I was never a
bird person. Just no interest. 17 months ago, I rented a room in my house, and my renter
brought a quaker parakeet with him. I thought he was interesting, but that's about it.
Three weeks after he moved in, he started using cocaine again, and just never came home
again, leaving me with this bird... For
six months, I basically threw seed at him, and more or less ignored him. I let him out of
his cage because it didn't seem right to have him cooped up, but once he was out, there
was no getting him back in. One day, I went into a pet store to see if I should be feeding
him something different. I wasn't even SURE what kind of bird he was! The person at the
pet store told me that there was a book on the internet... so I came home and did a search
on quaker parakeet, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The first six months he was here (previously named
Sammy... I didn't like the name) he screamed a lot. I kept thinking I should give him up
because the screaming was so bad. As soon as I joined the Quaker Parrot E-Mail list, I
started getting helpful information. His wings were IMMEDIATELY clipped! LOL He clung to
the side of the cage when I went near him. The list members encouraged me to be patient,
and reading the posts told me that there was a whole other birdy world out there I knew
nothing about.
Pita and I now have a wonderful relationship. It may not
be as close as other people's relationships with their birds, but I love him. He hardly
ever screams any more. He steps up on command (except once he has put himself to bed for
the evening) and virtually never bites. We cuddle with him up to my face, kissing his
chest and petting his head and neck.
The delight of my relationship with Pita led me to
want to have a baby, as well. Pita doesn't behave like a quaker (he doesn't talk, won't
eat people food, hates to bathe, doesn't really play) but he is my baby. Because of the QP
mail list, I wanted to experience someone who had been with me since babyhood. As a
result, Pesto has come to live with us. I'm even hoping he'll teach Pita a thing or
two : )
We just had out well birdy check, and the vet says
it looks like I am doing everything right... At this very moment, Pesto is diligently
trying to remove his band : ) The vet stated that he thinks most people don't have the
patience to hand feed, and that they don't want to take the time. I was floored. Patience?
Time? I'm terrified that I might do it wrong, but I am finding the hand feeding to be a
pleasant, peaceful, loving experience. It takes, what? All of five minutes? I just follow
Pesto's lead, and try to keep the formula flowing : )
