Obviously I thought this was pretty cheap so I dived right in at the offer. I got to the place to find he was 18 months old, a serious plucker and was living in horrific conditions. I took him from there as quickly as I could, I thought it was disgusting.

I can't really say that much more as most of my other birds just come from stores but I can say the place I got 2 of my quails from was utterly disgraceful. Basically, long story short, a man was keeping over 2000 quails of different species in his basement of a tiny house amongst other poultry. The smell was horrific and the birds were living in their own poop. Not nice at all.

But yeah, I'm not going to go through every single bird I own, I'd be here for a year

 

[Anne & Gang]

Queen Samantha we got from a local breeder....our rescue tiel Lou had died and my hubby was inconsolable...so I dragged him to a breeder...we had twenty tiels on us of varying sizes and then a little runty baby landed on me & I pointed..hubby nodded & we brought her into the breeder's kitchen to put a deposit on her...the lady's hubby was handfeeding baby lovies and Sam took one look , did a dive bomb off dub's shoulder and knocked the poor little lovie out of the way..it was hysterical..we waited three long weeks before she was weaned & we took her home the day my father died...we got a call about my dad & we had this new baby to love..it was almost like my father gave us a present...we thought for 14 months that Sam was a boy as she talks (a rarity in a tiel) but surprised us by laying eggs..she is nearly 5 now. about fouryears ago my father in law was losing it mentally & he was letting his finch and two canaries go into the wild just as hubby came along..so they came home to us....Terrible Tweets (now gone to heaven)--Charlotte & Fletcher the little crippled old man finch who passed last year. Baby boy Blue was my father in law's budgie given to him as a gift two months before he passed i--Dub's mother could not cope with grieving & looking after a little baby budgie so he came to us..and what a devil he is...quite the vocabulary in Croatian & english...2 years ago we were dropping off a poor kitty at the humane society.(the society has a no kill policy thank god)--the cat had been hanging around for ages and we finally got her..at the humane society we saw a wee little tiny budgie in a huge cage...we couldn't leaveher there so we brought her home...she was obviously young...we named her Little Alice...very very wild to this day but very very happy little girlie...We were at Petsmart getting bird food one day also about two years ago and we saw a little green budgie in a cage all by itself..when I asked why she was in a cage alone, the clerk told us the other budgies picked on her all the time and plus she was green..too common..well that was it..so Jacqueline came home with us...she too is totally wild...but happy as all get out...I saw an ad in the humane society website for a poor looking tiel..crestless, in terrible feather...I looked at that ad for a week before I showed Dub and we went to get Mitch on Dec 12/2009 the first anniversary of my father in law's death. Mitch was terrified, absolutely terrified, crestless, half starved from the crappy pellets at the humane society (they do great with cats and other critters..not so good with birds)---Susanne Russo (SRTiels) named her Mitch because we thought she was a young pearl male...a week later she laid an egg...so she is now Princess Mitch..the day the terror went out of her eyes was t he happiest day of my life...Sweety came to us from hubby's brother in law's mother...She didn't want her anymore because she was too noisy..so we had to take her..she is totally tame and just a holy terror....so that is how we ended up with four budgies, two tiels and a canary...we are pretty much maxed out here..not actively looking of course..but never say never..

 

[Ming-Ming]

That's amazing you have a hawk!!!!
I want to start falconry soon! I'm quite enamoured with the sport!

Natacha - that's so awesome how Pixel came into your life again! and I had no idea about Shade's past!! I'm glad she ended up with you!

 

[Angelicarboreals]

I will have to come back and read this in its entirety. The majority of my birds stories are on my website, www.featheredelves.webs.com

 

[Inkrose115]

I went in because I wanted a normal gray male Cockatiel. I didn't want a female - I had read about egg-binding and decided I want something that couldn't lay eggs. I also didn't like the look of the cinnamon mutation and I wanted a bird with the trademark little orange cheeks. In short, I would have taken just about any mutation except a cinnamon or whiteface. I walked out with a cinnamon whiteface female. What can I say - she picked me. When we got home she was stressed but still managed to cuddle up to me on my shoulder and beak grind in my ear. From that point on I was officially her person, and that was all there was to it.

 

[Monica]

Casey, my first cockatiel, was a gift to me. I had had budgies for a little over a year. My mother was taking some computer classes, and had 'study night' with a couple of her class-mates. They studied over at one class-mates home, which belonged to a man and his wife. Well, the couple knew a cockatiel breeder, and they had one 5 month old tiel up for sale. They bought her for me (at a great price! which, I guess my mother paid for her, using 'my' money... I think that means I bought her for myself before I knew she even existed?) as a gift, knowing I loved birds. She's been with me ever since, and Casey will be 10 years old this year! I really can't believe she's that old!


The bourke lived with her parents (not parronts) in a flight cage at an elderly couples home. They decided to travel around the US and couldn't find any pet sitters, and couldn't find anyone to sell them to. Their son, at the time, was a coworker of my mothers, and since my mother had always talked about me and my birds, well, I was offered these keets (along with a turquoisine, and later, a lovebird owned by the couple's son). I only have just the one bourke now, and she's estimated to be 14-16 years old.


Pistachio & Kiwi, the cockatiel pair. Well, I have actually known them prior to getting into birds myself. They belonged to a 'friend' that had them as a breeding pair. He raised the chicks and sold most of them. Well, as it turns out, little boys grow up and get interested in girls and sports and other teenage boy things! (he's only a year younger than myself!) The family decided to rehome them and asked me (on several occasions), if I would take them ("them" being the pair and two offspring, Kirby and Sunshine, which I have since found new homes for). I had agreed, but the birds were never brought over, so I was quite surprised one day when father and son drove up one morning with a crummy cage and 4 tiels in a box! I wasn't expecting them, and have had them now for almost 6 years.


