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Date Posted: 20:19:39 03/18/09 Wed
Author: Ary
Author Host/IP: 74.75.126.191
Subject: :( RIP Bethesda

Last year my roommate and I made up our minds to adopt a beautiful little yellow button quail chick which I named Bethesda.

He grew up to be a charming little white fellow, after a period of being very skittish in his early months. He accompanied me on airplane flights from college to home and back again, and managed to charm even the security guards who often mistook him for a mouse at first glance. I became accustomed to his strange croaking and loud crows when I was out of sight, and always looked forward to coming back from classes and cuddling up with him in front of the tv.

In the past month or two, though, he had changed. He began to get hostile towards certain people, and eventually towards virtually everyone, including my roommate. I was the only one he would consent to be near. Also, he began to hide in the room and would no longer answer my whistles, and would not emerge even for the promise of food. Finally, last week, I had to leave on a trip and put him the care of a trusted friend. She called me yesterday to report that my poor little bird had died sometime in the morning with no warning.

Looking back, perhaps the hostility and the hiding were the warnings - perhaps he had been ill, and uncomfortable, or had been somehow overwhelmed by reaching sexual maturity. I cannot be sure. He got finch food, softbill insect diet, gamebird feed, and a vitamin supplement. He lived indoors in warm, sunny Florida and rarely dealt with anyone beyond my roommate and I.

I will miss him, and though I do not regret the love and effort I put into raising him and caring for him, I am wondering whether I am simply not cut out for button quail. In my younger years my parents adopted a neighbor's adult buttons, and they soon died for equally mysterious reasons.

Are they always this fragile, this risky? I adore the birds, but I don't know that I can try again after having such bad experiences. I don't want to sacrifice any more little lives just to indulge my desire for a good pet.

For people who have had consistent success raising button quail from chick stage, what problems did you encounter? What has worked? Are there any tried and true methods for success?

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