OK... it's official... We're nuts

[Halo]

So... I was cruising the ads in Craigslist like I always do (i like to look at the doggies (I can look at those and say nooooo LOL) and always hope to find a good deal on a cage) when I came across an ad that made me cry. This lady has an African Grey and she is his sixth home and now they sold their house and are moving to a smaller one and don't have room in the new house for the bird. Grrrr... this drives me nuts. I wouldn't ever move anywhere that I couldn't take my fids with me even if I had to sleep in one of the bird cages! LOL She said that he had plucked previously but was doing better in the three years they have had him. They obviously cared for him and took him to a vet as he is on Harrison's (which they said helps to stop plucking, is that true?).

So anyway there was a phone number and I told my hubby to call and tell her what we do and see if she wanted us to help out. OK so logically MAYBE he could have found another home that would treat him as well as he will be treated here but I know there's more wackos out there wanting birds to resell or do God knows what to than want to spoil them. So he talked to her and she agreed to let us take him... free of charge with his cage and toys and goodies (another reason I am glad we called... it might just be me but free birds really scare me to think of where they will end up. Not sure if she agreed to just give him to us because we take in unwanted fids or what but anyway. She asked if we would take him in after talking to my husband and he asked her if she wanted a lot of money for him or if she really just wanted to find him a good home and she answered correctly LOL. To me, that is the true test of how much the previous family loves their bird, if they are willing to let it go or if they want thousands for it. Funnily enough she is in the same town as Rudy (the white fronted amazon we agreed to take in yesterday) so she agreed to let us come and get him on Thursday while we are up there even though she wasn't going to rehome him until the 12th of October. We are definatly happy about that since it's a three hour drive for us and $100 worth of gas in our pick up.

Don't know if he is a CAG or TAG (forgot to ask) but we know he is male, they guess his age to be around 9 or 10, and that he's coming home Thursday (of course I try not to get too excited until I actually get the bird... notice I said TRY! LOL). She was happy that we called because I am home all day so the fidlets get lots of attention and that we already have a grey so we know all the hard work and attention they are (needier than my kids I swear! LOL).

So fingers crossed...

And now I'll wait for Robyn to come by and tell me I'm one of those crazy people she was ranting about earlier!!

[Addicted to Tequila]

Nope.

People like you do not annoy me. I do admit they do sometimes worry me a bit. If something unforeseen and catastrophic happened, what would become of the birds? But in your case, you and hubby are in it together, which gives you an automatic backup system for personal problems… and you own your house, which is out in the stix so lodging issues are a moot point as well. There is only so much you can plan for… so we won’t go into ‘backups twice removed”. LOL

You seem to take exemplary care of your charges and know all their personalities intimately… and accept them for “who” they are. That is more important than ANYTHING you will ever read or hear from ANYONE. Always remember that!

Since you wanted me to berate you:
The only thing about you that worries me is how fast you are adding them.

I also wonder if you shouldn’t look into being a rehome facility. That is what I used to do. We all know how horrid it is to pass birds from place to place… but there is a worse evil at work in the world. The simple fact is that there are times a bird needs to be rehomed… NOW. Not after finding a great home three months, three weeks, or sometimes even three days later. Some people are left with the choice of “first-come-gets-it!”. This seems to be the case with a lot of your fids.

You cannot save them all… and you certainly may reach a point where you cannot keep them all. Not to mention that sometimes… they are just a bad fit. Despite loving them dearly… they may just not bond to you. I have had birds that I personally could not care less about… and the feeling was mutual! I still lavished them with the best care… and found great homes with people that they adored with a blinding sort of love-at-first-sight that made my head spin! Look at my Dudders… the guy I got him from thought him evil incarnate, but he will do ANYTHING for me, or let me do anything to him!

As a legit rehome site… you can get tax-exempt NFP status and many retailers will give you a discount. It would be a great way for you to really help both fids and prospective owners. I warn you this can be a real bear of paperwork… so may not be worth the trouble. Many vets will work with you regardless… especially if you include the price of a “free follow-up” vet visit in the rehome fee (thereby giving the vet a nice new customer to snag! LOL)

The only important part of doing it is a necessity to be completely honest… both with yourself (it is SO easy to convince ourselves that a bird will “overcome” a bad trait… or that it is not really so bad anyway!) and with clients. But if you think it feels great to make a bird happier… wait until you get Christmas cards and such from the Parronts you helped find their one-in-a-million fid! THAT feeling is priceless and so overwhelms the I-hate-giving-this-bird-up feeling you experienced when you let them go.

I know you were looking at breeding, this might be a good starting point in getting used to giving them up and knowing they will be just fine!

[Halo]

Well I'm glad I don't annoy ya! LOL

The speed in which all this has happened has shocked and scared us a bit too. We have also started to tell people who contact us (with the exception of Charlie because he has already had six homes) that we cannot promise that they will stay with us forever but if we do rehome them, it will be to the best home possible and definatly not a first come first served kind of thing. We have also in the past offered people to "foster" their birds so they didn't have to look for a home some quickly and as of yet, no one has taken us up on it. We don't want money for it... but I hate to see birds passed around and I can't tell you how many I have seen on Craigslist that have been listed several times over and over by different people. I also have people emailing me all the time asking me to give them tons of money for their birds and I always tell them the same thing... we aren't here to make a profit off of unwanted birds so I'm not going to give you a profit for it either. Nothing irritates me more than someone saying they have no time for their birds and then turning around and asking for a heap of money for it. We had one lady ask us to take in an umbrella too and after we had her here for two weeks, asked us to pay her $1600 for her. Needless to say she went back even though she went back to a not so perfect home.

