Rescue This Parrot??

[SaraUtah]

Hey all... I was browsing around some local ads just to see the cuties up for sale when I came upon a 6 year old umbrella cockatoo in really bad shape. The only pics in the ad are of him locked in his cage which seemed like a pretty clear sign he wasn't getting on with his family.

He was super sweet to me but would not go near his owners at all. He had a trim job done horribly on both wings and his tail. He struggled with balance and his wings were bleeding on and off from what they said. He couldn't even glide... he basically went from cage to floor without much lateral movement between. They said the trim was done by his old owners. He has been with these people for three months. Am I overreacting to this bleeding going on for so long? His wings/tail are worse than this: http://67.media.tumblr.com/33c9ab8ea6146e3de76182c4a7175441/tumblr_inline_nika3wB6KB1r1am2x.jpg

They're asking for $750 with a cage but I am worried if I rescue him the vet bills will be way out of my budget and he'll be in the same place he is now. The owner will not budge on price unfortunately and is struggling to sell him. Anyone have experiences similar to this who can chime in on cost?

 

[BeatriceC]

I'm a week into my own rescue mission with a one winged, severely plucked scarlet macaw. She was billed as aggressive, bite prone with an absolute refusal to interact with humans. They described her has having a "no touch" policy. We took her home.

She is definitely not the bird she was advertised to be. Instead of typing it all out again, I'll just link you to the relevant threads that detail my experience thus far.

Here's my version of this same question:

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/63129-going-visit-couple-rescues.html

And my ongoing thread about her progress:

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/63167-lets-get-scarlett-healthy-thread.html

Now where things are a little different is that the original advertised re-homing fee was very low to begin with, and once they figured out that we really wanted her as a part of our family, they wouldn't even take the money, even though we were prepared to pay it. Her people, while unable to give her the care she needed, really did love her and wanted only to ensure she went to a good home. They had rescued her from horrible conditions and tried their best, but it just wasn't working out. She is blossoming under our care. But I believe that she picked us, not the other way around, and that's why she's doing so well.

So that was a really wordy way of saying this: if you feel like you can take her on, and you can somehow manage vet bills, then do it. You'd need to figure on a few hundred bucks at least just for an initial exam and workup. If the bills run higher than that, there are options for financing. Honestly, if I had to, I'd park my car and walk everywhere I could to save the gas money if it came to that. Thankfully, it won't come to that, but I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

[SaraUtah]

I'm a week into my own rescue mission with a one winged, severely plucked scarlet macaw. She was billed as aggressive, bite prone with an absolute refusal to interact with humans. They described her has having a "no touch" policy. We took her home.

She is definitely not the bird she was advertised to be. Instead of typing it all out again, I'll just link you to the relevant threads that detail my experience thus far.

Here's my version of this same question:

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/63129-going-visit-couple-rescues.html

And my ongoing thread about her progress:

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/63167-lets-get-scarlett-healthy-thread.html

Now where things are a little different is that the original advertised re-homing fee was very low to begin with, and once they figured out that we really wanted her as a part of our family, they wouldn't even take the money, even though we were prepared to pay it. Her people, while unable to give her the care she needed, really did love her and wanted only to ensure she went to a good home. They had rescued her from horrible conditions and tried their best, but it just wasn't working out. She is blossoming under our care. But I believe that she picked us, not the other way around, and that's why she's doing so well.

So that was a really wordy way of saying this: if you feel like you can take her on, and you can somehow manage vet bills, then do it. You'd need to figure on a few hundred bucks at least just for an initial exam and workup. If the bills run higher than that, there are options for financing. Honestly, if I had to, I'd park my car and walk everywhere I could to save the gas money if it came to that. Thankfully, it won't come to that, but I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Thanks so much for your response! I am so glad your Scarlett's family cared enough to give her more. Sounds like you're MFEO . I actually have a baby scarlet on the way in November... the timing is just a little crazy for all this. Had Jerry been put up for sale first, I'd have put off getting a breeder bird.

That being said, I am going to try negotiating with her again. She is struggling to sell him. Eventually I hope something is better than nothing in her mind. I even offered $400 for Jerry with no cage (I have an extra) and for her to sell the cage separately so I could afford his medical bills but she refused.

It makes me so mad his family would rather let him suffer than be with people he likes who would love him. I re-watched the video she sent of him and his feathers are definitely much worse than the image I linked. His tail has one full length feather left... the rest are insanely short. It's almost like a child trimmed him.

 

[BeatriceC]

First of all, Congrats on your impending arrival!

