Loving Forever home available in CT

[dream5866]

Please help me find a bird to rescue. 6 years ago we were owned by an African grey that I had raised from a baby and hand-fed and weaned myself. We had him for 4 years and then sadly had to give him up. We were mistakenly told by my sons doctor that my son (10 months old at the time) was severely allergic to him. We tried everything and he just kept getting worse. We finally made the hard decision to find him a really great home (we still keep in touch). Two years later (with my son still not better) we moved and my son was fine. My brother bought our condo and his son soon became ill. We found out it was the condo, not the bird. We were, and still are, heartbroken. We would like to find another African Grey, or similar in nature and size and have been looking for 6 months. We have tried filing an application with Lazibirds and leaving numerous messages but have not heard back at all. We cannot afford the high petstore or breeder costs so our only option would be a rescue situation. Our Vet that we have lined up and that we used with our previous Grey is Dr. Giddings in Kensington, CT. He specializes in birds. We live in Farmington, CT. I am a stay at home mom with plenty of time to spoil and love a bird. We can provide a very loving home with plenty to keep a bird busy and entertained. I used to make my own toys for our previous baby and not only did we provide pellet diet, but I cooked for my bird as well as provided fresh fruit and veggies. If you hear of any birds in need of rescue that are friendly and good around children (6 and 10 yrs old) please could you let me know. Thank you.

[Graehstone]

Are you this same person? http://www.herptrader.com/vtest/member.php?u=2839
(I could insert about 50 more different places on the net here but will refrain)
If so you misrepresented your birthday. Also after doing a short search on the net I find that you own Ferrets as well? Not a good combination of animals to have.
Not to mention every board on the net that deal in all kinds of health issues and lawyers too I see. You are a very busy person.
Bird begging is highly frowned upon and I highly doubt anyone here will help you.

[kensbuns]

Well said Mike!!!!! I agree, there is no such thing as a free bird!!

[dream5866]

My screen name is dream5866 but I have never, ever misrepresented myself anywhere. I do not know why my birthdate is listed wrong on the other website, but my birthdate is May 8th 1966. I am 39 years old, married to my jr. high school boyfriend, Scott, and have two children ages 6 and 10. My son has 2 bearded dragon lizards in his room, and yes, we did rescue ferrets (2 from a kill shelter, and 2 from a woman who was going to let them go in the woods and no one else that she asked for help would help her and I couldnt stand to think about them being let out in the wild where they never would have survived). They have their own fully ferret-proofed room with plexiglass and vertical barred gates so they can not escape, but have plenty of room to run around and play and get loads of attention. I can send you pictures if you would like. Pardon me for looking to rescue an unwanted bird in need of a good home when I have one to provide. My youngest son started school full time this year and I have been missing Jojo (the bird we lost 6 years ago) terribly probably more so now that I am not so busy caring for my youngest son. Geesh. I am sorry if I offended anyone, but I am not misrepresenting anything, and if anyone knew of a bird that needed a very loving FOREVER home then I would invite them to come to my house, meet me and my family, and see that I am who I say I am. Thank you very much!!!!

[dream5866]

I have my master's degree in Marriage and Family therapy and do that on the side occassionally, as well as take care of a little girl occassionally and alot of the groups that I join I do so in order to get more information to help my clients or the parents of the girl I care for. My brother went through a very messy divorce last year to a woman who suffers from depression, just to mention a few of the reasons I visited and joined some of the sites, so please do not assume just because my name is on those sites that you know everything about me.

[dream5866]

If you think that I am looking for something free let me tell you that last year I spent over $700 to save the life of one of my son's lizards because even though the vet told me that the chances were she wouldnt survive I couldnt bear the thought of not trying and she is doing very well to today. I would spend any amount of money it would take (even if it meant taking out a loan) to make sure that any pet of ours (ferrets, lizards or bird) stayed healthy and happy. One of the ferrets we rescued (one that was going to be let go in the woods) is blind, deaf and was severely undernourished with parasites and other illnesses. I took him in anyway and got all of them up to date on their shots, got them whatever medications they needed and made sure they were licensed. Would you like to see copies of the vet bills and licenses?

[Graehstone]

I stand corrected and apologize for being curt but am still of the opinion that you will not find a bird here for you to take home.
It's just that your very first post here was "Gimme...", not a "Hi there, get to know me and understand me/help me ..."
You should be pleased to have found a community of bird lovers that take their charges very seriously and will defend them against those that want them for reasons less favorable to their wellbeing.
Too often those that post for the very first time asking for a bird are either hoarders or will turn around and sell them to make a fast buck.
There is no way for us to know which one you are, so we (I) choose to be suspicious and will do what is best for the bird(s) and not the person.
If I insulted you by doing that, then again I apologize, but I would much rather err on the side of caution than make "friends."
All that having been said I still don't think you will find anyone that can or will help you with Ferrets in the house.
They are natural born predators and can't help but try to get at your bird, and don't for a second think you can keep them from doing that, because you can't.
Perhaps we are off to a bad start, but I think it best to let you know that what you are asking for is not a good thing.

