…from our local Waste-Not-Want-Not group today.
An older friend had been struggling to look after her very-lovely Lutino cockatiel; although the year-old bird didn’t want for anything, my friend knew she was lonely & I think she may have been a little scared of handling her. She had even gone so far as contacting the RSPCA, who couldn’t take her but suggested an animal sanctuary elsewhere that my friend couldn’t get to. And our little Pied cockatiel fellow clearly thought that a mere 7 humans at his beck & call was not enough; although he spends a lot of time out of his cage & has lots of toys inside, as well as two budgies for avian company, he had developed some repetitive behaviours and needed something more than we were giving him. So it seemed like a good idea to take on my friend’s cockatiel too…
So we went & picked her up a couple of days ago. We put the borrowed cage next to Brambles and they squawked & whistled with excitement at each other before settling down for the night. At about lunchtime yesterday, I connected the cages. After plucking up courage, she sidled gently into his cage. He doesn’t like her coming too close, and chatters at her, but there’s no aggression from either of them and they’ll be fine once she’s settled in, but they do each need their own space until then. But I needed to return the borrowed cage, so I asked on the local Freecycle and WNWN groups whether anyone had one to spare. And got a positive reply! So many thanks to Maree, whose birds now live in a flight in their garden (as I hope ours will one day soon) tonight Brambles is in his customary corner of his cage, on his swing, and Madame Yet-to-find-a-name is in a gorgeous, huge cage next door, that’s easily big enough for the both of them when they’ve settled down together. They can hop from one cage to the other until then. I shall transfer the toys over one by one until the big cage seems like home to Brambles, and add some new ones in too.
So we have gained yet another exotic pet, which hasn’t cost us a penny. Brambles himself was Freecycled to us, two years ago; his cage was given by a friend. The budgies came from a breeder friend, and their cage from Freecycle. The toys etc. have mostly come from abandoned cages at the Tip, and been bathed in Poultry Shield before use. Their food doesn’t cost much; the only real expense they’d put us to would be vet bills, but we haven’t had to trouble our excellent vets with them yet. Long may that last!
A recycled lifestyle... 