BanalityBob
New member
- Mar 21, 2011
- 50
- 0
- Parrots
- Penelope: 12 year old Quaker Parakeet rescue//
Günter: 3 month old Peachfaced Lovebird
After getting Penelope just over a month ago, I told myself no birds for a long time. I'm bad at keeping promises. A lady from my work keeps telling me about people in my area wanting to get rid of their birds and how I should take them. I kept telling her no until last night when she told me about a guy she knows who just can't seem to get rid of his cockatiels and was going to use them either as food for a snake or just let them go. Now, that got my hackles up, and I drove out to get the birds. Thank God I did.
The guy led me down to his dank, dark basement where the two birds were huddled in what might be a super small rabbit hutch with an inch of poo on the bottom. Their water dish was green and slimy, and their only toys were a cat ball held onto the cage by a bread tie and a rusty bell. I asked him what he had been feeding them, and he handed me a box of Ritz crackers and told me that he also grabbed whatever his mom gave to the wild birds. Needless to say, Benny and Joon (as I have renamed them) are home with me now. The guy gave me a travel sized cage for them (about 18x15x12), which they'll have to endure until ebay ships me a big flight cage (delivery time says Wednesday and it can't be soon enough).
They're both pied cockatiels, and have really good feathering considering. He said they're a bonded pair, but haven't produced any eggs. According to that...man...they're two years old. I got them home last night, and they've nibbled at the birdie bread I had cooked up for Penelope, drank some clean water, and had some out of cage time. Unfortunately, they don't have their wings clipped, and my apartment is large with high ceilings. They had a blast, but I almost died of worry because my apartment is not bird proofed for flighted birds (Penelope is clipped and just waddles everywhere).
Benny seems very outgoing. He even stepped up for me in the cage (then hopped off when I tried to bring him out), but I've been whistling at him, and he sings back to me. When they were out yesterday, I sat very still near them, and Benny came over to investigate until I moved. He's going to be a sweet little boy with some work. Joon just is terrified and stays on the farthest side of the cage from me possible. Hopefully she'll come around, but she seems mega shy.
Quarantine wise, I have them in a well lit back room that comes off my kitchen. Penelope is in my living room which is off the other side of my kitchen, so they can hear but not see each other. Hopefully about 40 feet is a good quarantine distance, especially with a wall in the way, but that's about as good as it gets at my place without putting them in the attic. I've been preparing their food separately and using a lot of hand sanitizer. The only contact they've had so far was when Joon got out of the back room while flying last night and got into the living room. She didn't go near Penelope's cage though.
So, now I have two new, unexpected, formerly abused fids. I hope I can give them the best life possible. The order of the day is going to the pet store to get them some new toys and decent seed mix so I can ween them onto pellets.
The guy led me down to his dank, dark basement where the two birds were huddled in what might be a super small rabbit hutch with an inch of poo on the bottom. Their water dish was green and slimy, and their only toys were a cat ball held onto the cage by a bread tie and a rusty bell. I asked him what he had been feeding them, and he handed me a box of Ritz crackers and told me that he also grabbed whatever his mom gave to the wild birds. Needless to say, Benny and Joon (as I have renamed them) are home with me now. The guy gave me a travel sized cage for them (about 18x15x12), which they'll have to endure until ebay ships me a big flight cage (delivery time says Wednesday and it can't be soon enough).
They're both pied cockatiels, and have really good feathering considering. He said they're a bonded pair, but haven't produced any eggs. According to that...man...they're two years old. I got them home last night, and they've nibbled at the birdie bread I had cooked up for Penelope, drank some clean water, and had some out of cage time. Unfortunately, they don't have their wings clipped, and my apartment is large with high ceilings. They had a blast, but I almost died of worry because my apartment is not bird proofed for flighted birds (Penelope is clipped and just waddles everywhere).
Benny seems very outgoing. He even stepped up for me in the cage (then hopped off when I tried to bring him out), but I've been whistling at him, and he sings back to me. When they were out yesterday, I sat very still near them, and Benny came over to investigate until I moved. He's going to be a sweet little boy with some work. Joon just is terrified and stays on the farthest side of the cage from me possible. Hopefully she'll come around, but she seems mega shy.
Quarantine wise, I have them in a well lit back room that comes off my kitchen. Penelope is in my living room which is off the other side of my kitchen, so they can hear but not see each other. Hopefully about 40 feet is a good quarantine distance, especially with a wall in the way, but that's about as good as it gets at my place without putting them in the attic. I've been preparing their food separately and using a lot of hand sanitizer. The only contact they've had so far was when Joon got out of the back room while flying last night and got into the living room. She didn't go near Penelope's cage though.
So, now I have two new, unexpected, formerly abused fids. I hope I can give them the best life possible. The order of the day is going to the pet store to get them some new toys and decent seed mix so I can ween them onto pellets.