Advice Wanted for Rescue Bird

[Magicman_007]

I had an umbrella, Snowball, for 26 year who passed away this past January. I did get her at 4 mo. old. She was AWESOME! It broke my heart and I miss her dearly.

I have been looking around for another bird and was considering a Greenwing, Moluccan or even a Major Mitchell. I had been looking and talking to breeders because I thought I wanted a baby. I also had taken a look at some websites. In any case I was looking for a female because of the temperment. I was not going to get an Umbrella because I felt I may make comparisons to Snowball and not be fair to the bird.

So looking around at rescue sites, there is one in my area and I filled out the application and they did the background check and approved me. Then they tell they would like me to look at Fritz. I was told Fritz is a great bird, he is 11 years old and was given up for adoption because his elderly owner had health problems. So, I visited Fritz.

Fritz is VERY friendly. He will come to anyone. I can do anything to him, hold him upside down, swing him, lay him in his back ... anything within reason and he will not bite and loves attention. The foster parents leave him everyday for 10 hours while they work and he can entertain himself. He is fully feathered.

Fritz was great. Did I mention he is a male (remember the part I said I wanted a female). Did I also mention Fritz is an Umbrella (remember the part I said I did not want to get an Umbrella).

So, now I have quite the dilemma.

A couple of questions for the people here. First, since he is male I was / am afraid he may get hormonal and get aggressive? Or is my fear unfounded, because he is 11 years old, whatever he is going to grow into, he has already matured and become?

I also work during the day, so Fritz and I would have evening time. They tell me that Fritz likes to go to sleep at sundown. Whatever is going on in the house, they tell me Fritz just sleeps through it, but they go to be early, say 10.

I usually go to bed around 12. I think Fritz will be ok with my schedule. Do you think he will be ok and adjust and / or will my schedule even matter and will he sleep through it?

I have not decided for sure yet, but he was a great bird and appeared to like me.

 

[oled]

Sorry about Snowball..
It is dificult to advise but it seems that you are falling in love with the rescue gird.
Male or female, the can get hormonal.
You will never forget Snowball but I dont think that compering would be a problem for me, but for you I dont know.
Normaly a parrot will adjust to new routines but it can take some time
The most important thing is that you love this new bird and for sure, he needs you

 

[MacawGuy]

Sorry for the lost. But I think he will adjust may take awhile. Hope you the best of luck

 

[greycloud]

I love your post!! First, I am so sorry for your loss. It is so difficult to lose a much loved friend.
This U2 seems very sweet. 11yrs is well into his hormonal stage. Though he may not be acting hormonal right now there is no guarantee that when he comes home it will not appear. There is also no reason to not think you can work through it.
I have a 25+ male U2. He was fine the first couple months when we got him but once he bonded with me the hormones kicked in. However, I want to point out that he NEVER became aggressive with me. I was just his sex toy. After some behavioral modification we have had this in check for many years now and he is an extreme cuddle bug.
While male U2s, M2's can definitely be handfuls I don't think they should be written off. You could foster and see how things go.
Where are you located? I foster for several rescues. It never hurst to look around. If you feel a connection to this boy I say go for it!

 

[melissasparrots]

I think a lot of the major potential for aggression has passed. If he hasn't shown it by now, he probably won't be too bad. Has the foster home had him several months so they know what his normal behavior is? If they've only had him a few weeks, he might still be settling in and on his best behavior. We see a lot of people coming on message boards who got an older cockatoo and it was sweet as pie at the rescue/previous owner and they get it home and a few weeks later it starts attacking people. Make sure your prepared to work through that kind of thing if you get him. Especially if he hasn't been a long term foster and you don't have a real good history on him. If you trust that he has a long history of being a really good bird, then you may have lucked out and found a really nice boy.

I think he will adjust to your scheduel. My goffin's was used to being covered at around 7pm. I stay up until 1-2 am or later some nights and I don't cover my birds. It was a hard adjustment for her and she went through a screaming phase in the late evening. But she has now adopted whatever schedule I have.

 

[RescueMe]

It sounds like you have a great bird available to you. I think that at his age he is able to be kept without major issues at hormonal times if he has not had problems in the past. If he has had a varied schedule now it is probable that he will adjust to yours. Good luck.

 

[dishgal1]

He sounds like a very adaptable bird and one that has picked you. This sounds like a match made in heaven. You would be very lucky to get one that didn't have major problems to overcome and yet this one seems like he would fit right in.
Sometimes when they pick us we just don't have a choice. LOL

 

[wenz2712]

Sorry for your loss. It sounds like Fritz is meant to be with you..

 

[Magicman_007]

Thanks for all the great advice! To try and answer some questions, Fritz has been to two foster homes in the past year and all have had zero problems. So, I think the bird is truly well behaved. I have also talked to the owner of the rescue and he confirmed this.

I live in the Orlando, FL area

The foster home has 3 St. Bernards and this bird has no fear and the dogs leave him alone. He will get on the floor and walk over to them and preen them. Scared me that they might try and play with him or bite him but it was a non event.

The reason I am saying this is because I just got a rescue dog, she is a dachshund mix. She is a GREAT dog. Adapted quickly to my home, crate trained, obeys well, an awesome temperament and is very loving, however I am not sure how she will react to a bird. I see her chase lizards in the yard but do not know if she hunts birds.

I was thinking of trying to test this in some way. Maybe a controlled meeting of a bird and the dog. I do think it will be a relative non even for her and if i tell her to leave the bird she will ignore him, but I need to find this out. I would be interested in suggestions on this and experiences with other people who have introduced dogs and birds.

Again, thanks for all the great advice, feedback and encouragement!

 

[keepsmiling]

I am in O town too., welcome! I hope you find the bird that is right for you.

 

[henpecked]

I think Greycloud's suggestion of fostering is the way to go. Sounds like he would be a great bird for you. Good luck and thanks for giving an older bird a chance.