Young Woman Ended Up Responsible For Her Brother’s Birds, But Repeated Problems With The Cats Climbing Their Cage Pushed Her To Consider Rehoming Them
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Neglected pets create serious family conflict.
Four years later, one teenager still barely cares for his birds.
His older sibling wants them rehomed immediately.
The problem is they aren’t theirs to give away.
Read on for the details below.
WIBTA for rehoming my brothers birds?
I (27) live at home with my parents (50s) and little brother (13).
He got two budgies for his 9th birthday. He’d wanted birds since he was 5/6.
He did say he was going to take care of them, but we all knew better because he was 9. So the care fell onto my mom.
My dad wasn’t thrilled about getting birds, but he let it happen. I was indifferent, but I let my mom know I wasn’t going to be taking care of them.
I had reptiles and cats of my own, which I cared for.
She’s been trying to get her mother to rehome the birds for a few years.
Well, fast-forward maybe two weeks, and he didn’t care about the birds anymore. In the over four years we’ve had them, the care and cleaning fell onto me.
After a year, I was over it. He didn’t care about the birds anymore and they were just basically shoved into a corner and forgotten about by the family.
As much as loud birds can be forgotten about. I would check to make sure they had food and water, but I was over them.
Finally, my dad would give them food and water on the weekends, but their cage wouldn’t be cleaned.
I’ve been trying to get my mom to rehome them for over two years, but she won’t budge on it.
She keeps saying no. They’re basically a look-only pet, and they’re in a small cage in the corner of the living room.
Her brother really wants to keep the birds.
Today, the cats were scaling the cage for the millionth time, and I kind of just snapped, telling my mom I was about to just find them a new home with or without her permission.
My brother heard me and just started screaming at me that they’re his birds and he wants to keep them.
I asked him the last time he fed or watered them or cleaned their cage. (Yes, he had been shown how to)
He said he gave them water a few weeks ago, but that’s all he did.
Not only are they not being properly cared for, but their cage is like 1/4 of the size it should be.
Now, there’s a whole new problem.
The cherry on top? The cats that scale the cage? His cat and my mom’s cat. My two don’t care about the birds and just lie around like lazy cats do.
He doesn’t even take care of his cat. It’s me since they use the same litter boxes and all that stuff.
I don’t know why my mom keeps getting him pets. He had a hamster that ended up living in my room, being taken care of by me.
The only things that the boy cares about are playing games, watching YouTube, and avoiding showers.
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I’m sorry if this is all over the place. I’m just really frustrated by this whole situation and need some outside advice on what to do.
AITA?
Yikes! These poor little birds!
Let’s check out what advice Reddit readers have about pet bird ownership.
Here’s how this reader suggests she handle it.
This person thinks the bird should be rehomed.
According to this person, someone should protect the birds from the cats.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who has to explain to her kids why they can’t keep the baby snake they found as a pet.
For this reader, everyone is at fault for something.
The birds deserve proper care, but this sibling can’t secretly rehome pets that belong to someone else.
Their parents need to enforce daily care, improve the unsafe setup, or formally agree to find them a better home.
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