young love for sale

I may have made a little mistake. As some of you may have seen in a video (I haven't put it on the web yet because it's over 100 MB, and I haven't gotten around to editing it.) Awii appears to be male. Some friends have told me that once their parakeet discovered what Awii discovered in that video, they couldn't let him out of the cage for ten minutes before he started humping on their shoulder. They bought him a female parakeet to relieve some of the stress, but the female was dead within a matter of weeks because the (extremely genki) male wouldn't give her a break to sleep... or even eat...

After assurance from the bird guy at the Shibuya Seibu pet store (top notch pet people! I know of no other shop in Tokyo that I would trust more than the old man and his younger helper who work at Seibu. If you are buying a bird, BUY IT AT SHIBUYA SEIBU!!!! they may be a little more expensive, but they are the healthiest you will find, and they are not just locked away in a cage in the back of the shop... they have human interaction many times a day on a regular basis. There is no need to "train" them to let you touch them. I have been to over 100 pet shops in Tokyo, and nothing comes close to the Shibuya Seibu)

Anyway, after some reassurance that the male humping the female to death is unusual, I wound up buying (they are also very good salesmen at the Shibuya Seibu) a (70% sure it's female) baby cockateil. She has yet to be named... any suggestions are welcome.

So what was the mistake? Well, the excuse I used to justify spending 20,000 yen on another bird is that Awii needs a woman. Maybe they'll have some babies, and I can make a few bucks off of them (though not more than the female cost). The mistake is that when I got Tashya(?) home, I began to think that Awii is female. From the minute Awii saw the new bird, he wouldn't even let me touch him anymore. When I brought Awii home, Guri hated Awii, but Guri was not angry at me. But this... only a female can be capable of such irrational jealousy.

I may have just figured out her name! You should all feel special that you were involved in her naming! Jelly. It sounds silly I guess, but I do have an acquaintance named Jelly who is quite unique, and the name doesn't sound too extraordinary to me. It is a bird, so there is not really any fear of the being teased by the other birds because of her name. Other names I have considered include Dali, Dari, Darma (I have a thing for Dahrma on Greg & Dahrma, though I felt no attraction to the part she played in Keeping the Faith), Tashya, and Shyata.

In the course of writing this, I have built up hope that the two will get along. Awii has let me massage his head, he has answered me when I make bird sounds to him, and even better yet, they have exchanged bird sounds with each other.

The new chick is not old enough yet to fulfill his needs, and I'm told to keep her in a separate cage fro a few weeks, but so long as they don't fight and kill each other when I put her in the cage I'm happy. Oh wait!!! Just ten seconds ago Awii attacked the new bird so I had to grab him and throw him across the room. Maybe that will teach him.

As for the new bird... Dang she is soft! She is much more adjusted than Awii was when I brought him home. Awii did not move for two days. I thought he had brain damage. The new bird has tried to fly (still a little young) and whn I place her away from me, she always returns to my shoulder. She has no fear of me massaging her chin, and has even started grooming my ear hairs. She was the one bird in the batch of babies at the shop that the pet guy was pretty sure is a female, but that is not enough to make me buy her. What made up my mind though, was that when he opened the cage, and held his hand out, she was the only one to run to the door. If the bird is already used to humans, it just means less work for me, and in the few hours she has been here, I see that she was a great choice. I'm sure she is still pretty stressed out, but she doesn't seem to have any problem with a new person.

A few hours later They both seem to be getting along great. Awii is over his little jealousy spat, and where he used to follow me around the apartment, now he follows the new bird around the apartment. The new bird doesn't go many places herself, but if I pick her up and put her someplace else, Awii is sure to follow.

Also I have ruled out "Jelly" as a name. It sounds pretty stupid.