# My new parakeet, Randall, does not love me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658 "2007-04-18T18:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/21 "2007-04-20T08:00:57Z")
Find out which noises he likes and which ones he disliked, act accordingly. Music that puts him in a good mood will make him easier to handle, in my very-limited experience. My canary liked Verdi and Presley (not the ballads), got depressed by La Boheme. It was a canary of good taste! ---
**Author:** ![CeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/22 "2007-04-20T11:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] I think he’s just angry because [you spelled his name wrong.](http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/cuckoo/characters.html) Parakeets are spelling nazis! Problem solved. 😛 [/QUOTE] Oh my, you’re right! I’m glad you pointed that out before I had his I.D. bracelet made! ---
**Author:** ![CeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/23 "2007-04-20T11:57:21Z")
This is all great advice! I have been talking to him quietly, spelling his name correctly (ahem) and putting my hand slowly in his cage a few times a day. He’s not as “fluttery” as before. I was told he’s about 6 months old, so I think he is still tameable. He ate part of a blackberry yesterday, which figures. Why couldn’t I get a pet with cheaper taste? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/24 "2007-04-20T12:15:52Z")
It is his name, you see. I have yet to meet a Randall that isn’t whacked out a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/25 "2007-04-20T14:38:30Z")
Send your Hubby back to the store, & demand a _genuine_ Keet. OK. Old joke, but it **had** to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/26 "2007-04-20T15:47:10Z")
OK…so where are the pictures? If this thread was about cats or dogs, the second poster would have been clamouring for photos! Yet here we are, 20-something posts down with nary a peep. I, for one, demand a cite! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/27 "2007-04-20T17:50:18Z")
I love birds, but I’ve never seriously considered getting an indoor bird. Why? Because whenever I’ve been to a bird-owner’s house, there is birdseed flung all around beneath the cage, feathers, and a lurking stink of bird~doo. Now, I’ve had dogs. I know they have fur, and shed, and leave their doggie prints on the floor. Is the above just something you have to put up with if you’re unwilling to clean on an hourly basis? Or have my observations been of just slovenly persons? Also, do birds bother people with other animal allergies? Husband can’t tolerate cat and dog dander. (Last summer there was a woman in Lowe’s with her birdie on her shoulder, which absolutely _charmed_ my little boy and I. I WANT a birdie on my shoulder.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/28 "2007-04-21T01:01:09Z")
Just remember that if you have a birdie on your shoulder long enough it’s inevitable you will also have birdie _poop_ on your shoulder. If an owner keeps up with hygiene there shouldn’t be any more odor than with a properly maintained cat’s litter box. Yes, to some extent you’re always going to have seed debris and shed feathers, just like dogs and cats shed and leave paw prints and overturn their food bowls and leave their toys in odd places. Birds are messy eaters - _you_ try chewing without using any lips (birds don’t have 'em) and see what kind of mess you leave! If you can’t abide that sort of mess don’t have a pet. Or children. There are some folks allergic to birds, but they aren’t necessarially the same folks who are allergic to cats and dogs. One reason we started getting birds is because I’m allergic to cats and the Other Half is allergic to dogs. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658/29 "2007-04-21T03:48:38Z")
I want to add my support to the person who advised that windows and doors be kept shut if a budgie is allowed to exit his cage. My son and I spent a couple of weeks last September trying to attract a budgie who was part of a group of sparrows that lived around his apartment building. We failed. I fear that the birdie must have died over the winter months, because the sparrows are still around, but not the budgie. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-parakeet-randall-does-not-love-me/400658.md?page=1)