reeisconfused
New member
- Aug 11, 2018
- 137
- 0
- Parrots
- rescued IRN Max and Cockatiel Honey
Not sure if this is the right forum to post in, but here we go.
I never considered birds as āpetsā before. Sure, they were cute and funny; some could even mimic you but I never thought of them as.....interesting, might be the word, as other pets. Boy, was I wrong. I grew up in a household where cats were a crazy obsession so I was truly a crazy cat lady. Iād seen other people keep birds as pets but these people would always keep their birdies caged. All their life spent in a cage, which sometimes, was too small for them. The interaction was minimum between the owners and the fids, with feeding them being the only time the fids saw the humans. Back then, I had no knowledge of birds but even then, I always felt sorry for them. I thought it was unethical to keep birds locked up all the time. These birds were kept like āshow piecesā, something to boast about and look at when you got bored.
Whatās crazy is that even though this seems so outrageous, it is far too common. People buy birds impulsively and give them up when they get bored / canāt take of them properly. Over the years, Iāve seen many birds being rehomed SO many times for small reasons. Bird starts biting - rehome / bird hit puberty and is cranky - rehome / bird is not āhumanā enough - rehome etc etc.
I told myself that I would never get a bird because I thought keeping birds as pets would only make them suffer. I think this notion was prehaps due to the fact that I had personally never seen a success story with birds as pets growing up and I stuck to the idea of staying away from them.
Well, that definately didnāt happen. š
Last year, I was visiting one of my momās friend and I met such a beautiful flock of birds that I was awestruck. This lady had budgies, an IRN and a parrotlet. And boy, were they gorgeous. They were the most trained, funny and crazy lot that I had met haha. I absolutely loved hanging out with them. The parrotlet, Wes, was such a diva and he stole my heart. I left the ladyās house a changed person that day. During my stay, I would go back to her house to hang out with the flock (especially with Wes) and I was such a happy girl doing so.
Fast forward to this year, I had been considering getting a bird of my own. The idea was still up in air but I was so excited. I had found an excellent breeder and was going to buy a cockatiel! I was so happy.
But before things got finalized, I learned of a family who had an IRN that they were keeping very poorly. This sweet boy, Max, was being kept in the SMALLEST cage ever and it was literally the size of him. His cage was filled with feces and had not been cleaned in a long time. This cage could ONLY hold a hanging perch (THATS HOW SMALL IT WAS) and that was where Max sat all day long. He was kept on a tomato a day diet. He had not been showered and was so so dirty. I was shocked and so so appalled.
The only thought process I had that time was that I NEEDED to save him. At any cost. I talked to the owner and he was not ready to give him up. I told him that I was willing to pay for Max and it took a long road of convincing him to make him give up Max.
My uncle drove and got him and by the time I was back from work, there he was. My sweet sweet Max.
I immediately showered him, transferred him to a bigger cage and he was so, so HAPPY. He eat like he had never eaten when I gave him food. It was truly a sight. Other good things followed: vet visits, bigger cage etc.
However, Max would not let anyone near him / handle him. He was terribly afraid of hands and this was understandable.
Two months of having him in, I learned from his previous owners that Max was actually a wild caught bird. His previous owners had bought him from someone who had caught Max from the wild.
Debates followed, with some of my family and friends suggesting that I release him back to the wild. They thought having a bird who wasnāt fun and wouldnāt let you touch them a āwaste of timeā. I strongly disagreed.
Max is maybe 10+ years old (the vet thinks), he has flying issues (he flies into EVERYTHING) and some beak problems. He would NOT make it in the wild.
And so, I kept him.
Present day, Max is still very afraid of hands and I doubt that heāll ever be fully tame but he truly is my baby. I care for him more than I have for anyone and heās literally my child now. Ofcourse, we have good days when Max lets me stand close and talk to him. Its days like these that keep me going.
My point being, having birds changed my life. Meeting with Wes and spending time with him in the long run made Maxās rescue possible. If I hadnāt met him, I wouldnāt have thought about taking Max in. So in a way, Wes and Max, both changed my life.
