Petri the Cockatiel

[Elspode]

Frank is our 'tiel. He's real weird. He wants lots of attention, but he'll bite your arm off if you try to put him on your finger when he's in his cage. He will sit on a finger out of the cage, *if* you can get close enough to him to get him to step up. Not real friendly in the conventional sense, but really, really likes attention, being talked to and such. He gets real upset if he hears you come in the front door and you don't come to see him.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I don't get it.

so bossy he thinks he is the king of the house

sleep on our slippers and poop in them!!

He wants lots of attention

he'll bite your arm off

Not real friendly

What ever blows your skirt up, but I don't see the value of keeping a bird.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I don't get it. What ever blows your skirt up, but I don't see the value of keeping a bird.

The bigger the bird, the more demanding they are of attention.

A friend of mine has a greenwing macaw. Well, sort of. He's a plucker, so mostly he's a naked macaw.

The infant children were easier to take care of.

[darclauz]

Originally Posted by wolf

He's a plucker, so mostly he's a naked macaw.

He's a plucker, so mostly he's a naked macaw.

That sentence was worth repeating.

One of the things I really like about the cellar is that smart, creative, esoteric personalities and comments abound...wolf primary in that list.

It's a great sentence. Creative word choice. Stopped me in my tracks.



I had a cockatiel but he was the devil. I gave it to my neighbor, who is a card carrying bird lover. She was glad to have stevie at her house, and swore inside she would take better care of him.....called the vet to look it over (stevie's first checkup).

The vet reached her hand in to examine him, and he had a heart attack and dropped over dead.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by darclauz

He's a plucker, so mostly he's a naked macaw.

That sentence was worth repeating.

One of the things I really like about the cellar is that smart, creative, esoteric personalities and comments abound...wolf primary in that list.

It's a great sentence. Creative word choice. Stopped me in my tracks.

Thanks.

This is a photo from when Indy was actually doing better, meaning that he had pinfeathers growing in ... his chest should be fully red, but everytime he gets a red feather coming in, he yanks it out.

[LynnM]

Originally Posted by wolf

Thanks.

This is a photo from when Indy was actually doing better, meaning that he had pinfeathers growing in ... his chest should be fully red, but everytime he gets a red feather coming in, he yanks it out.

Neurosis from captivity. Very depressing.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by LynnM

Neurosis from captivity. Very depressing.

Do birds bred in captivity suffer from this, or only captured wild birds?

I've always wondered why I pull out my arm hairs. Now I know why. Office Confinement Syndrome.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by LynnM

Neurosis from captivity. Very depressing.

Raised in captivity from a handfed hatchling. The wild terrifies him. The wild does not have Taco Bell or Kentucky Fried Chicken.

One owner. He is treated like a prince. Better than a prince, actually. He is rarely kept in a cage. When he is caged, it's a 6'X5'X4' palace of bird entertainment. He has his own radio. Daylight hours are spent on a ringstand outdoors in appropriate weather, and a massive tree thingy in the house. He is able to wander about and climb down from it to investigate other parts of the house at will.

He didn't always pluck, it's only over about the last three or four years. I think he's approaching 11, possibly 12. He is older than the oldest human child in the household.

He has an excellent disposition, is not a biter (other than deriving a certain mischevious joy from snapping buttons in two and "resizing" rings), and is very comfortable interacting with a variety of people.

[LynnM]

I don't get it.
Quote:
so bossy he thinks he is the king of the house

Quote:
sleep on our slippers and poop in them!!

Quote:
He wants lots of attention

Quote:
he'll bite your arm off

Quote:
Not real friendly

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I don't get it. What ever blows your skirt up, but I don't see the value of keeping a bird.

I don't agree with keeping birds. It breaks my heart to see social creatures. born to fly free, sitting alone in a cage. If anyone gets the chance, see The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It's a real eye-opener.

But to address the opinion that because of a few personality quirks a bird would not be a good companion, I'd venture to say that most of the humans in our lives, including our immediate families, have far more irritating and potentially far more dangerous idiosyncrasies than those birds.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Frank is our 'tiel. He's real weird. He wants lots of attention, but he'll bite your arm off if you try to put him on your finger when he's in his cage. He will sit on a finger out of the cage, *if* you can get close enough to him to get him to step up. Not real friendly in the conventional sense, but really, really likes attention, being talked to and such. He gets real upset if he hears you come in the front door and you don't come to see him.

Els, situating Frank's cage across from the oscars. They're obviously conversational bores; "Is it dinner time yet? I'm hungry. Have we got anything to eat? I'm starving. Where's the pizza guy?" etc etc. Frank needs more stimulation than that, y'know.

[Elspode]

Actually, Frank sits directly across from our computers in our office room. We recently discovered that he seems to enjoy opera, so I'm planning on finding a good streaming opera music channel online and running it during the day while he's home alone.

You are correct in your allusion to the Oscars' being rather single-minded, though. If it isn't food, it isn't worth their minimal brain power being expended on it.