STORY OF BLUEY
We were in the area and decided to pop in to Safari Select and see what birds they had in, as we just love looking at all the different species. It is also lovely to take note of the different personalities and colourings of birds of the same species. This experience has taught us a lot when looking for a new addition to our family.
It was Sunday 06 February 2000. In one of the cages was the most beautiful Blue Headed Pionus we had ever seen. At the time, we had never seen one of these birds and had to ask what species she was. She came across to the front of the cage to Aileen as if to say, "You really want to buy me. Go on; buy me!" And, of course, we fell for it. She was the most expensive bird we had considered up until then, although, based on retail prices, she was still cheep. We were told that she was hand reared, and the previous owner had brought her in because she had taken to nipping everyone. When asking how old she was about two years old. This did not worry us, and we decided to get her. She was caught and placed into a carry box for us to take her back home in.
We took her down to Select Garden & Pet and bought a new cage for her to sleep in, and then went home. She was the talk of the shop. Everyone commented that they had never seen such a pretty Pionus before.
After assembling the cage, she was let out of the carry box into the cage. She seemed to accept the cage and after her quarantine period had passed, we let her out for a fly around. She is extremely tame and followed Aileen everywhere. She settled so well that we allowed her to stay out of the cage all day, and only put her back when it was bed time. This was obviously something her previous keeper had also done as she was quite at home with the arrangement. She always flew to Aileen to spend time with her and then returned to her cage. One evening, she refused to go to bed, so I put my hands round her wings and body and picked her up and put her through the door. There was a lot of objective noises from her at the indignity placed on her, but it was the only time we ever had to physically pick her up. Whoever had her before had obviously fed her only on junk food, and she refused to eat from the food in her cage. She was happy to eat from a plate containing the same food we were having for our meal, but then she also wanted crisps and avocado pear, which was definitely not on. One of the picture show her trying to get at the crisps in the bag.
Bluey gets a mate
It was almost three months later when we bought Huey as a mate for Bluey. She settled with him almost immediately, but we now had a situation where he could not be left out all day. He was still a baby and required lots of supervision. This meant that Bluey now had her movements restricted. She was not all that happy with this and although she had her new mate, still wanted to be out all day. It took some time for her to settle down, but is now very happy with her lot. She is also very protective of Huey, and only allows certain people to touch him. If you are not one of the chosen few, you get the short as well as the long end of her beak.
Bluey's flock members
She has some favourites and some dislikes. I am one of her favourites, as is Luzanne, our youngest daughter, with Aileen being her most favourite. I would say that her most unfavourite person has to be our eldest daughter Corrine. If Corrine approaches her cage, she will show her displeasure by screaming at Corrine or going for her. If close enough to touch, she will bite Corrine. If Corrine tries to touch her or her mate, she will actually make a rather vicious attack at Corrine. We have tried to get her to change, but she has not. Bluey is