OkcPets Magazine January 2021

16 OKC Pets • January/February 2021 a Lot of Fun A Little Bird , I t was an overcast, chilly day in late Septem- ber when a tiny yellow bird landed next to a teacher on the playground at Riverfield Country Day School, which is also home to peacocks and various barnyard animals. The teacher leaned over, and the bright yellow bird let her pick it up and carry it inside. After speaking with fifth grade teacher Elle Fowler, the bird was put into a butterfly enclo- sure for safekeeping. “We put her in a butterfly house, a tempo- rary little thing so she could get warm because it was cold and rainy outside. She was bright yellow, so we were like, this is definitely a pet bird,” Elle said. On the way home from school, she and her daughter Evelyn, a fifth grader at Riverfield, stopped at a store for supplies. “We ended up stopping by PetSmart and buying the only birdcage they still had … it was the display cage,” Elle recalled. “As we were standing in the checkout line, Evelyn told the lady the story of how we found it at the playground, and we were basically fostering it or adopting it if we couldn’t find its owner. So the lady gave us a discount. We brought her home and got her all set up.” Initially, mother and daughter believed the bird to be a canary because of its bright yellow coloring. After consulting online resources and Facebook groups, they discovered the bird was a special kind of budgie or parakeet called a lutino. Elle also searched missing pet groups to see if anyone was missing an all-yellow parakeet, but no one was looking for a bird like the one they found. “We had lots of questions, and we took her to the vet just to make sure she was OK and learn more about her,” Elle said. The family took their new bird to Dr. Paul Welch, DVM and owner at Forest Trails Animal Hospital, who said the bird could have been out in the wild for a couple of reasons. “I’ve known of people who just say, ‘I’m kind of tired of this parakeet and go be free,’ and they let them out the door. Now that’s not a great idea any more than letting a dog loose in the country because these poor guys don’t really know how to go out and make a living. They are used to being provided for,” Welch cautioned. “Sometimes they will just escape. A lot of times they are being taken care of by kids. The win- dow gets left opened, or the door gets opened, and out they go.” When this happens, Welch said the birds will seek out humans because they associate them with food. “Usually, the bird is just thrilled to be back in the land of luxury, being fed and watered every day,” Welch said of escaped birds. “They adapt well to a new family.” As far as everyday care and veterinary respon- sibility, Welch said they are a lower maintenance pet. “They are a very simple pet; they are very nice birds, not big and flamboyant but very, very pleasant,” Welch described. “They are not big, and they don’t take much room. They aren’t loud. They really are nice for the whole family.” Parakeets need a cage and do well on the seed parakeet diet sold in pet stores, Welch said. The birds can live for 10 to 12 years, but the average lifespan is closer to seven or eight years. They also do not need annual veterinary visits or vaccines, but he recommends a vet visit if the pet owner feels something is not going well or is concerning. Welch also advises clipping the wings, which is something that can be done by a veterinarian or the owner, depending on their comfort level. “A lot of times I will recommend clipping the wings, and that is just a little haircut, trimming the feathers. They grow back in about six to eight months, so it’s just truly a haircut,” Welch added. “But that will sometimes make them a little more dependent on you so they can’t just fly around the house and land on a curtain rod The Joys of Parakeet Ownership WRITTEN BY: Lauren Cavagnolo