After 6 weeks on his own, he became completely trusting and tame, the first tame budgie we'd had, and seeing how playful he was and how he adored mirrors and other birds, it was time for him to get a buddy of his own kind again - but a young one who now would follow his lead, rather than the set-in-their ways wild adults who live in the flight room upstairs.
So in came Frosty, who was adopted from an outside source just recently. Frosty is 6 weeks, and he was not handled at all until he came to live with us. Didn't matter, though - he took right after Sam. The two are now best friends and completely inseparable. Sam hasn't lost an ounce of his human love, though - rather, he became a perfect role model to teach Frosty to trust people, too! Now both are very tame and very sweet.
Sam and Frosty are but two of many birds we have, of course. Not counting the four budgies upstairs, or the seven doves or droves of finches, Sam also has three little baby siblings right now - two of whom, I believe are definitely little girls (thus not good candidates as lifelong companions for Sam lest we have inbreeding!) and the third of whom is too young to tell. In range of oldest to youngest, these three little fellas - all green, like their brother and their father - are Uno, Charlie, and Peanut - the last of whom is ten days behind his or her oldest sibling in the clutch and barely has opened his eyes while the other two are rapidly feathering.
And this family has one oddball, too - Sparky, a twelve day old ringneck dove, who dwarfs his pals by four or five times but wouldn't hurt a fly. Sparky of course has his own parents whom he returns to after playtime, as the budgie chicks do with their own, but several times each day everyone loves to hang out and cuddle with his smaller peers.
And the big kids aren't too big to visit them at these times, either.
Sam is too on the go and busy to spend too much time with his baby siblings, though. He loves them, but they cramp his style. He has things to chew, to chase, to explore! No time to snuggle.
But Frosty isn't quite so on-the-go. He still has a bit more nestling in him, and does enjoy an occasional cuddle with the kids, when keeping up with Sam becomes a tad too tiring. The kids do seem to love him just as much!
(pictures taken in the lap of my great grandmother, whom is 97 and adores all of our little feathered friends).
Storm & Sky
