by Cheryl Scheinin

Created on: January 09, 2011

When it comes to having an exotic bird; there is a lot to learn about them. One of my first parrots passed away on December 9, 2010. He was 32 years old. Usually parrots can live to be fifty years of age. Who knows why he passed away at this age? His name was Cocoa. I never expected him to cross over to the "other side." I usually fed him early in the morning before I went to work. The last time that I seen him, he was playing inside his cage.

It took a lot of time, love, and patience to train him when I first purchased him from a pet store years ago. I had no experience with exotic birds to begin with. He was the type of bird who only knew three words that he learned in his life time. Cocoa wasn’t the lucky one whose word vocabulary was large. But it didn’t matter to me because he truly was my best friend. The three words that he learned was “Cocoa”, “Dit...Dit...Dit”, and “Good Girl.” 

My fascination with exotic birds began with “Cocoa” when I was twenty years old.  I loved to sit and spend my time watching the exotic birds in pet stores for hours. Then one day, I started to save my money until I could afford to purchase my first parrot. Back then, the parrots came from many countries and were wild when they came to the United States. I remember the first time I set my eyes on “Cocoa” when he was sitting in his cage alone. He would dance upon his perch and just stare back at me with curiosity.

The next adventure with him wasn’t an easy task as I thought. I took the time to read books and spoke to many people who owned parrots. They were giving me suggestions on how to train “Cocoa”. Well, let me tell you that I spent many private moments training “Cocoa” to get use to the “human touch.” I would take a towel to through over him and then wrap the towel around his body so that he would get use to the idea of my hands touching his body. I even wore leather gloves too because you never want to experience a bite from a parrot. It’s very painful when their beak gets a hold of you.  After six months of holding “Cocoa”, he finally calmed down and started to allow me to go in his cage or pet him affectionately. 

Over the years, I have grown such a deep close bond with “Cocoa.” He knew so many tricks that I taught him over the years. Yes, I own another parrot named “Rasputin” and a beautiful blue and gold macaw named “Sharday.” Every pet that I have now are so very precious to me. I have built deep spiritual closeness to each one of them. It’s very hard when you lose a special pet or someone who is very close to you. But “Cocoa” was my first pet that I ever owned and he was so very special in this life time. Every pet owner knows and understands what it’s like to have a special bond with a pet. They become a close family member who knows and understands you. I know that when “Cocoa” crossed over to the “Other Side”, my father was waiting to take him home to “heaven.” He will be in my heart forever more until I join him when it‘s my time.

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