Goodbye Jules bird

from JoeUser Forums

It's a sad day in the Terpfan1980 household as we lost a beloved pet today.

Quite a while back (long before a bunch of spammers came along here offering deals on DirecTV or Dish Network) I wrote an article or two about some of the family pets including a wonderful little green cheek conure that the family had named Jules bird.

Sample image of Green Cheek Conure

He had picked up that name because of his apparent intelligence and curiousity, with the Jules name being a variant of Jules Vern the author of so much fame.

Jules bird was quite the character, with the white rings around his eyes, and a playful nature.  He loved to come out of his cage and sit and visit with the family.  He'd walk along the back of the couch going from person to person to visit and see what we had in hand, or what we were wearing that he could nip at and play with.  He also loved to sit on my daughter's shoulders and play in her hair, flinging it around as if he was a hair dresser.

We don't know for sure what made him sick, but my wife called me at work today to tell me that he did seem sick and seemed as if he wasn't going to make it very long.  Sadly enough her prediction was right as he came out of his cage, sat on my daughter's shoulder and refused to move from there.  Within a short period of time he apparently let out a bit of a death scream and passed away.  He hadn't been injured, and up until the last 24 hours (give or take) hadn't shown any signs of being ill.

Somewhere last evening I perhaps should have noticed that he wasn't his usual noisey and chipper self.  He didn't squawk and chirp as normally would, but I didn't really notice that.  This morning he also wasn't as noisey as he normally would be in demanding that his food be served.  He did come down and enjoy his morning treat (he loved to eat a fruit loop every morning), so I didn't notice a problem then.  Later in the late morning/early afternoon when my wife called me at work and told me he seemed to be sick, it started to sink in that he wasn't as well as I had thought at first.

My family is going to miss our little friend greatly.  He was a part of the family and had been from the day he came home approximately 5 years back.

Goodbye Jules bird.

12,359 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

It's always hard to loose a pet, almost like loosing a family member.  The sad thing about the pets we love is knowing that they will not live as long as we do.  My condolenses (SP?). 

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

The sad thing about the pets we love is knowing that they will not live as long as we do.

True, and yet it makes this loss a bit more curious.  Most exotic birds can live a fairly long life with many living into dozens of years of age.  While common parakeets tend to have a shorter life expectancy part of that is due to how easily they may escape and/or how easily they may succumb to fairly ordinary and common events that make them sick.  Cooking non-stick pans at overly high temps can make them give off fumes that are toxic for birds.  They can also be shocked by rapid temperature changes and other things that humans, dogs and cats are not as easily bothered by.

Regardless, Jules had lived with us for a decent number of years, but we had actually expected he'd live with us for about a dozen more.

Some of the friends he had in the house have lived for about a dozen years themselves (in our home), and we've got a ring neck that was given to us that is almost 14 - 15 years old (she's lived with us for about 3 - 4 years now).  All seem to be doing well and we hope they keep on rolling, though getting back to the bird longetivity issue, the amount of time they may live is one thing that many potential bird owners don't realize as the birds may outlive their owners and then need a new home (which winds up with many exotic birds being rescued and then needing new homes).

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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top

My condolenses

Thanks also for the nice thoughts.  I wish I hadn't been at work and could have been home to help console my daughter as her pet passed on, but I'm not so sure I could have taken watching him die that easily myself.  My wife tells me that he just wanted to stay with my daughter (his favorite owner) even though it was so apparent by then that he was sick.  It seemed to help make him happy and we believe it helped give him some comfort in his last moments.