So I was duped....

We have had Fred and Ginger for almost a month now. Fred remains the sweet little guy who loves to have his scritches and gives kisses. I had to clip his wings because he keeps flying into the big mirror in my bedroom (where they are quarantined) and I'm afraid he will hurt himself. I generally don't like clipping unless it's for the safety of the birds or the humans...just my opinion.

So, Ginger is another story. I wish I knew what her story is! I sit and watch her and she has such strange behaviors. When you walk in she immediately goes to her food bowl and starts eating like she's starving...so fast and nervous. When I do the wolf whistle, she shakes her head like it bothers her...only the wolf whistle...any other tune is fine. She was having night frights. The first one was right after we brought them home. She was flapping around so long I was afraid she was going to really hurt herself. I got her calmed down and she has had a couple more in the middle of the night, but she calmed right down after just a couple seconds. I have got her out of her cage and the last couple days I can "feel" her calm down a little while I'm holding her and she lets me pet her head and cheeks...that makes me feel good!

So, I was researching yellow cheek cinnamon pearl cockatiels, and lo and behold, came across the pic that the lady had posted on craigslist, supposedly of Fred and Ginger! Now I can clearly see that the pic is not of Fred! Ginger "could" hopefully look like the pic someday. It doesn't really matter, but I don't know how I didn't see the pic before...I've researched before and never noticed the pic. With the circumstances of this craigslist experience, I just wonder what their real story is...especially Ginger...and what they've been through.

This is the pic...

As I look at it now, it is obviously not Fred, and if it had ever been Ginger it was not recent, but when we went to get them I didn't have the pic with me, and when I got home and went to look at the pic on craigslist it had already been deleted. Oh well, such is life...

Ugh, Craigslist an be a b-word sometimes. I don't have a clue what they've been through. but my guess is that if they look okay then the poster was just too lazy to even bother taking a picture of them. I can't see any other reason for using a fake image if they look healthy.

I had to do a double take, since that pictures looks a lot like a pair I used to have! But my pearl never had that nice of a crest and my male had more solid markings, but my heart jumped there for a moment.

My guess is the woman is lazy and dishonest I wish you knew that poor girl's story

This whole experience was just weird..lol. Fred looks very healthy and the vet said that too. Ginger does not...not so much unhealthy as picked on and nervous. The vet said she thinks Ginger's older than we were told, to keep them quarantined for at least a month, and she thinks Ginger will do better since we have them in separate cages. Ginger's back of her neck is plucked and most of her tail feathers are gone. The lady claimed she picked on Fred but we don't understand that since he in in perfect feather. She said to meet her at her work, a pizza place. I thought, no problem, she doesn't want strangers from craigslist at her house (she was an older lady)...makes sense. We got there and the "pizza place" was actually a bar (and not a very nice looking one either) that her sons owned. I was really going to get Fred but when I saw Ginger I just couldn't leave her there. I think this lady is a bird flipper and I'm watching to see if she lists anything else. Anyway, it is what it is and I'm glad I got them...

SilverSage said:

I had to do a double take, since that pictures looks a lot like a pair I used to have! But my pearl never had that nice of a crest and my male had more solid markings, but my heart jumped there for a moment.

My guess is the woman is lazy and dishonest I wish you knew that poor girl's story

Click to expand...

Fred has more solid markings too. I hope one day Ginger looks as good as the pic but the back of her neck is bare so I don't know if the feathers will come back or not. I just feel kind of foolish that I didn't put it together sooner..lol.:20:

Craigslist is quite weird :/ maybe a little suspicious in my opinion. I was looking at cockatiels on craigslist and found a seller with many baby cockatiels. We messaged back and forth for about 2 weeks sending pictures of our birds back and forth. One day, I told her I would like to buy one of her lutinos and she hasn't responded since. Quite strange :/

Ximichi said:

Craigslist is quite weird :/ maybe a little suspicious in my opinion. I was looking at cockatiels on craigslist and found a seller with many baby cockatiels. We messaged back and forth for about 2 weeks sending pictures of our birds back and forth. One day, I told her I would like to buy one of her lutinos and she hasn't responded since. Quite strange :/

Click to expand...