Tomi Girl, my quirky tiel. Had some "friends" who would occasionally talk about having a parrot so they could teach it cool tricks and phrases, and get the bird high. I was thankful they were never really serious about it... until I hadn't talked to them in a while, only to later find out they found a cockatiel in their yard. They thought "he" was pretty awesome until he became 'too noisy' and kept him covered 24/7. Then 'he' laid eggs, and then they 'simply forgot' to feed her. When I had gone over and seen just how much weight she had lost, I asked if I could take her home. I was taking her home regardless of what the parents said, but they agreed to let me to take her! Eventually, I was even told I could keep her!


Charlie, mitred conure. In 2006, on another forum, a member was fostering a cherry headed conure. His first owner had him for 10 years, then he was left at a pet store (mom & pop, very small place that has rabbits for adoption/sale). He was at the pet store for a year, at first living up front, but had to be moved to the back as he *did not* like the customers dogs. Well, his foster mother decided to take him in and care for him. He might have been a permanent pet, except he was far too loud (3 amazons, 3 green cheek conures, 2 rosellas and a ruby macaw... and he was the loudest!) and too full of himself! He had decided to attack/boss around the macaw and got the short end of the stick... Two surgeries later, and he was finally feeling strong enough to eat on his own, again. At the time, I had Noel, my first cherry headed conure, and had hoped to someday find him a friend, since he wasn't really interested much in human interaction. I also wanted a bird that was more hands on. I was offered Charlie, and of course, I couldn't resist! As it turns out, Charlie is a mitred! And as much as Noel would copy Charlie, or Charlie wanted to interact with Noel, the two never did get along. Noel passed away Feb last year, so I am interested in getting another 'red headed' conure. In fact, I wouldn't mind another 'hands off' cherry head! They're kind of nice, especially if you are able to earn their trust!


Faye, the last tiel, was offered to me (Dec 25th, 07) because I house sat for a friends family. That's the short story. Long(er) story, the family had a couple of cockatiels. They moved into a new home and were offered another pair of cockatiels from some friends of the family. The female from the first pair died, so I was given the male. I found him a home 6 months later in a tiel aviary, as he was not a pet, and at the time I only had one other tiel, Casey. Clyde was not happy in my home (but I sure do miss his songs!). Some time later, and the male died from the second pair. (I was disturbed when the female died, then livid when the male died) The family considered giving me the female, but decided to keep her for a while. The family went on vacation for about a week and asked if I could take care of the animals. They didn't say they would pay me, and I didn't ask for anything. It was several weeks after they had been back that they finally decided to 'pay' me via giving me Faye.




That's pretty much it, for the current flock! Had a little blue budgie who's owner was supposedly moving to Alaska (never did?) and I was given her. Had her for a few years until I found her a new home earlier this month with other budgies! (she had a mate, and he unfortunately died, then she formed an unhealthy desire/attachment for Charlie which only got worse, so I was glad to find her a 'budgie only' home, and she sure was fascinated to be with more budgies!). Last update from her new home sounds like she's doing great!

 

[TypingParrot]

One of the pet stores in the area breeds birds. When I was younger, a neighbor had a cockatiel named Mikey. I saw him every day, he learned my name, even! I was about 8 at the time. I decided I wanted one, but my mom and stepdad had nixed the idea before I had ever voiced it. I visited Mikey until they moved and rehomed him. His new home? A neighbor just down the road. They asked me to come in one day as Mikey was saying "Hi, Beth! pretty Beth! Pretty!" and I visited him some more down there. When the couple divorced, Mikey moved away with the wife and the husband stayed. I never saw Mikey again, but my love for birds refused to disappear.

Just before Christmas I ran into custody issues with my ex over my son. Josh remembered the story about Mikey and took me to the pet store. In a cage separate from the others was Naomi. She was brought in by a customer who had brought her back to the store when her other bird was aggressive toward her. We didn't have any other birds so I picked her out, the loner. She looks just like Mikey did.

Mickey came from the same store. He was brought in by a customer who had had him a couple years and just couldn't handle it anymore. Mickey never bonded to them and was always aggressive no matter how much they worked with him. The way the store works out selling for someone is the person puts a deposit down and when the sale is made, they get a call telling them the store has their money for them. I had been going to this particular pet store since i was 13 for rats either as pets or snake meals. I saw the little green parrot one day and walked up. He lunged at me and made the oddest sound, but I knew what it meant. I always made it a point to see him when I went in the store for any reason. Earlier this year, Josh and I began volunteering at the store. In return we were awarded small discounts (snake meals, bird food, etc) and I had 10 hours a day to spend coaxing Mickey into friendliness. He wanted no part of it. He pinched, he bit, he grabbed and would not let go. He hated everyone. But, I am stubborn and refused to take no for an answer.
I talked to the store owner to get Mickeys story and reasons for his behavior. I had lost track of time, but paperwork showed Mickey had been at the store for four years. Uncaged his whole life, the store kept him on a large playstand and no one realized he was for sale, despite the price behind him ($650). I worked with him until my refund came in. We all worried about Mickey's first night out of the store. Would he flip out? Would he stress? Would he stay on his stand? Is he going to throw all that hard earned trust away in a new environment? We got him inside and set him down to explore and he mumbled all through the livingroom! He talked, he laughed, he climbed the couch to perch on me. We took a video and showed the store owner, who was thrilled. Everyone was so happy to see Mickey had finally accepted someone. The previous owners were called and informed Mickey had finally found a forever home with someone they knew would take care of him and they would be given updates as they got them.