by Catsplat18 » Wed Nov 02, 2022 6:19 pm
I rescued a yellow-sided green-cheeked conure when I was in fifth grade. I'm now a freshman in college. Like you, I can't believe I've had him for so long!
We got him from the local animal shelter. He was less than a year old, with his tail completely ripped out and his wings clipped brutally and incorrectly (even the secondaries were cut!). He had been found walking on the sidewalk in town. How he got there, no one knows, since he definitely couldn't fly with his wings like that, even if he lost the tail after escaping/being set loose/who knows.
It was probably a mistake on my parents' part to give in and get me a parrot when I was just a kid. He is definitely more work than any of us expected, and I'm going to be honest, he's completely untrained. He is fully tame, though -- with me. Only with me. He is bonded to me. He lets me pet him, preen him, and snuggle him, and almost always steps up for me. He even holds his poop when on me. Like... for way longer than you'd think would be possible. Everywhere I go, he follows. When watching movies, he'll fall asleep tucked under my chin. The one time he got loose and flew outside, I called his name and he screamed back to tell me where he was, each time I called, like some high-stress game of marco polo. He was waiting for me right by the front door, and stepped up immediately. I love him so much.
Now that I'm in college, he's stuck inside the cage, since no one else in my family can/wants to handle him, and he's fully flighted in a house with one very prey-driven young Maine coon, so he can't be sitting on a play gym or stand either. I feel really bad. I know my family is still feeding him the best quality pellets, fruits, and veggies, but animals, especially parrots, need more than just sustenance. They need love. He's in the middle of the house in an oversized cage and gets attention from my family, not locked away in a tiny cage in some dark corner, but it's not enough. Whenever I have a 3-day weekend or a break I fly home and spend time with him. Last time, I almost cried after seeing how many pinfeathers he had. I freed them all from their sheath prisons and returned his head to fluff instead of spikes, but it just shows that I'm failing him.
He's only 8 years old, and I'll only be in the dorms for 2. As soon as I can, I'm getting a bird-friendly apartment and moving him down here. I'll still have a decade and a half to make up for it. He has to live to 25, at least. I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't.
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I think your link is broken! Your 'tiel sounds very sweet, though!
. I cant believe its been 5 years now since I got him. He is very sassy, super cuddly in the morning lol, he gets on my pillow next to my head and sleeps along with me 
