I had just gotten a beautiful bright yellow lutino. I had read countless books, and checked out numerous sites about cockatiels. I spent most of my money from my part time job on supplies for the bird. I was so excited when I had a cockatiel to call my own. I named him Twix, and we were so happy together. We hit it off right off the bat. If other family members tried to pet him or play with him he would run staright to me and climb up my shoulder. We loved eachother
One day I came home from school and went immeadiatly to Twix, like I always do. He was slumped in the corner of his cage leaning against the bars. I laughed because I thought he looked adorable. But then I took a closer look and saw that he had a couple long peices of my hair wrapped around his feet. He couldn't move or walk because of it.
I grabbed him out of his cage and freed his feet by using a pair of scissors. I thought he would be totaly fine after he got untangled. But he didn't move. I set him on my shoulder because he loves it up there. I thought it would make him feel better. But he rolled right off, he didn't even flap his wings to try and regain his balance. I was really worried at this point, and crying my eyes out. So I called the local vet. Turns out they're bird specialist was gone. So i drove to the next town over. It was about 30 minutes away.
When I got called in for Twix to see the vet the first words that came out of his mouth were "this bird is close to dying." My stomache fell to my feet. Not my Twix whom I've only had for 2 weeks. How can he die from being wrapped up in hair! Well then I learned he was malnurished. Basically he wasn't eating. The doctor said he could keep him over night and force feed him through a tube, but he has a better chance of dying than living. But I wanted to save my pet, so I left him there over night. The vet told me to call the next morning.
So I called, and they confirmed my fears. Twix had died early that morning. He was just too weak. I took the day off school and work. I was so sad. I kept asking myself how this could of happnened. I fed him seeds and he appeared to be eating them. I wanted to switch to pellets eventually, but the books I had read told me to wait to switch them until they're completely settled into their new home because they're had enough stress allready.
My mind kept drifting back to the breeder. Could she have done something wrong? Did she let him go too early. She must have if he couldn't eat adult food. He was just a baby. But it was a learning experience. Even though I lost a bird I really cared about, I'm not going to let this tragedy stop me from getting another bird to love. |
