Overweight 'crisp-addict' parrot given new lease of life after strict diet

A parrot whose crisp addiction left her so overweight she couldn't fly has a new lease of life after being handed in to the RSPCA in Norfolk.

22-year-old Bud was severely overweight but after a strict diet she is now in good health and has found a new loving home - one where crisps will never be on the shopping list.

Bud - an Amazon green parrot - was handed over to staff at Mid Norfolk and North Suffolk RSPCA in March last year, after her owners decided they could no longer take care of her.

Chloe Shorten, who works at the branch and who gave Bud a new home, said: "Bud arrived just a few days before lockdown hit as she’d become too much for her owners and they could no longer take care of her. Parrots are incredibly intelligent birds and need quite specialist care - and we certainly had our hands full when she arrived!

Bud quickly won over the hearts of Chloe and her husband, from Norfolk, who put her onto a strict diet, which they also had to follow. "Crisps are now banned from our house so that she can't get hold of any. Thankfully, she quickly lost the weight and she’s now much happier as a result. She’s loving life and can fly again. It’s so great to see her soaring around the house."

"She is such a funny character and she brightens our days, particularly during this difficult time as she loves to sing. She loves my husband and likes to serenade him with her rendition of the Addam’s Family theme tune."

Claire says that Bud has settled into her new home well, and that life with a chatty parrot is always entertaining.

"She’s learned how to laugh and often chuckles when my husband bangs his head or if someone says something funny; it’s amazing how she can react as if on cue!"