"I want to have a bird for my birthday."
"Did you know birds eat nuts?"
"I want a rainbow bird."
After reading an article about love birds and parakeets to my girl sometime late last year, my girl can't stop reminding us about her wish to have a new pet -- a pet bird for her birthday.
We tried to discourage the girl from getting another pet until such time that she can take care of the animals on her own. We already have a rabbit and a trio of fish and the kids seldom check on them. Caring for these pets add to the daily chores so we always explain that it's not that simple to have a pet. End of story.
Her birthday has passed and no mention of any birds. Then Chinese New Year came around, and if you've read about our recent Chinatown visit, you may have guessed what happened next -- we got birds!
Our walk through the bustling Ongpin street during the spring festival turned out to be "bird hunting" for the kids -- there were several peddlers of these brightly colored chicks and quails, and ducklings too! They got their picks and we went home with 5 new tweeting pets.
Friends, meet Max, the duckling. He/she enjoys wading in the puddle, and eats rice in water.
And here are the baby quail birds -- we call them by their color. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue. They all loved to be cupped. We took turns feeding them and made them cozy.
Sadly, they were all too young and fragile to fend for themselves. All five did not last a week! :(
The kids were not attached to the birds yet so they did not get too affected when the quail left one after the other. We simply told them they were too young and weak. We did regret buying these poor baby quails. Never again.
So here are our pets today:
Max survived and is chirping ever so loudly while taking his daily walk.
If you've been reading my blog since 2010, you would probably remember our little white bunny Skyler. We got this fur ball two summers ago with the brown one named Renee.
Well, she's not so little anymore... look at her now, bigger and heavier than a basketball! This shot was taken with the visitor from the girl's class "mascot".
And who can ever forget our fish shocker... the shark that ate the smaller shark.
This fella survived after eating it's partner up there. One year later, it grew twice it's original size, now stronger, and is swimming in a bigger tank.
I learned from a reader it may be an iridescent shark, and not a hammer head as it was identified by the pet shop. It looks like it because it's skin has turned silver now. The shark still cohabitates with the original pair of inconspicuous algae eaters.
There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Until the next pet... (maybe not!)
Do you have pets?
Meet our pets, past and present:
Our first family pet - Remembering Sushi
Bunnies and more - Pets and Kids, part 1
Shocking cannibal shark - Shark Tales
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