But you are right... a rehoming facility might be a great idea and we've certainly got the room for it. I am definitely going to learn to say no or let me help you find the bird a home instead of feeling bad for the bird and just taking it in. I must say though that I have no regrets with any of our fidlets and you're right... I accept them for who they are and don't expect them to be perfect little birds and I love them despite their sometimes psychotic/neurotic behavior LOL. I'm going to school to become a pyschologist so actually, they help me learn! LOL We really haven't gotten any that had any serious issues and if they were supposed to have them, we never experienced them. I also know that one day a bird is going to come along that isn't going to get along with everyone like the ones I have now and that one would certainly have to find a new home.

And I've got a couple (Minga and Pedro in particular) who hate me but they still get the same love, treats, and respect as everyone else. Minga is improving a bit... at least I can move her with a perch now and she's not constantly trying to take my face off anymore LOL. They both adore my hubby though so it does work out.

I am also pretty sure that if we had one that was just truly miserable here and I knew that it could have a better home with someone that it liked better than us, we would be able to do that. Above everything, I only want to give my fids better than they had before and make them happy. If I can't do that, I need to find someone who can.

Oh, we also decided not to breed. We're getting to the point of having to say no or at the very least taking in fosters to rehome and I'd hate to have breeders taking up room that could go to a bird that really needs it.

Thank you very much Robyn... I appreciate your honesty!

[Addicted to Tequila]

Yeah... bad habit of us "damn yankees". If you ask my opinion... you is gonna get it. Heck, even if you don't ask you might get it! LOL

New yorkers, contrary to belief, are NOT rude... we are blunt. There IS a difference.

I really do think you are doing wonderful with your fids though. BUT... NO MORE CRAIGS LIST FOR AT LEAST A MONTH!!!!

((*((HALO))*))

[guest1717171]

Originally Posted by Halo

Nothing irritates me more than someone saying they have no time for their birds and then turning around and asking for a heap of money for it. We had one lady ask us to take in an umbrella too and after we had her here for two weeks, asked us to pay her $1600 for her.

that is so annoying to me
the lady we gave our bunny to emailed me and said her friend wanted to know if i would be interested in a macaw her friend was trying to find a home for because she didnt have time for it.
I said sure but I wasn't going to pay anything because my money is going towards other things right now. Her friend was all excited until she heard that I didn't want to pay and she got all indignant about it (the friend not the one who emailed me) and said I was trying to get something for free
Im like wtf? you asked ME if I wanted to take your bird in...I didnt come looking for you.

I understand people want to get some of their money back but c'mon...

[Lessadalinar]

Originally Posted by geekasaurus

that is so annoying to me
the lady we gave our bunny to emailed me and said her friend wanted to know if i would be interested in a macaw her friend was trying to find a home for because she didnt have time for it.
I said sure but I wasn't going to pay anything because my money is going towards other things right now. Her friend was all excited until she heard that I didn't want to pay and she got all indignant about it (the friend not the one who emailed me) and said I was trying to get something for free
Im like wtf? you asked ME if I wanted to take your bird in...I didnt come looking for you.
I understand people want to get some of their money back but c'mon...

HALO Wrote " We had one lady ask us to take in an umbrella too and after we had her here for two weeks, asked us to pay her $1600 for her. Needless to say she went back even though she went back to a not so perfect home."



!!!!!!!!! You mean they actually took the bird back?????!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is that the new scam? let bird settle in and be part of the family, then want $ and take it back??!! I just can't even believe that.

Sorry Geek, I hit quote on the wrong post.

[guest1717171]

no i never took it in
if i already had the bird and someone came asking for money later i would tell them tuff sh*t
and where to stick it
lol

[Halo]

She really didn't give us a choice. Once we refused to pay her for her, she started harassing us and we had the police show up and we explained the situation and they said the best thing to do was to return the bird so we did. It was really horrible because she was so good with my kids and my kids miss her terribly and always ask me when we're going to get another bird that likes them. She was going thru a bankruptcy and I guess her boyfriend started harassing her about just giving her to us because he thought she should have sold her instead.

LOL Robyn... I got to visit NY once... I didn't think the people were rude but then again I can be quite rude so maybe I was just used to it LOL People that speak their minds rock!! I do it quite often... really makes hubby wanna kill me sometimes. Oh and hugs right back at ya... and NO CRAIGSLIST lol. I'm waiting for hubby to make that rule LOL I used to be addicted to ebay and had a $200 a week habit of buying jewelry and DVD's. Needless to say I'm not allowed on ebay anymore!

So that is why we asked the lady who has Charlie upfront if they wanted a good home or lots of money. We wouldn't have taken him in if she asked for money and I think she knew that.

Oh and we found out that he is a Congo. We're both sitting here listening to Marti ramble on and on about his dirty beak and grapes and going just wait till they talk to each other!!! LOL