Gone Before Arriving!

Jenypher

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Nov 5, 2018
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Western Massachussetts, USA
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3 'tiels (Sophie, Peter and Melvin), 1 DYH Amazon (Baya), 1 Caique (Twenty), 2 Conures (Spider & Lizard), and 1 foster (Faust)
Hi All -- As mentioned in my I'm New Here thread, I lost my GCC Charlie (see my profile pic) a few months back to an accident. I was crushed. Charlie was my best friend, and I miss his companionship and goofball-ness! After doing research, visiting the local parrot store numerous times, and talking to my parrot trainer (we went back and forth between Caiques, Quakers, and Conures), I decided on a sun conure, who was supposed to come home sometime in the next 4 weeks or so. When she picked me (there were four of them, and she was all over me like I was made of millet), she still was all fuzz and pins. We were so excited!

Then...about two weeks ago, our new girl (DNA-tested), Hermione Danger Will Robinson, and several of her cage mates contracted bacterial infections. It cleared in all the others quickly. However, Hermione continued to be ill, even after the antibiotics finished. She was eating and drinking regularly, but apparently couldn't shake it. She was to have seen the avian vet today (the same one who sees Baya, my Amazon), but they found her at the bottom of her cage this morning.

To say I'm disappointed is a huge understatement. Every time I went to visit, she would cuddle and curl up in my hood to chirp into my ear. I still miss Charlie every single day, so this was a blow, as I had my hopes pinned on her as a start-over. She was an amazingly sweet girl, and always seemed excited to see me. I haven't given up on a new companion, I just had really hoped it was her. RIP, my little Hermione.
 

Laurasea

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This is heart breaking!!!! So sorry again!!! There are a lot of rescue birds out there needing homes, I consider em rescue birds if I see em on Craigslist ..... I hope you find your for ever bird , and you both haveong and healthy lives..
 

LaManuka

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I’m so sorry for your loss of Charlie and now little Hermione. It’s never easy to lose one but doubly so when just a baby with so much potential and all the hope that goes along with them. Truly heartbreaking and I’m sending cyber-hugs to you!
 

GaleriaGila

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I am so terribly sorry. I can only hope that all this heartbreak will make your eventual joy deeper and greater.
 
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Jenypher

Jenypher

New member
Nov 5, 2018
41
2
Western Massachussetts, USA
Parrots
3 'tiels (Sophie, Peter and Melvin), 1 DYH Amazon (Baya), 1 Caique (Twenty), 2 Conures (Spider & Lizard), and 1 foster (Faust)
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There are a lot of rescue birds out there needing homes, I consider em rescue birds if I see em on Craigslist ..... I hope you find your for ever bird , and you both haveong and healthy lives..

Thanks! Of my flock, 3 of 4 are rescue birds: two of them are cockatiels (Sophie & Peter) and one is my Amazon, Baya! Rescue is amazing and I wish more folks would do it :)
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
:( I'm so sorry. I suppose the one blessing (if you can call it that), is that you cannot blame yourself for what happened. If you had brought her home, and you had been the one to find her, that would have been even worse...
Not that it helps. I hope you find your bird and I am sorry you lost this one. I agree that you might consider checking out rescues (just because there are so many "homeless" birds). Sad sad sad. I hope things get easier.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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There are a lot of rescue birds out there needing homes, I consider em rescue birds if I see em on Craigslist ..... I hope you find your for ever bird , and you both haveong and healthy lives..

Thanks! Of my flock, 3 of 4 are rescue birds: two of them are cockatiels (Sophie & Peter) and one is my Amazon, Baya! Rescue is amazing and I wish more folks would do it :)

Me too! Thank you for your current rescues!!!!!
 
