I still remember the days leading up to purchasing Aziza, my now 12 year old pet female African Grey Parrot, almost 12 years ago. When my Noble Macaw, McGee, passed on 2 months shy of his 20th birthday, back in early February 2010, I knew that I wanted another exotic bird, but didn't know what kind. So, I did some research, and took periodic trips down to Bird & Reptile Connection, a reputable pet store owned by a knowledgeable legal breeder, with a knowledgeable staff who work under her.
I looked at some exotic birds, including a Goffin's Cockatoo, who I got along famously with. At first, I decided on the Goffins Cockatoo, but, not withstanding that the Goffins Cockatoo seemed too jumpy and too hyper, I began to have second thoughts. I did some research, and after reading some rather frightful stuff about Cockatoos, in general, I decided on the African Grey Parrot. I was set on purchasing a Timneh African Grey Parrot, which was two hundred dollars cheaper than the Congo African Grey parrot, and the Timnehs were scheduled to arrive sometime in April of 2010.
Shortly before the Timneh African Grey parrots were due to arrive in the pet store, however, the owner of Bird & Reptile Connection received and forwarded me an email from the breeder down in Florida which stated that the baby Timnehs that were due to arrive in the store had been killed by the parents, and nobody knew why that happened. The owner of the pet store said that she and her husband were going out to Albany, NY, to pick up 2 Congo African Grey parrots from some friends of theirs, and that she could sell me one of the Congo African Grey parrots for the price of the Timneh African Grey. I immediately took the owner of Bird and Reptile Connection up on it, and was told they would arrive on Saturday, April 10th.
Saturday, April 10th, 2010, was the big day. I drove down to Bird & Reptile Connection to visit the two Congo African Grey Parrots. The smaller Congo African Grey Parrot immediately climbed up onto my shirt, and both the owner of the store and I knew that there was an immediate connection between us. I purchased the african grey parrot right there, and put a 50% deposit on the cage, after choosing the cage and the color.
I then began the bonding process with Aziza by driving down to visit her every 2-3 days. We became friends very quickly. I then made an appointment with Angel Memorial Animal Hospital to have her vet-checked, and got an appointment right away.
Not that long afterwards, the owner of the pet store and her husband delivered the cage to my house, and helped me set it up. Shortly afterwards, I brought Aziza home. I requested that to have the staff people send a sample of her blood out to a Laboratory in San Diego, CA which specialized in that sort of gender-testing of pets, and, about a week and a half later, I received an email back---I had a little girl for a parrot. I emailed my sister to let her know of the bird's gender, and she emailed me several names that seemed the most fitting. I picked the name Aziza for my new pet and companion, and my sister agreed to that, since it was the most fitting for an African Grey Parrot. She knows the Jet gang whistle to 'West Side Story", which she does frequently, as well.
Although I've missed having friends over for parties to celebrate Aziza's birthday every year, I've still managed to have lots of fun with her.. Since the pandemic started, and the Tae Kwon Do dojang (studio) that I attend shut down and began offering online virtual classes on zoom.us, I decided to join the online virtual TKD classes that the dojang offered, and, like lots of other people, began taking the online virtual Tae Kwon Do classes at home, in my living room, after I'd had two of the maintenance men in our building move my couch and coffee table to the other side of my living room to have more space for my online TKD classes. I then set down TKD mats in my living room. Since TKD is a Korean Martial Art that's similar to Karate and involves lots of kicking and punching, Aziza has also become a good imitator of my ky-ups,, and enjoys watching me take online virtual classes and imitating the shouts and kyups that I utter during these classes. Since the dojang has begun offering in-person classes as well as online classes, I've been going to both classes at home and in person at the dojang, as well.
Having said all of the above, I still love and cherish Aziza as a fantastic pet and companion, after 12 years, and will continue to do so.
I looked at some exotic birds, including a Goffin's Cockatoo, who I got along famously with. At first, I decided on the Goffins Cockatoo, but, not withstanding that the Goffins Cockatoo seemed too jumpy and too hyper, I began to have second thoughts. I did some research, and after reading some rather frightful stuff about Cockatoos, in general, I decided on the African Grey Parrot. I was set on purchasing a Timneh African Grey Parrot, which was two hundred dollars cheaper than the Congo African Grey parrot, and the Timnehs were scheduled to arrive sometime in April of 2010.
Shortly before the Timneh African Grey parrots were due to arrive in the pet store, however, the owner of Bird & Reptile Connection received and forwarded me an email from the breeder down in Florida which stated that the baby Timnehs that were due to arrive in the store had been killed by the parents, and nobody knew why that happened. The owner of the pet store said that she and her husband were going out to Albany, NY, to pick up 2 Congo African Grey parrots from some friends of theirs, and that she could sell me one of the Congo African Grey parrots for the price of the Timneh African Grey. I immediately took the owner of Bird and Reptile Connection up on it, and was told they would arrive on Saturday, April 10th.
Saturday, April 10th, 2010, was the big day. I drove down to Bird & Reptile Connection to visit the two Congo African Grey Parrots. The smaller Congo African Grey Parrot immediately climbed up onto my shirt, and both the owner of the store and I knew that there was an immediate connection between us. I purchased the african grey parrot right there, and put a 50% deposit on the cage, after choosing the cage and the color.
I then began the bonding process with Aziza by driving down to visit her every 2-3 days. We became friends very quickly. I then made an appointment with Angel Memorial Animal Hospital to have her vet-checked, and got an appointment right away.
Not that long afterwards, the owner of the pet store and her husband delivered the cage to my house, and helped me set it up. Shortly afterwards, I brought Aziza home. I requested that to have the staff people send a sample of her blood out to a Laboratory in San Diego, CA which specialized in that sort of gender-testing of pets, and, about a week and a half later, I received an email back---I had a little girl for a parrot. I emailed my sister to let her know of the bird's gender, and she emailed me several names that seemed the most fitting. I picked the name Aziza for my new pet and companion, and my sister agreed to that, since it was the most fitting for an African Grey Parrot. She knows the Jet gang whistle to 'West Side Story", which she does frequently, as well.
Although I've missed having friends over for parties to celebrate Aziza's birthday every year, I've still managed to have lots of fun with her.. Since the pandemic started, and the Tae Kwon Do dojang (studio) that I attend shut down and began offering online virtual classes on zoom.us, I decided to join the online virtual TKD classes that the dojang offered, and, like lots of other people, began taking the online virtual Tae Kwon Do classes at home, in my living room, after I'd had two of the maintenance men in our building move my couch and coffee table to the other side of my living room to have more space for my online TKD classes. I then set down TKD mats in my living room. Since TKD is a Korean Martial Art that's similar to Karate and involves lots of kicking and punching, Aziza has also become a good imitator of my ky-ups,, and enjoys watching me take online virtual classes and imitating the shouts and kyups that I utter during these classes. Since the dojang has begun offering in-person classes as well as online classes, I've been going to both classes at home and in person at the dojang, as well.
Having said all of the above, I still love and cherish Aziza as a fantastic pet and companion, after 12 years, and will continue to do so.
