Post by Tigger on Dec 15, 2007 21:43:25 GMT
This is Pepper Ray, I got Pepper back in 2003 from a breeder at the Sunday Markets, he turned 4 this year, he is an amazing bird, he is so sweet and kind and gentle, I dont think this bird knows how to bite... He is so smart! He lifts his foot off the perch and waves, sometimes he just waves his foot from side to side and other times he actually scrunches his foot and unscrunches it... Everyone thinks I am crazy when I say that my bird can wave but he can, I swear!!! I just have to catch him on video, he seems to be camera shy...
This is Sunny Jim, I got Sunny in January 2004 when my previous partner stood on my first Cockatiel Spunky, I had Spunky before I got Pepper, and Spunky and Pepper were best mates... It was great to see them together... My previous partner felt bad about accidentally killing my bird so he went out and bought me a new one from a breeder. Sunny has recently gone through a phase where he was picking his feathers like crazy, now he has stopped but he is still missing a lot of feathers on his wings and on the top of his back, he has also started plucking the feathers of his mate - Sandy Jo. Sunny also turned 4 this year.
Next we have Sandy Jo, I got Sandy in 2004 also, Sandy was a bit of an impulse buy, I saw her in the window of a pet store and I had to have her as I thought she looked so much like Spunky and I really missed Spunky, bad mistake, never try and buy pets to replace the ones you have lost, it never works. After a week of trying to convince my previous partner to let me have her I finally got her... When I went into the pet shop to buy her I saw just how desperate she was to go to a loving home, the pet shop owner had clipped both of her wings down so low that every time she moved they would start bleeding, I knew right then that I had to get her away from there. After I had paid for her the shop owner asked me if I would like her to clip her wings again for me, I said, no thanks and left. I am pretty sure the shop owner had done enough damage. It took a long time for Sandy to trust me enough to let me touch her on the back, even now she doesnt like it when someone touches her wings. She makes a really loud noise as if she were in pain. Sandy also turned 4 this year.
Next we have Cheeky Maree, I didnt buy Cheeky, when I met my Fiance in 2004 he already had Cheeky. Cheeky had flown into his friends car one day and so she stayed with my partner until the owner was found... The owner didnt ever claim her and so she just became apart of the family... At first she didnt like my three birds and she used to bite them whenever they went near her, she soon warmed up after a few months of handling (and bitten fingers) now she is a nice bird that is more than happy to go for a walk on your shoulder... I am not sure how old Cheeky is but I am pretty sure that she is older than my birds as her feet are in quite bad shape, the only way I can really describe it is that her feet look like she has arthritis... I would like to take her to the vet at some stage to see if they can give me an approximate age for her...
Next is Pearl-a Magoo, I got Pearl in 2005, once again he was another bird that "I just had to have" we got him from a pet store, he was the only Cockatiel left and he had been in there for a couple of weeks on his own so I felt sorry that no one wanted him and I had to have him... He cost a fortune and was definately not hand tame so once again, a few months of constant handling (and many bitten fingers) and he eventually came around... Pearl turned 3 this year and seems to have taken the "Alpha Male" role of our little flock...
Then there is Daisy May, I got Daisy in May this year from another breeder, I just had to have her as a mate for Pepper Ray as I thought that he was feeling lonely... I called around to a couple of breeders and found a nice breeder that had babies that were sexed so I knew what I was getting, I waited 2 months for her to be ready to come to me and then when I got her home, Pepper wanted nothing to do with her, she is very cute tho : ) I dont see why he doesnt want anything to do with her...
Last but not least are my new baby birds! These two belong to Cheeky and Pearl. Cheeky and Pearl did a great job in brooding the eggs, the eggs were never left alone. Then the first baby hatched and that was it, they were off and they werent goin back so I have been feeding the baby since Thursday night (13/12/07) from 7:30pm after it was born... He seems to be growing up into a nice healthy chick which is good coz this is my first time hand feeding babies this young and I wasnt sure what to do... I had gathered up the other 3 eggs from Cheeky and Pearls clutch and put them into the box with the baby to "keep him company" I didnt think the babies would survive as the parents had stopped sitting on the eggs. This morning I came in to feed the baby his last meal of the night (midnight) and I hear a very faint chirping inside the box, turns out that one of the other eggs has decided it would like to hatch as well... It took a few hours for it to hatch and I am a little worried about it, when it came out of the egg it was very white and it still had yolk attached to its stomach, it has been laying very still for the past 2 hours (it hatched 2 hours ago) and has been taking short sharp breaths through its mouth, I really dont know if it is going to pull through, it is not nearly as active as the first one... : ( I really do hope it pulls through tho, they are so cute!
Well that is my family of Tiels : )
Sunny Jim & Sandy Jo are a couple
Cheeky Maree & Pearl-a Magoo are a couple
And I was hopeing that Pepper Ray and Daisy May would be a couple but clearly things just can't happen that perfectly... Oh well : )
