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Hi,
Thanks for the welcome. Here's Ducky's story. I am his 4th home. His second home was abusive in that they would hit him with a stick. His 3rd home was not physically abusive but unfortunately, he was more or less ignored. If he screamed, his cage would be covered and he would be regulated to sitting in his cage in the dark. That's when he eventually started plucking his feathers out. I used to feel sorry for him when I would go over and he would have the dark cover placed over his cage. I was asked to babysit him as I lived close by. They brought his cage over to my place and I had it placed next to the sliding glass door in the living room. Now, keep in mind this bird was a BITER -- very, very aggressive and a screamer. But it was supposed to be only for 2 weeks and I do love animals. Anyway, for some odd reason, Ducky just took to me. He seemed to love it here, wanted to spend time with me instead of just walking around or perched on his cage. I did not set out to win his affections for he was going back home in 2 weeks. And to be honest, I didn't really like birds as pets, they were great to see flying around but to have in the house and clean up after, that's not something that I wanted.
Long story short, when they returned, they asked me to keep him since he seemed to like me so much. My initial thoughts were no, but I was talking to another friend of mine and she told me that it would be mean to send him back to a place where he clearly was unhappy. So I bit the bullet and said yes -- and boy am I glad I said yes. He sure can be a royal pain but he's such a sweetie and he will have a home with me for the rest of his life (unless, of course, he outlives me).
I have no idea why he liked me so much right from the start -- perhaps it was because I did not lock him up 24/7 or perhaps he liked where I placed his cage. He rarely screams anymore -- actually, lately he hardly screams at all. To be honest, I was getting a bit concerned that he didn't scream as I thought birds were supposed to scream at least a little bit. In thinking back, I don't think I've heard him scream once in the last 3-4 months. Prior to that, the only time he screams is when he sees something outside that startles him.
I also have a pet potbelly pig that he is insanely jealous of. One night when I forgot to lock his cage, I woke up to the screaming of my pig. I jumped out of bed not knowing what was going on. I ran to where my pig was and found Ducky hanging on my pig's snout. He was attacking a 175 pound pig --sheesh. You know how birds can bleed? Well, so can pigs.
Pancake: I am in Southern Calif -- I live 2 blocks from the Rose Bowl parade route.
Catschair: So you too have a naked birdy -- I don't know why they pluck like that but I've been told by the vet that he probably won't grow them back because the follicles are destroyed since he's been doing it so long. By the way, what does "fid" mean?
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