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Jenypher

Jenypher

New member
Nov 5, 2018
41
2
Western Massachussetts, USA
Parrots
3 'tiels (Sophie, Peter and Melvin), 1 DYH Amazon (Baya), 1 Caique (Twenty), 2 Conures (Spider & Lizard), and 1 foster (Faust)
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:( I'm so sorry. I suppose the one blessing (if you can call it that), is that you cannot blame yourself for what happened. If you had brought her home, and you had been the one to find her, that would have been even worse...
Not that it helps.

Actually, it kind of does help! I know she died after getting the best possible care in a place where she was happy and with a sibling. I had gotten to visit with her and we had bonded, but not like the kind of bond you have after they come home and are part of the family.
 

Scott

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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
I am so sorry for the unexpected loss of Hermione. Know that you gave her such love during your visits while she granted you comfort and desire. When the time is right you will find a companion longing for a great new home.
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Awe, I'm so sorry, that's incredibly difficult and heartbreaking...But as Noodles already said, not that it helps a whole lot, but at least you hadn't already brought her home and then you actually had to watch her die. Still doesn't make it any easier though, and I'm sorry...

I'm not at all religious, but I am a believer that things happen for a reason, so from my perspective there is a reason that you were just not meant to bring that bird home and into your family, and I can only assume it's because the bird that you are meant to bring into your life, your home, and your family is still out there...You'll know it when you find them, or they find you...
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Just to add a quick story that might help you get through this and feel a little better about it, I went through a very similar situation a few years ago with my first Green Cheek Conure, Izzy...I had gotten Izzy from a great breeder about 2 and a half hours away from my home...At the time I had only a few of my breeder-Budgies left, and no other birds...In fact, I had gone years without having a pet parrot, not since I was 24 and my almost 19 year-old Budgie passed-away...The CAG that I grew-up with lives with my mom and stepfather, so he was my bird, they're only 10 minutes away...So I finally decided I wanted to bring home a baby of my own, and I decided on a Green Cheek...And I found Izzy at 10 weeks old...She was a gorgeous Cinnamon-Turquoise Green Cheek, and was a little sweetie...I brought her home, and a few months later I also brought home Lita, my Blue Quaker...

I had Izzy for about 4-5 months, and she and Lita got along well...Then one day I was taking a shower and Izzy was sitting on the shower rod like she always did when I was in the shower...However, this day she was sitting on a wet washcloth I had thrown over the shower rod...Well, one minute I'm talking to her, and the next I see the washcloth slide off of the shower rod, and I heard the most horrible, disgusting "thump" I've ever heard...I opened the shower curtain and saw only a wet washcloth with a lump underneath it that wasn't moving...Basically the wet washcloth slid off of the shower rod and right on top of Izzy, and it was too heavy for her to fly out from underneath, and it caused her to hit the floor like a boulder...She was alive, but it was obvious her wing was broken...It was Saturday, of course, so I got dressed and rushed her to the 24/7 Exotic Animal Hospital 10 minutes from my house, and they diagnosed a broken wing...They gave her Metacam and splinted her wing, but her x-ray otherwise looked normal...She started to come around while at the Hospital, she was quite stunned and had just been clinging to my shirt/chest since it happened, no screaming or crying, just horrible silence from her and she was just staring at me constantly, like "What happened mama?"...Broke my heart, I'm tearing-up right now writing this again...Well I brought her home and was already all set-up to take her to my CAV first thing Monday morning...But Sunday morning she was gone...He did a necropsy for me, well started to, but as soon as he started to open her belly he saw a ton of free-blood in her abdomen, so she had died of an internal injury/bleeding that the Vet at the Hospital hadn't seen (my CAV saw it right away on the original x-ray, which pissed me off, but I obviously don't think that this same Exotic Vet doing surgery on her would have ended well anyway)...So that was that, and both Lita and I were devastated...

And then just a couple of months later, like 2 months or less late, it was quick...I had run to the Petco here to pick-up a bottle of Repashy Calcium-Plus, which is the Calcium/Multi-Vitamin combo I give my Bearded Dragon, and they were out. Of course, that's what I was thinking, and I was pissed because you can't just switch them to another Multi-Vitamin powder, they won't eat their bugs when they're dusted in a new one right away, the same thing as switching your bird's pellets suddenly...So I had them call the Petco in Altoona to see if they had any in stock, they did, so I had them put a bottle of it behind the counter for me, and I made the 30 minute drive to Altoona...

