Q. How old was
Pipsqueak! when the two of you found each other?
A. Pipsqueak!:I was a little baby.
A. Cheri: About 5-6 weeks old.
Q. When was Pipsqueak! born?
A. Pipsqueak!:
LOL Budgies aren't "born", budgies are hatched!
A. Cheri:
Pipsqueak! was "hatched" around the 15th
of November, 2002. For every clutch, budgie hens typically
lay an egg one to two days apart (exceptions occur). Typically,
the incubation period is eighteen (18) days. As a result,
the chicks are one to two days apart in age, as each egg
incubates its eighteen (18) days. This makes it difficult
to know the EXACT day that Pipsqueak! hatched, but we
know that he and his siblings were all hatched between
the 13th and 22nd of November, 2002.
Q. What does Pipsqueak! eat?
A. Pipsqueak!: I love to eat!
A. Cheri: He gets some 'human' foods, which I monitor. He gets high quality pellets along with sprouts (alfalfa and/or broccoli) sprinkled with just a tiny pinch of Japanese millet in the morning and at night he gets high quality seeds.
Q. What is Pipsqueak!'s favorite toy?
A. Pipsqueak!: Bob!
A. Cheri: Pipsqueak!'s favorite toy is small plastic bird with a rounded bottom that has a weight in it. This toy sits on the floor of his
day time cage. He beats this toy up frequently, yelling at it (usually in 'human') at the top of his lungs. When he pushes on it, because it is bottom-weighted, it 'bobs' all over. I was actually stunned the first time I heard him screaming at it and calling it 'Bob'! Then I realized that I referred to the toy as "Pipsqueak!'s bobbing toy"!
Q. What kind of cage does Pipsqueak! have?
A. Pipsqueak!: I have two cages but I'm not in them all
the time. Mommy lets me fly around the house a lot now.
A. Cheri: His daytime cage is his larger cage, measuring approximately 20"w x 18"d x 20"h. His evening and sleeping cage is slightly smaller.
Q. How long was it before Pipsqueak! spoke in "human"?
A. Pipsqueak!: About a week, but Mommy didn't understand me.
A. Cheri: He was making sounds in one week. I began to understand him in about one month.
Q. What were Pipsqueak!'s first words?
A. Pipsqueak!: My first words were actually a complete sentence. The story of
what I said and how it happened is in my book.
A. Cheri: He said a complete sentence! What he said and how this came about is in his book.
Q. How many English words does Pipsqueak! speak?
A. Pipsqueak!: Thousands!
A. Cheri: I can clearly understand around 600-1,000 of his spoken words at this point.
Q. How do you 'record' Pipsqueak!'s vocabulary?
A. Pipsqueak!: Mommy has a box she calls a recorder, she keeps it on almost all the time.
A. Cheri: I use a digital recorder and have many of the conversations cross-validated by human witnesses.
Q. How does Pipsqueak! tell his stories, like the ones in the book, if he didn’t speak all of it in human?
A. Pipsqueak!: I send very clear images and very strong feelings, and even just one image with feelings from me is worth hundreds of human words.
A. Cheri: The language of animals, meaning how animals
naturally communicate, is well documented: animals speak in
images filled with feelings. I receive those images and feelings
from Pipsqueak! very, very clearly and turn them into English
words. Then I read the stories aloud to him and he edits them
by his responses, letting me know what he approves of that
I've done and what he doesn't. I don't receive this way from
all animals, but probably because of the extremely strong
love connection between us, I DO receive from Pipsqueak!
Q. I never knew parakeets/budgies even had the ability to speak 'human' words like the larger species of parrots do. Is Pipsqueak! special?
A. Pipsqueak!: YES! I AM SPECIAL! Mommy tells me all the time that I am the "Best budgie in the WHOLE world!"
A. Cheri: You are not alone! Many people do not realize that budgies are capable of speaking 'human'. The parakeet/budgie was recently voted #2 in both speaking ability and intelligence (behind only the African Grey Parrot) in a poll conducted by the largest US publication on pet birds, Bird Talk. There have been quite a few documented cases of parakeets/budgies with enormous 'human vocabularies. The first one to my knowledge that was documented was Sparkie Williams, a budgie in England. Here's a brief description of Sparkie- The Guinness Book of World Records states that in 1958 a budgie named Sparkie Williams won a talking contest in England. Before Sparkie died, he could say 531 words and 383 sentences.
Q. Why are some of the recordings easier to understand than others?
A. Pipsqueak!: Mommy's worked a lot with me on the
"mimicked" sounds, so those I say very clearly.
The words I've picked up on my own, where Mommy's mouth and
face haven't been close to me when I've learned them, just
aren't as clear yet. Also, when I get really excited, I speak
faster and my pronunciation deteriorates.
A. Cheri: Pipsqueak!'s pronunciation is generally excellent
on the words I taught him as mimicry. For the hundreds of
words that he has picked up on his own, most but not all are
clear. Sometimes we might think he's saying one thing, when
he's actually saying something else. A funny example of this
is, he went through a period of name-calling people (including
me!) that were "annoying" him. We initially thought
he was simply yelling his name, "Pipsqueak!" at
us … it wasn't until we heard him call us the name
slowly and quite loudly that we realized he was calling us
"Pig's beak!" Where did he get that insult from?
Television? Other than that, I have NO idea!
Q. Is Pipsqueak! your only parakeet/budgie? Do you have any other birds?
A. Pipsqueak!: I have many friends from many different species.
A. Cheri: Read Pipsqueak!'s book for this answer!
Q. How do we keep up to date with what is currently
going on with Pipsqueak!?
A. Pipsqueak!:
Mommy and I have started a blog!
A. Cheri:
We started a blog as many folks have been e-mailing
us asking what was new with Pipsqueak!. We certainly appreciate
all your interest! You can access the blog by clicking
here * Pipsqueak!'s
blogIf we can get there, yes!
A. Cheri: We'll be happy to consider any venue that's accessible
to us and safe for Pipsqueak! Email us and ask. cheri@mynameispipsqueak.com
Cheri is handling Pipsqueak!'s mail, so if you have questions
for Cheri or Pipsqueak!, please e-mail cheri@mynameispipsqueak.com.
If your question is a good one, we may choose to post it here. |
