the kids have named the baby budgie....

[gussiegrips]

For reasons which have passed me by, we seem to be having to hand rear a baby budgie.

It is very small and wasn't responding well yesterday. It appears to have grey feathers, like it's dad.

I warned the kids that it was likely to die, and they were not, under any circumstances to give it a name not after the rabbit debacle.

Naturally, I overheard "well, he's grey. We should name him after something to do with grey".

uh oh

"Graeme"

Graeme the budgie. So named, because he's grey. Hope the fecker lives now. Cheered me up no end.

Graeme.

[INeverFinishAnythi]

Great budgie name! I love it. Good luck to Graeme, really hope he makes it.

[ABumDance]

You can do it Graeme, you can win at life!! Fantastic name choice OP's kids.

[InkleWinkle]

Graeme
Hope he's OK

interested to hear the rabbit debacle though!

[gussiegrips]

Rabbits....

Right, you know the bit where your kid is desperate for a pet ?

And, you know how you say "no"?

And, you manage to keep that up for aaaahaaaages, like, 2 years, even though your 5 year old insists that she actually IS a rabbit. You know, when she only communicates by wriggling her nose and hops the entire mile to school and mostly talks only about matters pertaining to bunnies?

Well, someone who vaguely knew me also vaguely knew someone who needed to rehome her two flop eared cute as buttons house rabbits. And, we had a wendy house in the garden which the kids never played in. So, it became a huge rabbit house.

The kids loved it. For about a day. The bunnies were totally unmanageable - they didn't like being handled at all. They were actually quite savage. Savage rabbits. Sheesh. Tears and wailing "why doesn't cute and adorable fluffy ball of joy liiiiiiiiike me?"

They were allegedly both dressed females, so why we landed up with three tiny wee naked prawns two weeks later was a mystery. Cue much excitement from the kids - right up until the other rabbit ate the babies. Cue tears and wailing. And, I kind of went off the rabbits.

About a week later the cannibalistic bunny died overnight. Who knew why. Buried in the garden. Cue tears and wailing.

Toddler dug him up "to see if he was ok". Tears and wailing. Mostly from me as I dug a hole so deep there was nearly oil at the bottom so I could rebury the rabbit.

The other one went all squiffy, so I took it to the vet who declared that it had ingrowing teeth and performed some surgery. And then handed me a bill for £250, treatment which would require repeating every 6 weeks. "I'm sorry, there seems to be some confusion. This is a child's pet, not a racehorse".

Rabbit died. Mysteriously. In the vets

Tears and wailing.

Rabbit stuffed into a shoe box and buried in the garden, next to his floppy eared pal.

Middley dug him up " to see if he was rotting faster than the other one".

Re-buried together (in the wheelie-bin).

Total disaster.

Rabbits do not make good pets for children.

[MortifiedAdams]

That is a brilliant name! My friend had a budgie called Roland when I was little but Graeme beats that hands down!

[Mmmnotsure]

Oh, Gussie, but (sorry)

I was the only one who could handle our vicious fluffy bunnies safely. I used to think they were good pets for children, before we got them.

Hope Graeme makes it. Love the sound of your dc.

[Poledra]

Oh gussie, you sure know how to tell a story

[yeghoulsandlittledevils]

You tell a cautionary rabit story so well. So true, rabbits can be terrible pets.

We looked after a rabbit for new neighbours while they went on holiday for a week. They were gone 3 weeks and the rabbit had myxomatosis, became very ill remarkably quickly so we had to get the vet to come and put it down. Neighbours called us all kinds of names, accused us of murdering their rabbit, wanted money from us, never paid the vets bill. It turned out it was a wild rabbit they had caught, too.

Friends of ours had a rabbit that lived wild in their garden and dug a big hole under their house. He mysteriously disappeared the night they had a lovely meat stew using a new recipe.

