hiriki
Well-known member
- Oct 19, 2014
- 536
- 741
- Parrots
- (Birdie - Jenday Conure)
(Kiwi - Green Cheek Conure)
(Elby - Lovebird)
(Gorou - Ringneck Dove)
Hey all.
I've been having overall a great week with the flock--I moved my wfh office back to the living room where their cages and play area is, so they've been getting a lot more time with me, and I also introduced Toast (the new dove) to Gorou/Goop (the existing dove), and while they're still caged separately, it's been fun listening to Toast desperately try to court an astonishingly ambivalent Gorou lol. Toast is madly in love, and Gorou is... radio silent. It's OK Toast, I believe your coos will get through to Goop eventually!
But a week or so ago, I went to PetSmart to pick up some miscellaneous things, and I saw they had a cockatiel. It really kind of devastated me. I've had four tiels in the past, five if you count the foster... right now I have no tiels. One of my all-time closest friends was Kibble the cockatiel, a bird who absolutely stole my heart. Bitty was never as cuddly or friendly as Kibble, but she was such a valued member of the flock, and it was heart warming to see how her and my jenday got on. Two of the four tiels were a pair of seniors adopted by my wife--again, not the friendliest bunch, but so cute with the most adorable voices... and the foster, well, he was a foster, so I always knew he wasn't forever, but you should have seen me cry when I had to give him up. When I gave up the foster, I at least had two tiels of my own, so it didn't leave a cockatiel-shaped hole in my heart, but both of those birds have since passed on.
When I saw the PetSmart cockatiel, my entire mood was shot. I don't like big box stores selling birds, so a big part of it was just feeling upset about that, but this store almost always has a gcc in stock and while it bothers me, it doesn't usually mess up my entire afternoon. I remember being extra pissed off that someone had gone ahead and named both the cockatiel and the gcc nearby and put little bio cards up for them. I don't know what about that made me so irrationally angry but I think it's because when I saw the name, I immediately assumed that the bird had been returned or was otherwise being rehomed--it added a little bit of pathos to the experience of seeing them in there that immediately felt scammy lol. And who knows, maybe both the conure and the cockatiel ARE being rehomed, but the conure is turning 1yr old in August, and I somehow doubt that he's been purchased and returned already before even hitting the dreaded gcc puberty. And like, I don't know, even putting aside my feelings about birds being sold in stores, seeing that cockatiel there just made the cockatiel-shaped hole in my heart ache.
Idk. Lol. I was reminded of all of this yesterday because I realized that Kiwi's toys are all ready to be replaced, and for a moment thought I'd just pop in at PetSmart and buy some replacements, but then I remembered that cockatiel and decided I was just going to boycott PetSmart until further notice. Poor Kiwi has to wait for my Chewy order to be delivered. Sigh...
I've been having overall a great week with the flock--I moved my wfh office back to the living room where their cages and play area is, so they've been getting a lot more time with me, and I also introduced Toast (the new dove) to Gorou/Goop (the existing dove), and while they're still caged separately, it's been fun listening to Toast desperately try to court an astonishingly ambivalent Gorou lol. Toast is madly in love, and Gorou is... radio silent. It's OK Toast, I believe your coos will get through to Goop eventually!
But a week or so ago, I went to PetSmart to pick up some miscellaneous things, and I saw they had a cockatiel. It really kind of devastated me. I've had four tiels in the past, five if you count the foster... right now I have no tiels. One of my all-time closest friends was Kibble the cockatiel, a bird who absolutely stole my heart. Bitty was never as cuddly or friendly as Kibble, but she was such a valued member of the flock, and it was heart warming to see how her and my jenday got on. Two of the four tiels were a pair of seniors adopted by my wife--again, not the friendliest bunch, but so cute with the most adorable voices... and the foster, well, he was a foster, so I always knew he wasn't forever, but you should have seen me cry when I had to give him up. When I gave up the foster, I at least had two tiels of my own, so it didn't leave a cockatiel-shaped hole in my heart, but both of those birds have since passed on.
When I saw the PetSmart cockatiel, my entire mood was shot. I don't like big box stores selling birds, so a big part of it was just feeling upset about that, but this store almost always has a gcc in stock and while it bothers me, it doesn't usually mess up my entire afternoon. I remember being extra pissed off that someone had gone ahead and named both the cockatiel and the gcc nearby and put little bio cards up for them. I don't know what about that made me so irrationally angry but I think it's because when I saw the name, I immediately assumed that the bird had been returned or was otherwise being rehomed--it added a little bit of pathos to the experience of seeing them in there that immediately felt scammy lol. And who knows, maybe both the conure and the cockatiel ARE being rehomed, but the conure is turning 1yr old in August, and I somehow doubt that he's been purchased and returned already before even hitting the dreaded gcc puberty. And like, I don't know, even putting aside my feelings about birds being sold in stores, seeing that cockatiel there just made the cockatiel-shaped hole in my heart ache.
Idk. Lol. I was reminded of all of this yesterday because I realized that Kiwi's toys are all ready to be replaced, and for a moment thought I'd just pop in at PetSmart and buy some replacements, but then I remembered that cockatiel and decided I was just going to boycott PetSmart until further notice. Poor Kiwi has to wait for my Chewy order to be delivered. Sigh...
