New owners considering rescue vs. babies

[Gryphon]

I thought it might be useful to start a conversation about the benefits of adopting a rescued or rehomed bird vs. babies. I think there's a lot more that goes into this decision than is sometimes acknowledged, particularly given the myth that a rehomed bird won't bond to its new owner as readily as a baby, not to mention the strange notion that a "second home" parrot always comes with baggage and needs special care. I can't tell you how often it is said that new owners should buy babies. This can be a very misguided and often tragic piece of advice! The abused and neglected birds we end up with at rescues and sanctuaries were once those "easier" baby birds. With this in mind, I'd like to make an argument for the adoption of older birds rather than babies. It is certainly not the only argument, but it should at least be a part of the decision.

 

First, raising a baby parrot correctly is much much more difficult than most inexperienced people realize. Many prospective owners (even well informed ones!) purchase a baby with wonderful loving intentions and end up with a "problem" bird. I and many of you know this from first hand experience. So the notion that a new owner should always or even usually get a baby seems misguided to me. Many rescues have older parrots that are well-adjusted and emotionally secure. These birds are perfectly capable of bonding to a new person and can be a better choice for new owners than a baby. I've seen it happen over and over and experienced it myself. Why would such a bird be given up? Let me count the ways: money, death of owner, new baby, moving, new spouse. I'd bet there are a million reasons!

 

The other category of rescue/rehomed birds are certainly experienced-parrot-people-only! A responsible rescue organization will be upfront and frank about whether or not an inexpereinced person is capable of adopting such a bird, with the added benefit of a home visit and/or interviews with the potential new owner.

 

Any potential new owner should at least consider a well-adjusted adult rehomed bird. Babies are wonderful, but in a way, there is some false advertising there. (Same with the human babies, but that's another story )

 

Like every animal, parrot babyhood is brief and demands an ability to to responsibly love, care for, and learn to give appropriate space to the bird. Love alone is not enough. When that baby changes, the real "problems" begin. We must teach them how to be adult BIRDS. Not an easy task for a primate, not matter how well informed you are going into it!

 

A person who is not able to handle the huge time, financial, and emotional demands of a well-adjusted adult bird has no business with a baby. Where we get the idea that babies are "easier" is beyond me. This is not to say buying a baby parrot is wrong! There are many wonderful, responsible parronts out there. My point is that it is a much more difficult task than conventional wisdom suggests, especially for new owners.

 

And for those of you who take in abused and neglected birds, or even just birds that have had negative behaviors reinforced, you are truly the saints of the animal kingdom!

 

P.S. Local rescues can be easy to find (try petfinder.com) and the rewards of parrot companionship are just as strong with a rehomed bird.

[judygram]

That is a myth as far as I am concerned that a rehomed or rescued grey will not bond with a new owner for we have seen it many times here on this forum. It just may take longer to accomplish is the only real difference.

 

I agree with everything you said Stephanie, it all boils down to are you prepared to take on a baby or an adult grey that may or may not have baggage. There are wonderful companions out there looking for a new home that would make excellent pets but for someone who has some experience dealing with the possible issues that might come up.

 

Baby parrots or greys need someone who knows what they require as far as food, cage, toys, vet bills and the time committments to keep them happy and healthy and there are people who should not get a bird, regardless of age or where it came from just because they are too ignorant of what they require.

 

You have brought up some good points Stephanie and this was well thought out and well written, thank you for posting this and I look forward to hearing more thoughts on this subject.

[Parrotdise]

What a great thread to start!!! We share our home with 3 rehomed parrots. SweetPea the teil came to us with no baggage,his first family realized they weren't cut out to be parrot guardians and decided to place him in a home better prepared to give him everything he needed.

Phoenix our Umbrella came with some serious baggage,her life alternated between abuse and neglect. She has blossomed into one of the most wonderful cockatoos anyone could imagine. She's kind,loving and patient.

Gil also had a somewhat rocky past. In the short time he has lived with us he has come 180 degrees,from a hissing,growling feather plucker. To an absolute attention hog. Demanding "tickles"as long as someone is in the house(and probably while we're away too).

We love all of the birds. Seeing the two with "baggage"come around,reminds me of buying seedlings. The promise was there,and all they needed was the nurturing to reach their full potential and blossom into beautiful spirits.<br><br>Post edited by: Parrotdise, at: 2009/05/03 18:35

[Gryphon]

Thanks Judy! I'd also love to hear more from others who have rehomed/rescued. Especially first timers! Many of the bonds I've seen between owners and second home parrots are stronger than any others I've seen.

