New Additions To Our Family！
We have new family members~!! 🎉
Last year, our two beloved budgies that we had kept for ages passed away and went to heaven one after the other. Since
then, we've missed their chirping so much. We kept looking to adopt another pair
as a foster parent (our previous two were also adopted!), but luck just wasn't
on our side... 😭
So, we
finally decided to buy from a pet shop! 🥰
When we say "for ages," that was
about 10 years ago. Back then, we took in two budgies at the same time because
their previous owner couldn't keep them anymore. So, it had been a really long
time since we last stepped into a proper pet shop.
Of course, we've been to the
pet sections of home improvement centers, but we realized that nowadays they
mostly have puppies 🐶 and
kittens 🐱, and
there are very few places in the Kansai region that handle small birds.
A long, long time ago, when our kids were still small, we used to buy small birds or animals at home improvement centers. But first of all, we were shocked by the prices of small birds these days! This time, we welcomed two baby budgies, but even when looking online, they cost over 8,000 yen each, and some breeds cost tens of thousands of yen... We felt like Urashima Taro (completely out of touch with the times)! We can't believe they've become so expensive~!! 😲
And for some reason, while there seem to be quite a few pet shops handling small birds in the Kanto region, there are really few in Kansai, and they are so pricey... Why is that?! (Nande-yanen! 😒) So, for us on a tight budget, it seemed out of reach. Of course, you could say that's the price of a small life, but we were about to give up, feeling a bit conflicted.
BUT! We found some cute chicks within driving distance and within our budget, so we rushed to see them.
On the way there, chatting with my daughter who is temporarily back in Japan, we took wrong turns, got lost trying to find the parking lot, but after overcoming various obstacles, we finally made it!!
There were many kinds of pets in the shop, but our target two weren't there. When we asked the staff, they said the chicks were still too young to be put out in the store. So, we asked them to bring them out for us.
Actually, there were three chicks of the
same age, but we couldn't afford to buy all three. That meant we would have to leave one
behind. As soon as one of them saw us, it started chirping energetically and
moving around in its plastic case. That was it—this little one was chosen!
The
other two were both quietly staring at us without moving. But the moment we
stretched our hands toward the case, one came closer while the other shrank
back. That was the deciding factor, and our two were chosen.
Honestly, we were planning to wait until spring when it gets warmer. But we just couldn't wait, and we also thought that if our guests' children came during spring break, it would be too stressful for young chicks that had just been brought home. So, we intentionally welcomed them during this cold snap.
Since they are still so young that they
need to be hand-fed, we bought the feeding kit at the same time. we thought we
should buy a heater too, so we asked for recommendations, but the price for the
heater and a separate thermostat was enough to buy four more chicks! 😲😲
So in the end, we
decided to keep them warm by making full use of a pet heater and an electric
blanket we already had at home. Where there's a will, there's a way! 😍
The chicks have become very attached to us;
they eat well, sleep well, and right now, they are sitting happily on my
shoulder. 🐦🐦 Welcome to our family, let's have a great time together! 😉
Everyone, please come and meet these little
ones!
