I love animals but my mom is terrified of them! One day I finally convinced her to let me have birds. And…I got my wish! Birds are the first “real” pets I ever had. I’ve only had fish before and as you know…they’re pretty boring. Having some feathered friends as pets has transformed me into a bird-appreciating fan :p
Chubs
He’s not exactly the brightest bird, but sometimes we think he’s a mastermind.
We know him as the bipolar bird. One minute he’ll be begging for me to scratch him. The next minute, he’ll be attacking my finger with fury because I didn’t scratch him just right or fulfill his request quickly enough. Then he’ll go back to asking me to scratch him!
He is terrified of toys, but he treats anything that is not made for him as a toy. Example: he will chew any shoes he can get his beak on, or buttons on a remote control. Such damage one little bird can do! All toys designated for birds, however, are treated as foreign objects and he will not go near them.
My favorite activity shared with Chubs: Napping. Sometimes I take him to my room, and I lie down on my bed, with him sitting on my chest, stomach, or shoulder. I’ll fall asleep, and when I wake up later, I will find him all puffed up and comfortable, and possibly sleeping in that exact same spot. Amazing how he understands how humans sleep. It’s so cute.
Join me in sharing some of my stories about Chubs!
Tweeters & Paula
He was my first bird EVER and I got him in September, 2000. He sang sweet songs for us. Even though I had him for years, he was such a scardy bird. If you walk by or scratch your arm, he’ll get startled and get ready to move to safety. It was disappointing since we couldn’t even come near him without scaring him, let alone play with him. Even though that was pretty disappointing, I still loved my him because he was my first pet, absolutely cute, chirped to keep away the silence, and he was fun to watch. To match his timid personality, he was very sweet and gentle. He was always taken advantage of by any other birds we bought as playmates for him, and he never bit anyone (human or bird).
Other Birds: When I bought Tweeters, I also bought his sister but she died after the first day 🙁 We found out that she was sick before we bought her. It was a lesson well learned – be wary of quiet, calm birds when at the pet store since they could potentially be sick. So months later we decided to get another friend for him because we were afraid he’d get lonely. We got him a male bird and named him Emerald. Unfortunetly, Emerald was a bad choice. He was very mean. He chased and bit Tweeters. We felt very sorry for Tweeters so we gave Emerald away.
After we gave Emerald away, we bought a female bird named Paula, aka Polly. She was absolutely daring and brave. Her feathers were straw yellow and bright green. Everyone loved her. The down side was since she was so bold and brave, she was also greedy and mean to Tweeters. It just depended on how she felt. One moment she would feel nice and preen Tweeters. The next she’d bite him and hog the food. Things still worked out though and Tweeters had a submissive personality so he didn’t seem to mind. Sadly, because of Paula’s bold personality she ate everything, including her sandpaper perch and we found out too late. She chewed and swallowed a great amount of it. Afterwards she grew very sick. It was very hurtful to see my cute little birdy in pain on the floor. One day after I came home from school I found her on the floor, she had passed away. I cried a lot and cried whenever I thought about her. Even though she has left us, at least now I know she’s not in pain any more. RIP Paula.
As for Tweeters, I finally gave him away, hoping he’d be happier with a female parakeet friend to keep him company. I don’t think he ever was happy, being such a paranoid and easily frightened bird. I learned indirectly (the worst way possible) that he had died not too long after I had given him away. Poor thing. He had such a gentle soul. I wish I could have given him a happier life and been able to tame him so that he could see me as friendly company.