Little Scooter was one of my pet cockatiels. He was the third to hatch from the first clutch of my parent cockatiels. His Mama was Cockatiel Dundee and his father Uncle Buck, both were normal grays as was little Scooter. Scooter was born with a handicap-both of his legs were malformed. They just stuck out from both sides of his body the right one rigid. The left one did bend slightly in the middle. He was very small for his age I think due to the fact that the parents did not feed him and by the time I caught on to what was happening his growth had already been stunted. I began feeding and caring for him giving him a chance for life as he seemed to struggle hard even with his handicap. I had already began to plan out his own special cage structured with his handicap in mind, built so he could get around as much on his own and with some help from me be able to live as much of a normal cockatiels life as he could. I loved the sweet little guy, the way his shining eyes would look up at me with a smile in them and on his beak..eager for me to take him in hand for his feeding and "love time.! Of course when in the nest he had to do as baby cockatiels do and join his clutch mates in playing the "I am a snake game" by hissing and rocking from side to side! He was growing with a full set of feathers coming in all over..just small in stature for his age. By the time I realized that his Mom and his clutch mates were picking at him & picking out his feathers he had lost a lot of feathers! I moved him to his own little cage. He never ate much,,so never really got his crop full. But he would fall asleep and sleep in my lap or up on my chest until I would have to do something and place him in his cage. He had become eager to play and to join his now larger clutch mates at play in the big cage. Just 3 days before his passing he spent lots of supervised time with his mates playing..mostly in the seed bowl! He loved to mimic Dad by bobbing his head in the water bowl and in the seed bowl-smiling with his bright little eyes-"look at me, just like Dad!" He did not want to eat at all the afternoon, evening, and night of the 13th. No matter how hard I tried he would only take a few drops of food. By bedtime he was very feeble and listless. On the next day the 14th. he could not or would not take in any food at all. That evening he gave up the fight for life and passed away at 8:50 PM on the 14th. He will leave a void in my life and will always be remembered and loved. If you are not familiar with the cockatiels these little birds require interaction on a daily basis and they are capable of expressing love and acknowledging love in return. They each have their own distinct little personality.
Little Scooter was one of my pet cockatiels. He was the third to hatch from the first clutch of my parent cockatiels. His Mama was Cockatiel Dundee and his father Uncle Buck, both were normal grays as was little Scooter. Scooter was born with a handicap-both of his legs were malformed. They just stuck out from both sides of his body the right one rigid. The left one did bend slightly in the middle. He was very small for his age I think due to the fact that the parents did not feed him and by the time I caught on to what was happening his growth had already been stunted. I began feeding and caring for him giving him a chance for life as he seemed to struggle hard even with his handicap. I had already began to plan out his own special cage structured with his handicap in mind, built so he could get around as much on his own and with some help from me be able to live as much of a normal cockatiels life as he could. I loved the sweet little guy, the way his shining eyes would look up at me with a smile in them and on his beak..eager for me to take him in hand for his feeding and "love time.! Of course when in the nest he had to do as baby cockatiels do and join his clutch mates in playing the "I am a snake game" by hissing and rocking from side to side! He was growing with a full set of feathers coming in all over..just small in stature for his age. By the time I realized that his Mom and his clutch mates were picking at him & picking out his feathers he had lost a lot of feathers! I moved him to his own little cage. He never ate much,,so never really got his crop full. But he would fall asleep and sleep in my lap or up on my chest until I would have to do something and place him in his cage. He had become eager to play and to join his now larger clutch mates at play in the big cage. Just 3 days before his passing he spent lots of supervised time with his mates playing..mostly in the seed bowl! He loved to mimic Dad by bobbing his head in the water bowl and in the seed bowl-smiling with his bright little eyes-"look at me, just like Dad!" He did not want to eat at all the afternoon, evening, and night of the 13th. No matter how hard I tried he would only take a few drops of food. By bedtime he was very feeble and listless. On the next day the 14th. he could not or would not take in any food at all. That evening he gave up the fight for life and passed away at 8:50 PM on the 14th. He will leave a void in my life and will always be remembered and loved. If you are not familiar with the cockatiels these little birds require interaction on a daily basis and they are capable of expressing love and acknowledging love in return. They each have their own distinct little personality.
