Adoption? Can't decide.

[wrench13]

One of the members of my local parrot Society just informed the membership that one of our long time members passed away suddenly. He had 10 parrots in his flock, all the way from some Macaws, a cockatoo, a Grey, a Quaker and a few conures. All 10 have been brought to the local town Animal Control facility. Its very sad. Geri and I are considering adopting one of the larger species, either Macaw or the Grey. Aside from the medical considerations of quarantining a new parrot, any suggestions on how I can determine the compatibility of a new addition? I will 100% not do anything that might jeopardize or put at risk the relationship we have with Salty. If he was not in the picture, we might even consider adopting a few of them, since they are all familiar with each other. It's a pretty hard decision to make.

 

[Flboy]

Oh wow! Wow!!
Absolutely, it will effect the dynamics of your relationship with Salty!
But I believe, for the better!

 

[texsize]

Please keep us posted on what you decide.
the desire to help a bird in need is strong.
Wes

 

[Tmarshall]

Oh wow! Wow!!
Absolutely, it will effect the dynamics of your relationship with Salty!
But I believe, for the better!

I agree I thought bringing Marty into the fam would destroy my relationship with JJ but it has made it even better

 

[Terry57]

Al, any bird who finds a home for you would be so lucky.
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way to know if adding a bird would change your relationship with Salty without trying it. I think that if Salty still receives the attention he is used to that there is a really good chance it would not affect your relationship.
I have seen with my flock that the dynamic does change when another bird has joined our family, but it hasn't changed our relationship with the birds we already had.
If you took one of those birds in and it turned out that it wasn't working, you could just consider your home a stepping stone on his way to finding his forever home. You could then make sure that the new home is a good one.

 

[wrench13]

I am going to meet all of them on Friday. We'll see what transpires.

 

[Scott]

Al, you absolutely have the wisdom to balance boundless compassion for these orphaned parrots. Meeting them as planned first step to assess compatibility without harming priceless bond with Salty. Cannot wait to hear your impressions!!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Can’t wait to hear how it goes. I will say that macaws are LOUD and will scream for attention which will make everyone start screaming. It’s not a good loop. Also, if they ever accidentally got together, a macaw could easily crush an amazon’s beak or kill it outright. Gus has twice climbed down off his perch and up the outside of coco’s cage (they are both large white cages) and she once made a run for his while walking back to hers.

Greys need a lot of attention and you might be just the right person to dish that out…

 

[wrench13]

Had to cancel the visit on Friday, I was not feeling to great (not covid related but just bad). Mrs Wrench and I had a frank discussion on this last night; she is such an empathic caring soul she was in tears over the thought of these 10 little ones being kept in the conditions at our local Animal Control facility. It's not terrible (we got Tinker there) but surrounded by dozens of barking dogs and in what will likely be pretty primitive, tile lined holding areas. Left to their own devices and company at night and most of the weekend. We also discussed the possibility of adopting vs fostering. Neither of us wants to do anything at all, not even a shred, that has the chance to hurt , harm or even compromise Salty or his relationship with us.

 

[wrench13]

Went to the shelter today. 2 B&G macaws, 3 Goffins cockatoos, 3 umbrella cockatoos ( I think the Lesser ones), a Grey, and a quaker. Each has its own cage, their original ones, which the shelter had to clean up a lot before the parrots were put back into them. I brought over 2 large thick manzanita perches, a large sand perch and a tubular bell. This shelter, the town's, does not foster out any animals at all, they only di adoptions, and they are still wading thru the legal stuff, because the gentleman passed with out a will, and due to the high $ value of these parrots, they need the courts to get involved. I was only allowed to see them thru a very thick outside glass window. Nobody is plucking at this point, thank God. But these folks are not set up for or knowledgeable about parrots. I saw one attendant stoking one of the cockatoos on her back and sides, which I later told them thats a nono, and why. I gave them the suggestion to visit the local Home Depot for the cut offs in the scrap barrels (no plywood, no treated lumber), so these guys have something to chew. Someone donated a bunch of 1" dowels for perches, but these got quickly reduced to splinters by the big birds.

Geri and i finalized our thoughts on these guys. We will not be adopting and the shelter does not do fostering with any animal, even cats and dogs, again for legal reasons - since its a town run shelter, it leaves them liable in some situations. We would have fostered one of the macaws, but.....

THey said they do not get parrots in usually and when they do, its not 1 or 2, its like this 10 or more. Clearly folks who have hoarding tendencies. And the birds are always barely being taken care of, which is so sad. I'm sure this gentleman did not set out to treat the parrots poorly. But real life intrudes.

 

[kme3388]

Did you ever find out what happened to the parrots? I too have considered fostering a parrot. I am at home all day so I do have the time. I just don't want to take away from the animals that I currently have. What I think I can take on, and what I can are probably 2 different things.

 

[wrench13]

Sorry guys, I never followed up on this thread. Yes I did get to see these parrots, but only thru a glass wall. This county run shelter never fosters animals, dog, cats, what ever. And they were still evaluating this group of parrots, so it will be awhile before they are able to be one on oned with people. THey really need help there, as there is not much parrot knowledge there. I donated some huge perches that Salty flatly refused and a few largish toys. Each parrot had its own large cage ( the Long Island Parrot Society gave them a few) and looked in good health, no plucking at least so far. 5 cockatoos, 2 B&G macaws, a quaker and an a Grey and a Yellow nape amazon. Because they were in the gentleman's will, there are all sorts of legal issues that have to get sorted out before they are going up for adoption. THis shelter does a very good job of vetting new owners ( our Tinker came from this shelter).

 

[SailBoat]

That is such a difficult thing to witness. Thanks for telling them not to back pet the Toos!! Share the knowledge..

FYI: My Good Friend! If you find yourselves in such a position again. You really want to have Geri be the one to 'get chosen'. It will help the everyone's relationship.

Once upon a time, we where between Amazons when we had been called by an Indiana Animal Control Facility that had an Amazon they needed to place and would I be willing to consider the Amazon. With luck I was visiting clients in that area the following week. Appointment time was set and I made it clear that I live in Michigan and was told that would not be a problem. Well, after seeing the Amazon (I told them they had a Blue-Fronted Amazon from its Southern range as the size and colors where unmistakeable.) To the point, I was told by the facility manager that they would not release the Amazon to me because I was from Out-of-State! I was clearly feeling the: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished! thing.