Help for an amazon *rescue*

I have seen several posts lately that state they don't wish to see rescue birds on this site, so I will say this, if you don't wish to see it, don't look. This person wants a lot of money, I presume she would take less, who knows. If you like amazons and are looking to help one take a look.
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/for/2999778351.html

That's a link to the person's anon email not the ad.

That cage is wayyyyyy too small for him. I hope he finds a good home. He is pretty though.

Omg that cage.,lets hope that hes not in that cage 24/7. I hope he finds a good home.
He looks in good condition though.

$2000!? How in the world do they justify that price? Poor birdie

I feel for the bird, but can't see enabling such an opportunistic lowlife flipper.

$2000 is cheap for an amazon here. The last one I saw in a pet shop here was selling for $4000! You don't realise how lucky you are to have access to the parrots you do at the prices you can buy them for.

henpecked said:

I feel for the bird, but can't see enabling such an opportunistic lowlife flipper.

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What a delicate line we tread, I agree that enabling a person who uses a bird for profit with no regard for the welfare of the animal is undesirable, however what does that mean for the animal itself? I don't wish for the owner to profit, I can only hope that someone is able to make the life better for the bird.

caliopi said:

$2000 is cheap for an amazon here. The last one I saw in a pet shop here was selling for $4000! You don't realise how lucky you are to have access to the parrots you do at the prices you can buy them for.

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hi caliopi. I live a few hours east of where this bird resides.

Just to put the price into context, we were given a Panama Amazon in January - he came with a lovely, huge double-stacked cage, and at no charge. Back in July, I paid $400 for an 8 y.o. Yellow Crown in excellent shape & with a sunny disposition. He came with a cage, but a bad one. He was on the Baltimore craigslist, about 5 hours from this bird. There is a 13 y.o. Redhead female currently on the Harrisburg craigslist (3 hours east) whose owner wants $700 & I thought that was high. There was a redheaded amazon on the Philly craigslist a week or so ago - again with cage - for $200. When his owner said he wanted the bird to get a good home, I think he actually did put finding the right home above getting the most money he could. And there is a lovely orange wing female, about 8 years old, on the Harrisburg craigslist for $600. She comes with a cage, too, and it is a nice one.

So yes - $2,000 is the high side of retail around here.

But rescueme is right - buying this bird at $2,000 might inspire the owner to go out & buy one of those under $1,000 birds to flip at a higher price, putting the next bird in jeopardy. But it would get this bird out of a potentially bad situation.

I don't think there is really a right answer, except to spend within your means for the bird YOU want to live with, long-term. It is hard to remember that as an individual, if you try to save more than you can support, you will be the next person 'sadly must place' and the poor bird has a life-changing event yet again.

There is no telling whether the owner would consider an offer of significantly less, IDK maybe I will contact them and see what the deal is.

OMG this lady...... she is "willing" to sell him for $800. kinda crazy and she is going on and on about how birds are a lifetime commitment!! This is crazy still talking...So this lady spent 20+minutes talking to me and while friendly, she is clearly not aware of the situation as she should be. That is the cage he lives in full time. She says that everybody seems to be afraid of him. She has had him for 14 years. uhg, I told her if her situation changed and she decided to sell him for less that she could call me. She kept going back and forth between he is an investment and birds are a lifetime commitment...... all I could say was uuuuhhhuuuu......over and over...

RescueMe said:

OMG this lady...... she is "willing" to sell him for $800. kinda crazy and she is going on and on about how birds are a lifetime commitment!! This is crazy still talking...So this lady spent 20+minutes talking to me and while friendly, she is clearly not aware of the situation as she should be. That is the cage he lives in full time. She says that everybody seems to be afraid of him. She has had him for 14 years. uhg, I told her if her situation changed and she decided to sell him for less that she could call me. She kept going back and forth between he is an investment and birds are a lifetime commitment...... all I could say was uuuuhhhuuuu......over and over...

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Birds are not an investment.. a savings account is an investment. Birds are companions, and living, breathing animals. They arent an investment to make money on.

Her price is outrageous and maybe if she sits with it long enough she will realize she has to come down quite a bit, especially if she cares about his/her well being.

caliopi said:

$2000 is cheap for an amazon here. The last one I saw in a pet shop here was selling for $4000! You don't realise how lucky you are to have access to the parrots you do at the prices you can buy them for.

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$2000 is also cheap where I live, I saw a young unporven pair of amazons for $12,000. Ive seen a few breeding pairs for for $14,000-$16,000. That are so rare here.

I realize this is Fla not Pa , but handfeed babies are 300-500 , older rehomes the same, and proven pairs are about 1000. DYHs ,Napes and Pans are the high end and everything else is cheaper.

RescueMe - Thanks for posting! My feelings were a little hurt when I post an ad that I felt someone could benefit from seeing, and people began commenting about how this is not really the place for that. There are people like us out there that may take in a bird that's in a bad home - and pay!