Rnewhart131
New member
Hello everyone,
As you all know, I am new to the forum.
My name is Rachael, and I need a little help!
Let me start out by saying that I am a die-hard eclectus lover (the females are my specialty). I know anything anyone would ever want know about a female, and then some. I'm sure you could assume that a female has lived in my home
So let me tell you a bit about that to start out with...
I had volunteered at The Gabriel Foundation (parrot rescue) here out in Colorado for some time, and fell in love with Gloria, a 16 year old female eclectus. At first I was interested in the males, since I had heard that they, in simple terms, weren't "aggressive" at all. The females always got a bad name, so why would I have wanted to get into that?
One day up at the foundation I was visiting with her, only because no one paid her the time of day from how "mean" she was. I felt sorry for her, honestly. Tiny cage, plucked naked... Her previous family had her for 14 years and abused her (yes, literally), and severely neglected her up until the day she arrived at the rescue. She just seemed so sad to me, and my heart really went out to her. Anyways, while visiting with her, she seemed as if she wanted to come out of her cage, so I opened the door, she stepped up, and we both immediately fell in love with each other. We cave each other kisses, she talked with me, and was so incredibly gentle and sweet for such a "mean" bird. One of the more regular volunteers came into the room we were in, and was in complete shock. "Gloria came out for you...? She doesn't like anyone!" And so I took her home.
The first few months were terrible. Constant biting. Screaming from fright. Even more plucking. More bites. They were probably the hardest and most frustrating few months of my life. Long story short, we got past that, and had the strongest bond that any human and bird could ever have (of course we all say that about our kiddos
). I could do anything I wanted with her, and not get bit. Seriously. Now, if someone else was holding her and so as much twitched their finger, it would not have ended well for them. My bossy little girl
Yes, she was very bossy, and took charge of the floor whenever she got down to it. One day my mother was bird sitting for me, and ended up calling me scared half to death since Gloria had made it to the floor and was terrorizing everyone in the house. That bird sitting day didn't last very long.. I'm just happy that I could scoop her off the floor and only would get a look of, "Mooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm." Again, if anyone else even dared to try and scoop her up... I think you get the idea So much for my long story short... Anyways,
At 18, she suddenly passed at the vet. They were clueless. It was the worst moment, and time in my life. Even now I think about it and it still hurts my heart. For those of you that have lost one of your kiddos, you know exactly how it feels. And I'm so sorry if you have had to experience that, too.
By the time she passed, she was fully feathered, and I knew that I made her happy and showed her the love she had so desperately wanted. That's what matters most to me now. I made her happy, so I am happy.
Enough time has gone by where I can bring another little one into my home, and be happy. I would love another female ekkie one day, but right now the hurt is too much, and I know I would not be happy.
So, here is where I need the help.
I take Joe, a 12-15 year old white bellied caique home this Sunday.
He has never had a home before since he was meant to be a breeding bird, before he ended up at The Gabriel Foundation. My biggest concern is that I am not familiar with caiques, and that I really do not want to mess this up.
When I met with him at the rescue he was very sweet; rubbing on my hands and gently played with my fingers. I decided that I could enhance his life, and wanted to bring him home to show him what it's like to be a bird! He has been in the same cage almost his whole life, with very little interaction.
When I met with him the second time, he was very quick to wanting to "kill" my hand. I have never been attacked by a bird so viciously before. I dealt with it calmly, gently and silently trying to get him off my hand. Which then send him over to my other hand to latch on. Oh man.. it was absolutely terrible. Very saddening and discouraging too. But after what I went through with Gloria, I have hope. I don't want to give up on him without have even tried yet.
Like I said, I don't want to mess this up. I know this will be a very slow trust-gaining process... I just hope that this is the right decision.
Any feedback would help me out so much!
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this everyone.
-Rachael
