Budgies, Bunnies and Skinks, Oh, My!

Parakeets aka Budgies



Give me a break.  I'm running as fast as I can!

She said what???

Ever feel like a turquoise parakeet in a cage full of green and yellow ones?

  Hi, Everyone!
   Today we went to Pensacola to a pet store to buy ferret food.  "Why not buy some at the local Wal-Mart?" you might ask.  Good question.  Ferrets are very picky about their food.  They like the flavor of whatever they were raised on, and ours were raised by the breeders on an expensive brand from the pet store, naturally.  One of our rescue ferrets, Baby Bear, was used to eating the cheaper food, and we hoped that the others would try it and like it.  No way.  Not only did they not like his, he didn't like theirs.  So we had to continue buying both kinds of food as long as he was alive.  It isn't impossible to change what ferrets eat, but it's difficult and time consuming, according to the books we've read, so we just keep giving them what they're used to. 
   Anyway, I was hoping to bring you some nice pictures of a business of ferrets from the pet store (yes; a group or bunch of ferrets is called a "business," and if you ever saw them running and playing together, you'd know why), but they were completely out!  In the 4 years we've been going there, they've never been sold out of ferrets.  I can only conclude that the reason is because I wanted to take some pictures for you and cuddle adorable ferrets that I can't take home.

   Since there were no ferrets, I decided you might enjoy some of the other pets for sale.  I love budgies (the Australian name for parakeets), and we did have some a long time ago, but I got tired of vacuuming bird seed out of the AC vents and poop off the windowsills.  When Guinevere died, we finally gave Arthur to an unsuspecting girl, lock, stock, birdseed and cage.  Still, I enjoy looking at their brightly colored feathers and trying to get them to talk to me.  When I was growing up, I had a blue one named Pretty Boy, and he'd repeat his name for me.  By the way, if you want parakeets to talk to you, don't buy more than one.  They'll only tweet to each other and ignore you.

   The bunny was sweet, but he didn't tug at my heartstrings and make me want to take him home--today.

Thumper?

   This beautiful fellow below wasn't even in a cage.  His color was washed out a bit by the flash; he's a much richer green than he appears in the photo.   He's also a great deal larger than the parakeets.  My aunt used to raise birds, and she had at least one that looked like this in the house.  Most of the others were in an aviary outside.  I was warned that her large parrot would take my finger off if I gave him half a chance.  I didn't.  I didn't try to feed this one a finger, either.

   As we were paying for a new double-decker hammock, ferret food and flea treatment, I spotted some more exotic animals.  The young man waiting on us asked if I'd like a picture of me with a skink on my shoulder.  Since I'd had a picture made of me with a python around my neck while we were in Singapore, I could hardly refuse, could I?  Here it is; a lovely blue-tongued skink.  He's $129.00 if you're interested, and no.  I'm not on commission for the pet store.  Notice I didn't even give their name????

The skink is not the one in the pink striped shirt!  He's on the pink striped shirt.



Do our stripes clash?



   I'm sure you noticed my beloved standing solicitously by.  I thought he was there to protect me, but I discovered later that he was, in fact, making sure that the lovely, blue-tongued skink didn't fall and hurt himself.  He said that anyone who had posed with a python around her neck could certainly take care of herself!
    Hope you had a glorious spring-like day, too!

Love'n stuff,

Sandy :)

P.S.  I keep telling you we live in the Ark, but you still don't believe me, do you?  We have all the people loaded up; now we're working on the animals.  LOL