The Petco in Altoona is brand new, is massive, and is so much nicer than the one in State College (our Petco is pathetic, small, and they don't have a fraction of the stuff the Altoona one has)...So when I got there I paid for the Repashy right away, then decided to walk around and look at their massive aquarium and reptile sections...And I kept hearing this bird yelling from across the store the entire time. He was loud, but it was almost like he was calling to me, I swear he was...I hadn't even seen him, but he just kept making this really distinct yelling sound that I noticed right away and couldn't ignore or shake...I don't believe in things like this, I really don't...But I finally walked over to the other side of the store to the birds, and this Petco employee sees me looking for this bird that's making the noise, and she says "Did you see the Canary-Winged Parakeet we have? The BeeBee?", and I asked if that was the bird making that yelling sound, and she said yes, "hang-on", and she came back with this adorable little baby Beebee Parakeet that was molting badly, lol, poor little guy was a mess...She put him on my finger, and I was looking at him, nothing really hit me, then the yelling started again!!! I said "There it is again, that yelling! It's not this guy, who is doing that?". (Turns out that they were pushing that poor BeeBee Parrot because he'd been there forever and he was like half-price, the girl told me this after the fact)....She said "Oh, I think that's the little "Fancy" Green Cheek Conure we just got-in. He just got here last night, and he's not settled-in yet, we can't even get near him yet, which is typical when we first get them, it usually takes about a week"...I asked where he was, and she walked around this huge, round thing that has all of their bird cages in it, tons of Sun and Jendays, Cockatiels, the BeBe, and ton of Green Cheek Conures, and finally the loud-mouth, that did in-fact say "Hand-fed Fancy Green Cheek Conure".....He was just a little tiny baby, and he ran from the back of his "tank" and came right up to the glass holding a pellet in one foot, chomping on it while staring at me intently...So I kept talking to him, and it was bizarre but he kept running as fast as he could back to the back of the tank to grab another pellet, then he'd run right back up to the glass, then sit and chomp on the pellet in one foot while staring at me and while i kept talking to him...She came back and I asked if I could see him, and she said "He bites right now. But I'll open up the back wall of his tank so you can see him...So she got a key and opened the back up, pulled his tank out, and opened the back of it...He was very lightly clipped, so when she went to grab him, he flew out of the tank and was gliding towards the floor when I did the "Parrot-Grab", and he was suddenly on my finger, and i put him right up to my face, his beak against my nose, I kissed his beak and he chirped, and I started stroking his face saying "He's a good little boy, he's fine...". And this Petco employee was freaked out, she thought he was going to take out my eye or bite my nose off, but we just stood there in the middle of the store giving kisses and talking quietly to each other...

And his name is Bowie...
 

reeisconfused

New member
Aug 11, 2018
137
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Parrots
rescued IRN Max and Cockatiel Honey
Just to add a quick story that might help you get through this and feel a little better about it, I went through a very similar situation a few years ago with my first Green Cheek Conure, Izzy...I had gotten Izzy from a great breeder about 2 and a half hours away from my home...At the time I had only a few of my breeder-Budgies left, and no other birds...In fact, I had gone years without having a pet parrot, not since I was 24 and my almost 19 year-old Budgie passed-away...The CAG that I grew-up with lives with my mom and stepfather, so he was my bird, they're only 10 minutes away...So I finally decided I wanted to bring home a baby of my own, and I decided on a Green Cheek...And I found Izzy at 10 weeks old...She was a gorgeous Cinnamon-Turquoise Green Cheek, and was a little sweetie...I brought her home, and a few months later I also brought home Lita, my Blue Quaker...

