Dear Toby,
Oh how things have changed since you came along! I’ve loved birds since I was a little girl, but I never thought I’d be able to have one of my own. I was at a bit of a low point when we got you, struggling with some personal issues and I can’t say how much I needed a lift.
As unbearably cheesy as it sounds, I was lifted on your wings. Taming you gave me a whole new purpose and a reason to look forward to coming home at the end of a work day. Moreover, thinking about you made me happy any time of day. You were a unifying force of positivity for my husband and me as we worked together to make sure that you were happy, safe and comfortable. We discovered that we both loved planning your environment for maximum enrichment and spending time training you and cajoling you into being part of our flock.
I remember how scared you were when you first came home, and the utter joy I felt when you started to open up and relax. Discovering your sense of humor and your sass came shortly after, but also the realization that you felt very connected to us, and wouldn’t go anywhere that your flock didn’t want to go.
Now that you’re a very grown up girl you certainly have your own sense of self and what you’ll allow, but you’re also a good listener and so eager to learn. I love that you are calming down some and starting to perch on a finger for longer times, rather than landing and flitting off to your other important business.
I’d like to say that you’re a great big sister to Kelly, but since you tried to chew off her foot and pull out her feathers I really can’t go that far! I think she’s been good for you, and taught you loads of birdy stuff that you didn’t manage to learn at PetSmart, so I hope you keep trying to love her a bit more.
Above all I want to say thank you for bringing me light and joy. I have truly enjoyed these two years together and I look forward to many more! Thank you also for forgiving your “papa” and I for all our many mistakes, I’m sure we’ll come up with more every year 🙂
I’ve been following and reading your blog 🙂 And I love this letter to Toby! Did Kelly come from a different background so she knew more “birdy stuff” to pass onto Toby? My husband and I also have 2 girls budgies “Sunny” and “Cloud”. We adopted them from the local animal shelter July this year. They are 3 years old and they are lovely and smart 🙂
Thank you for reading! I’m glad you liked Toby’s letter 😊 Kelly came from a small breeder who hand-fed her, but she lived with her brothers and sisters and was exposed to all sort of other grown up budgies and other species of parrot. Before Kelly came home Toby had no idea how to make the motion to regurgitate, sounds gross, but it’s definitely essential bird knowledge when you have a crop to adjust! That’s so great that you adopted Sunny and Cloud!! I bet they keep your household very lively 😂Hopefully they get along better than my girls do?
Sunny and Cloud get along fine, as they have been living together since birth, as we were told. It very interesting to see they have their own personalities, and that they do get bossy from time to time. The good thing is they never actually hurt each other – they would at most quarrel loudly!
Whew, that’s great! If I had to do it over I would definitely have started with two at once.