Becoming seriously ill in the age of over twelve years, is nothing uncommon for a budgie. But being refused and given away due to that after being a friend of a human for twelve years is in fact really strange! Most probably each and everyone must love a pet after such a long friendship. Well, but some people have a heart of stone as it seems and Vivian was neglected because she had become ill.

Together with her feathered friend Maia, she has been brought to a vet. But not for healing them, her owner wanted to get rid of the poor birds. The lady found it too much stressing to treat the two birds with their medicine once a day because they were suffering from diarrhoea for many weeks. So the bird owner asked the doctor to put the birds to sleep since she didn't want her animals any more. The vet refused to do so because it was obvious that Vivian and Maia who carried other names at that time would most probably recover from their illness very soon. The sad story continued - the lady didn't want to take her birds back home again, she left them in the doctor's practice.

A few years ago, I started caring for disabled and unwanted budgies and the vet knew about that. One of the staff members of the vet phoned me and asked whether I could come and get the birds or not. A few minutes after that phone call I arrived at the practice and got shocked by the state in which the poor birds were in.

After we have arrived here at my place, I put the two ladies in a cage that was appropriate for sick budgies. There were some food dishes with for example Orchard Grass seeds which both birds immediately started to nibble on. That was fine because Vivian was much too thin with her weight of only 32 grams. They were eating for more than one hour, and then they drank a bit of water and started to sleep right in front of the warming infrared lamp.

A few days later, Vivian and Maia felt so fine that they tried to escape from their cage. I decided that the time has come to bring them into the bird room. Within a few minutes, they made friends with the other birds and looked very happy about being accompanied by so many budgies.

Since that day, Vivian developed very well. She behaved like a young bird and one couldn't tell her age because she was that lively. Like most other budgie ladies from my flock she often flirted with the vivid charmer Rudi when he was still alive. Later she fell in love with Orpheus and became his wife, but she also often flirted with Charly what was good for her because Orpheus also leads a relationship with the lovely lady Sara.

In February 2006 things changed. Vivian felt very tired and slept nearly all day. One could easily see the progress of her senil decay. She used to be a very proud and lordy budgie lady. When I found her with paralysed legs in the end of the month I decided that the time has come to set her free. I brought her to my vet and in the morning of 2/28/2006 I released her soul so that Vivian could go on her final journey. As long as I live I will keep the memory of this enchanting grande dame in my heart.

Vivian's colour mutation is called normal in olive. Her delicate physique reminds a lot of the wild Australian ancestors of the domesticated budgies.

Meaning of the name
Like most of my other budgies, Vivian was called after an astronomical object. In her case, a minor planet was my choice for naming her. This minor planet got its name from a lady from the legend of King Arthur.