Goodbye Pipsqueak. We will miss you very much

My lovebird, Pipsqueak, died some time during the night. Writing a tribute to my lost pets is a way I have found to deal with my grief.

I first saw Pipsqueak in the “sick room” of a local pet shop. Pipsqueak had been injured terribly. I was told that he had been attacked by other lovebirds. The top of his head and his neck were covered with large wounds, and he had a lot of feathers missing. I took Pipsqueak home to help him recuperate and make him a member of the family.

I had another lovebird at the time named Sunshine. After a long period of introduction is separate cages nearby, Pipsqueak and Sunshine got to be good friends and I could trust them together in the same cage.Lovebirds, despite the name, can be very violent towards other birds that they didn’t grow up with.

Soon, Sunshine was tending Pipsqueak’s wounds, nibbling off the edges of the healing scabs. They were a very sweet couple together. Sadly, Pipsqueak outlived Sunshine all too soon, and he was alone in a cage.

Then, Pipsqueak found out how to open his cage door, and he would go next door to the parakeet cage to let himself in. He just enjoyed being with the parakeets, and behaved himself most of the time. Sometimes, he would chase the parakeets around and pull their tails and try to bite their feet. So, I kept having to put him back next door in a cage by himself.

But, he kept going to visit the parakeets, and I would keep an eye on him and let him visit with them as long as he behaved himself. Eventually, he got to be special friends with Shelly, one of the parakeets. I watched them together a lot, and then decided that they could live together in Pipsqueak’s cage. Pipsqueak never acted aggressive towards Shelly.

In the last few months, I’ve been blogging about Pipsqueak and Shelly deciding to start a family. With lovebirds, you can’t tell if they are male or female, but, after seeing Pipsqueak and Shelly mating, I knew for sure that Pipsqueak was a boy.

Shelly started laying eggs, and Pipsqueak was always at her side watching over her.

But, then I started noticing two sizes of eggs, one size in Shelly’s food bowl where she laid her eggs, and slightly larger ones around the cage. Eventually, my hubby decided that Pipsqueak and Shelly were both girls.

After a while, I had to agree with him. There were too many eggs, more than one bird could lay. For some reason or another, two girl birds fell in love, and their hormones got them both to start laying eggs at the same time.

I was wondering how all those eggs could come out of those little, bitty birds. Pipsqueak’s eggs were so big that four of them were about as big as his body. (as you can see, we never got used to Pipsqueak being a girl)

Soon, Pipsqueak and Shelly both were happily sitting on eggs. Of course, they were never going to hatch, but they were happy, so we let them keep the eggs. 

So, an hour ago, I noticed that Pipsqueak had died some time during the night. I called my hubby and he came home from work. Because God put him in a job that is just around the corner, he was home in just a couple of minutes. He buried Pipsqueak for me, held my hand while I cried my eyes out, and then went back to work.

So now, I am dealing with my sadness by writing an obituary of Pipsqueak.

I counted the eggs – there are 14 eggs between the two of them. I suppose Pipsqueak’s little body couldn’t handle it.

Pipsqueak was a feisty little guy. He never did get totally tame. He would let me pick him up, but he would bite me each time. But, once I had Pipsqueak in my hand, he liked to snuggle. Several times a week, I would spend quality time with Pipsqueak, trying to tame him.

Pipsqueak loved getting wrapped up in a paper towel like a burrito, with just his little head sticking out. Once he was in that little burrito, he would nibble on the paper towel and close his little eyes while I petted his little head with my thumb.

If I was in the middle of something, like laying here in my Lazy Boy chair typing, I would sometimes put him, burrito and all, down my shirt. For some reason, the little guy just loved being down my shirt. I would peak down at him and he would just be in his burrito nibbling the paper towel. He could walk right out of that burrito if he wanted, but he didn’t want to.

But, once out of his burrito, he was a feisty little guy. He never would get on my finger, I just always had to carry him in my hand against my chest after I took him out of his cage.

I enjoyed spending time with Pipsqueak. He was a fun, yet feisty, member of our family.

Good bye, Pipsqueak. We will miss you very much.

X