Hello from Ottawa!

[zazanomore]

Ello!

I'm from a small town outside of Ottawa and I am a HUGE animal lover. I've owned or handled basically anything! In the past I owned a lovebird and a budgie, however I got the lovebird when she was around 8, and she had no interest in interacting (I was also younger back then and it was my first bird, so I really had no idea that I could tame her), but eventually she died. I then got a budgie, and at first I thought I found my perfect birdie, but a short while after we bought him, he escaped from his cage when I wasn't home. I did not want his wings to be clipped because I wanted him to have freedom. However, this meant that when he escaped, he flew so hard that he hit the wall and died. When I got home, I was so heart broken over my bird that I vowed never again to own a bird. 5 years passed. I had a dog (Stewie the shih tzu), however I knew that he was a family pet and there was no way I'd be allowed to take him with me when I go to university. And like I said before, I LOVE animals. I decided to take a year off until moving across the province to Thunder Bay, so in that time I decided that I needed to get myself my own pet. So, at first I tried for an australian shepherd. That was a no go. I then tried for something smaller, like a cat. We owned a cat before, but when my stepdad moved in, we had to get rid of her because of the fact that he hates cats. I knew reptiles were out of the question. I mean, I'd love to get a cornsnake, because they can be handled and are just too adorable, however, they eat mice, and there would be no way to convince my mom to buy a rodent eating pet. (All the other non-meat eating reptiles are very cuddly or like to be handled). So I looked at rodents. Guinea/Skinny pigs actually. They are cute, crave attention, live for about 3 years, and can even recognize their names. However, my mom dubbed guinea pigs too smelly to be a good pet. I gave up all hope. Then one day I was at the mall with a friend. Of course the first store we had to go into was the pet store. And for some reason I was drawn towards the zebra finches. They were so cute the way they fluttered about and sang their little sing-songs. So I did the unthinkable, and started to do my research on them. I soon found out that finches aren't exactly the type of bird that craves HUMAN interaction (though there are exceptions). But my quest did not end there, for soon I looked upon the very animal that broke my tween heart - the budgie. The more I researched, the more interested I became. I even got my 4 year old brother to look at them. He, being a smaller male version of his older sister, fell in love with them. So, I got him to ask my parents, and weirdly enough, they said YES. You see, growing up, my mother had a canary. His name was Amber, the only pet my mom ever had. I guess when he asked her, something tugged at her heart, so she agreed. So we were off to the pet store (okay, I know thats not where you should buy your pet, but from what I heard is that Petsmart is the best pet store corperation to buy from).

So that resulted in my Bonnie and Clyde, the two biggest trouble makers I've ever met! However, since I bought two of them, they aren't completely tame, however, they do enjoy sitting on my shoulder or head, or playing a game of cotton ball soccer with me.

That was April. Now, I just graduated high school. So, my parents asked me "what do you want for a graduation gift?". Most teens in my position would ask for a laptop, a car, or even a bundle of cash. Oh no. Not me. I asked for a cockatiel. They agreed. So i started my epic journey of finding the perfect tiel for my little family. I was searching Kijiji, when I stumbled upon an add selling 5 hand raised male pied cockatiel babies. I was thrilled, and called them straight away. The plan was that I was going to pick them up on the next Friday. HOWEVER, when I called the day before going to pick him out (I had named him Gizmo, and had bought EVERYTHING plus some, for him). I asked the man if I could pick him up in the mourning instead of the afternoon like planned. Did he ever shock me when he said "we sold your bird". I was mortified. It also didn't help that the man on the phone was referring to me as a "he" and "sir". I told my stepdad everything, and he could tell I was upset.

The next morning my stepdad calls me downstairs. He has BIG news. Well it turns out that his accountant lives right next to a parrot breeder, one of the top in Canada! He had some how managed to get me a white faced male cockatiel. Hand fed and fully trained. Now, I couldn't exactly give him Gizmo's name, since I assumed that would be bad luck. So I settled on Einstein. But when I met him I discovered that just plain "Einstein" would not due. So now, his name is The Baby Einstein, which suits him quite well since he is the smartest little baby I've ever met.

And that is what leaves me to where I am today. A parrot lover.

I'm pretty sure that no one has the time or even wants to listen to my bird life story, but I thought "hey, at least it's out there".

Thanks, and I'll be trying to post some videos/pictures/updates on my bird flock as soon as possible!

[sidech]

Very interesting story !

Post pictures soon, and welcome to the forum !

[Natacha]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I'm from Ottawa as well

[lzver]

Welcome from another fellow Canadian!

[Red Moppet]

Welcome from Alberta! : )

[lainmai]

Welcome from Oshawa

[a.susz]

hello and welcome!

[JadeW]

Welcome from Alberta (and sometimes Ontario)!

[babydoll101]

Hello and Welcome from NB:)

[MandyG]

Welcome from Manitoba! We're sure getting a lot of Canadians on here

Can't wait to see some pictures of your flock!