Buggers

by Peggy
(Richmond CA)

I purchased Buggers in May of 09. He was 11mo old at the time and had been at the pet shop for 1yr before I purchased him. I was reluctant about paying such a hefty price for him.(over 700) I asked the manager if he would lower the price considering he had been in the shop for over 1yr and he did because they wanted to find him a home considering thatg he had been in the store for so long. Before I made the decision to buy him I looked at other birds there. A smaller conure and some other colorful birs. What drew me to 'Buggers' was his friendliness. I watched him correspond with the manager who had developed a very close relationship with him to the point that he would flip him on his back and stroke him and he wouldn't bite but just relax and allow the manager sto stroke his chest. At the time of purchase he said 'hi'. When we got him home he didn't say 'hi' and bit us altho friendly in the store, but we quickly came to the conclusion that he was just missing the manager and his old home. He eventually warmed up to us again like he did in the store.

I soon began to be concerned because we were going away for a 2week vacation and I was worried that the bond that we just developed would be broken. I read horror stories on the internet about birds being left home while their owners went on vacation and the came back home and their bird hated and bit them upon their return. When we went on vacation I worried about him doing this to us so I called and left messages for him to hear my voice via answering machine. We returned after two weeks and he was just fine. It didn't take long for him to warm up to us and was happy to see his family back at home.


I taught him varies phrases. He says, 'hi pretty bird' when we walk thru the door, calls me by my sons name when he wants my attention, says Jehovah, 'hey Boogie Boogie' and rocks back and forth dancing while he says this. He cocks his head and says, 'what are you doing 'when he wants to know what I'm doing. All the phrases he says appropriately, not randomly. He makes the sexy whistle, says hi, copies a human sneeze etc. He is a very affectionate bird, loves to cuddle and when we stick our hand out he hops on. He is quite mischevious and I have to use the word 'no' ,at times,which he knows the meaning of and stops his mischevious behavior upon hearing 'no'. He requires a lot of time and attention and doesn't like me to leave room where I keep him perched on my dresser in a wooden play yard by day and his cage in the front room by night. He has a favorite toy that he affectionaly sleeps close by at night.

If you don't have a lot of time to devote this bird I don't recommend you owning one because they are very demanding and require a lot of attention and human contact.

I affectionately named him 'Booger' which I came up with after watching his funny antics. His name suits him to the tee because he is quite a Bugger!