Even things I used to have no interest in.
For example: conures.
Conures are messy, extremely loud, and they engage in self-destructive behaviors if you don’t give them enough attention. (Conures: the original emo kids.)
So why would anyone want to own one?
…maybe because they’re the most intelligent animal I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around?
I’m not kidding. These things are smart. Never, ever underestimate the intelligence of a conure. I don’t treat them like I treat most birds; I treat them like I’d treat a small child. And you know what? They respond to it.
Recently I was cleaning cages and I had to get a conure from one cage to the next. So I opened up both cage doors, and told him to go over to the other cage. He stepped up to the edge of his cage and looked at me, as if to ask if it that was really what I wanted him to do. I assured him that it was, so he walked calmly over to the other cage and stepped inside.
I dare you to find another domestic animal that will do this when it has not been trained and/or there is no food involved. Go on; I’ll wait.
This is my favorite kind– the Green Cheek Conure:
They tend to be (a little) quieter than most kinds, and they’re also little clowns. They warm up to you nice and quick and soon they’ll run up to you and throw themselves to the ground and roll over and do all sorts of silly things because they want to play with you.
We have one at work whom I have nicknamed “Zero”– not sure why, the name just seemed to fit. Zero is a supersmart goofball who will jam his head between the cage bars and demand head-scratches if you approach him. He loves head-scratches. He also loves keys, belly rubs, and playing tug-of-war. He was sold recently, and I was depressed for like a week because he was my buddy and I’d always sneak away and play with him. Then, yesterday, lo and behold, he’d been RETURNED! …for some unfathomable reason. I’m happy that my buddy is back but with it is the urge to smuggle him under my trenchcoat and take him home with me. Bad, bad Pike! Bad! *thwaps self on the head with a rolled up newspaper*
I know, I want a loud and messy bird. Am I insane, or what?
I also want a Jackson’s Chameleon, because they are super sweet:
And now I want a Russian Dwarf Hamster. This is a species that is normally Evil Without Fail, but once a year or so you find one that actually is halfway-friendly and we have one of those in stock right now and I want it so bad.
And don’t get me started on the kittens that the Humane Society brings in to display. Just… just… I… I’m going to go somewhere far away where I don’t have to look at all the cute fuzzy/feathery/scaly things.
But at least I’ll always have my faithful (if slightly psychotic) guinea pig, Captain Nemo:
Dagnabbit, Pike, you’re not supposed to make ME want birds, either! *flail*
SSH doesn’t like it when I go to the pet store. He knows I’m not going to bring anything home, but it takes me hours to get out of there, because I must stop and talk to the birds, and the ferrets, and don’t even get me started on the rescue kitties…
My mom’s been keeping her eye on a kitten in an adoption center. She recently had to go on antibiotics for something or other, and since we already have one cat and money and time are both tight already we’ve both been trying to tell ourselves we shouldn’t.
I just got a text reporting that there is a small black fuzzball at home with my mother.
The only bird you should never EVER get, no matter HOW damn cute is the Quaker parrot. I got an adorably fluffy baby who turned into the psycho demon from hell even though I had the right cage, fed her loads of fresh food, gave her so many toys and spent hours talking to her….
She bit and drew blood, attacked anyone near– and swooped to kill (well, we thought she would) anyone who was dumb enough to come near her when she got out of her cage for exercise and threatened the cats enough that they DETOURED around her cage.
Oh, and the one noise she learned… a damaged grinding squeal of a dying transmission she heard ONCE outside the house. All those hours spent coaxing her to say her name, or anything else? HA!
::shudder:: When I moved, she went to a new home as Quakers are illegal here in CA… the man knew what she was like, but I still shudder and think that one day I will open the door and she’ll be there… looking up at me…. and will make a demonic cackle.
I could never work at a pet shop, Pike! You have to have such will power 🙂 Every time I’ve said “Hey, let’s go look at the cute animals at the shelter!” I’ve walked out with a new pet. It’s like a disease!
I’ve never wanted a bird though, they always seemed like too much trouble for not much return… not enough cuddles for me. but you’ve got me thinking that maybe they aren’t so boring after all! 🙂
My mother has a conure, I’m not a fan, but I think that is about 60% due to the fact that it hates me, with a passion that burns hotter than 1000 hot burning things. My grandmother also has a conure, he is better… but I think birds have something against me. Growing up I had a guinea pig, some brown dwarf hamsters( lots of those) some green anolies( I quickly learned to steer clear of reptiles, as I kill them) and of course cats and dogs….. I plan on sticking with cats and dogs in the future.
@Nyte
lol that’s a funny horror story.
Rats, apparently, make better Pets than Hamsters or Mice. We had a couple of Hamsters (who left us for that big, Hamster wheel in the sky) but I can’t convince the wife to let my son have a Rat. Not yet. Maybe when he’s a teenager…which is in just 3 short years. Yeesh. How did he grow up so fast???