goofy
New member
Hello everyone,
I'm new here, and new to cockatiels, so I'll be learning from all of you, I would guess.
First, I thought introductions were in order. My name is Patti, and I live with my husband, my four dogs, two cats, two ferrets, four goats, two horses, one parrotlet .... and now a cockatiel.
The horses are actually the reason I have a cockatiel now. As a couple of weeks ago, I stopped in to a grain store (not where I usually buy my grain, but just happened to be in the neighborhood) and I was going to just buy some horse feed. As I was paying for it, I happened to glance to the left, and I saw a sad little cockatiel in a tiny cage with a bare light bulb lying inside the cage. Seeing this, I was a little alarmed (lightbulbs can get HOT) and a little curious, so I walked over to look at her. She was all fluffed up, huddled as far from the lightbulb as she could get, and didn't acknowledge my presence at all. I asked about the lightbulb, and the store clerk said that since the grain store isn't heated, that was the only way they could keep her warm (this being January in New England). Hmmmmm, okay; so I asked what was the rest of the story; and they told me that the person who owned the bird had to move, and had brought her into the store and asked them to sell it for them. The price, $85, but since no one was interested and it had been there awhile, they would take half off if I wanted to purchase.
I thought about it all of ..... maybe the 15 seconds it took to note the two inches of accumulated bird droppings inside the cage, and I said "I'll take her".
So she came home. The same day, I threw the cage away and gave her a bigger (and clean) accomodation. They had been feeding her parakeet seed, but she quickly showed that she prefered a much wider variety. My parrotlet eats seed, pellets, veggies, and whatever I'm eating; and the little cockatiel seemed happy to go with that plan.
The first day she was here she was fairly aggressive, and was biting and carrying on every time I reached into the cage. She definitely led with her beak, and so we named her Beaker.
By the next morning, she had reconsidered and decided she really liked us, and she has been nothing but sweet and loving and growing in trust ever since. Beaker is fully flighted, and enjoys a spin around the house each morning, but then lands on my shoulder, and the two of us spend several hours together that way. She goes back to her cage for a snack, then quickly finds me again. I shut her into the cage in the afternoon, so I can go outside and take care of the barn pets, and she has a nap and then to enjoy just being present while we have dinner or watch television.
So that is an introduction of myself, and of Beaker. I wasn't expecting to get a cockatiel, but now that I am getting to know her, I am oh so glad that I did .. and I suspect that Beaker is pretty appreciative of how things worked out as well.
blessings,
patti
I'm new here, and new to cockatiels, so I'll be learning from all of you, I would guess.
First, I thought introductions were in order. My name is Patti, and I live with my husband, my four dogs, two cats, two ferrets, four goats, two horses, one parrotlet .... and now a cockatiel.
The horses are actually the reason I have a cockatiel now. As a couple of weeks ago, I stopped in to a grain store (not where I usually buy my grain, but just happened to be in the neighborhood) and I was going to just buy some horse feed. As I was paying for it, I happened to glance to the left, and I saw a sad little cockatiel in a tiny cage with a bare light bulb lying inside the cage. Seeing this, I was a little alarmed (lightbulbs can get HOT) and a little curious, so I walked over to look at her. She was all fluffed up, huddled as far from the lightbulb as she could get, and didn't acknowledge my presence at all. I asked about the lightbulb, and the store clerk said that since the grain store isn't heated, that was the only way they could keep her warm (this being January in New England). Hmmmmm, okay; so I asked what was the rest of the story; and they told me that the person who owned the bird had to move, and had brought her into the store and asked them to sell it for them. The price, $85, but since no one was interested and it had been there awhile, they would take half off if I wanted to purchase.
I thought about it all of ..... maybe the 15 seconds it took to note the two inches of accumulated bird droppings inside the cage, and I said "I'll take her".
So she came home. The same day, I threw the cage away and gave her a bigger (and clean) accomodation. They had been feeding her parakeet seed, but she quickly showed that she prefered a much wider variety. My parrotlet eats seed, pellets, veggies, and whatever I'm eating; and the little cockatiel seemed happy to go with that plan.
The first day she was here she was fairly aggressive, and was biting and carrying on every time I reached into the cage. She definitely led with her beak, and so we named her Beaker.
By the next morning, she had reconsidered and decided she really liked us, and she has been nothing but sweet and loving and growing in trust ever since. Beaker is fully flighted, and enjoys a spin around the house each morning, but then lands on my shoulder, and the two of us spend several hours together that way. She goes back to her cage for a snack, then quickly finds me again. I shut her into the cage in the afternoon, so I can go outside and take care of the barn pets, and she has a nap and then to enjoy just being present while we have dinner or watch television.
So that is an introduction of myself, and of Beaker. I wasn't expecting to get a cockatiel, but now that I am getting to know her, I am oh so glad that I did .. and I suspect that Beaker is pretty appreciative of how things worked out as well.
blessings,
patti
