Meant to be?

Hello everyone. I'm a relatively new member although I've been a lurker for MONTHS prior to finally deciding on purchasing a bird (research research research!). Some of you might have seen my introductory post on the New Members thread a few months back, but for those of you who haven't I'd like to recap.

On May 11th I laid down a deposit on a hand fed sun conure from a reputable breeder in my area. It was still very much a baby, and slow at weaning as well. But we all know that each bird has its own pace and takes its time when weaning. I had no issues with the wait whatsoever. I received weekly updates from my breeder, up until around a week and a half ago when I was notified that my baby would be ready to come home. However, at that time the breeder also had to leave the state, so a family member of his took over the birds' care while he was out. It just so happened that my particular baby, despite the breeder's warnings and clear cut directions, ended up being sold to another family while the breeder was gone. You can imagine I was upset.

The breeder however sincerely apologized and contacted me immediately to come and see some new babies and that my deposit would apply to the new bird. I spoke to my parents (I am 21, European in the States, it is very typical for our families to remain together until the child either completes university or gets married - I am in the midst of the former, haha), and we basically went down to pick out a new conure. However, prior to deciding on a conure back in May, I was highly interested in the Hahn's Macaw, it just so happened that the breeder had sold his final one around a week before I went to pick out the sun. So when I stopped by the breeder this time around I was very surprised and pleased to see a mini macaw peering out at me with a contented fluff and grindy beak. Except this one was a Severe. The breeder noticed and told me that he was one of the most pleasant characters he has ever raised. He stepped up to me even if he did not know me, he was slightly weary, which is normal, and was polite enough to gently move my fingers away with his beak when he felt nervous. He responded just as well to both of my parents, and was generally sweet with the other customers present. I am assuming it is a male, no tests have been done yet.

Anyway, we ended up transferring our deposit to the Severe. Thank goodness I purchased an oversized cage for what was supposed to be a conure because this one will work just fine. He'll be home in two weeks, he is down to two hand feedings a day and is eating/nibbling pellets on his own. Dad and I will be going to the Home Depot today to get started on building a couple of PVC playstands/playgyms for him since we plan to have him out of the cage as much as he would prefer (of course, supervision will be implemented at all times!).

So now I'm going to be a macaw parront. I'm restudying my clicker training books and all of my saved parrot behavior articles, but of course, none of that will come close to teaching me as will the bird himself when he arrives. I've decided to name him Faust! Pics and such pending. I haven't seen too many Severe owners on here, but from what I understand they're simply big macaws in little bodies, which when you think of it isn't simple at all.

I'm looking forward to this experience. Sorry for such a long read, if you went through all of it I give you my kudos.

It wasn't a long story at all. It was a great one. The title of your post is spot on. Things developed in such a way and yes, he(she) was meant to be yours. It's always nice to read these type of stories about how our new members become a part of our families.

Congrats!

Sounds like it all happened the way it was supposed to! Congrats on your new baby!

Featherbrain, Love the story, glad your choice was in the Macaw Family. Sun Conures can be quite loud at times for their small size.
Be careful with PVC pipe, it can be harmful to Parrots. Don't allow them to chew on it. A better choice for play stands of play gyms are Java trees, the wood is very hard and last forever.
Do your homework on their diet and really bond with them and you will get back everything you put into it. Best of luck Joe

Thanks everyone, I too feel that things happened the way they did because they were supposed to!

JJones, yup, I've done thorough thorough research. I plan on investing in a Java stand in the near future, however I have heard of much success regarding PVC and vet wrap stands. Like I stated, the parrot will be supervised at all times. I know they're avid chewers, I'm preparing a nice big stock of wood toys for him.

Our first goal once he's nice and settled is to of course form a bond and then socialize him. I realize that they can be one person birds, and even though he might not take to others as much as he might to a single person (if this turns out the case), I'd at least like to open his world enough so that he tolerates strangers. I'm going to have him with me for a long time with proper care after all.

Love the name! If you ever get another bird, you could call it Mephistopheles. Or Margarita.

Parrots usually choose us, not the other way around. That's the best start for a happy relation. Congrats!
I wouldn't assume your parrot is a boy though, unless this bird was tested.
I adopted my Amazon as a boy who is 7 years old and lived all his life as a boy. But I did the DNA testing.........and it's a girl......hahaha.
It took me weeks to start calling "him" a "pretty girl" instead of "pretty boy", and my daughter call poor thing "him" still.......LOL
Good luck, sounds like a great beginning......

Oh what a beautiful story!!! I'm all smiles over here! And I'm SO SO happy for you!

GREAT name you picked for your baby, Faust! Can't wait to hear of all your adventures together.

Thank you for telling us your story. Yes, things are meant to be and in this case you ended up with the bird you were meant to. Welcome to the board and the world of macaw ownership. I love my min macaw. I know some people re not found of conures since conures such as sun conures can be loud. But I have a special place for conures since they can be sweet playful, clownish birds.