I had Izzy for about 4-5 months, and she and Lita got along well...Then one day I was taking a shower and Izzy was sitting on the shower rod like she always did when I was in the shower...However, this day she was sitting on a wet washcloth I had thrown over the shower rod...Well, one minute I'm talking to her, and the next I see the washcloth slide off of the shower rod, and I heard the most horrible, disgusting "thump" I've ever heard...I opened the shower curtain and saw only a wet washcloth with a lump underneath it that wasn't moving...Basically the wet washcloth slid off of the shower rod and right on top of Izzy, and it was too heavy for her to fly out from underneath, and it caused her to hit the floor like a boulder...She was alive, but it was obvious her wing was broken...It was Saturday, of course, so I got dressed and rushed her to the 24/7 Exotic Animal Hospital 10 minutes from my house, and they diagnosed a broken wing...They gave her Metacam and splinted her wing, but her x-ray otherwise looked normal...She started to come around while at the Hospital, she was quite stunned and had just been clinging to my shirt/chest since it happened, no screaming or crying, just horrible silence from her and she was just staring at me constantly, like "What happened mama?"...Broke my heart, I'm tearing-up right now writing this again...Well I brought her home and was already all set-up to take her to my CAV first thing Monday morning...But Sunday morning she was gone...He did a necropsy for me, well started to, but as soon as he started to open her belly he saw a ton of free-blood in her abdomen, so she had died of an internal injury/bleeding that the Vet at the Hospital hadn't seen (my CAV saw it right away on the original x-ray, which pissed me off, but I obviously don't think that this same Exotic Vet doing surgery on her would have ended well anyway)...So that was that, and both Lita and I were devastated...

And then just a couple of months later, like 2 months or less late, it was quick...I had run to the Petco here to pick-up a bottle of Repashy Calcium-Plus, which is the Calcium/Multi-Vitamin combo I give my Bearded Dragon, and they were out. Of course, that's what I was thinking, and I was pissed because you can't just switch them to another Multi-Vitamin powder, they won't eat their bugs when they're dusted in a new one right away, the same thing as switching your bird's pellets suddenly...So I had them call the Petco in Altoona to see if they had any in stock, they did, so I had them put a bottle of it behind the counter for me, and I made the 30 minute drive to Altoona...

The Petco in Altoona is brand new, is massive, and is so much nicer than the one in State College (our Petco is pathetic, small, and they don't have a fraction of the stuff the Altoona one has)...So when I got there I paid for the Repashy right away, then decided to walk around and look at their massive aquarium and reptile sections...And I kept hearing this bird yelling from across the store the entire time. He was loud, but it was almost like he was calling to me, I swear he was...I hadn't even seen him, but he just kept making this really distinct yelling sound that I noticed right away and couldn't ignore or shake...I don't believe in things like this, I really don't...But I finally walked over to the other side of the store to the birds, and this Petco employee sees me looking for this bird that's making the noise, and she says "Did you see the Canary-Winged Parakeet we have? The BeeBee?", and I asked if that was the bird making that yelling sound, and she said yes, "hang-on", and she came back with this adorable little baby Beebee Parakeet that was molting badly, lol, poor little guy was a mess...She put him on my finger, and I was looking at him, nothing really hit me, then the yelling started again!!! I said "There it is again, that yelling! It's not this guy, who is doing that?". (Turns out that they were pushing that poor BeeBee Parrot because he'd been there forever and he was like half-price, the girl told me this after the fact)....She said "Oh, I think that's the little "Fancy" Green Cheek Conure we just got-in. He just got here last night, and he's not settled-in yet, we can't even get near him yet, which is typical when we first get them, it usually takes about a week"...I asked where he was, and she walked around this huge, round thing that has all of their bird cages in it, tons of Sun and Jendays, Cockatiels, the BeBe, and ton of Green Cheek Conures, and finally the loud-mouth, that did in-fact say "Hand-fed Fancy Green Cheek Conure".....He was just a little tiny baby, and he ran from the back of his "tank" and came right up to the glass holding a pellet in one foot, chomping on it while staring at me intently...So I kept talking to him, and it was bizarre but he kept running as fast as he could back to the back of the tank to grab another pellet, then he'd run right back up to the glass, then sit and chomp on the pellet in one foot while staring at me and while i kept talking to him...She came back and I asked if I could see him, and she said "He bites right now. But I'll open up the back wall of his tank so you can see him...So she got a key and opened the back up, pulled his tank out, and opened the back of it...He was very lightly clipped, so when she went to grab him, he flew out of the tank and was gliding towards the floor when I did the "Parrot-Grab", and he was suddenly on my finger, and i put him right up to my face, his beak against my nose, I kissed his beak and he chirped, and I started stroking his face saying "He's a good little boy, he's fine...". And this Petco employee was freaked out, she thought he was going to take out my eye or bite my nose off, but we just stood there in the middle of the store giving kisses and talking quietly to each other...

