Jason M

I'd be sincerely grateful for any advice anyone might have for me. Thank you!

Greetings, all – I wanted to reach out to the community for some advice and would be grateful for any suggestions you may have. First, some background. (This is fairly complicated, but please bear with me.) I am taking a new job with a UN organization in Geneva and will be moving from Michigan to Switzerland in October, with my partner following in December. We will be moving along with our three cats and our beautiful Grey, Olive. It is going to be a challenge to find housing in Geneva for *all* of us, but we're committed to making this happen. We'll be abroad for at least the medium term (3-5 years). My request for advice is actually not Grey-related, but, rather, in regard to our 2 yr old Sun Conure, Jackson, who we will not be able to move over with us… at least not this autumn. Jackson is a wonderful little guy, but despite a lot work over the past 2 years, has not relinquished the dramatic screaming that suns are known for. He's not the most social fellow with human kind (as compared to our Grey, obviously, but also as compared to other Suns I've known). He's not a biter, nor is he terribly timid, he just doesn't enjoy human attention the way some conures do. Jackson's screaming is not limited to the morning/evening sessions, but generally occurs often during the day. If I could be assured that we could find a small detached house near Geneva, we would be taking Jackson with us without question. The chances of securing such accommodations, though, are extremely slim – at least in the short term. For now, I simply can't risk putting my Grey and my cats' security at risk because of neighbors annoyance with Jackson's screaming. Now, my request for advice: I am interested in knowing whether any of you are familiar with facilities with long-term fostering programs in the U.S. I've learned of one facility in Denver, specifically, called The Gabriel Foundation, who cares for birds on a semi-permanent basis for an annual fee. Are you familiar with this group? Ideally, I am looking for a facility that can care for Jackson in an interactive environment where he can socialize with people and other conures, and one that can care for him for a prolonged period for a monthly or annual fee. Ultimately, we would hope to be able to provide a stable home for Jackson again in the future, but I don't know whether the "future" will be 6 months from now or 6 years. We would, of course, cover the cost of transporting Jackson, the costs of his care, and the costs of transporting him back to us when we are able. We need to find a group that could be committed to working with us and committed to working with Jackson. While these are difficult circumstances, I am committed to providing for Jackson's care for as long as it takes. Any advice or leads to appropriate sanctuaries/facilities you may have would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Jason

Thanks for checking all the same, Buffy! Much appreciated

Thank you for checking in to it all the same, Buffy! Much appreciated

WOW! Thanks again to you all for so many excellent suggestions. I ended up going with Dave's advice and picked up an powder-coated A&E medium-sized cage from my favorite local bird store. A little pricier than I was considering, but it's small enough that it'll fit in the hatchback for trips while still giving Olive plenty of space. Same color and material she's used to in her grander cage from the same company. We've done lots of shorter trips (she seems to do fine in the car), but I'm a bit anxious about the 5 hour drive from MI to IL! I think she'll appreciate spending Thanksgiving with family, though

Wow -- thank you Barbara, Buffy, and Dave for your speedy replies. This is such a wonderful community. Buffy, I'll take a look at the catalogue at home tonight (have a few of them myself), but I would certainly love that order number if you could share it Dave, thanks for the feedback on the Wal-Mart cage (I was wondering about quality/bar spacing, too). I'll definitely check out ebay and have petco/petsmart nearby as a last resort. If I can find the right cage, I don't mind shipping 2-day air to get it before my trip if it doesn't cost an absolute fortune. Thanks again!!

Thanks so much, Buffy! Is this the one you refer to? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+6322+22099&pcatid=22099 This looks like a great cage for shorter trips, but I guess I'm looking for something a little larger. (I should have also mentioned that Olive won't be getting as much out-of-her-cage time on vacation as she is used to, so it'll need to be a bit roomier.)

I'll be traveling with my CAG, Olive, over Thanksgiving (5 day trip, 4 hour car ride to destination) and again over the holidays (also about 5 days). I have a nice smaller aluminum travel cage that works perfectly for the car ride and short day trips, but I'm interested in finding something larger that I can set up to afford Olive a reasonable amount of space/comfort while I'm at my family's home. I'm thinking of something that is both A.) collapsible and easy to set up and B.) sized around 3' x 2 ' x 3' (although *bit* smaller would probably do, too). I've searched the net pretty extensively, but I've had a hard time finding anything on the usual bird sites I buy from. I did find this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12389869 Oddly, it doesn't appear that I can get this cage shipped fast enough for my departure 1 week from today. (Disclaimer: I'm really not a huge Wal-Mart fan... but for the sake of Olive's comfort I would have relented!) Can anyone suggest another option I might be able to consider? THANK YOU!!