Second, if I had babies or small children, I wouldn't have taken in Charlotte (I changed her name). We have teenagers (mine) and adult children (his, who don't live at home because they're 30-somethings and fully launched). I'm a housewife and he's retired, so we have TONS of time to devote to a bird. If we had to add jobs or small children, it would have been an entirely different story. Is this your first? If it's not, then you have an idea of how time consuming the newborn through pre-school years can be. If it is, then you're going to have a lot of adjusting to do, and is that something that's fair to you, the new baby, or the bird? That's something that only you can answer. You know what your general schedule is like with work, kids, other activities. I'd seriously consider that aspect before deciding.

 

[Aquila]

My best advice is to stay in contact with the people. You say they're having trouble selling him, and understandably for that price. Hopefully with time, being unable to sell him for their asking price, they'll consider other offers. If you think they're reasonable people, outline the vet costs and things that you will spend when getting him and see if they'll split the difference. The most I paid for one of my birds was $400 for one of my greys, but he wasn't a rescue, just rehome from a very loving family and is an excellent bird. Most I've gotten for free not counting vet costs!) So I'm very wary about paying money for a bird, and I just consider it buying the cage.

 

[SaraUtah]

First of all, Congrats on your impending arrival!

Second, if I had babies or small children, I wouldn't have taken in Charlotte (I changed her name). We have teenagers (mine) and adult children (his, who don't live at home because they're 30-somethings and fully launched). I'm a housewife and he's retired, so we have TONS of time to devote to a bird. If we had to add jobs or small children, it would have been an entirely different story. Is this your first? If it's not, then you have an idea of how time consuming the newborn through pre-school years can be. If it is, then you're going to have a lot of adjusting to do, and is that something that's fair to you, the new baby, or the bird? That's something that only you can answer. You know what your general schedule is like with work, kids, other activities. I'd seriously consider that aspect before deciding.

Oh haha I have no kids! I meant a baby scarlet macaw is on the way . No human kids are in the plans for a long while (if ever).

We planned on three people to the one macaw before we found out about Jerry. It does make me nervous to raise a baby mac and a rescue cockatoo, even with three of us. We rehabilitated an abused dog which took about a year to build trust (not to mention the destruction of multiple walls, table legs, two couches, countless clothes/shoes/backpacks) but this is a whole other deal. I'm glad there's a lot of good advice here.

 

[SaraUtah]

My best advice is to stay in contact with the people. You say they're having trouble selling him, and understandably for that price. Hopefully with time, being unable to sell him for their asking price, they'll consider other offers. If you think they're reasonable people, outline the vet costs and things that you will spend when getting him and see if they'll split the difference. The most I paid for one of my birds was $400 for one of my greys, but he wasn't a rescue, just rehome from a very loving family and is an excellent bird. Most I've gotten for free not counting vet costs!) So I'm very wary about paying money for a bird, and I just consider it buying the cage.

Yes all of the other birds I've seen for sale are very reasonably priced and look like happy and healthy birds. Their owners obviously want to re-home them, not recoup their "loss". I did tell Jerry's owner what I've heard about vet visit costs, plus the possibility we'll need to get his constantly bleeding feathers plucked, and she still wouldn't budge.

 

[BeatriceC]

First of all, Congrats on your impending arrival!

Second, if I had babies or small children, I wouldn't have taken in Charlotte (I changed her name). We have teenagers (mine) and adult children (his, who don't live at home because they're 30-somethings and fully launched). I'm a housewife and he's retired, so we have TONS of time to devote to a bird. If we had to add jobs or small children, it would have been an entirely different story. Is this your first? If it's not, then you have an idea of how time consuming the newborn through pre-school years can be. If it is, then you're going to have a lot of adjusting to do, and is that something that's fair to you, the new baby, or the bird? That's something that only you can answer. You know what your general schedule is like with work, kids, other activities. I'd seriously consider that aspect before deciding.

Oh haha I have no kids! I meant a baby scarlet macaw is on the way . No human kids are in the plans for a long while (if ever).

We planned on three people to the one macaw before we found out about Jerry. It does make me nervous to raise a baby mac and a rescue cockatoo, even with three of us. We rehabilitated an abused dog which took about a year to build trust (not to mention the destruction of multiple walls, table legs, two couches, countless clothes/shoes/backpacks) but this is a whole other deal. I'm glad there's a lot of good advice here.

Oh, yes! That does make a difference. You probably have enough people if everybody is equally invested in the care of the birds. And I like Aquila's advise to just give the woman your contact information and tell her to get in touch with you if she's still having trouble in however long. She might get to the point where she's willing to drop the price. Let her know the reason you don't want to pay that much is for the inevitable vet bills that a parrot in this condition will rack up. That might snap her out of this mindset.