by Candi Delaar
Hi, I'm Candi, Kiwi's temporary adoptive Mom. I'm a nurse and while driving around the state for my work, I needed Parakeet food, so I stopped in at a pet store that I had never visited. Of course, I looked for birds since I have eight parrots at home, ranging in size from a Parakeet to a Macaw. Upon entering the store, I heard some "tweet-tweets" and headed for the back of the store to investigate. There were Canaries, a few Finches (with no glass enclosure to separate them from the public -- just right out there) and in a cage I wouldn't even put my small Senegal parrot in was the STRANGEST LOOKING BIRD I had EVER seen!!!
The note next to the cage revealed that "Kiwi" was a three and a half-year old male Eclectus, for sale for $900.00. The owner had kept Kiwi and a female together and apparently the female started plucking Kiwi. The owner then decided he could only keep ONE Eclectus, so poor Kiwi ended up in a store whose owner was NOT familiar with parrots. The pet store owner was a friend of Kiwi's owner and offered Kiwi for sale on commission as a favor. I asked the young girl working at the store to get Kiwi out for me, which she did with a stick that Kiwi lunged at, but he finally got on. She put him on the back of a chair, where I talked to him for a while and requested an "up,up" only to be met with a lunging, attacking beak!
OK, so he had NO toys, I bought one, hung it in his cage, and decided to report to my bird club about the injustice to this bird. NOW.... Kiwi did not even resemble an eclectus except for his candy-corn beak! His feathers (those that had not been plucked by his cage mate) were red, white, blue under his wings and on his legs, and his body was green with yellow "spots" and totally black feathers toward (and including) his tail. This was NOT an ordinary looking Eclectus! I emailed my bird club, and several members called the store and spoke with the owner, encouraging him to start letting Kiwi out to play, and to feed him properly.
Two days later, I walked in to find Kiwi playing on a Cockatiel
playstand! As usual, I was greeted by a lunging beak attack, so after ten
minutes or so, I decided "what the heck, let him bite me -- at least I'll be
able to see just what he wants to do, and maybe pick him up". So, with some
trepidation since I really don't like being bitten all THAT much, I presented
Kiwi with my hand for "up up" and he proceeded to immediately put his beak on my
finger, slightly turn his head, and caressing that finger ever so gently! His
little tongue just felt around my finger and he applied NO pressure at all.
Needless to say, that was it! Now I HAD to get Kiwi out of that situation.
However, due to physical, personal, and financial reasons, I KNEW I
could not keep Kiwi permanently. One of the members of my bird club had read my
email and looked at the photo that I sent and he really wanted Kiwi but couldn't
pick him up right away. There was one customer at the store, a dour looking
woman, who was spending a lot time with Kiwi, so I figured I could not wait any
longer. Kiwi was finally out of there, and going home with ME -- now much poorer
in cash but richer in spirit.
I'm a nurse, so I followed strict isolation techniques until I could get Kiwi's health test results. (I always isolate new birds for at least 4-6 weeks). Off to the vet we went, where every test known to man and bird was done, everything, including CBC, thyroid, gram stains, beak and feather, psittacosis, etc, etc, etc.. ALL the tests came back normal and/or negative, so at least Kiwi didn't have some awful disease that we knew of!! The lunging, attacking, biting Kiwi lived with me for around six weeks and never ONCE did he bite me!!! He LOVED being cuddled, picked up, played with ("tickle tongue, etc.), LOVED his veggies, fruit, and anything that I gave him!
His feathers were a mess when I got Kiwi....they felt GREASY!!! UGH!!! So, into the shower Kiwi went daily, without a peep of resistance. After about a week or so, his feathers no longer felt greasy so he was showered less frequently. Unfortunately, I knew I couldn't keep him, but would NOT give him to anyone other than a GOOD bird person! So, when the fellow in my club asked for him, I gave him to him (well, sold really because I needed to pay back the money as I really could not afford it...(thank goodness for charge cards!!)
"Wayne" is his new owner and he owns a nice bird store here in New Jersey. He also has a female eclectus (about five years old) who has started laying eggs, so he has kept Kiwi and the female next to each other in separate cages. As of this moment, however, the female doesn't really "like" him! Wayne assures me though that ALL his store employees ADORE Kiwi, as he really is the original "cuddle bug" and spends most of his day with one or another of the employees. I have also stopped in and visited Kiwi and will continue to do so whenever I can. Do I miss him? My heart ACHES with the pain of not being able to keep him. I ADORE that bird, however, sometimes in life we have to do what we don't want to do, and it was NOT possible for me to keep Kiwi at this time in my life. I miss him everyday and when (!) I win the lottery, I will "buy him back" if possible!!
So, there is the story of Kiwi, the Eclectus who didn't look at all like one! He is now well loved, properly fed, and given the excellent care that he deserves in his happy new home.
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| Kiwi's new coloring after nine months of good care. |
