Parrotdise Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Hi All I'm Sarah,human wife and mom. Also mom to 3 Fids,Phoenix(10 year old U2)Sweet Pea(6 month old tiel)and Gilbert(4 year old TAG) Gilbert is our newest flock member and needed a home so we offered ours. He's been with us for almost a week and is amazing and I believe we'll have a wonderful relationship. Tonight was the first time I was able to touch him without being nipped(I consider a nip anything that doesn't need stitches).I'm not sure what changed this evening,this morning and afternoon I was nipped. Tonight he called for a cracker(what he calls all treats)so I offered him a nurtiberry,and he lowered his head to have his head and neck rubbed and scratched. I scratched and rubbed for half an hour through the bars of his cage. Then I let him out for a while(he's currently in quarantine in our bedroom)for some out time,and he let me rub him out of his cage. It's a huge break through and brough tears to my eyes,we were prepared to love him even if we could never touch him. Right now it feels like we're moving in the right direction,and we're adjusting to the sounds he makes(phone ringing,microwave beeping,and dog barking)and what is the real noise verses what sounds Gilbert makes Anywho after my novel,even though I'm experienced with parrots I'm really looking forward to being her and learning more about these amazing creatures<br><br>Post edited by: Parrotdise, at: 2009/03/26 01:28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Hi Sarah, you have a nice variety of FIDs in your flock. I can't wait to see some pictures and hear more about your great little flock. Karma to you for giving an older grey a new forever home! Welcome to the family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Welcome welcome glad to hear your love for birds is uncondional I wish everyone felt that way. I very glad to say that I beleive everyone on this forum feels that way and I proud to be a member. I looking forward to hearing about your flock and how you came to own Gilbert. I'll be looking forward to reading more post and hopfully seeing lots of pictures of your flock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Hello Sarah and welcome to the family, so glad you could join us and we look forward to hearing more about you, Gilbert and the rest of the flock. I am so glad you could give Gilbert a home when he needed it, you have a big heart and I think you will be rewarded with his love and affection with some time. He seems to be settling in nicely even though he has only been with you for a week, imagine how it will be after months and years, amazing. You will find lots of useful information in our many threads so do read thru them at your leisure and do ask questions you may have and we will help you in any way we can. We would love to see some pictures of Gilbert and the rest of your flock if you would share some with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckobird Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Welcome to the forum Sarah, so glad you could join! What a great story that is. Gilbert is so lucky to have found you. It sounds that you guys are going to be great friends, all it does is take time and patience. Can't wait to hear more about you and your flock and hopefully see some pictures too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Welcome Sarah and flock!! It's GreYt having you here and your large flock. It is always wonderful to hear of someone taking in rescues that need plenty of TLC and a good home and family to enjoy. Looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing photos of your flock. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrotdise Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 The story of my flock,sit back grab some coffee and cookies and treats for the fids,cause it's that kinda story First I'll start with my love of parrots In my late teens I became very into reptiles,namely geckos. I was working at a mall type pet store,but I wanted to work with more variety of reptiles and not have to deal with puppy sales:sick: So I sought out a job at the local exotics shop. I started out working with the reptiles exclusively,because there aren't too many people willing to force fed snakes when required. After being at the job for 6 months I fell in love with a quaker who was being boarded at the shop. I asked the owners to teach me more about the parrots. I also started reading everything I could get my hands on about birds. Within a year of taking my job,I was handfeeding babies in the shop,and supervising the visits with new parronts and babies still being handfed. Evenually a new clutch of quaker babies came in,and I was given the middle baby to make my own,I named him Crash and he was the light of my life. Crash was my first child and we loved each other dearly. Crash moved several times with me,but his final move was from Michigan to Biloxi MS. My family and I were preparing to move to Tucson with the military and the movers came. I was in over my head,there were so many movers and just me to watch over all of them and 2 small children. Someone opened his cage and Crash few out of his cage and out the door. I was crushed,we stayed and looked for him for an extra week,but couldn't find him. So now we're in Tucson and have been for several years and I know I want to love another parrot,but AI want something small and mighty. A parrotlet was the answer,so I met a local breeder and we adopted Slimer. I became friends with Slimer's breeder and started handfeeding and socializing her babies. Then almost 4 years ago she got a call to rescue a fairly large group of parrots,one being a quaker,so she enlisted my help. I went and loaded up my van with birds in cages. So very sweet and terrified,others were quite angry in that group was Phoenix our U2. We knew something about all the birds,but Phoenix was the saddest story She was bought as the very first bird as an unweaned baby,her owner