LolaWatch: Update

Over the holidays, it became very apparent to The Peach and I that our little bird, Lola, was in desperate need of some companionship. We tried to hand-tame her and give her as much affection as we possibly could, but it just wasn't working given how skittish and paranoid she was. So we went out to get another bird to be her friend. After a few days of searching we finally settled on a blue budgie, which I was initially allowed to name but after 98% of my real suggestions were rejected outright, she settled on Zoe. (I still maintain that Zeppo would be a great name for a bird.)

So as not to pass any unknown diseases or infections between them, we kept them apart on opposite ends of the living room for 3.5 weeks. That's a little less than we were technically supposed to, but The Peach just couldn't wait, and really neither could they. Every time we let Zoe out to wander she immediately went to the other side and tried to figure out a way to get up and into Lola's cage. Once they were put together, though, they became great friends, despite their differences: Lola is quiet and terrified, Zoe is loud and excitable. After a few days they became pretty much inseperable: when one left or accidentally fell out of the cage (from a very low height, don't worry), the other would immediately join them.

Last week, when The Peach was giving them some food, she called me over to look at Zoe's beak. Her sear, which is the area just above the nose, was turning bright blue. "Huh," I said. "I think Zoe's a boy," she said. "You sure?" I asked. "I don't know, but I think so." Later that week, we had NinjaStolz and Fi over, and he took one look at our new bird and said, "Oh yeah, that's a guy." So that explains her loud personality and relatively large size. She's actually a he.

I've tried to suggest a few new names that would fit a male bird better (seriously, what's wrong with Miles?), but in the end, we have a boy named Zoe. And we've been assured that as long as we don't give them any nesting materials, we won't have any baby birds in our future. I'm still a little worried about that, but when I see how happy they are together,
I think it's a risk I'm willing to take.


(photo credit The Peach)

I just wish Zoe had been a better influence on Lola's constant terror. Now they're BOTH jumpy.

LolaWatch: Month One

So, Lola's been around for a month now, and is still a nervous little budgie. And I'm a nervous budgie owner. NinjaStolz tried to get me comfortable holding her, even going so far as to catch her and put her in my hands, and I sat there as still as possible. I didn't move an inch, just cupped my hands and let her freak out to her heart's content. Maybe it'll be better once we get her wings clipped.

I know that there are people out there who say that you shouldn't clip a bird's wings, but Lola, unfortunately, needs it. She's getting more comfortable with exploring the apartment, and can fly REALLY fast from a sitting start. Combine that with her general jitteryness and you have a bird that flies into doors, windows, walls, and mirrors in the attempt to escape the giant humans that are walking nearby. I think when you're looking at the lesser of two evils, making sure she doesn't inadvertently give herself a bird-sized concussion or break a wing beats out making her a little less independent.

We got her a bigger cage than the one she originally came with, as The Peach felt she needed more space and more things to sit on, as having only one size of perch can mess up a bird's feet muscles. So here's a picture of her new home, complete with a new friend. I don't know if she likes him very much, but he's at least a better conversationalist.



Finally, after about a month of observation, I've created a partial list of her likes and dislikes. It's not much, but it at least gives me some references when she's getting upset and I need to calm her down.


Things Lola Likes:
Prodigy's "Everybody In The Place" single
The commercial breaks in House, because it usually gets very frantic: people start yelling, machines start beeping, and there's usually strings. Apparently she likes loudness and mayhem.
The sound of rain and running water
The Beatles
NewsRadio (mostly because of the laugh track)
Outkast - Aquemini
Ben Folds Five - The Autobiography of Reinhold Messner
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta

Things She Seems Not To Like:
Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
Any food that isn't millet
Me


We're still working on it.

Not a Fringe Update: New Addition To The Family!

No, The Peach isn't pregnant. At least, not as far as I know. But we have adopted. A budgie. Her name is Lola, and she's a yellow budgie who is currently trying to adjust to her new surroundings. We got her from my Future Sister-In-Law (the FSIL); she and G are moving to a new apartment, and their new work and school schedules don't work well with keeping a bird happy and healthy. And The Peach loves birds, so they naturally thought of us when it came to finding new owners for her.

Like I said, The Peach loves her; cooing to her as she does the dishes, dutifully changing the water and even giving her fresh fruit to eat, and making sure CBC Radio 2 is playing whenever we're out. The FSIL told us that Lola likes soft music, and also The Beatles. Me? I'm scared of her. Not in an "ornithophobia" sort of way, or in a "Melanie Daniels"* kind of way. In a "oh god, oh god, I'm going to kill it" kind of way. The girls keep reassuring me that there's no way I'm going to be able to hurt it, but I disagree: I'm about thirty-seven times taller than her and have probably five hundred and eighty times her mass. I know I'm going to try and change her water, or give her a head scratch, and somehow accidentally break her tiny hollow bones. Also, I don't know what to do with a bird. I feel stupid talking to it, and you can't take her for a walk or pet her or throw things at her. Well, you can throw things at her, but it'd just lead to bone breakage, which I'm already a little nervous about.

However much I'm afraid of her, she's FAR more afraid of me. Every time I walk in the room or get up from the chair I have to announce it ahead of time; if I don't, her wings start flapping and she shuffles as far away from me as possible. She won't eat in front of us, and I honestly think she breathes faster when we're in the room. I don't want her to get an anxiety problem, or have a premature heart attack, so I'm trying to give her a role model. I think she likes him.




Well, it's progress.**



* - Identify this name for 4 geek points. No Googling or anything: just off your brain.
** - Why this role model? 2 geek points.