That's what happened with the other cockatiel I was interested in. I emailed them, got a very short answer, so I pursued these two. Of course two days after I brought Fred and Ginger home I received a more detailed email offering more pics and info from the first listing. I'm going with "everything happens for a reason".

Leanna, I wish there was some way to find out Ginger's real story, sadly I don't see how that would happen. The story you were told just doesn't add up, it's possible Fred and Ginger weren't even housed together before you met them. Things do happen for a reason. Fred and Ginger couldn't have possibly found a better home. I'm expecting an amazing transformation in Ginger's appearance now that she has someone to love her and care for her, she's already a very pretty girl. Fred is quite handsome too, both of them landed in the right place no matter what happened before.

Allee said:

Leanna, I wish there was some way to find out Ginger's real story, sadly I don't see how that would happen. The story you were told just doesn't add up, it's possible Fred and Ginger weren't even housed together before you met them. Things do happen for a reason. Fred and Ginger couldn't have possibly found a better home. I'm expecting an amazing transformation in Ginger's appearance now that she has someone to love her and care for her, she's already a very pretty girl. Fred is quite handsome too, both of them landed in the right place no matter what happened before.

Click to expand...

Thank you Allee. At least I don't have to worry about them mating I can't wait until quarantine is over, although Ginger may be less nervous confined to the bedroom...we shall see.

lucky we don't have c-list over here in Australia. with the wolf whistle thing my cockatiel cleo does the same thing and i have found that budgies do this as-well. Do you cover them at night as cleo used to have night frights but then i covered her and they stopped almost instantly (i use a throw rug to cover her cage). can you show us a pic of them, (i'm partial to cockatiels :32: ), thanks fr this thread.

WilliamKenyon said:

lucky we don't have c-list over here in Australia. with the wolf whistle thing my cockatiel cleo does the same thing and i have found that budgies do this as-well. Do you cover them at night as cleo used to have night frights but then i covered her and they stopped almost instantly (i use a throw rug to cover her cage). can you show us a pic of them, (i'm partial to cockatiels :32: ), thanks fr this thread.

Click to expand...

Yes, I cover them with a fleece blanket. The two cages are side by side and the I have the blanket over both cages. Glad to hear your cockatiel does the head shake with the wolf whistle...lol. I posted a couple pics in another thread but will try to put them here also...
Ginger...


and Fred...

4dugnlee said:

Ximichi said:

Craigslist is quite weird :/ maybe a little suspicious in my opinion. I was looking at cockatiels on craigslist and found a seller with many baby cockatiels. We messaged back and forth for about 2 weeks sending pictures of our birds back and forth. One day, I told her I would like to buy one of her lutinos and she hasn't responded since. Quite strange :/

Click to expand...

That's what happened with the other cockatiel I was interested in. I emailed them, got a very short answer, so I pursued these two. Of course two days after I brought Fred and Ginger home I received a more detailed email offering more pics and info from the first listing. I'm going with "everything happens for a reason".

Click to expand...

I bought Cinder after getting fed up of no response. I did email her back one more time asking her to give me a response so I know if she is interested or if I can look for another seller. She responded saying yes, I know you wanted a grey (which is what we decided on) and never responded back. It has been about a month since her last e-mail.
Everything does happen for a reason. I hope your cockatiels get healthier quickly I know that Cinder has definitely gotten healthier, especially her feathers. When she first arrived, her feathers were in disarray, bald in many places, but she has since been growing beautiful grey feathers.

4dugnlee said:

WilliamKenyon said:

lucky we don't have c-list over here in Australia. with the wolf whistle thing my cockatiel cleo does the same thing and i have found that budgies do this as-well. Do you cover them at night as cleo used to have night frights but then i covered her and they stopped almost instantly (i use a throw rug to cover her cage). can you show us a pic of them, (i'm partial to cockatiels :32: ), thanks fr this thread.

Click to expand...

Yes, I cover them with a fleece blanket. The two cages are side by side and the I have the blanket over both cages. Glad to hear your cockatiel does the head shake with the wolf whistle...lol. I posted a couple pics in another thread but will try to put them here also...
Ginger...

and Fred...

Click to expand...

Thanks, they are really cute thanks for sharing.