Which bird changed yours?
I never considered birds as āpetsā before. Sure, they were cute and funny; some could even mimic you but I never thought of them as.....interesting, might be the word, as other pets. Boy, was I wrong. I grew up in a household where cats were a crazy obsession so I was truly a crazy cat lady. Iād seen other people keep birds as pets but these people would always keep their birdies caged. All their life spent in a cage, which sometimes, was too small for them. The interaction was minimum between the owners and the fids, with feeding them being the only time the fids saw the humans. Back then, I had no knowledge of birds but even then, I always felt sorry for them. I thought it was unethical to keep birds locked up all the time. These birds were kept like āshow piecesā, something to boast about and look at when you got bored.
Whatās crazy is that even though this seems so outrageous, it is far too common. People buy birds impulsively and give them up when they get bored / canāt take of them properly. Over the years, Iāve seen many birds being rehomed SO many times for small reasons. Bird starts biting - rehome / bird hit puberty and is cranky - rehome / bird is not āhumanā enough - rehome etc etc.
I told myself that I would never get a bird because I thought keeping birds as pets would only make them suffer. I think this notion was prehaps due to the fact that I had personally never seen a success story with birds as pets growing up and I stuck to the idea of staying away from them.
Well, that definately didnāt happen. š
Last year, I was visiting one of my momās friend and I met such a beautiful flock of birds that I was awestruck. This lady had budgies, an IRN and a parrotlet. And boy, were they gorgeous. They were the most trained, funny and crazy lot that I had met haha. I absolutely loved hanging out with them. The parrotlet, Wes, was such a diva and he stole my heart. I left the ladyās house a changed person that day. During my stay, I would go back to her house to hang out with the flock (especially with Wes) and I was such a happy girl doing so.
Fast forward to this year, I had been considering getting a bird of my own. The idea was still up in air but I was so excited. I had found an excellent breeder and was going to buy a cockatiel! I was so happy.
But before things got finalized, I learned of a family who had an IRN that they were keeping very poorly. This sweet boy, Max, was being kept in the SMALLEST cage ever and it was literally the size of him. His cage was filled with feces and had not been cleaned in a long time. This cage could ONLY hold a hanging perch (THATS HOW SMALL IT WAS) and that was where Max sat all day long. He was kept on a tomato a day diet. He had not been showered and was so so dirty. I was shocked and so so appalled.
The only thought process I had that time was that I NEEDED to save him. At any cost. I talked to the owner and he was not ready to give him up. I told him that I was willing to pay for Max and it took a long road of convincing him to make him give up Max.
My uncle drove and got him and by the time I was back from work, there he was. My sweet sweet Max.
I immediately showered him, transferred him to a bigger cage and he was so, so HAPPY. He eat like he had never eaten when I gave him food. It was truly a sight. Other good things followed: vet visits, bigger cage etc.
However, Max would not let anyone near him / handle him. He was terribly afraid of hands and this was understandable.
Two months of having him in, I learned from his previous owners that Max was actually a wild caught bird. His previous owners had bought him from someone who had caught Max from the wild.
Debates followed, with some of my family and friends suggesting that I release him back to the wild. They thought having a bird who wasnāt fun and wouldnāt let you touch them a āwaste of timeā. I strongly disagreed.
Max is maybe 10+ years old (the vet thinks), he has flying issues (he flies into EVERYTHING) and some beak problems. He would NOT make it in the wild.
And so, I kept him.
Present day, Max is still very afraid of hands and I doubt that heāll ever be fully tame but he truly is my baby. I care for him more than I have for anyone and heās literally my child now. Ofcourse, we have good days when Max lets me stand close and talk to him. Its days like these that keep me going.
My point being, having birds changed my life. Meeting with Wes and spending time with him in the long run made Maxās rescue possible. If I hadnāt met him, I wouldnāt have thought about taking Max in. So in a way, Wes and Max, both changed my life.
Which bird changed yours?