Latrine
New member
Hello all, nice to meet you
My name is Sarah and my fiancé and I have recently (by recently I mean almost two years ago) moved from Upstate New York to South Carolina.
You can imagine the car ride here, with our two Jack Russell Terriers, 'Ben & Phibber', our Pit-bull/German Shepherd mix 'Izzie' and my two parrots, 'Tyler' about 37 (we think) year old Timneh African Grey and 'Rocky' a 26 year old Yellow Naped Amazon. Both parrots are pretty much the first rescues from abusive homes that I have had since I was a teenager.
It's very sad, the way the majority of the people in this area treat animals, particularly dogs. So we have since added to our dog family..
Although we brought her with us from New York, Izzie was actually found abandoned quite near to our newly purchased home here in South Carolina.
Hearing that she would immediately be put to sleep in the shelters around here, because she is very noticeably part Pit-bull, My fiancé made an early trip here and brought her home. She is a wonderful addition to our family, with that loving and sweet pit bull temperament.
Sprocket, another Jack, suffers from extreme fear and anxiety issues. She seems to do best in a place with more dogs so the family member who had adopted her brought her to us.
About 3 months ago, a gorgeous Australian Shepherd wandered to our front yard. It was so sad and obvious he had been on his own for quite some time, wandering and just trying to find a safe place.
It was pretty clear most people had turned him away aggressively as I had to lay on the ground to finally get him to come over to me.
As soon as he realized I wasn't going to hurt him he just gave me the happiest greeting you can imagine, hugs and kisses
We started calling him 'Bugs' because he was just covered in them, and the name stuck, he's our 'Bugsie'
We immediately brought him to the vet but he had no microchip and no one seemed to be looking for him. He does have a slight case of heart-worm (from wandering in a swampy area for two months, no doubt, but he is now being treated for it)
We later learned his owners had died two months before and their children just... turned the dogs out.
There were two dogs, Bugsie and a black lab, who were apparently seen wandering together. The Lab had apparently been hit by a car and killed. Makes me cry to think of that.. And how poor Bugsie probably witnessed it.
It's sad that people act like this, even aiming cars at feral dogs in the road..
Our neighbors thought a dogs lifespan was about 3 years because they don't bother with veterinarians or the very necessary heart worm meds in this area.
Happy ending, we had Bugsie fixed a month later and he will be with us forever.. The dogs all get along great although I must admit, 5 dogs in one house gets almost as messy as one parrot!!
Sorry.. I went off explaining our pups there.
I used to work with a parrot club that had monthly meetings and a surrender/adoption program.
I adopted most of the 'unadoptable/broken/badly abused' birds.
Some of them just needed some love and extra patient TLC but some required a lot more due to physical and mental abuse..
Bad diet was a big issue. It was almost always due to people JUST DYING to have that unweaned baby cockatoo because it was so adorable/fun to hand feed.
Unfortunately it isn't quite as easy or fun to wean them (Not that I would ever call hand rearing a parrot 'easy')
And so they ended up with a not as cute, very demanding, underweight bird that 'refused' to eat 'bird food' etc..
These were usually the easiest ones to deal with, especially when there were so many other birds around eating properly.. Most of the time these birds would settle right into copying the feeding behavior after the quarantine period.
I found homes for many of the parrots when they were ready, even though it was very hard to say goodbye.
The most I had at a time was I think 12 or 13? About the limit my parents would allow as I was still a teenager living at home.
I did have a Blue and Gold Macaw, Madison, whom I raised from 4 weeks, ( she was supposed to be older than that but when she showed up so young, so sick and still so adorable, I wasn't about to send her back)
I had Madison for 16 years. During this time I became very very sick with digestive issues. I required lots of surgeries and many long hospital stays. We had 3 parrots, total, at this time.
When I came home from the longest hospital stay, seven months, it was so wonderful to see all the birds and it was clear my fiancé had taken extra wonderful care of them, but Madison had lost weight and had taken to screaming incessantly and even started pulling some feathers.
