|
Hi, my name is ET and I'm a normal grey cockatiel hen.
I got my name since I looked like ET when I was a baby.
I was born the 4th of January 1994.
These are my parents, Nymfi (mom) and Zorro (dad). My mom passed away in november 2005, at the age of 15 years 7 months. My dad was very sad, after all they had spent more than twelve years together. Nowadays I and my dad live together in the same cage.
Anyway, back to my story. My parents decided to have babies even though they didn't
have any nest box, my "mom" went on vacation and was going
to give them a nest box when she came back. My parents decided
thet they didn't want to wait, so my mother lade a clutch
of eggs on the bottom of the cage and they began to incubate
them. They had lade eggs before but never paid them any attention.
My "mom's" friend had to go and check on my parents while
she was on vacation, but luckily no egg hatched during that
time.
 I
was the only chick that survived out of two. Since I was laying
there on the bottom of the cage floor I sometimes crawled
around and got cold so my "mom" had to put me back in the
"nesting" corner again. When I was about ten days old I got
bitten on the side of my neck and one foot by my mother or
father. They had been too distressed about the whole situation.
My "mom" stopped the blood and called the vet, she could only
hope for the best and see if I would survive.
My "mom" decided to take care of me herself and now a big
adventure began for me.
Every morning I had to step on the scale to be weighed, "mom"
noted my weight and then she made me some breakfast. She fed
me with a syringe directly in my mouth. After breakfast she
put me in a little box which she put under her shirt, so that
I wouldn't freeze, and off we went to her work. There I had
another bigger box and above it a lamp, so that I would get
some heat, I was too young to keep my body temperature up
by myself. In the beginning I ate once every two hours so
that kept my "mom" a bit busy...
Me with my own food box at "work".
 At
work I had fun because some of my "mom's" co-workers loved
to pet me and I got a lot of attention. At home I had another
box where I slept and even there I had a lamp above it in
the beginning, that made me feel warm and comfortable.
I got my own godmother, her name is Maria and sometimes I
visit her. When I still was a baby I was extremely curious
on things and wanted to examine everything. I will never forget
one time when I was visiting my godmother and ran around on
her kitchen table, and there were so much interesting things
to investigate everywhere, so I eventually fell down from
the table.
When I was there my "mom" and godmother decided to have some
coffee. My "mom" managed to cover her cup with her hand. However
she didn't manage to do the same with the other before I had
flown down from her shoulder and tried to land on the edge
of that cup. A little un-sturdy on landings that I still was
resulted that my feet ended up within the cup instead of on
the edge of it, and I began to scream. It was so hot and I
couldn't get up from there by myself. My "mom" quickly picked
me up and ran to the tap and rinsed my feet in cold water.
After that incident I watch carefully not to get too close
to cups and glasses. I can walk to the edge and look down
and that's it for me.
 I
love to take a bath and when I do, I'll get very wet. Sometimes
I will get some help drying up with the hair dryer and I like
it a lot. I'm usually with my "mom" when she goes to the bathroom
and there I got my own place to perch on. When she takes a
shower I will get some small fine drops of water on me where
I'm sitting. Then I'll go crazy and spread my wings out so
that the drops will reach everywhere.
This is how I look like after taking a bath. |
When I was around one year old I decided to lay eggs. It
didn't go so well and the egg didn't come out even though
my "mom" smeared some oil (which I didn't like) in an effort
to ease up on things. The only thing to do was to go to the
vet and there I've got some help to get rid of the egg. Even
though I was screaming and it did hurt a lot, I didn't bite
the vet, that tells you how kind I am towards you humans.
I went home, I didn't eat much and my "mom" called the vet
again and I got some medicine because I got some infection
after the removal of the egg.
In the fall same year I started to lay eggs again and this
time everything went well. I was incubating them and watching
over them like a hawk. I was very aggressive against my "mom"
when she wanted to change the food and water in my cage. After
three weeks I realised that no babies would hatch...
A couple of weeks later I began to lay eggs again and a new
incubating period began. But after that I decided that it
was enough. I lade one last egg on my godmother's bed and
then it was over. Thought my "mom"... only a few weeks later
it all started over again and I just couldn't stop producing
eggs.
 It
was time to call the vet again and my "mom" asked
how she could stop me from laying more eggs. The vet said
that my "mom" had to make my days shorter, either by covering
my cage or not having so many lamps on in the evenings. I
stopped laying more eggs but I was really tired because I
had put so much energy and so into that egg laying business.
I was doing this during four months. My "mom" was a little
shaken after this incident, so she decided to get me a boyfriend.
She called a cockatiel breeder and bought me a nice guy, according
to her that is. She called him Tino (after the colour lutino).
I thought it was terrifying in the beginning. I didn't want
him to come too close to me. I was really scared and I never
totally overcame my fears for him. However we could perch
next to each other and sleep without me getting anxious. Sadly
enough Tino passed away on April 6, 2001 for unknown reasons,
he was alright one day and not the next. My "mom"
sat with tears in her eyes with him in her hands, gently stroking
his head until the end. So now I'm alone again, and my "mom"
hopes that I won't start laying eggs once again. I'm now twelve
years old (2004) and until now I haven't laid any eggs since
that horrible fall.
If you only knew how much I've travelled. I've flown very
far, but not with my own wings. I've travelled by boat, car
and bus. I've also been in Finland. However I've calmed
down a bit with that travelling stuff nowadays.
I still favour to be with my "mom" or another human being.
I like to be scratched on my head and neck and to put my head
under my "mom's" palm. I use to sit on my "mom's" ankles and
sleep when she is lying down on the sofa watching TV. Sometimes
I eat from my "mom's" sandwich or plate, or trying to steal
some of her snacks. My favourite food is toasted bread, pasta,
rice and cooked potato.
|