And his name is Bowie...


So sorry on your loss of Izzy. She was definately very loved and cared for. Fly high, little birdie. You’ll always be missed.

Your story about Bowie made me so warm in my chest - goes on to show that really, our birds are the ones who choose us. This truly has to be the best story ever!!!
 
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Jenypher

Jenypher

New member
Nov 5, 2018
41
2
Western Massachussetts, USA
Parrots
3 'tiels (Sophie, Peter and Melvin), 1 DYH Amazon (Baya), 1 Caique (Twenty), 2 Conures (Spider & Lizard), and 1 foster (Faust)
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And his name is Bowie...

I'm so sorry about Izzy, but DARN, that is a TERRIFIC story! Whatever bird ends up choosing us, he or she will be loved to the moon and back, just like your Bowie :)
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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I loved Bowie story as well.. reminds me of when I met Burt The Bird, I was lucky enough to have a wise bird lady that worked at the store tell me "When a parrot chooses you, it's a very special thing" She envited me to stand back and watch how he acted with everyone else....
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Believe me when I say that I would have NEVER thought about buying a baby Conure from Petco prior to that day, and I had no intention of buying anything but Vitamin/Calcium Powder for my Beardie! I didn't even have my wallet with me, I h$40 cash in my pocket, so I had to give that to them to hold Bowie for 2 hours, speed back to State College, grab my wallet, and fly back to Altoona to pick-up Bowie and the damn Beardie Vitamins!

It was a very weird experience, but I do have to say that Bowie is definitely the love of my life bird-wise...I love them all dearly, but Bowie is just different (he's sitting on my shoulder right now, eating a cheerio and saying "Yep, that's right, I'm the bomb...keep typing..."). And honestly since then I've not been nearly as hard on Petco birds, although it's very odd that in the over 2 years I've had Bowie, I've been to my local Petco many times and seen them cleaning the Conure cages, whether Green Cheeks, Suns, or Jendays, doesn't matter...Oh, and some Cockatiels too...All that have been labeled "Hand-Fed" just like Bowie was, and not one of them has been able to be touched by anyone, no employees, no one...Once I had a Black-Capped Conure step-up for me while an employee was trying to interact with him, and he stepped right up and then bit my finger as hard as he could! The employees have told me it's because they aren't given any attention or interacted with/touched at all between the time they wean and the time they are shipped to them...?

I don't know what the truth is, but Bowie is the sweetest little bird in the world and has been since the day I brought him home. He has never bitten me hard, not one, he's never been sick except for a bad toenail clipping that got infected, and he is by-far the best talker in the house, and his voice is clear and totally understandable, which is odd for a Green Cheek...So something was going on that day in that Petco...And as much as I miss Izzy and my stomach turns every time I think about that "thump" on the bathroom floor she made, I am still thankful for Bowie every single day...

***And a lesson to be learned here, don't let your birds perch on the shower-rod on top of a wet washcloth or towel...
 

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