Hay Fever
// October 4th, 2009 // This is the life
My boys love hay.
And it’s not just the guinea pigs – now the budgies have joined in on the craze.
I guess I should not be surprised – my little cherubs, Piccolo and Scout, have always enjoyed spending time with their furry siblings. This camaraderie has increased tenfold since we rearranged our offices so that both budgies and guinea pigs could share the tiled office at the rear of the house. These are animals that thrive on social interaction. The cruelest thing in the world would be to deny that social engagement to them.
A lot of my friends owned birds in their youth, but I always note the joyous stories and memories of those lucky people who had more than one at the same time. I will admit that I had the one budgie when I was very young. Even when I adopted Piccolo, a violet/cobalt budgie (I’ve been told he’s rare and beautiful!), I adopted him with the intention of having a constant companion – a little bundle of feathers who would love me and talk to me and hang on my every word.
Well, Piccolo did do just that. And he still does. But then I started working late hours, and when I got home I felt too tired to engage in Piccolo’s eager chatter. Yes, something in my life needed to change. However, in the meantime, Piccolo needed a friend who he could tell all of his little stories to.
I started to take Piccolo over to my partner’s apartment, where he could hang out with her guinea pigs, Mr Wombat and Chris. It took no longer than a week for Piccolo to start mimicking their little “wheeks” as they waddled around their hutch. If the pigs came out to play, Piccolo would have to come to, and he would want to get into the middle of things right away. It led to the most uncomfortable conversation with our vet where I asked, “what are your thoughts about budgies and guinea pigs interacting?” She asked, “are you concerned about the pigs injuring your budgie?” and I replied, “no – I’m worried about Piccolo tearing the living snot out of the guinea pigs!”
It was obvious that budgie/guinea pig interactions were not the end solution. Piccolo would need a friend with feathers. Big Bird was nowhere to be found, so it would have to be another budgie.
We were blessed to find Scout. While not intentional on the breeder’s part, Scout had been calcium-deficient during his development, which led him to have a condition where his feet and legs are not able to grip as well as a normal budgie. People told me that I should return him because he was “defective”. I took him home and hoped that he and Piccolo would form a bond.
A year later and these two budgies are close friends. One will not travel without the other, and I cannot help but picture Scout as the dorky little brother following hs older sibling around , hoping that Piccolo will let him “hang out”. And Piccolo has changed from the over-enthusiastic bachelor to the master of the cage, helping his little apprentice onto perches and chirping encouragement.
It is an endless source of delight for me as well, and I know that I did the right thing by both of them. Budgies are flock birds, and even with Scout around, Piccolo is as bonded to me as ever. Whenever anyone comes up to me and asks about purchasing a bird, or even a guinea pig, I always tell them to adopt a pair.
Our companion animals, more than ever, need companions while we busy humans bring the money in to give them a loving and stable home. Toys engage for a while, but there is no substitute for the constant friend by their side.