 

Parrotdise, I think that is a beautiful metaphor for rescue. And someone who successfully rehabs a 'Too is a special person, in my book. They are fragile little souls.

[doubletefarm]

I just joined this forum. I bought/adopted a congo 2 days ago. He will be two on May 7th. His first home had him from babyhood, but he took an intense dislike to the fiance from day one. They tried everything, but after a year and a half he seemed to also distrust the woman, so she decided that either her husband to be or the bird had to go. (me... I'd probably have decided the husband to be.. but that's another story. I believe animals have a great "read" on people LOL)

 

So we will see how this goes. I did lots of research, but am kind of a first time bird owner. When i was growing up my family had birds. We had an amazon, and conures, and I had finches and parakeets. (and of course being a kid, I did hand tame my little birdies which was fun- finches flying around my room) I recently got a cockatiel that was cage raised, and over the past few months I've realized I really want a more interactive bird. A very close friend of mine has wanted a cockatiel forever, and i can't keep two birds, so I offered him to her if I got my congo. The only stipulation is she has to buy him a new cage because I'm keeping the large one that I bought him as a second cage for Sydney.

Sydney has already been imitating the cockatiel, so I suspect I'll still have the lovely sounds (I do love the music he makes).

 

I am home a lot. I'm only 26, single, no kids, etc. I have cats and a Chihuahua. I train race horses, so I do leave early in the am, but am usually home no later than noon. Then home till about 3 and then only gone for about 2-3 hours in the afternoon/evening till I'm back for the evening. So it's generally spans of a few hours that I'm gone and then back again.

I've started to tell Sydney when "bye" when i'm leaving, and if I'm just going to be gone for a few minutes I do tell him.

 

I'm very anxious to do this right for Sydney's sake.

[she]

Stephanie I could not agree more.I was one of those people who believed a baby bird would bond better with me.I became Charlies slave when he was 7 months old and his previous owners no longer wanted him. I know 7 months is still a very young bird but we are very bonded.Many people on hear have adopted older greys and have fantastic relationships with them.As you said many cute cuddly babies end up in rescue situations needing good homes.

[Gryphon]

doubletefarm-- kudos and karma to you for adopting Sydney. With any parrot it will take time and patience, but the feeling of having given this bird a loving home will last a lifetime. Every grey is different, but depending on his age and the intensity of the aversion, you may find that Sydney does well with men. Gryphon was 18 months when we adopted him. His owner had gotten married and Gryphon didn't like her husband/other men at all.

 

After a few weeks, Gryph was and is as much my husband's bird as mine. They like to rap and dance together and only Andy is allowed the privledge of putting him to bed at night! :lol: They have a wonderful relationship.

 

My advice is to gently and patiently socialize Sydney with other people, including men. Make sure they are calm and keep their distance (not a lot of eye contact until Sydney is used to a new person) and go at the his pace. Once he is comfortable and out of his shell (so to speak), I would also suggest clicker training (a good bonding tool for bird and owner) or some similar positive reinforcement training. We use a book called "CLICKER TRAINING for Birds & Parrots" By Melinda Johnson and I'm amember of her yahoo group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/

 

This kind of training is for all parrots and I can tell you that they love it! You start with target training (touching a stick with his beak) and go from there. One warning: greys learn fast! He'd have me training him all day if I would do it.

 

Good luck to you and ask questions here at the forum! There are some brilliant and experienced owners here and I've learned a lot already.

[Dave007]

I too agree with many things that have already been said but I really don't think the full scope of things have been brought up.

 

One major thing is behavior and another is personality. First of all, most birds that are in shelters are old than 3 or 4 yrs old. Most of the reasons why birds are in shelters have a variety of problems that go way beyond * money, death of owner, new baby, moving, new spouse.* If these were the most common reasons that existed, they wouldn't be in shelters in the first place. They would be in a new home without ever reaching that stage where a shelter was needed. Those types of birds could easily be passed on to others with little problems.

 

The problems that these shelter birds have are related to ownership by people who had no control or experience with these problem birds and ingrained personalities of these birds which make it very difficult for people to adopt them because they would be going to a new place with the same problems. It's easy to say * do the right thing--adopt.* But then, that person has to go home with that adopted bird and deal with those problems.

 

The most common reasons that parrots are in shelters are aggression, being seriously introverted, extremely extroverted, untrainable, unable to be handled, not trustworthy, extremely nervous, self mutilation, inability to socialize, refusing to do many common things such as coming out of a cage or going in a cage, difficulty of putting a bird back to one place without being seriously injured, inability to live with other animals, being unsuccessful breeders. There's even more reasons but I'll just name off these things.

 

Many of these birds can't be adopted unless the people understand this type of baggage* and are willing to put up with some of these things. These people have already experienced these personality traits. Some of these problems can be lessened and some can be totally cured. So many can't.

 

Going to a shelter and deciding to take these types of birds home can lead to that same bird winding back in that shelter over and over because many people who wanna do the right thing wind up being overwhelmed.

 

There are people who don't like the idea that their bird needs to be in a shelter. Many of these birds have been previously owned by others and those birds had the same problems.

 

Many of these people really would like to reconnect with their birds but many times, it's too late.

 

I also know about this *first hand*. These were the types of birds ( all species) I worked with for the 6 yrs I lived in MO. I was in a behavior clinic and people brought their birds there in order to be taught how to deal with all the problems listed above. The only one I never dealt with were macaws because I was leery of them and they knew it. The husband and wife owners of this place were 2 retired people who were involved in law enforcement, one being a policeman, the other being a correctional officer in a state prison down there. They specialized in breeding greys and amazons. This place had a 35% success rate which was actually a decent percentage. Many people eventually left their birds there though. My hands and arms were bruised and bitten and I was bitten close to my genitals. Many of these birds were past the point of being pets. These birds weren't special. These were the types of birds that were in many shelters/adoption centers. The only reason I'm still not there is because I moved to PA.

 

The problems above had many facets connected to each one. These were the birds that people could adopt. After all, it was an adoption center and people were told about these birds. Only the people who knew what bird keeping was all about took these birds because they knew about one of the most important things about these birds---all of these parrots were *wild animals* just like all the tame baby parrots that live successfully in millions of homes today.

 

I'll give an example of a certain bird who now belongs to me. He's a Timneh. His name is Tee. He was given to me when he was 8 yrs old. He's now 14 . He was a decent looking, fully feathered typical bird who didn't talk, ate well, was able to live in a cage. I should also say that Tee was never in any type of shelter.

 

His only purpose in life was tio be a viscious attack bird. In his previous home, all he did was go after the wife, the husband and finally the baby they had. In the home before that, his personality was exactly the same. Luckily, he never succeeded with the baby. When the baby was attacked, that's when I received a midnight call from the husband asking if I would take him and I did.

 

When he was here all he did was the exact same thing. He went after me, my wife.my other birds, my dog and he succeeded. He even tried to bite the fish in my aquarium.

 

It took 1 1/2 yrs to bring this bird back to what people would consider to be a pet bird. I was seriously and constantly bitten and my wife was too. Over and over and over. The dog just avoided him. He had to be separated from the other birds.

 

I doubt that there would be many people who would have wanted to deal with him. If he was in a shelter back then, he would still be in a shelter right now. I need to credit my wife for the tremendous time and effort she also put into dealing with this bird and turning him around. She's a brave person. She's a bird person though.

 

I also agree to a certain extent about not getting a baby bird but problems arising with those birds are many times caused by the owners from the get go. Lets start it off by putting diapers on a bird, taking the bird around by putting it in a baby carriage, and worst of all, disabling a bird's normal functions simply because people want control over an animal that's totally different then any other bird which is flight and doing that can be the start of many personality changes and inabilities to develop and function as a bird and all of these things are done for the convenience and control that people want over a creature who is definitely different.

 

If you own a dog who is somewhat of a biter, do you pull all of it's teeth out to avoid the discomfort of being bitten??

 

PS--it wasn't only me in that shelter. There were 5 others besides the owners that did the same thing.

 

Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/05/03 21:15

 

Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/05/03 21:27<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/05/03 21:29

[judygram]

Thanks so much Dave for a well thought out post and I can surmise it in a few words, WE create the problems with these birds, at least those of us who don't really understand what we are dealing with when we get one, I know a lot more now than I ever did but I may never know as much as Dave does but he is so willing to share his knowledge and I am akin to a sponge, I am going to soak it all up.

[Tycos_mom]

I adopted a very abused neglected bird in its 3rd home in 4 shourt years Its no wonder the poor bird csme with a ton of baggage and hated humans. It took me 7 months to prove to her I was different and that I could be trusted to not abandon of abuse her in any way. I've had her for 2 years now and she's a different bird now. She likes people again and she loves to show off. She likes to do things that she knows she's not allowed to do like eat the wood trim aoound my windows and ceiling and I'm sure she does it just to get my attention just to see if I still care enough about her to make her stop. she's so wonderful and sweet she has a great personality and a good sence of humor and I'm sure if any of the previous owners ever took the time to get to know her the way I do they would have never given her up. She is a ver happy confident Grey she's not afraid of anything except the camera. I guess I'll never know why. She's my baby now and I wouldn't give her up for anything. I'm sure if her previous owner saw her now he wouln't even recognise her she doesn't barber her feathers any more and she doesn't growl and lunge when you come within 5 ft of her cage. although she never everr did that with me she picked me from the start amazing how they know who's best for them.

[Gryphon]

I hear what you're saying Dave and unfortunately there are many birds with behavioral issues in rescues, as I well know. I've fostered birds with what some have considered "minor" problems and found them overwhelming. It is all about the match!

 

However, there are also, believe it or not, birds with relatively minor behavioral problems in need of good homes and birds who need to be rehomed that have no behavioral problems at all beyond normal parrot behavior. It is true that the moderate to severe problems outweigh the others, in part because the other birds are placed first, but if you contact a local rescue, many will keep your info and contact you when an appropriate bird becomes available.

 

My larger point is that new owners who have done their research and decided to find a parrot could be better off looking and waiting for a well adjusted adult. For some reason many folks out there seem to think a baby parrot is for "beginners" when in fact (as you seem to know) babies that are mishandled early become those very hard to place parrots.

 

I'm suggesting an application with a rescue (and ideally volunteering!) would be the ideal place for prospective new owners to BEGIN their search. It might not work out, but why not start there? There has been too much discouraging information put out there about taking in adult birds and while there are many horror stories, there are also many who have found well adjusted adult birds. No parrot is problem free, including those adorable babies!

[BaxtersMom]

This is a great thread and I do have a few things to add. I was a person who had absolutely no bird experience except for my moms parakeet or canary when I was very small. Both of those I had no interest in.

 

My first parrot was Baxter, a 12 year old CAG. He was neglected with a seed only diet, put in the basement and avoided, then another owner took him and again he never let him out of his cage and he was never handled. He did not know how to fly since he was cage bound and didn't have the slightest idea of what "Step Up" meant when I got him.

 

As a first parrot that was probably the worst match for me since I had no experience...but here is the thing ~ I was READY & WILLING to find out all that I needed to do to get him in an atmosphere he deserved. My hands were bloody the first several weeks from him biting me anytime I wanted to do something with him. Alot/most of that was from my own mistakes I made with him. But my point is that after one or two bloody bites from a parrot a lot of people will get discouraged or frightend and stop right there, regret getting the bird and the bird stays caged and the abuse and neglect cycle continues. Some people might think it was a big mistake to get the bird as it wasn't what they thought it would be and emotionally abandon it and then more problems arise out of it.

 

But if someone who gets a baby doesn't know how to treat it the same things can and most likely will happen. I adopted a 1 1/2 year old DYH amazon that literally screamed bloody murder when I tried to handle it. He also would bite right through leather gloves!!! He came to us in a filthy cage that was plexiglassed in where he couldn't climb, was only fed sunflower seeds, never let out of his cage and only had 1 short and 1 long perch his cage and 2 broken small parakeet toys. It was a similar story but so much worse. The woman who I got him from "claimed" she loved him so much but had to let him go. (yea right)

 

The problem was she did get a baby because they were "easier" but didn't know what she was doing which made the bird suffer. He literally stunk like urine and feces when we took him home and birds don't usually have odors like that. His cage hadn't been cleaned in months.:sick: :angry:

 

When I first joined this forum I used to get offended when it was said to get a baby as opposed to a rehomed adult "with baggage" That phrase really did burn me up, mainly because with the help of this forum, me and Baxter ended up accomplishing so much, but the longer I have been on the forum and the more bird owners I have met, I have realized that there are way many people out there with birds, (babies and adult birds), that really have no business having them.

 

I think it's okay to get a rehomed bird as a first bird "as long as the person has some common sense and is totally devoted to enriching the birds life". I think a baby parrot would be okay to get as a first bird too as well "as long as the person has some common sense and is totally devoted to enriching the birds life"

 

If you don't have common sense and aren't willing to devote a lot of time to the parrot, you should not even think about getting any kind of parrot at all.

 

After some of the things I have seen with people and the parrots they claim to love I can't help but get so angry:angry: . I will probably never take the opportunity to have a baby bird of any kind because I must admit I feel good about finding an older bird that desperately needs help and out of a bad situation. It makes me feel good inside. If I ever did get another bird it would most likely be another rescue. I find it very rewarding. There are so many older birds that need a new loving homes and just because they aren't at their best at the moment doesn't mean they can't turn out to be the most loving and bonded birds.

 

I think more "capable" people should go out and rehomes greys and other birds that need it.

 

I also think some baby greys might be a better fit for some owners while rehomed birds would be a better fit for others. I think it's based on the person and the birds themselves.

 

 

Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/05/03 23:08

 

Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/05/03 23:14<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/05/03 23:18

[Gryphon]

Wow BaxtersMom. What a great post. Though it raises my blood pressure a notch or two. :evil:

 

I've followed Baxter's story, but not your amazon's. How is he doing now? I just don't know what some people are thinking or how they can't respond to an animal in pain.

 

I've seen even informed people with the best of intentions who come in with screamers, biters, pluckers. We should start a "raising a parrot is hard." thread. Wild animals are wild animals and while they teach us so much (including what it means to be a human animal) no one should ever expect it to be easy all the time. They definitely aren't the right companion for most people. Though as my husband says, parrot people are the BEST people! :lol:

[BaxtersMom]

My amazon is doing very well. Thanks for asking. I don't post alot about him but I would have to say he is just a fantastic bird all around. He is such a happy fellow. He loves to sing and gosh is he ever a talker. He will talk directly to my face on a daily basis and he learns new words every week it seems. He went from screaming in fear when we first got him to a healthy and happy amazon who laughs hysterically all the time:woohoo: . He is very tame now, too and very much a part of the family. I think he likes it with us;)

 

That is why I love to see adult parrots being considered when someone is thinking of getting a grey. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I think if I hadn't rescued Baxter my grey and Cooper my amazon they might be doomed to an dreadful and depressing life. I can tell they are happy and I think they are even thankful too and the difference we have made in their quality of lives. I want to save them all but know I can't:(

[Summerc25]

Great posts! I ended up choosing to rehome a bird and I couldn't be happier. My grey has already gone trough some of the phases they go through at maturity etc and he is a little love bug. I think, similar to what Baxters mom said, whether it is a baby or an adult anyone gets, they need to be devoted to enriching the parrots life and taking proper care of him or her. If they are, either choice will be fine.

[Tycos_mom]

i have to agree that it is very reward to watch an abused and neglected parrot tranceform into a wonderful loving companion. But it is not a task for the faint of heart. but then again just owning any parrot is not for the faint of heart. it s a huge commitment and must be taken seriously I do think a person that adopts any bird should be very settled without to many unforseeable chnges in their lives and that usually doesn't happen until you are at least 35 4o years old. yes there are some that get there younger but not many.

[CarolandFamily]

Stephanie- I have read this post and I agree with Dave as well. We are getting two baby Greys and as I read the post and maybe I am wrong I feel that YOU are saying we shouldn't get baby Greys?

 

I have an adopted ADULT cat that we got from a rescue and yes maybe a cat is different then a bird.He was a homeless cat and a elderly lady called to have him picked up, he was at her door everyday and couldn't keep him where she lived. I chose to adopt a OLDER cat well he was 2. Let me tell you he was a NIGHTMARE when we got him. He would be in the garbage cans when we were sleep, on my table eating food, in my toilet, in my sinks, on my stove etc.. BUT I chose to stick it out and LOVE Milo to death! He is an awesome cat but he had a bunch of issues. The rescue was going to take him back but me and partner said nope were gonna stick it out.

 

Every now and then he gets on my table to sleep lol, he STILL get's in my bathroom sink to drink water BUT when im upset or in tears he sits by my door and looks at me and hops in the bed to sleep.

 

At any rate I chose to get 2 babies and yes we know that they are ALOT of work and a LIFETIME commitment and I applaud those of you have adopted and loved the ones who were either abused or neglected. I applaud your work Stephanie for doing what you do and being so passionate about rehoming greys.

 

I just know for us rehoming a Grey was not the road I wanted. We all know what we are capable of or what we want to do. I think alot of these stories are so sad but look at all the beautiful birds that have had a happy ending.<br><br>Post edited by: CarolandFamily, at: 2009/05/04 19:19

[Gryphon]

Carol I believe you are misreading my post. At no point in any of my posts do I say that you or anyone else should not get a baby grey. Nor, if you read my follow up to Dave's post, do I disagree with him.

