3D Sculptor Lives with Flock of Parakeets

When we hear stories about people who keep a mini-zoo at home, it«s usually cats. Or perhaps someone has more than one or two dogs. Or ants in ant farms, which were trendy some time ago. Correspondents from NGS.RU visited a Khrushchyovka apartment where, besides a couple of dogs, a whole flock of parakeets lives with their owner.

I Thought I Should Wait

Angelina is a 3D sculptor who models figures for 3D printers. Making figurines and programs for their printing unexpectedly became her main source of income — models can cost from three hundred to a thousand dollars. However, these orders are mostly one-off.

«I don»t have any higher education at all; I taught myself modeling. At first, I did a lot of manual sculpting, but when I realized I physically couldn«t achieve super-fine detail, I bought a computer, a tablet, and started learning modeling from YouTube tutorials. Then I bought a 3D printer,» Angelina said.

The young woman lives in a one-room Khrushchyovka apartment with two adult dogs, Dedulya and Dusya, and a whole flock of 11 budgerigars. According to her, there were always animals in her parents« private house, most often stray or abandoned ones that just wandered into the yard.

«When I started living alone, the burden of responsibility at first didn»t allow me to take in animals. I thought I should wait, for circumstances to align. I needed to find a place where I«d live perfectly. But then I thought: what if I never find such a place where everything is perfect? In the end, I got birds. And it was one of the best decisions in my life,» Angelina smiled.

The elderly Dedulya and Dusya also came from nearly the street: Dedulya, for example, was treated for severe dermatitis at a shelter, after which Angelina took him in. Later, Dusya joined Dedulya for company.

She«s a Determined Mom, to Put It Mildly

Angelina got her first budgerigars about three years ago. She wanted to take in a couple, but that was only the beginning.

The first two parakeets — Devochka (Girl) and Stanislav — had to be taken as a pair. Devochka, by the way, is the most respected in the flock and holds a high place in the parrot hierarchy. Perhaps as the eldest.

After some time, Angelina got a friend for Stanislav, but that one unexpectedly turned out to be female. Thus, Emochka appeared: from «yema,» which translates from Spanish as «yolk.»

«So, there were two girls and one boy. I decided it was unfair to the girls not to have another boy. That»s how Tosha appeared,« Angelina said. »He«s the most active bird, but he has some psychological issues because he lived in solitary confinement for 2.5 years. He doesn»t sense other parrots« personal boundaries, can be pushy with them, and they might aggress: like, don»t intrude so persistently. But after about six months, Tosha adapted.«

The fifth and sixth parakeets — blue Sneza and yellow-green Vitalya — appeared «for the soul» and were supposed to be the last. Sneza, Angelina clarified, is a very active intellectual: she«s always figuring out where to climb and constantly gets into the cupboard through all sorts of cracks.

Her goal, according to Angelina, is to have offspring. Parakeets look for narrow and secluded spaces for this — in nature, they breed in tree hollows. Apparently, the gaps between the cupboard doors, in the opinion of the eagerly breeding Sneza, are perfect for that.

«She»s constantly thinking and calculating where to climb. Vitalya creates an illusion of activity and just supports his woman. And I have to barricade the cupboard because Sneza has found all the cracks that can be found and that I didn«t suspect. She really wants to have babies in this cupboard; she»s a determined mom. And then some,« the young woman joked.

But so far, despite formed pairs and regular mating, no chicks have appeared in the flock. That«s just parrot nature, Angelina explained: for eggs to be laid, the future mother needs to first create a conditional nest for herself.

After Sneza and Vitalya, three more birds came. Angelina went to a pet store for food and saw parakeets living there in terrible conditions. That«s how Konstantin, Lola, and Arkady ended up with her.

«He was hanging on the side of the cage,» the young woman recalled. «Arkady was the smallest, the cleanest of all, and looked like an angel in a dump.»

The tenth — to balance the number of males and females — was Perseya. However, she was very sick and couldn«t be saved. But after that, another pair appeared: Vitalik»s former owner was leaving the city and offered Angelina to take his parents (the parents of the parrot Vitalik, of course, not the owner). Thus, the last two parakeets joined the flock: Rada, who had to be treated for a belly tumor, and Sergei.

«I»ve always been bad with names. That«s clear from my first parrot, named Devochka (Girl). I decided to name the males with ordinary male names. I think it sounds fun: Stanislav Angelinovitch, Konstantin Angelinovitch,» Angelina smiled. «I can even distinguish them by their silhouette in the dark; I know their body physics, how they all move, what posture they sit in, how long each one»s tail is.«

I See My Future Only with Birds

Angelina«s typical day starts with walking the dogs and feeding them. Then she prepares breakfast for the flock: besides standard store-bought food, it»s greens, various tree branches, different sprouted grains, vegetables, and fruits. For example, the birds« favorite dish turned out to be beets — they can eat it always and in large quantities.

As it happened, many birds in Angelina«s flock are weakened; usually, she got them when they were sick. So, in addition to average monthly expenses of 7,000 rubles on food (about $93 at current rates), the young woman spends a lot on treatment. According to her estimates, over almost three years with the flock, she has spent from 300,000 to 500,000 rubles on treatment (about $4,000 to $6,700 at current rates).

Plus daily special alaminol (disinfectant) cleaning and a constantly running bactericidal recirculator — a device for purifying air from bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms.

Angelina tells about all her winged pets in her blog and Telegram channel «Pusin»s Pekis«: peki is short for parakeets, and Pus is Angelina»s old nickname from an online game. Her videos are educational and sometimes very funny. The only thing is, watching them is recommended for users over 18 years old.

One important part of the blog is advice on keeping birds and spreading the idea that birds are individuals with personalities.

«I want the flock to be constant. For that, I need to introduce new birds, but I don»t want to bring them in from outside. There«s a big risk that you»ll buy a parrot and it turns out to have megabacteriosis — that could destroy the whole flock,« Angelina explained. »Most likely, with our attending veterinarian and under her supervision, we«ll choose the females with the strongest health, and I»ll keep three chicks. I see my future only with birds.«