[Alika]

What kind of lizard? (I'm a reptile fan, have an iguana, just curious)

Ferrets and birds is not a horrible combination. I know plenty of people who have birds and cats successfully, and I think that's scarier.

All of the parrot rescues I know about are western, but keep your eyes and ears open and I'm sure you'll find something.

However, most of the parrot rescues I know of ask the same price for the bird and it would go for if it was from a breeder or a petstore. This is to discourage people from getting a rescue just because it's cheaper. As you already know, owning a bird is expensive and most people feel that if you can't afford the bird, you can't afford it's care.

While a lot of rescues do come with cages, in my humble experience, these cages usually need to be replaced, anyway.

Also, you may or may not be aware that rescues come with a lot of issues. I'm not saying you shouldn't get one. I think it's great to rescue a bird if it's done for the right reasons. But I have seen precious few CAGs and TAGs up for adoption that don't have picking problems. Most of them will need an overhaul in their diet, housing, and as far as toys go. Sounds like you can handle that. A lot of them will need regular vet visits at first to identify and solve any health problems. Finally, they need a lot of training and work to get them to be good pets.

I think the biggest concern people here are going to have is that you want to rescue because of the money. It's just the wrong reason... and, again, I just don't understand how that's an issue if you're willing to put a lot of money into vet bills and such.

Anyway, try petfinder.com. If that doesn't work, check out Hoobly.com. I HATE hoobly, but it's not the pets' fault if it ends up there and if you're sincere you can probably find what you're looking for.

[Babyblue033]

I don't mean to stir anything up (I'm a newbie myself ) but doesn't a lot of people here keep cats and birds together, myself included? Personally I have 4 cats and 1 cockatiel I recently adopted, and while I have seriously considered the danger of keeping natural predators/preys together, I've also kept cats and rats/mice for years and never had a single problem. I would think the prey drives of ferrets will be no more "dangerous" than that of the cats', and as long as the owners are well aware of what their pets are capable of and take precautions, I don't see why a simple fact of having a predator type animal should deter you from getting a bird. Just wanted to add my 2 cents in about that since it's a particular topic that greatly interests me :)

As for the other "issues", I lack the experience or the knowledge to make comments and would rather not make any assumptions.

[dream5866]

Thank you for at least being civil to me. My son's lizards are bearded dragons.

My biggest issue with the money is, (number one money does not equate love and devotion and attention). How do you know people arent out there buying a bird from a private owner for $500 or $600 and then turning around and selling it for $1000 or more? Not to mention that the vet we have is wonderful (Dr. Giddings in CT, one of the top Avian Vets around) and if we can not afford a vet bill all at once he allows us to make payments until we can.

My husband is more concerned about the money than I am. Not for vet bills because he is a big softy and cant stand to see an animal suffer, but does not feel that if you have to finance an animal just to buy it you should have it. He misses Jojo as well and to be honest, even though I am the one that hand-fed and weaned Jojo, he seemed to be alot closer to my husband. He seemed to prefer men, but that never turned me off from him nor did it prevent me from spoiling him. It was just his nature and my husband loved it. I can wait the 12 months or whatever it takes to save up enough money from my checks for caring for the little girl to make enough to buy a parrot from a pet store or a breeder, but my husband would probably feel the same way. However, once we owned the bird, he would never, ever argue a vet bill. He is just scared about money because 18 years ago he was layed off for 6 months and it really made him insecure so he is really picky about what he will spend money on. I know I probably am not making my case any better but in my husbands eyes there is a difference between the cost of buying an animal and paying for its care and vet bills. I dont understand it, but that is how he is, again, going back to when he was laid off. I have known him since the 6th grade and he is one of the most loving people I know and loves his children (even his animal ones) dearly.

I understand where you are all coming from but please do not think that just because I cant afford $1500 (and I dont think I ever said free in my ad) does not mean that I can not care for and love, and protect, a bird. Yes, the ferrets are natural predators which is why they have their own room, and are only allowed out of their cage when I can supervise them (which is most of the day unless I have to run errands, and when I go to bed). They are still in their ferret room (which was actually my dining room until I got carried away with spoiling them) when they are not in their cage, unless we take them out and chase them around our living room for awhile to give them more exercise (again totally supervised). I would not just do this for the Parrots sake but because ferrets get into so much trouble that I do this to protect them from getting into anything that could hurt them that I may have not forseen (like when one of them managed to get underneath and behind my dishwasher). God, you should have seen me tearing that thing apart to get her out and she walked right out on her own through the same hole she climbed in and seemed to laugh at me.

I apologize if I offended any of you, but if you did a search under my name and you actually read any of those posts that I made you would see that I am not making any of this up, nor am I making up the amount of love and devotion I have for my animal children.