alyssaaa
New member
Hello everyone! I've been browsing this forum for a while and have finally decided to register, share my story and ask a few questions. I apologize if this post turns out terribly long, but I feel the whole story is important. My dad has a little Meyer's parrot names Jasmine whom he bought from a breeder when she was a baby. She is about 14 now, I think. She used to have a nice sized cage with a jungle gym on top, though she was rarely allowed time outside the cage, maybe once every few months and only for 15-20 minutes at a time. Very sad. I never lived with my dad, and up until 4 years ago the only person Jasmine would allow to get near her was my dad. My step mother is the one who changes out her food, water, and poop catch tray once a week, but to this day Jasmine screams and lunges at her whenever she even walks by the cage. She's lost quite a few chunks out of fingers and hands while attempting to care for Jasmine, she's never been able to hold her, and honestly, she hates the bird. Jasmine used to let me hold her quietly for a few minutes before biting the finger she was standing on, but never a full-on attack like she does with my step mom (I really don't blame her, I'd bite her too if I thought I could get away with it.) Then 4 years ago they asked me to bird-sit for them while they went on vacation, and with lots of patience and affection from both of us, Jasmine and I formed a very strong bond. She was out of her cage and with me nearly 24/7, we shared meals and drinks, she let me hold her on her back and tickle her tummy and under her wings, she regurgitated for me and made big kissy noises whenever I walked into the room, it was wonderful and she hasn't attempted to bite me once since then. I wish I could've kept her, but my mom wouldn't allow it as I lived with her at the time. When I had to give her back to my dad, she stopped being affectionate with him and became even worse with my step-mom. It broke my heart, because I knew the aggression was brought on from just being lonely and bored of being stuck in her cage with zero attention, but there was nothing I could do about it aside from taking her for the day and getting her wings and nails trimmed, which I did regularly. Last year they sold their house and decided to live full-time in their RV travelling the country, and Jasmine was downgraded to a much smaller travel-sized cage, probably 1/3 of the size of her previous one with just 2 rope perches and one hanging toy. Even if we went a year or longer without seeing each other, when I came into the RV she would go nuts, running back and forth along the ropes and making kissy noises, regurgitating like crazy, and I would take her out and snuggle her for the whole visit. Fast forward to now. I've been accepted into Kansas State University's pre-veterinary program, and will be living in the dorms starting in August. Yay! I'm having a very hard time accepting the fact that I won't have an animal there to greet me when I come home, as I've never been without a pet to care for and love and am leaving behind 2 dogs, 2 horses, and 4 goats, all of whom I consider my children and aside from the horses, all of whom spend time INside my house. My dad suggested that I take Jasmine with me, since the dorms do allow pets, though they specify birds such as Budgies, Cockatiels, Finches, and Lorikeets. There is a form to get approval for a non-approved breed, and I would imagine that they wouldn't have too much of a problem with a Meyer's since she smaller than a Lorikeet, much less messy, and not terribly loud. My mother, however, thinks that the bird will be a distraction to me during my first year of college. I am 22, have juggled multiple vet tech jobs at once for the past 3 years, pay my bills on time, still manage to make sure all my animals get the best care, food, veterinary treatment, all my attention, AND I've successfully maintained a needy boyfriend on top of it all, haha. My animals are my life, my reason for getting out of bed every day. My questions are, how suitable to a dorm room do you think a Meyer's would be, how should I go about convincing my mom and the housing administration to let me bring her, or is it not in either of our best interests? Jasmine makes kissy noises, a few different whistles, microwave beeps, little clicky sounds, a soft laugh, growls like a dog, and when she's mad she will rarely do a shrill but short screech. I will be in a private room, no roommate, so will just have to worry about neighbors. The dorms are cinderblock, I don't know if her screech can even penetrate cinderblock. When I visited my dad at his RV on Memorial Day, I noticed that Jasmine seems to have lost a little condition, doesn't look as full or shiny as she did before. Her food bowl looked nasty, mostly just slimy seed shells, and there was poop in her water. My step mom kind of just shrugged when I mentioned it as I was snuggling Jasmine. I worry for her health if she stays with them. I would be able to get a larger cage for her if I brought her to school, she will get to be out of her cage with me every day, fresh food and water daily, cage cleaned daily. I think she would be much happier, but would appreciate any advice and suggestions anyone may have!