[TrinityRhino]

oh gussie, thats a crappy rabbit experience
but you have told it so well

Heres to Graeme living a long and happy life

[gussiegrips]

Graeme is doing alright. Which is just as well seeing as how I had spent HOW MUCH? bought the guff required to hand rear him, just incase he made it.

There were 2 clutches of eggs over the summer. Hen's a worse mother than me. She didn't feed the first lot, who all died (my kids are becoming inured to death), hatched 3 eggs from the second lot but kicked them out the nest box at 2 weeks old (so, you know, dead) - which is why we rescued Graeme.

He has put on weight, has feathers coming through and is learning to perch on a finger. Remains "ugly beautiful" (geddit?) - but, we luffs him. I'm kind of hopeful.

Of course, he'll land up imprinting on us and so may never be able to go into the aviary. But, apparently, that's ok as the kids have found "how to teach your budgie to skateboard" on youtube...

DH is utterly silent on the matter. He hates our pets. Says there's always an expensive drama. Annoyingly, he's right.

[gussiegrips]

Oh, Ghoul, I'd forgotten about the jags! The jags against all sorts of viruses which would mean a hideous death if you failed to spend HOW MUCH on them.

Rabbits are the most neglected animal in the UK. Frankly, I'm not at all surprised. They are rubbish.

All these cute prey mammals need daily, gentle handling to stop them from going psycho and biting your kids. Guinea pigs, degus, hamsters, chinchillas, gerbils - all turn psycho savage, and their bites really hurt. Rats are ok, but, their poo looks like rat poo and I find that objectionable traumatised after really bad student flat experiences

Now, reptiles on the other hand - total success. We've got a snake and a tortoise - they like being handled because they like the warmth, but, if they aren't, they don't care. It's a reptile. It's happy with a heat source and food, affection isn't something it craves.

Snake eats once a week, poos on command, has cool-factor. Tortoise eats weeds, lives in the house in a guinea pig cage and is a smashing wee thing.

Budgies - I'm in the process of forgiving them.

[gussiegrips]

Volestair you're going to have to explain that. I have a mental image of a Jordan-rat, pouting and looking over it's shoulder with a vacuous look on it's furry wee face.

[yeghoulsandlittledevils]

Dh would say there's not much meat on a budgie...but a guinea pig? Which is why we have cats.

Rabbits are not pets, they were introduced to Britain by the Romans, as farm animals.


Have always liked the idea of a tortoise. I bet they dont need jags/jabs for such horrible deseases. The lack of fur is a big plus too.

[Skinnymalinksmalogenlegs]

Having recently gone through our own share of rabbit drama, I was glad to read your story Gussie, so pleased I am not alone!

I am refusing to get any pets for the forseeable future, can't handle the grief

[GrippingArms]

Graeme is a fabulous name for a budgie

My sister used to breed budgies, the babies really are a sight to behold aren't they?

They too can cost an absolute fortune at the vets if you forget to do a room check before getting them out for flying lessons they are daft enough to fly into and try to land on a cactus.

[1leggedwobbler]

I hope Graeme makes it. i probably shouldnt be laughing but I am HOWLING at your description of the bunny debacle. One of the funniest things I have read on here. Thank you.

[MrsCinnamon]

Go Graeme

Loved the bunny story. We have a bunny which is actually quite cool, has never bitten, runs around the garden and is quite cuddly.

When I grew up whe had budgie, it flew in through an open window one day, squeezed through the bars of the parrot cage and stayed for 6 years. We did fatten it up so one day it got stuck between the bars and had to use the proper entrance to the cage. Up to then we would find it anywhere in the house.
Once it flew into the fridge while my mum was cooking and she closed the door. After the meal my brother nearly had a heart attack when he opened the fridge door. Budgie was a cool budgie

[SaggyIsHavingAPinkKitten]

Awwww! Go Graeme!

Rabbits are evil bitey fuckers who need to be casseroled! But
that WAS a great story!
Im loving the budgie in the fridge! I bet he was real cool!

[aziraphale]

Oh God.. rats tits...rabbit fails...