A month back, we got a pair of Lutina lovebirds and lovingly named them “Sweety” and “Tweety.” Sweety seems to be a female to us and is gentler than Tweety most of the times. The decision to bring birds home was very impromptu. The kids and hubby really wanted a dog, but I was dead against it. My real concern was that I was just adjusting to a life without a baby and did not wish to go over the entire routine with a puppy. Another reason is where to leave the dog when we go away on trips or vacations. And, the most important reason, it really, really hurts when a dog dies. I just did not wish to put myself through that again. It will hurt with the other pets too, I guess.
So, the more manageable options seemed to be getting an aquarium or a rabbit. We were researching aquariums when we saw this pair of lovebirds. We brought them home! Then, we began googling and understanding their requirements, food habits etc. That is actually a wrong way. For those of you, who want to get birds, please check first, which ones are suitable for you and then get them.
So, we hang Sweety and Tweety in their cage in our large sitout. They are quite content chirping merrily. We bring them inside the house and prop them on our bookcase during nights so that mosquitoes won’t bite them outside. They are such quiet birds; it is amazing!
Gurdev gave them a bath, the very first week we got them home. They did not seem to like that much; they did not even know how to fluff their feathers properly. :). Also, Gurdev releases them out of the cage hoping that we would get more acquainted that way. But, they are a little scared of him and don’t seem ready to eat out of his hands just yet. Each one of us has a different bond with them. Gautam was very naughty and even now at times, he hassles them by driving his toy cars atop their cage. His shrill voice used to frighten them. But, now they are getting used to it. And, we are teaching him that they will not be his friends, which seems to be working too. Otherwise, they would leave their perch and go as far away as possible when they sensed that Gautam was coming near :).
With me, they are mostly not scared. I am harmless to them. I just speak to them sweetly, clean their trays, refill their food and water and haven’t tried handling them this far. It is cute to see Sweety and Tweety responding to their names by bringing their neck out and looking at you. They make different chirping sounds. There is one sound, which almost sounds like a laugh. Then, there is an alarmed chirp when they spot a squirrel or something or when Gautam troubles them (we always come to know). They also have this chirp when they are calling you. They call me early morning when I wake up. It is a call to put their cage outside :). I tell them, “Yeah, I am coming.” Sometimes, they sing. And, Gurdev plays these videos of other birds singing, and they just go nuts, chirping their hearts out :).
Each one of us spends our own time chatting with them. Gautam rushes after school to go and meet them. He is the one most concerned to bring them inside the house as soon as it is evening. Siddharth is in general nice to them. He also mostly stays out of their way, sometimes chatting with them.
I have tried feeding them fruits like banana, guava, apple, but they don’t seem to like to experiment. They just eat the bird food, they gave us at the pet shop. Most of which, they promptly drop, and drink loads of water. They are just almost 6 months old and really adorable.
It is actually a lot of fun just observing how they behave with each other. They cuddle each other’s necks. They will groom each other’s feathers. Gautam also says that they seem to kiss each other :). He means that they are sort of hugging each other, which they do. Sometimes, they quarrel too. I wonder, what they talk to each other, and what they think of us! It always intrigues me to want to find out what goes on in their brains behind their brilliant red eyes.
They are cute and already a part of our family! I was wrong, one gets really attached to birds too! I am!
Reminds me of my youth. For many years, my mom kept two such birds as well. We call them Agapornis, or dwarf-parrots. I didn’t know they were called lovebirds in English, but that’s really appropriate.
We’d let them out of their cage and they’d go and sit on people’s shoulders 🙂
Aaaah memories! No home is complete without a pair of lovebirds!
yeah I get attracted to BIRDS tooo and Attaached tooo 🙂 wink wink he he he he he
This reminds me when i was home in india we had rabbits at home , and two lovebirds too, I was crzy about animals as pet, Dogs tooo ..
I love the birds … really the ones that fly tooo 🙂
Bikram’s
I was never in favour of putting any birds in the cage, though I am OK with some one taking care of Rabbits, Ducks etc
ohhhh, soooooo lovely this story Rachna.