There was no way for her to understand why I went away for so long, although when I showed her stitches/staples/wounds, she clearly understood I had been injured, even going so far as to say 'Ow, Boo-Boo' the first time she saw it. (Still makes me cry when I remember that)
She was insanely happy to see me and immediately went back to her spoiled behavior of being attached at the hip. (My fault for spoiling her as a baby, I know) but I was still very sick, I came home on IV medications and feedings. I was also exhausted and unable to do much and she didn't understand that it was dangerous to have her near the IV's..etc.
I was no longer able to give her what she needed. Luckily ( I guess.. Because I still want her back more than I can put into words,even though I know how selfish that seems ) She had met my sister in law's brother a few times and they had hit it off.. I asked if he would consider taking her and he said yes.
It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do but we brought her to him and from what I hear from my brothers family, and occasional pictures, (they all live far away from me now in Pennsylvania and New Jersey) she seems to be very happy and in perfect feather.
As for the other two birds,
Tyler does not like my fiancé. We don't understand it but.. Humans don't all get along so I guess birds and humans don't, either.
My brother had always loved Tyler and upon hearing the trouble my fiancé was having while I was hospitalized, offered to take him home.
This was hard because I wasn't even home but wonderful because Tyler loves to listen too and mimic small children. (Although he is a big biter and cannot be handled by many people ) The family understood this and they all seemed to get along wonderfully.
Unfortunately, a few months after I came home, Tyler suffered from a prolapsed cloaca and needed emergency vet care. At the time, we lived close and we got him and brought him to the vet. This happened again within the week and became quite expensive, my brother was not going to be able to handle bills like this if it was going to keep happening, and so Tyler came back to live with us.
The cloaca issues all ended up being diet related, although they have always been on Harrison's pellets, I also made them a quinoa/bean/veggie/egg mixture which I froze and heated for them daily.
It turned out that was too much egg for Tyler, duh, and he has not had one issue since I stopped feeding them that.
Tyler now absolutely HATES my fiancé. I honestly think it's almost all just anger and resentment.
I was too sick to travel and my fiancé is the one who took Tyler away from my brothers house to come live with us again. We know how smart these birds are, Tyler misses being around the children and he is very unhappy now.
My fiancé is very good to the birds although he can't catch a break.. Rocky, the amazon, hates all men unless they have long hair, I think that's only because he's mistaken them for women..
He was very badly physically abused by a man in the previous home.
As for Tyler, he came to me a depressed plucked mess but he perked right up with proper diet and positive reinforcement.
We do know he was in several very abusive homes before the guy who rescued him gave him to me.
Wow this has gotten long. I guess I just really wanted to introduce myself well, not just join and immediately put up a post about adopting out a bird.
I don't want anyone to think I'm the type to dump animals off, if we can't find a good home for Tyler, he will, of course, stay with us. I'm just trying to find a way to make him happier.
I like animals more than people.
I've just gotten home from my 13th major surgery.
I'm not able to do much of anything right now, but seeing how unhappy Tyler seems to be has prompted me to do what's best for him and possibly try to find a home that would make him happier. I'm going to put up a post about him in your adoption section, I hope that's okay. (I'll read the rules first) and I guess we will see what happens.
Tyler also has one very bad foot/leg. The vet says his best bet is the bird was thrown, the bones were broken and he was never given medical treatment for it, so it healed improperly. He has a heated perch several different sized wooden perches and several flat platforms in his cage, so he can decide which is more comfortable.
We purchased him a larger cage, which even after several months, he hated, so we got him a smaller one which seems to have made him happier.
He hates to have anything touch his tail, ever, so the inside of his cage is pretty sparse, no toys really. He comes out to play with toys and boxes on the top of his cage, when he wants too. This is only because he seems to get very upset if those toys touch him when he doesn't want them too.
Rocky is fine, he wants snuggles from me and just doesn't want my fiancé to touch him.
Nice to meet you all, sorry this was so horribly long..
