Dogs are no longer man’s only best friend in Vietnam; nowadays, youngsters in Ho Chi Minh City have opened their hearts to various other kinds of pets, including parrots, salamanders and snakes.
More and more groups and clubs of people who love these kinds of pets have been set up, creating playgrounds for people to exchange their knowledge as well as tips to take care of their little friends.
The young parrot expert
Born in 1990, Dang Hai Trieu describes himself as a person who has a passion for parrots and 10 years of experience in raising the birds.
He is known among parrot lovers thanks to his tips on raising and training the animals shared on his website, thegioivet.com.
In 2013, Trieu published an e-book on ways to take care of and train parrots that includes 38 chapters.
“Exchanging with many parrot clubs across Vietnam, I have seen that the way Vietnamese people are raising parrots still lags compared with people in Western countries,” Trieu wrote on his website.
“I authored this book in the hope of helping parrot raisers get basic information on how to raise a parrot in order to make the trend of raising parrots in Vietnam more developed,” he added.
Trieu said the turning point of his bird raising came when he had an African grey parrot four years ago.
Though he has experience in raising Vietnamese and Thai parrots, the African one was a different story since the animal was born in a very different place and had different living conditions.
He had trouble finding the right food for the animal since all pet stores at that time did not give him a satisfying answer, telling him to treat the parrot like other birds.
Trieu realized that it is hard to find a parrot store in Ho Chi Minh City and not many people understand the bird.
However, necessity is the mother of invention. Trieu was determined to find ways to feed the bird, which is known as the smartest kind of parrot, by searching for information on the Internet.
“I was like a kid standing in front of a different world when I found information about raising parrots from other countries,” Trieu recalled. “Those things were way different from what I had known.”
“At that time I realized that the way people raise parrots in Vietnam was unscientific,” he added. “It even shortens the bird’s life and reduces its intelligence.”
“I felt like I was a mom having the first child,” Trieu joked. “I took the computer by my side all day to search for information while taking care of my a-few-days-old parrot.”
Trieu said in his book that in Vietnam people usually feed young parrots baby weaning food, which is fine for Vietnamese parrots but cannot help big species like African parrots grow as big as they can.
Meanwhile, in other countries, people have specific food for parrots under 4-5 months old.
According to Trieu, parrot raisers have to treat their pets the way parents treat their children.
He added that parrots can also feel anger and stress like human beings, adding that an angry parrot often opens its eyes bigger than normal.
Trieu’s African parrot now is not only a healthy bird, but also an “artist” which can perform many tricks.
Not only do they raise their pets themselves and share knowledge through the Internet, members of exotic pet clubs around the city also have regular meetings to show their pets and exchange together.
These meetings are where one can see a salamander lying on a man’s shoulder, a snake crawling around a boy’s arm, a parrot standing on a girl’s finger, or a reptile taking a relaxing sunbath even though it is surrounded by many people who are excitedly taking photos with them.
Exotic Parrot Club VN is one of the most crowded groups with more than 20 members and colorful parrots from a variety of origins.
In addition, some cafes in the city have caught onto the trend by letting their customers play with pets while having coffee at their shops.
Besides birds and salamanders, these shops also have urchins, spiders and squirrels.
A reptile lies on a man's shoulder at a coffee shop. Photo: Tuoi Tre Cao Thi Thuy Ngan, 29, kisses a blue and gold macaw parrot while a Lutino lovebird parrot pecks her earring. Photo: Tuoi tre
A boy holds an ornamental snake at a coffee shop. Photo: Tuoi Tre
A reptile takes a relaxing sunbath even though it is surrounded by many people who are excitedly taking photos with it. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Đăng ký: VietNam News
