Joined to find ways to adopt

[jju1]

Hello,

I have been doing a lot of research and planning and am wanting to get a green cheek conure, hopefully a boy.

I joined the forum hoping to find out ways I can find one to adopt. I'm all about rescue, but don't see many birds in my area and I'm not sure where to look? I'm considering buying but am also unsure where is best. I want a friendly pet and am not interested in the color mutations that some breeders charge extra for and pet stores seem expensive.

I am near Atlanta. Hopefully some of you are too. I am open to any suggestions or tips. Thanks.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining!!

The universe of ways to adopt a parrot is huge, and Atlanta ought to host many options.

Rescues, breeders, pet shops, private parties, bird clubs, and on rare occasion animal shelters are common sources.

You'll have to search to find local rescues as they generally don't widely advertise. There are two distinct varieties of pet shops; big-box stores that offer relatively few species and the private-ownership shops that sell birds exclusively, typically sourced from breeders. Parrot-themed bird clubs may be an excellent avenue for networking.

Many members purchase from breeders located nationwide and have the bird shipped to the nearest airline-serviced airport.

Good luck, and feel free to ask questions - members can share personal histories.

 

[trimblegirls]

Hi and welcome,
I'm a new member myself. I adopted both my parrots from a rescue. I Google'd parrot rescue near me and checked out their websites. I went to one several times before I actually committed to a bird. Actually, my GCC picked me. Wouldn't stop flying to me. I have a Green Cheek Conure and African Grey. I don't know the sex of either. A lot of times, rescues and even pet stores don't know the sex of the conures. It's easy enough to have them DNA'd after getting them. I'm awaiting the results of my GCC just to give it a name. The Grey has been called Jasper for the last 9 years so Jasper it is even though I suspect it may be female. I'm working on earning Jasper's trust so maybe she'll pick me too but if not that'll be OK, I still enjoy her company.

 

[Kentuckienne]

There are many adoptable birds on petfinder.com - it's how we found Gus. You can narrow your search to however far you want, and I'm sure there will be lots of birds near a big city like Atlanta. Many rescue places seem to list birds there. You can also find dogs, cats, chickens, you name it.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome! I like your style... glad you found us.

 

[jju1]

Thanks for the hellos,

It seems like what I should do is contact some bird rescues and just let them know what I am interested in since there are few birds on Petfinder and the rescues' websites don't usually post birds pics/profiles. I will wait a month maybe to gather supplies though I already know what I want to buy.

I am also looking forward to going to a bird fair or similar. I think there is one in Atlanta in the spring, but I will have to wait!

 

[EllenD]

Welcome! I have had 2 green cheeks, one now, a male yellow-sided who I got from a private breeder at 12 weeks old, he's almost a year old now, and I love him! He's such a little clown!

If you can find a green cheek to adopt or rescue in your area that's a wonderful way to do it, actually I often see many, many green cheeks looking to be rehomed on Craigslist. I'm not a fan of Craigslist, but for rehoming pets it seems very popular, and I swear every time I'm looking I see at least a couple green cheeks needing homes, both young and old, as well as some breeders advertising babies on there as well that are hand-raised and tame.

If you want to go the breeder route to get a hand-raised, hand-tamed baby green cheek, they are typically much cheaper than the big box pet stores, especially in the south! I live in Pennsylvania where there are hardly any bird breeders, so I drove to North Carolina to get my baby Senegal parrot from a private breeder, and I paid a good $200-$300 less than I would have up here. I actually spoke to the breeder about this, and he agreed, Florida is cheapest, but Georgia should be the same...

For example, up here in PA, a baby, hand-raised green cheek (either normal, cinnamon, yellow-sided, doesn't matter) at Petco is $499, PetSmart is $449 (starting prices for the first 4-6 months), while a breeder for a normal is around $300, up to $400 for a mutation. My Senegal breeder in North Carolina had 2 green cheeks as well for $225. I'm not sure about small, independent pet shops or bird shops, they are most likely hit and miss, but personally I'd much rather buy a tame, hand-raised baby from a reputable breeder than a pet shop every day of the week. So if you can't find someone looking to rehome their green cheek at a bird rescue or online, you can find a private breeder in your area on www.birdbreeders.com or www.hoobly.com, or Craigslist...Or just Google "green cheek conure breeders near Atlanta"...

Good luck!

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk