A question about rescues

[Minimaker]

I'm interested in the idea of adopting a rescue in about a year, but I have no idea if it's even feasible for me because of my location. I only encountered two in my state when I went looked for them online, one I emailed and got no response. Their websites seem a little unfriendly, or maybe it's just me. There are a lot of rules and conditions. When my email inquiry went unanswered I backed off the idea and bought a baby thinking I would have less behavioral problems anyway. That really didn't happen for us. We're working with our greenwing, and we're trying to get to touch her and interact with her without her going into attack mode. It's only been a little over a month, so we still have work to do with her obviously. We're progressing, we're just starting to get to pet her back without her turning on us but she's still unhappy about being touched. She does step up about 85% of the time without trying to bite us but she's still really unsure about it.

I want a blue and gold at some point, and I figure if there is no guarantee of getting a well tamed parrot as a baby I might as well try to get one that needs a new home instead and do the taming work with that one. But how is the question. How do you adopt if you live in an area that doesn't have much available? Who's going to drive here for a home visit when I'm many hours away? I think Sailor would really be much more happy if she had a companion bird to interact with and my tiny conure is not an option.

What do you guys with experience in this think, am I sunk and I have no shot of helping a rescue bird? Am I pretty much stuck needing to order a baby instead? The thought of an older bird who needs a good home appeals to me. I think we are a decent home, we really try to take good care of our birds. Fresh food every day (and hey they are actually starting to eat it!) good quality pellets, goldenfeast blends, lots of treats, toys, and anything I can think of for their comfort. I just ordered the Feathered Faire cookbook. I have a pan of banana nut/veggie birdie bread in my oven right now. I would love to take good care of some bird who needs it but I don't see how to go about it when we're ready. Any ideas on what to do?

 

[Christinenc2000]

I re-homed a Macaw and there are zero rescue places around me. Local vet has gotten in a few birds in the last year. Not a Aivan . She contacted me again last week about a Too but I have my hands full with BB and I have asthma . I understand Toos are dusty
I had no expectations as to what BB could offer me . I was in the position to offer him a safe warm place to live with healthy food. Anything he would give me was a bonus as far as I was concerned. My first Bird . I get bit and most of the time its just because he is scared . He is not a mush mac YET . Lots more trust and I feel he will be there . Right now he is having to much fun teaching the Dogs to come when he calls.
As far as remote area I have a hour drive inland to work 30 min to closest grocery story . So where there is a will there is a way. Don't limit yourself.

 

[gracebowen]

I've seen several posts about cl parrots being treated bad. When you're ready perhaps you can look there or post a wanted ad.

 

[gracebowen]

You could try craigslist. Where are you?

 

[Minimaker]

Yeah I suppose I could. I'm a little afraid of meeting people through craigslist though, it sounds risky. So many bad stories on the internet about dangerous people answering ads. Years ago there was a murder in my family and the killers were never caught so now I think I'm more cautious than the average person about strangers.

 

[gracebowen]

Just remembered if I was a liar I could have had 2 Amazon's. I was offered them for free. The guy thought I had more experience than I had. This was from a wanted ad I placed in the pet section.

 

[gracebowen]

Mimi I'm sorry to hear that. If you go the cl router meet in a public place or take someone with you.

 

[Minimaker]

There aren't a whole lot of parrots in my area, I've checked Craigslist when I was thinking of getting a greenwing. I have yet to see a blue and gold anywhere near me there but I did see a Scarlet once. Right now I see a small mac and an african grey on there. I guess I can check when I'm ready. I feel like I need to spend some time with this one and see how we do with her. I want more experience before I get another big mac. I guess I was just hoping there was a more legitimate route to go with a real rescue or group.

 

[thekarens]

Mimi I'm sorry to hear that. If you go the cl router meet in a public place or take someone with you.

This. I got Sydney, my male sennie, from craigslist and it was a good experience. I went alone at night, which I wouldn't recommend, but there are lots of birds out there that need homes.

 

[Birdman666]

Well, when I was involved in it, I had three locally that I worked with, and five that were in my area. That wasn't a problem...

There are a lot of rescues that place a tremendouc amount of idiotic rules on people. Some of them I can see, some of them are just AR, and they aren't exceptionally friendly. It is made difficult because they want them to go to a safe environment. Inadvertently they drive people away, instead of encouraging them.

I essentially, didn't turn people away, but I did insist that they get training on the bird they selected before bringing the bird home, AND I DID THE TRAINING! Didn't pass the class with me, didn't get one. So sorry.

So that was how I kept it in check...

Other people do it differently. I tried to match the bird to the person.

 

[Christinenc2000]

Well, when I was involved in it, I had three locally that I worked with, and five that were in my area. That wasn't a problem...

There are a lot of rescues that place a tremendouc amount of idiotic rules on people. Some of them I can see, some of them are just AR, and they aren't exceptionally friendly. It is made difficult because they want them to go to a safe environment. Inadvertently they drive people away, instead of encouraging them.

I essentially, didn't turn people away, but I did insist that they get training on the bird they selected before bringing the bird home, AND I DID THE TRAINING! Didn't pass the class with me, didn't get one. So sorry.

So that was how I kept it in check...

Other people do it differently. I tried to match the bird to the person.

And I am still in his On line training class . JK he has no on line class But I learned just about everything I know from this site .

 

[Minimaker]

This is an example of a rescue group located in my state:
Adoption Process

Seriously, from having read this I feel afraid to even try. They sound a little angry/confrontational. I contacted them through email and got no reply. I guess craigslist is my best option. Maybe my only one when it comes to rehomed/rescued parrots. I wonder if anyone would agree to meet at a public place instead of a home. Would it be weird to ask them that?

Here's another, they specify no cats at the bottom. Some say no dogs. I have both:
http://happeparrotsrescue.com/Parrot_Adoption.php

 

[thekarens]

If they are including the cage they may not be willing to meet (such as my situation.) But otherwise they might.

 

[Christinenc2000]

I forget how long have you had Sailor ? You sound a little stressed about getting a new one. Why not just relax and wait. See what comes your way you can never tell.

 

[Minimaker]

Yeah I said earlier in a post that I want to wait awhile before I get another one to get more experience. I'm not stressed, just bummed she wasn't more tame considering her young age. We're working with her and she's getting better with time. I was hoping we could touch/handle her because she's pretty much still a baby at 11 months. She wasn't having none of that when we got her. It took us a month to get a hand near her body so I figure in a few more months we'll be farther along towards that goal. I was thinking of getting one in about a years time, but I didn't really know where to look and wondered if anyone else might know of a place where we could get one even if it meant driving or having it shipped to us. I'd feel better handing money over online if the place were legitimate and not some person out there looking to hoodwink someone out of some money. I know a guy who's sent money two times to two different places and still doesn't have a parrot.

 

[Christinenc2000]

It will work out. Great group of people here so maybe something will come up. I know there is one rescue about 3 hours from me and its like Mark said they require classes. And I understand why. I plan on taking the classes soon just for the learning . Nothing beats hands on

 

[Birdman666]

When it was something like a macaw, I always worked with the bird they wanted, and the person one on one, to see if it would work.

I had a normal "these are what they need" class, but I also had a you need to show me you can handle this bird requirement. Since I worked with the "aggressive" birds, the excuse I gave for that one was "it's a safety issue for both of you." And that generally allowed me to do extra one on one, to make sure the bird and new owner worked well together.

If it wasn't working, it quickly became obvious.

If the bond was starting to happen, that also became obvious.

And then I also made myself available to be called if there were problems. I did occasional "interventions." (We didn't want the same bird coming back in a few months.)

A lot of rescues are pretty dysfunctional in that they seem to drive away the most qualified people with all their petty requirements.

 

[veimar]

Hey where in IL do you live? There are two big shelters in Chicago area, and there is at least one somewhere more south, near Springfield (I'm not sure if it's a shelter or breeder, but they list adult birds very cheap as well as babies).
He you tried this FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parrotsneedinghomesinillinoisandwisconsin/
They are listing two macs right now, but I'm not sure if they are still available.
I've also seen macs listed on CL, and I even replied to a couple of ads and usually got a response. There are a lot of scams there too. If you are not getting a response from a shelter there could be various reasons to that, including a simple glitch. I would try to contact them again.

 

[veimar]

Oh I just saw you are trying to get one from the Northbrook one! I'd say forget about that! LOL They require tons of tests for your existing birds (which will cost you hundreds if not thousands of $$$) before they adopt a bird to you. I wanted to volunteer there and talked to Karen, the manager, about that, but when I submitted my application I never got a call back from them.
Did you try the one in Villa Park instead? They have much more fair adoption procedure and they have several B&G for sure.

 

[Minimaker]

Hmmm, ok I'll check into those. Facebook is a little confusing to me because I don't really use it. Do they have a regular website? I don't see much information about where to see birds available, am I missing it or do you have to join before you can see anything on the page? Villa Park? Where did you see that one? Are they online?

*Never mind I found the Villa Park by searching that name. It looks like they want a home visit too, I guess I'd have to call them and see if they'd even drive this far. We're about 4 hours away.