Celebrating our area's four-legged, feathered and finned friends

By Patience Renzulli

July 23, 2010

Lexie, Our First iBird of the Week!

Hold on to your far flung feathers, friends! Meet Lexie Sisk, iPet’s first ever iBird of the week!

Dog groomer Ruby Sisk had always wanted a parrot, and when someone called the pet supplies shop where she worked at the time, saying they wanted to sell their Umbrella Cockatoo, she thought she’d investigate. (Did we mention that Ruby has a bit of a soft heart?) “After going to look at her at that home, I just couldn’t leave her there,” Ruby remembers.  “She was in a 18-inch x 18-inch cage with no toys, food bowls or anything to stimulate her very active mind.”

Here’s some truth about Cockatoos, before you rush out to buy one. They sound like this.

As Ruby says, “Lexie can talk in the sweetest baby voice, but Cockatoos can be extremely loud screamers. We don’t say anything to her to encourage it. It’s best to walk away.”

And they require quite a special diet, expensive toys, and lots of grooming — called “preening.” Because of this, and the fact that they can live up to 80 years, many, many birds end up in rescue.
Lucky for Lexie, Ruby stepped in when she did.

“These birds need a lot of attention, so if you plan on one in the future remember that,” Ruby warns. “They need toys to play with (and those must be rotated pretty regularly) to stimulate their minds and combat boredom. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to keep them healthy. Their water needs to be changed every day and cages almost as much. Don’t get a parrot if you don’t have the time required to take care of them. And did I mention lots of love?

“Lexie can be challenging, but we love her very much,” Ruby concedes.

Life has changed in the Sisk home since Lexie joined the family. “The poor dogs are no longer allowed in the family room,” Ruby laughs, “because Lexie thinks that she needs to feed them all of her special food. The French Bulldogs were getting fat!”