An addition and a loss

In 2004, we added a female budgie, Ethel. Ethel had a huge tumor that made her weigh more than twice what she should have! We took her home knowing that she didn't have much time to live, but wanting to give her a good end to her life. We also hoped that her presence would perk up Lenny, our other budgie. After several months, Lenny died from an internal tumor that he had (budgies are prone to tumors). But Ethel thrived!

Ethel showed us how wonderful and full of personality budgies can be! So often, budgies are considered disposable pets because they are so inexpensive. They are kept in small cages, rarely handled, and with few toys. Ethel loved Thomas and would follow him all around the house, flying to him on command. She began imitating the sounds that Max and Calypso made. She was such a delight to have around the house!

We were lucky to get over a year to spend with Ethel before she passed away. We will never forget her and the way she opened our hearts to budgies. I know I can never be budgie-free again! Their delightful chatter and wonderful nature brightens the day. And budgies can be great pets for people living in apartments (they aren't very noisy) and for gentle children.

A new addition

About 6 months after we brought Max home and after we had moved into our new house, Thomas's mom asked us if we would take her budgie, Lenny. He was quite old and was ignored in his home, except for the cats who would look at him in a menacing way. He was cagebound and not interested in people. Due to his age, we worried that handling him too much would give him a heart attack.

We brought him home and packed his cage with toys. Max was interested in the new arrival, but he didn't arouse much jealousy because he didn't require a lot of our attention.

However, the first jealous episode we saw from her did involve Lenny. Max was fledged (learned to fly) at her breeder's house, but we decided to keep her wings trimmed for safety (Max is now fully flighted, but we'll get to that later!) However, when she would start to molt, we would let her fly for a few weeks/months until she got a bit too sassy, at which point her wings would be clipped again.

Max loved to fly and land on the curtain rod that was in front of the doors leading to our breezeway. We did not like her hanging out up there, but if we went to remove her, it became a fun game for her. So we decided to ignore her when she was there. She did not like being ignored, so she would be extra cute saying, "Hello! Come here! Up!" and whistling little tunes, which made it very difficult for us to ignore her. After a few weeks of this, when Max would fly up there, I would turn my attention to Lenny and start talking about what a good boy he was. This was not acceptable to Max, who flew down from her perch, buzzing the top of my head in the process, land on her cage and exclaim "Good Boy!" (At the time, we thought Max was a boy). What a ham!