Petrie came to my home in the spring of 2007. He wasn’t accustomed to being out of his cage and he was very afraid of me when I opened his cage door. But after a couple weeks, he would quickly jump out of his cage and tip his head down for a scratch on the neck! Although he is still a little shy with others, he lets me kiss his beak, pet him, hug him, and swing him upside down.
We practice step up and step down everyday, and every morning he plays on his shower perch while I get ready for work. When I put my make up on, he bobs back and forth on his perch until I brush his beak with my eye shadow brush. When I come home from work Petrie greets me with “Hi!” or “Hello!” His favorite treat is baked cheese goldfish and he loves to swing, sing and whistle. On Thursdays we take a “field trip” to a friend’s house for movie night, and on Friday’s we make pasta, his favorite, and listen to music and watch T.V.
I treasure his friendship and every day I am grateful that he is now a part of my family.