- Sarah
My name is Sarah and my fiancé and I have recently (by recently I mean almost two years ago) moved from Upstate New York to South Carolina.
You can imagine the car ride here, with our two Jack Russell Terriers, 'Ben & Phibber', our Pit-bull/German Shepherd mix 'Izzie' and my two parrots, 'Tyler' about 37 (we think) year old Timneh African Grey and 'Rocky' a 26 year old Yellow Naped Amazon. Both parrots are pretty much the first rescues from abusive homes that I have had since I was a teenager.
It's very sad, the way the majority of the people in this area treat animals, particularly dogs. So we have since added to our dog family..
Although we brought her with us from New York, Izzie was actually found abandoned quite near to our newly purchased home here in South Carolina.
Hearing that she would immediately be put to sleep in the shelters around here, because she is very noticeably part Pit-bull, My fiancé made an early trip here and brought her home. She is a wonderful addition to our family, with that loving and sweet pit bull temperament.
Sprocket, another Jack, suffers from extreme fear and anxiety issues. She seems to do best in a place with more dogs so the family member who had adopted her brought her to us.
About 3 months ago, a gorgeous Australian Shepherd wandered to our front yard. It was so sad and obvious he had been on his own for quite some time, wandering and just trying to find a safe place.
It was pretty clear most people had turned him away aggressively as I had to lay on the ground to finally get him to come over to me.
As soon as he realized I wasn't going to hurt him he just gave me the happiest greeting you can imagine, hugs and kisses
We started calling him 'Bugs' because he was just covered in them, and the name stuck, he's our 'Bugsie'
We immediately brought him to the vet but he had no microchip and no one seemed to be looking for him. He does have a slight case of heart-worm (from wandering in a swampy area for two months, no doubt, but he is now being treated for it)
We later learned his owners had died two months before and their children just... turned the dogs out.
There were two dogs, Bugsie and a black lab, who were apparently seen wandering together. The Lab had apparently been hit by a car and killed. Makes me cry to think of that.. And how poor Bugsie probably witnessed it.
It's sad that people act like this, even aiming cars at feral dogs in the road..
Our neighbors thought a dogs lifespan was about 3 years because they don't bother with veterinarians or the very necessary heart worm meds in this area.
Happy ending, we had Bugsie fixed a month later and he will be with us forever.. The dogs all get along great although I must admit, 5 dogs in one house gets almost as messy as one parrot!!
Sorry.. I went off explaining our pups there.
I used to work with a parrot club that had monthly meetings and a surrender/adoption program.
I adopted most of the 'unadoptable/broken/badly abused' birds.
Some of them just needed some love and extra patient TLC but some required a lot more due to physical and mental abuse..
Bad diet was a big issue. It was almost always due to people JUST DYING to have that unweaned baby cockatoo because it was so adorable/fun to hand feed.
Unfortunately it isn't quite as easy or fun to wean them (Not that I would ever call hand rearing a parrot 'easy')
And so they ended up with a not as cute, very demanding, underweight bird that 'refused' to eat 'bird food' etc..
These were usually the easiest ones to deal with, especially when there were so many other birds around eating properly.. Most of the time these birds would settle right into copying the feeding behavior after the quarantine period.
I found homes for many of the parrots when they were ready, even though it was very hard to say goodbye.
The most I had at a time was I think 12 or 13? About the limit my parents would allow as I was still a teenager living at home.
I did have a Blue and Gold Macaw, Madison, whom I raised from 4 weeks, ( she was supposed to be older than that but when she showed up so young, so sick and still so adorable, I wasn't about to send her back)
I had Madison for 16 years. During this time I became very very sick with digestive issues. I required lots of surgeries and many long hospital stays. We had 3 parrots, total, at this time.
When I came home from the longest hospital stay, seven months, it was so wonderful to see all the birds and it was clear my fiancé had taken extra wonderful care of them, but Madison had lost weight and had taken to screaming incessantly and even started pulling some feathers.
