New here..trying to heal the hole in my heart :(

[TaraRose]

Hi there..my name is Tara and last weekend I lost one of my best friends, a bluefront amazon named Tequila. She was 5 and I was her 6th home, she screamed she bit (hard enough to require sutures on a few occasions) and she plucked..everything but down feathers everywhere she could reach. Despite it all I loved her more than I could tell you, she was my little chicken butt and I miss her SO much. We are still not really sure what happened..she had started getting sick about a month ago. We did every test imaginable and everything came back normal. She finally ended up in ICU after almost dying in my arms last wednesday, and she lost her brave little battle saturday night

 

We are still waiting on necropsy results, but I just miss her energy! I still have my little quaker, but the house just isn't the same without Tequila have been visiting a few of the local rescues and found a 10 year old CAG that I get along pretty well with. His name is Merlyn..if you scroll down to the very bottom of this adoption page you can take a look at his pic:

http://www.pamperedparrots.org/AdoptableBirds.html

He will probably never have feathers again as his poor little folicles are so damaged they can't grow feathers anymore. But he is an absolutely fantastic little bird! We have visited with eachother twice..the first time he was pretty quiet and standoffish and just kinda wanted to sit with me and watch me. Yesterday I went and visited again, and he was a little more outgoing. He talked a bit and danced for me a few times, and he even played with me just a little bit. He likes to grab your fingers and shake his little head and growl at you like a dog. He is very acrobatic..he likes to hang from your hand and swing around like a monkey (wont let me play with him like that yet, though!)

 

I'm wondering if that is normal for a grey..for them to be standoffish like that? The second visit he was perching on my shoulder on one foot preening himself..the lady from the rescue said that is a very good sign. I'm also wondering if anyone has had real bad aggression problems once the honeymoon period is over? Behavioral issues really aren't a big deal for me, just wondering what I should expect..??

 

Thanks in advance and I'm looking forward to picking everyones brains!!

[danmcq]

Hi TaraRose and Welocme.

 

Such a tragic and sad account of Tequila :-(

 

On your thoughts of adopting Merlin. It sounds like you are doing your homework, visiting him and and seeing if he picks YOU as his new and loving companion. :-)

 

You are doing such a great work and display of compassion in seeking to Adopt, rather than buy a new Baby!!

 

There are never any promises on how they may behave after the Honeymoon is over. I would think that the way he is already showing interest in you is a very good sign of how things would only get better as he goes from "Evaluating" you to wanting to be with you as his new life long companion and family member :-)

 

There are others here with many years of experience that will chime in with there expert advise!

 

Again, welcome to this Forum!!

[judygram]

Well my brain is not that big so picking it won't take long, but yes they are kind of standoffish at new people, some more so than others, so don't worry about that. In time he will come around but it will take a lot of time and patience.

I am so sorry to hear of the passing of your great friend, we get so attached to our birds and it is literally like loosing a part of the family. I know this new grey won't replace him but it will help heal the hole you have in your heart, you seem to have a lot of love to give. And I commend you for choosing the one you did, most people would not want a bird who is never going to be fully feathered, they are not pretty, but pretty is in the eye of the beholder and you see underneath the naked.

Yes he is fine if he is climbing all over the place, most of them are very acrobatic, mine included.

I hope I have helped you a little and others will chime in also. Thanks for joining our family here, we care about each other and our birds.

Let us know what you decide to do and keep us updated as to how things go.

Welcome and congrats to you.

[Guest Monique]

Welcome to our forum! I am so sad to hear about your Amazon. I know how heart-breaking it can be to lose a bird .

 

The grey you are visiting sounds like a great prospect. Where Amazons in general tend to be outgoing clowns, greys tend to be more introverted only getting silly for their favorite people. Although everyone gets bit from time to time, Greys are not generally aggressive with their favorite person. I would not recommend a Grey on the shoulder until/unless (and still maybe not ever) you are absolutely positive of its personality and biting tendencies.

 

Good luck with your decisions, and with your healing process from the loss of your Amazon.

[Tari]

I have not adopted a grey but I have two adopted older birds. One is a sweet heart and was from the start. If your very lucky maybe yours well stay a sweet heart like my amazon Joey did.

Or....

My other one is one of my quakers. When I got him he was a biter and plucker (after a small investment in a vet lol) he no longer plucks but he still bites.

Guess what I'm tring to say is it can go either way.

Your a hero for being welling to take the chance.