[danmcq]

Stephanie, this is a wonderful Topic. Thanks for starting it . It is obvious you put a lot of thought, heart and soul into it. :-)

 

Dave, That was a very informative and real world post describing the Rescue "Lifer" that is there because of very deeply embedded serious issues that will not go away in a month or two, if ever.

 

With all the information that is being posted by all here, it will give people considering adoption a real feel for rescue or adopting and also key questions to ask when dealing with a rescue in finding a Grey or other Parrot in need of help.

 

Most rescues are VERY picky and adamant about matching the right bird with the right person or home. This does not mean a mismatch never occurs, but it lessens the probability.

 

Some rescued parrots sit in foster homes for a year or more due to there deeply ingrained issues and most foster parents post very candid appraisals of how the bird is doing and how they are handling the birds issues. As, Dave so well said, some birds will not change much if at all. IT is those that either need a person with a will of iron and a heart bigger than Texas to make the decision to take the bird and give it a forever home regardless of it's personality.

 

Some may just end up in huge flight cages and be able to live out the remainder of it's life in a nice place, good food and responsible care givers. What is more beautiful and breathtaking, than to watch these amazing birds flourish, interact with one another and burst into wondrous flight?

 

I hope all considering adopting or purchasing a baby read this thread first. It will help them truly understand the huge step they are about to take.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/05/04 15:48

[Kili]

This thread has been very informative. I'm volunteering at a parrot rescue and have hopes of adopting a grey at some point. I'm still keeping the option open of getting a baby, also. I feel that if I meet a grey at the rescue center that I have a connection with, then I will do everything possible to give he/she a wonderful new home. I'm really wanting to find my grey before Christmas this year. I teach year round and I get 3 weeks off at Christmas. Whether I get a baby or an older rehomed grey, I want to have the full 3 weeks to spend with my new friend so that he/she can begin to feel at home. My family is very aware of the amount of work that goes into caring for a parrot and we're all committed to adding another to our home. We have a sun conure, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs (they stay at school) and 2 red foot tortoises. I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about which to get. Part of me wants to be the first parront and experience all the growth and change and part of me wants to help a grey that has lost its home and is in need of finding love, trust and security with a family. Whichever I get, I believe the members of this forum will be able to give me constructive advice and I truly appreciate that.

[Natasha]

Hi

 

Great post!! Before I became a CAG owner I "rescued" a ringneck named Vlooi!! In 2007 we went to a braai one night with my friends to her uncle we were there about half an hour my husband called me into the house to a room where 2 freezers were standing he went to get some ice. He saw that in between the freezer a cage (round filthy old cage) when he looked closer there Vlooi was the cage(she had no tail it was bitten of) was so filthy it stank there were no water the food (seeds) was just thrown on top of the filth I immediatly went closer she screamed blue murder I was holding a piece of bread in my hand when I bent down the bread touched the cage she came froward I took a little piece in my mouth to moisture it she ate out of my moputh that's how hungry she was...!!!!! Then the girl of about 2 years old came in immediatly bannged against the cage man I love kids but at that moment I didn't I told her to stop because Vlooi was going mad!! I went out to the uncle and asked why Vlooi was being neglected in that way he simply said "Well she bites us so what the heck" I asked him if I could have her? He said "yeah take her she is a screaming headache" I had to control my anger really good I told my husband that's it I am going home to get her out of there she was 5 months old really hungry and scared at home I opened the cage she didn't trust me I gave her some fresh water and seeds she climbed out and stayed on top of the cage I left her there for the night she never once climbed down. We went to the petshop the next morning to get some advice and proper food ect. when we arrived home blood was spurrted on the wall she plucked her feathers till it bleeded phoned the vet he said he doesn't really deal with birds after a huge search I found a avian vet they are scarce around here.

 

He told me what to buy and ect. I started treating her it took a lot of patience and love eventually she came around after 2 weeks of talking,and slowly we made progress we were very attached she was queen of the home lol... But she was a troubled bird things would go well for weeks and then she started plucking again time after time then the whole thing started over but each time I knew better how to handle her she began to talk very clever birdie I had her for 11 months came home one night and found her dead in her cage don't know why, how!! It was devestating she was doing so well no plucking nothing I made peace with it, it was hard but if I had to do it all over again I defnitly would.

 

I am glad she had it good for the few months at least in her life!! I still miss her{Love-000200BF}

[danmcq]

Very touching story Natasha.

 

Karma to you for rescuing that poor soul and giving a good life, even though it was sadly cut short.