But Gautam seems frighten a lot the poor little birds, hehehe.
I almost saw the scene: the two birds trapped in the corner of the cage, all feathers trembling with fear and a scared look in both faces, while the terrible Gautam makes his scary noises outside, hehehhe.
You reminded me of a pet that I had loooooooooong ago. Was a monkey!! A little monkey!! He always were swinging through the house and yard. Mom said he was very polite. I remember he liked to hang up himself by the tail.
But one day, after watching my dad shave himself with a razor, he tried to imitate, without anyone seeing. And he died. So sad 🙁
@Bart Reminds you of your childhood? Nice to know that you had such interactive birds. Ours get frightened so easily. We were calling them African parrots till we came home and googled and got to know their real name :). Memories, of course !
@Bikramjit I love the ones that fly too :). I love dogs too, but maybe later we will keep them.
@BKChowla I understand what you are saying. But these ones are very commonly kept at home. Hopefully later, we will be able to leave them uncaged so that they will be able to fly around.
@David Oh, that’s so sad about the way the monkey died. Of course, monkeys imitate us so well. It really hurts when a pet dies. I still remember a childhood pet dog who was stolen by someone — so horrible :(. We searched for her like crazy. She was actually my cousin’s pet but felt like my own. And then much later, we had our own dog, a yorkshire terrier, who was loved like crazy, but he turned out to be a biter. We still stuck by him but had some terrible experiences in which each one of us was bitten by him. He died at the age of 10 years, but I still remember him fondly despite the sad times.
Nice lotus flower. 🙂
Birds are cute. 🙂 Intereaction with ur family members is interesting. 🙂
Hope they live for longer period of time with ur caring family. 🙂
i love birds…and love birds are very lovely too…i remember once a sparrow lost her way and entered in our room…and she met an acident with the revolving fan, and fell down…we nursed her for 2 days but died third day..it was a sad day for all us kids….since then i love them but door se…:)
The birds are so cute! I am sure tweety will start talking soon 😉
And yes, it takes no time to get attached to your pet. I have two pet dogs and they are the babies of the family. Sometimes I feel my parents love them more than me!
@Chandrika Thank you! The header pic was clicked by my husband. And, yes, I hope that they live a happy life.
@rohini One feels so sad when that happens. Maybe, you can have a pet when Neil grows up a little, if your family loves keeping a pet.
@Destiny’s child hehe. Dogs are so selfless in their love. They are great company too. I also want one. Let’s see when that can happen.
i think they are in love
@dr. antony :). They’d better be. They have only each other for company.
nice post
but i just thought what if i have to live like this ?
hope one day they will get freedom
@sm Valid question.
cuteeeeeeeeeee..but like bkc i feel sad they r in cage…and i feel happy that u replied without getting angry..cheers
@Ramesh I understand your point of view, perfectly. There is nothing to feel angry here :).
We used to have like 300 of these :-). My mom loves them 🙂
Good to learn about keeping birds from you, although you too are still learning. What would you do when you go out of town, would you be leaving it with somebody?
I think leaving it with someone could be risky, you never know what mistakes they might end up doing knowingly or unknowingly. I had seen fishes dying when left with some one for just a few days , and it is sad.
I remember leaving my Christmas tree for just2/3 days with my neighbour many years ago, only to find it dying when we came back.
We do have a dog, but it is ok, since we are living in an independent house with a watchman, we can leave our dog in his care, and everything is fine. But having a dog in an Apartment is a sure no no.
Nice reading about keeping different kinds of pets. Thanks for sharing.
@Raajii 300, wow!
@rama I am planning to leave them with a friend for my trip out of town. It really is not so difficult to care for them. They have to replenish food and water for the days that I am gone. It is way easier than leaving any other pet with anyone else. I am hoping that nothing would go wrong. That is the greatest stress while keeping a pet as you rightly pointed out. And, me too, my plants suffer too when out of town :(.