Thunder

STORY OF THUNDER

Thunder was one of a pair of Barraband parakeets given to me by my eldest daughter for my birthday. On 28 October 1999, I arrived home from work to be told that I should go into the lounge as there was a surprise in there for me. My daughter, Corrine reached down beside her chair and brought out a small pet carry box. My jaw just dropped, as she had asked me what I wanted for my birthday, just a few days before, and jokingly I had said "A parrot would be nice". The box told me that she had bought me a parrot. I had a large clean cage which was in storage, so took that out and then opened the box to let the bird out. Imagine my shock, I had a pair of parrots, not just one. They were beautiful. I let them both out into their new home. They were quite stressed and made crying sounds until I backed far enough away from the cage. This was only to be expected as they were in a totally alien environment. I could not believe that my daughter had bought them, as they were quite expensive at the time.

Thunder gets his name

I allowed them to settle into the cage and then put in seed and water, so they could see where it was going. The male was making rather a din, so I decided there and then that he would be called Thunder, and his wife would be called Lightning. She seemed to just go with him as a natural pair.

Sickness strikes

It was not even three weeks later when both birds went down with what looked like a terrible cold. They had difficulty breathing and were wheezing horribly, with fluid coming out of Lightning's one nostril. I immediately looked up Avian vets in my latest Parrot magazine, as my regular Avian vet was away on holiday. I had got in late and it was just dark. He was over an hour and a half drive from us, and insisted on me bringing both birds as soon as possible. I was able to catch both birds very easily as they did not make any move to escape. I put them both into the box in which they had been presented to me in. When we arrived at the Vet's surgery, he took down some particulars, and then asked if he could see one of the birds. As Lightning was the most ill of the two, I grabbed hold of her and was promptly bitten in several places. The vet looked at her and pronounced that she appeared to have Psittacosis. He gave her and Thunder an injection each and prescribed some medicine, which he gave to me. I was told to give it to them three times a day and report back to him in a week. He then requested his fee and saw us out the door. His whole attitude put me off, and I decided that I would find and alternative vet in future as a standby.

Looking on the internet, I found that I could contract the disease merely from handling the birds, and more especially as I had been bitten. The information gained from the internet sites was both useful and frightening. The vet we saw never explained any of this to us, despite the fact that he was a very well known Avian vet of good standing. This put me off him altogether!

Please read the story on Lightning to find out more on her.

Thunder was extremely ill and was put into quarantine, together with Lightning, well away from all the other birds. We had to feed them on their own, and disinfect all their items as well as ourselves every time we had contact with them. We made a point of keeping all seed isolated from theirs too. Special towels were used for holding them and the medicine syringes were kept with the medicine away from any items we used. These were all washed in sterile solution afterwards. At one stage, we thought that we would loose him and our regular vet was back from holiday, but not on duty, but she agreed to see us. She advised on leaving the bird at home, but bringing in a sample of the droppings. We saw her and she confirmed that it was indeed Psittacosis. She said that the reason she did not want the birds brought in was that the stress would only make the bird weaker and allow the illness to take stronger hold. She requested that I make sure that we changed all cage material regularly and avoided breathing in dust from feathers or droppings, as well as avoiding being bitten as we could then contract the disease. When I advised her that I had been bitten some days before, she insisted that I see my doctor as soon as possible. I did that and was tested negative, although Corrine did contract the disease and became very ill from it, despite being treated. She has made a full recovery now. What a difference in the way everything was handled by our regular vet.

It was a long hard slog before we had Thunder fit and well. We waited the required free period after the illness passed before putting Thunder back into his regular cage in proximity of the other birds. His hospital cage was kept for other sick birds, as they were not the first two.

Thunder settles down

After his illness, Thunder became a very enjoyable bird to watch and listen to. He had chosen Aileen as his favourite person, and showed this by the way he reacted.

He is very good at copying computerized game sounds, and can get them to sound almost like the original. He is no longer nervous, and no longer cries if you hold him in a towel. He enjoys his flying sessions and plays well on the ropes and toys we have set up for all the birds.

Thunder gets a new mate

Thunder was not very keen on his new mate when he was introduced to her. He avoided her as much as possible, and made a point of aggravating her and picking on her when she was near. She was well matched for him and would take no bullying from any bird. It took a few months before she accepted him and he her. Now they get on almost as well as he did with Lightning. She is still not his perfect mate, even though she is a soft affectionate and friendly bird.

Thanks for reading Thunder's story. Please do read our other birds' stories.

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