accio-birdies
Moving in
Guess I shall start with a hello! I've been lurking around this forums for answers to all my bird related questions since I got my first cockatiel. It's really about time I made myself an official member....
My name is Jess, I am a 26 year old mother of two extremely annoying (but rather adorable) birds. Parront of the year award, right here. In all honest I never saw myself owning a parrot, like ever. They are loud and messy and I always thought I'd just stick to the easy stuff like cats and dogs. So how did I end up with 2 and hungry for more? Well, there's an interesting story. It all started with a "Free to Good Home" ad on a local ad site. Pictured was a cute little lutino cockatiel. I've always loved birds, ever since I was a child chasing chickens on my father's farm, but as I mentioned, I always thought they were more of an outdoor, be free and wild, kind of animal. So what lead me to clicking on that ad and pouring out my story to a complete stranger in hopes of winning over this bird was, and forever will be, a mystery to me. Perhaps it's my undying love for all living things. So along came Chia, the sweetest little female cockatiel. I couldn't have asked for a better bird to introduce me into the parronting world. We bonded fast and fell for each other hard. We did everything together and I made sure I knew everything and anything I needed to know to ensure she was never taken from me, only it wasn't enough. I lost her suddenly, the vet said that she appeared much older in age than the previous owners had let on. It was just her time I suppose, but it broke my heart. Never again, I had said after that, but after grieving I found it hard to pass birds in pet stores without stopping to say hello. Until, one day, I stumbled upon a cage stuffed to the brim with cockatiels. They were so crammed in that many were bleeding, clearly from being picked on. I was furious at the site, threatening the store that these conditions would be unacceptable for any animal. To shut me up, they assured they'd would find them a bigger holding cage and offered me one hugely discounted. I almost refused, not wanting to indirectly support the abuse of these animals, but I couldn't pass up the tiny little Pearl Pied male that kept bushing his head against my hand for scritches. Despite being terrified of every other human that came near. It was fate, if you will. I did a good deed for the rest of the birds (trust me, I went back to make sure the store followed through with a bigger cage), while finding a new best friend in the process.
Now, Hibou was, and still is, nothing like Chia. He's everything I expected from a bird; loud and messy. Though he was still rather sweet and cuddly, once we got past all the trust issues he had. Bonding took a lot longer, but I fell in love all over again. Soon I was teaching him to talk and he was teaching me to whistle. Now I can't sleep in past 8 am without having to turn out the very loud games of "peekaboo" he likes to play with his reflection. He's lucky he's cute.
It was Hibou and I for a year and a half, talking and whistling. Bird seed EVERYWHERE. Until one day, I decided that wasn't enough. I needed something louder and messier to complete my life. I wanted a Caique. I had fallen in love with their goofy nature while researching the best parrot species and I was stuck. Finding a breeder in the area was the hard part, but before long one bird became two and my whole world was turned upside down. I knew what I was getting myself into with a Caique, yet somehow that still didn't prepare me. They should come with a warning tag: "this thing is pretty much just a 3 year old child with feathers." but I was already in love and there's no turning back now. Even a year later, I feel I am still only learning what owning a parrot like Forrest is like, I definitely have lots to learn, but I welcome it. Anything I had ever said in the past about never wanting a parrot was a distant memory. I can't wait for the adventures these two and I will have together.
I hope this site can help me through the tougher stuff and I hope to meet more parronts to share stories with. Be it the good times or the hard times.
Thanks for reading!
My name is Jess, I am a 26 year old mother of two extremely annoying (but rather adorable) birds. Parront of the year award, right here. In all honest I never saw myself owning a parrot, like ever. They are loud and messy and I always thought I'd just stick to the easy stuff like cats and dogs. So how did I end up with 2 and hungry for more? Well, there's an interesting story. It all started with a "Free to Good Home" ad on a local ad site. Pictured was a cute little lutino cockatiel. I've always loved birds, ever since I was a child chasing chickens on my father's farm, but as I mentioned, I always thought they were more of an outdoor, be free and wild, kind of animal. So what lead me to clicking on that ad and pouring out my story to a complete stranger in hopes of winning over this bird was, and forever will be, a mystery to me. Perhaps it's my undying love for all living things. So along came Chia, the sweetest little female cockatiel. I couldn't have asked for a better bird to introduce me into the parronting world. We bonded fast and fell for each other hard. We did everything together and I made sure I knew everything and anything I needed to know to ensure she was never taken from me, only it wasn't enough. I lost her suddenly, the vet said that she appeared much older in age than the previous owners had let on. It was just her time I suppose, but it broke my heart. Never again, I had said after that, but after grieving I found it hard to pass birds in pet stores without stopping to say hello. Until, one day, I stumbled upon a cage stuffed to the brim with cockatiels. They were so crammed in that many were bleeding, clearly from being picked on. I was furious at the site, threatening the store that these conditions would be unacceptable for any animal. To shut me up, they assured they'd would find them a bigger holding cage and offered me one hugely discounted. I almost refused, not wanting to indirectly support the abuse of these animals, but I couldn't pass up the tiny little Pearl Pied male that kept bushing his head against my hand for scritches. Despite being terrified of every other human that came near. It was fate, if you will. I did a good deed for the rest of the birds (trust me, I went back to make sure the store followed through with a bigger cage), while finding a new best friend in the process.
Now, Hibou was, and still is, nothing like Chia. He's everything I expected from a bird; loud and messy. Though he was still rather sweet and cuddly, once we got past all the trust issues he had. Bonding took a lot longer, but I fell in love all over again. Soon I was teaching him to talk and he was teaching me to whistle. Now I can't sleep in past 8 am without having to turn out the very loud games of "peekaboo" he likes to play with his reflection. He's lucky he's cute.
It was Hibou and I for a year and a half, talking and whistling. Bird seed EVERYWHERE. Until one day, I decided that wasn't enough. I needed something louder and messier to complete my life. I wanted a Caique. I had fallen in love with their goofy nature while researching the best parrot species and I was stuck. Finding a breeder in the area was the hard part, but before long one bird became two and my whole world was turned upside down. I knew what I was getting myself into with a Caique, yet somehow that still didn't prepare me. They should come with a warning tag: "this thing is pretty much just a 3 year old child with feathers." but I was already in love and there's no turning back now. Even a year later, I feel I am still only learning what owning a parrot like Forrest is like, I definitely have lots to learn, but I welcome it. Anything I had ever said in the past about never wanting a parrot was a distant memory. I can't wait for the adventures these two and I will have together.
I hope this site can help me through the tougher stuff and I hope to meet more parronts to share stories with. Be it the good times or the hard times.
Thanks for reading!