STAR

STORY OF STAR

We once again visited Safari Select to see what birds they had for sale. We couldn't see any there which we wanted to get, so went on down to the shop at Select Garden & Pets. We noticed a very beautiful Crimson Rosella in the cage. I whistled to him and he answered me and came across to the wire on my side of the cage. I spoke to him for a while and then went on to get our seed requirements. He was still calling to me when I paid for the seed and left the shop.

On Saturday 16 October 1999 we needed some extra seed and decided to see what birds they had at Select Garden & Pets at the same time. As I walked into the shop, the Crimson Rosella we had seen some weeks before saw me and called to me. When I answered, he kept calling me. I enquired into his cost and availability and was told that he was a lone male who wouldn't settle with any females. He was fairly expensive and I couldn't get any reduction in his price, but as he was so beautiful, decided that we would like to get him. He was caught by one of the assistants and placed in a carry box. We decided on the way home that he should be called Star.

Star settles down

Star was a very friendly bird, and although he was between two and three years old, he did not bite and was not nervous. He was homed in with the Sun Conures and Barrabands as we felt that their cage was plenty large enough to accommodate five birds. Bearing in mind of course that they each had their personal flying time each day. If they did not have this, we would not have considered the move and would have looked at alternative accommodation for him.

He was very good at putting himself to bed, and always called whenever he saw me. Rosellas are not supposed to be housed with other birds because of their aggressive nature. We never ever saw that side of Star as he was always gentle, even when defending himself from aggressive advances by the Sun Conures.

When talking to him, he always showed interest and would sit and listen to anything and everything you said to him.

Tragedy strikes

Star fell ill on Thursday 22 December and died at 09:30 on 23 December 1999. The symptoms were very similar to those of the Psittacosis infected birds, and our vet suggested giving the same treatment to Star when she was consulted. She said that if there was no obvious improvement in a couple of days, then we should bring Star in to see her. As it happened, Star never made it, and deteriorated extremely fast. The Vet was not to know this and as she was 17 miles (27 kilometers) away, was trying to save another visit in such short succession. When we advised her that Star had died, she insisted on bringing the remains in for a verdict on the death. We were advised to wrap the body in a plastic to avoid any possibility of spreading infection, and to thorough was ands disinfect where necessary. She said that they had a collection that afternoon, but it would be after Christmas before any results would be available. The Vets autopsy report on 30 December stated that a ball of puss had lodged in the air passage and caused asphyxiation. They also found that he had E-Coli & Alpha-Haemolytic Streptococcus. They said that this was a very rare thing. We could only assume that one of the fruits given to eat had been infected with E-Coli bacteria, as we never left any uneaten fruits lying around because of the possibility of infection from bacteria.

We were all very distressed at this loss as Star had been just that. A STAR in every respect. We had all grown very much attached to him, even in just that short space of time.

Unfortunately, we never got as far as getting a photo of Star, so are unable to show what a beautiful example of the Crimson Rosella he was.

Thank you for reading our tragic story of Star. We do hope you will go on to read the stories of all our birds.

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