knew some but not enough about handfeeding and burned her crop,the owner didn't realize it was burned until formula was leaking for what I understand was a very large hole. Her crop was surgically repaired,but even then she suffered from mistrust due to the injury and wasn't weaned properly and still is handfed at night. Because I was a stay at home mom we decided Phoenix would stay with me so someone could devote lots of time to her and helping her become everything a parrot should be. She lived with us as a foster for 18 months until we decided that she was part of the family. She still is handfed everynight,I don't think she needs it,but she is much calmer,so it's worth it Sweet Pea came to us just a month ago,he was bought from a pet store as a first bird. His parronts did absolutely everything right for him,but found that they couldn't stand his sounds and wanted him to have a home where he would be appreciated for his personality and noise. He is a sweet little bird and is partially clicker trained. And Gilbert Before Sweet Pea come to live with us I had put out an ad looking to adopt a small to medium sized parrot in need of a new home. We adopted Sweet Pea and I forgot all about it. Then last Wednesday my DH had refractive surgery,I got home to see an e-mail about a 4 year old grey who's owner was moving cross country,and couldn't take him. The owner was moving the next day so I had to act quickly,we exchanged a few e-mails,a few phone calls and I left my husband with 4 children so I could fit a cage in my minivan and headed 45 minutes away to see him. The first thing I saw was a Gilbert talking to his human and begging to have his head and neck rubbed. His belly was slightly plucked,but I knew he hadn't been getting the attention he was used to so I wasn't horribly surprised. So I said he could come live with us. Gilbert his toys,food and cage were loaded into my van. The whole 45 minute ride back home were pure torture for both of us. Gilbert sat huddled on the floor of a travel cage alternating between screaming a scream I've never heard and pulling out beakfuls of feathers. We finally got home,I lugged the cage upstairs to our bedroom and get him settled in. By the next morning he had removed even more feathers,but more concerning to me was he hadn't touched the food and water. I decided to offer him a pine nut,which he took quickly and devoured. I also covered the whole cage that first day,quickly peeking in on him several times to make sure he was OK. The next day I was able to coax him back into the travel cage to take him to the avian vet to have a complete work up. We're still waiting on some results,and as long as everything is fine he'll only have 5 more weeks of quarantine. That is the story of our flock,I'll post some pics of Phoenix and Sweet Pea as soon as I find them. We don't have pics of Gilbert yet because I don't want to risk our new relationship by shoving a camera at him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Oh Sarah what a perfect parront you are. The story of each one of your flock is so heart wrenching. You're a big-hearted person and we are lucky to have you as a member of our family!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Wow Sarah that is some story about your fids and I want to thank you for providing so much information so we can know you better. I am looking forward to seeing the difference some time makes for Gilbert who came to you pulling out his feathers and screaming. I just bet with some time he will make a complete turnaround and be one of the sweetest greys you will ever meet, he just needs some love, attention and some good ole tlc. Thanks so much for sharing some of yourself with us, I almost feel like I know you now. Yes please share some pictures of your flock with us and I completely understand about not wanting to risk any setback with Gilbert by trying to get a pic of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerc25 Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hi and welcome I am new here too but so far everyone has been so nice and helpful. I know you are going to love this site too. I am so happy that Gilbert has a wonderful and loving home now. Thank you for taking an older bird that needed love and a forever home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Thanks for the story Sarah.You are a bird person alright.I am looking forward to hearing how Gilbert comes on in his new home.I am sure he will flurish with your care and attention.Keep us all informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 What a wonderful history of your life with parrots and theirs with you. Thanks for sharing such a touching story of rescue and it's wonderful outcomes. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckobird Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 That was a wonderful story! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! Can't wait to see some pictures of your flock and also hear updates on how Gilbert is doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue09 Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Thanks for sharing your story Sarah and welcome. I hope that Gilbert has a much happier life now.....I'm sure he will as you sound as if you will give him all the love he can use. Look forward to more stories and pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raposa Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Lovely story, Sarah!! I'm eager to see pictures and hear how Gilbert is doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summerc25 Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 How is sweet little Gilbert doing Sarah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyric Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hi Sarah! Thanks for sharing your story with us, you're part of our little flock now so keep us updated with how things are going for Gilbert and your other fids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now