There was no way for her to understand why I went away for so long, although when I showed her stitches/staples/wounds, she clearly understood I had been injured, even going so far as to say 'Ow, Boo-Boo' the first time she saw it. (Still makes me cry when I remember that)
She was insanely happy to see me and immediately went back to her spoiled behavior of being attached at the hip. (My fault for spoiling her as a baby, I know) but I was still very sick, I came home on IV medications and feedings. I was also exhausted and unable to do much and she didn't understand that it was dangerous to have her near the IV's..etc.
I was no longer able to give her what she needed. Luckily ( I guess.. Because I still want her back more than I can put into words,even though I know how selfish that seems ) She had met my sister in law's brother a few times and they had hit it off.. I asked if he would consider taking her and he said yes.
It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do but we brought her to him and from what I hear from my brothers family, and occasional pictures, (they all live far away from me now in Pennsylvania and New Jersey) she seems to be very happy and in perfect feather.
As for the other two birds,
Tyler does not like my fiancé. We don't understand it but.. Humans don't all get along so I guess birds and humans don't, either.
My brother had always loved Tyler and upon hearing the trouble my fiancé was having while I was hospitalized, offered to take him home.
This was hard because I wasn't even home but wonderful because Tyler loves to listen too and mimic small children. (Although he is a big biter and cannot be handled by many people ) The family understood this and they all seemed to get along wonderfully.
Unfortunately, a few months after I came home, Tyler suffered from a prolapsed cloaca and needed emergency vet care. At the time, we lived close and we got him and brought him to the vet. This happened again within the week and became quite expensive, my brother was not going to be able to handle bills like this if it was going to keep happening, and so Tyler came back to live with us.
The cloaca issues all ended up being diet related, although they have always been on Harrison's pellets, I also made them a quinoa/bean/veggie/egg mixture which I froze and heated for them daily.
It turned out that was too much egg for Tyler, duh, and he has not had one issue since I stopped feeding them that.
Tyler now absolutely HATES my fiancé. I honestly think it's almost all just anger and resentment.
I was too sick to travel and my fiancé is the one who took Tyler away from my brothers house to come live with us again. We know how smart these birds are, Tyler misses being around the children and he is very unhappy now.
My fiancé is very good to the birds although he can't catch a break.. Rocky, the amazon, hates all men unless they have long hair, I think that's only because he's mistaken them for women..
He was very badly physically abused by a man in the previous home.
As for Tyler, he came to me a depressed plucked mess but he perked right up with proper diet and positive reinforcement.
We do know he was in several very abusive homes before the guy who rescued him gave him to me.
Wow this has gotten long. I guess I just really wanted to introduce myself well, not just join and immediately put up a post about adopting out a bird.
I don't want anyone to think I'm the type to dump animals off, if we can't find a good home for Tyler, he will, of course, stay with us. I'm just trying to find a way to make him happier.
I like animals more than people.
I've just gotten home from my 13th major surgery.
I'm not able to do much of anything right now, but seeing how unhappy Tyler seems to be has prompted me to do what's best for him and possibly try to find a home that would make him happier. I'm going to put up a post about him in your adoption section, I hope that's okay. (I'll read the rules first) and I guess we will see what happens.
Tyler also has one very bad foot/leg. The vet says his best bet is the bird was thrown, the bones were broken and he was never given medical treatment for it, so it healed improperly. He has a heated perch several different sized wooden perches and several flat platforms in his cage, so he can decide which is more comfortable.
We purchased him a larger cage, which even after several months, he hated, so we got him a smaller one which seems to have made him happier.
He hates to have anything touch his tail, ever, so the inside of his cage is pretty sparse, no toys really. He comes out to play with toys and boxes on the top of his cage, when he wants too. This is only because he seems to get very upset if those toys touch him when he doesn't want them too.
Rocky is fine, he wants snuggles from me and just doesn't want my fiancé to touch him.
Nice to meet you all, sorry this was so horribly long..
- Sarah
