lan@bucsb.UUCP (Larry Nathanson) (01/28/88)
I have a BeBe parrot at home. I am a freshman, at Boston Univ, and
from what I hear, the bird is pining away for me.
In the past, I was never away for more than 4 weeks at a time. But now,
of course, I'm away most of the time.
The bird has been kept in my room for about 6 of its (8-9) years. And for the
last six, I was the only one giving it attention. At home, they say they
try to give her attenion, but I'm sure it's not much.
Even though I was just home (she seemed fine) from what I'm told, she's
"depressed" again. BU has a strict no pets policy, and as a freshman, I
have to be in the dorms.
1) Any suggestions on what to do??
2) Is this really bad for the bird?
3) on an aside: what is the life expectancy of BeBe parrot?
Thanks a lot..gss@edsdrd.UUCP (Gary Schiltz) (01/30/88)
In article <1440@bucsb.UUCP>, lan@bucsb.UUCP writes: > I have a BeBe parrot at home. I am a freshman, at Boston Univ, and > from what I hear, the bird is pining away for me. > In the past, I was never away for more than 4 weeks at a time. But now, > of course, I'm away most of the time. ... > Even though I was just home (she seemed fine) from what I'm told, she's > "depressed" again. BU has a strict no pets policy, and as a freshman, I > have to be in the dorms. ... > 2) Is this really bad for the bird? I don't know about parrots, but my wife had a Cockatiel when we first met. Any time we were away for a long weekend, when we returned, the Cockatiel would be extremely agitated and seemed very much in need of attention. Of course, there was no one at home while we were away whereas your parrot has other family members for company. Still, it probably is hard for your bird not having you around. > 1) Any suggestions on what to do?? Assuming your bird does need you around (or vice versa), there are a number of things you might try. If you need to live in the dorm, you might try finding someone else close by who has birds of his/her own to "bird-sit" your parrot. Then you could visit until you are a sophomore and allowed to move out of the dorm. I'm not sure if you want to live in the dorm, but if not, have you gone to the university administration to ask for an exception? After all, if you had children instead of a parrot, they would probably waive the freshman dorm rule (of course, non- "bird people" probably see more of a difference there than "bird people" would). In any event, the gist of what I'm saying is that it isn't right for an arbitrary rule to keep someone and his/her friend (human or otherwise) apart. What you do to change/avoid the rule is up to you, but if no one stands up against rules they think are wrong, they'll never get changed. I hope this helps; good luck! -- Gary S. Schiltz - EDS R & D "Have bird will watch ..." USENET: ... {ihnp4!mibte,cbosgd!edstb}!edsdrd!gss