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| Name: |
Jasper
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Age: |
Two years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Cockatiel
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| Home: |
Dayton, Ohio, USA
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Jasper's
life started out at a hoarder's house in Fort Wayne, Indiana. And
of course, with a hoarder, birds don't get taken very good care of. But he
was lucky to end up at a bird sanctuary in Ohio when he was about a year
old, because that's where I found him. One day I stopped in that sanctuary
just to see what it was about, and fell in love with all the birds that
lived there. I've always been a cockatiel person. This is because there
was one in my grandmother's nursing home when I was young that you could
wolf whistle to, and he would put up his crest and whistle back. Seeing as
I couldn't have a bigger, louder bird in my house and I loved cockatiels,
it was a cockatiel I would end up with.
The day came where I was to pick one out, as there were at least 40
cockatiels at the sanctuary. "Why don't you take this one, he's only about
a year and a half old," the owner suggested. He looked over as if to have
understood that he was about to get toweled. She took him out and handed
him to one of her employees so they could both clip his wings and trim his
nails. After they were done, they let him walk around on the table and
told me to talk to him so he could get to know me. Jasper just wasn't
going to have any of this table business and tried to fly off. He landed
on the ground of course. The employee picked him up because I was afraid
to hurt him. But soon he jumped off the table again and I just went ahead
and picked him up. Jasper bit me right between the skin and the fingernail
as hard as he could. It hurt! But of course I forgave him. At this point,
the owner of the sanctuary put him in a towel for me to hold him and talk
to him that way. As I talked to him, he'd let out a few chirps here and
there. Jasper was adorable. The woman told me I could take him home
tomorrow, she wanted me to go home and get the cage set up.
The next day, I spent some time volunteering at the sanctuary, then
decided to go home about noon with him. I talked to him while at the
sanctuary some more, and decided his name. Then, into my car he went. He
was chirping all the way, not too sure what to think of the car ride. He
wasn't sure what to think of his new home either. He was all by himself
and had all the space he wanted. Jasper was a quiet little bird, and it
took me a long time to get him to start eating. Very cute, he was. I loved
him to death. Jasper would always cock his head to the side when he was
talked to, and eventually started to recognize his name and does to this day.
He was soon joined by an elderly cockatiel named Sunny who was given to me
so that I could give him love and care before it was his time to go. The
two became friends instantly. Later, I brought in another cockatiel. A
female who I named Starla. This is when Jasper started his singing career.
Out of the blue, Jasper put out his wings and has a couple different songs
that he sings as he goes back and forth, one end of the perch to the
other. Starla dances going foot to foot as well. The two never get along
when next to each other, but they're quite the characters. Jasper also
likes to mimic my alarm at about 7:15 am. He's the easiest one of the
three to photograph, because he looks at me when I say his name. He's a
stubborn little guy when it comes to learning to step up, but he's spoiled
rotten all the same. I love my Jasper, and I always will!
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Talk about today's pet in Pet Talk!
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