Another sad story

Those of you who have followed Phoenix's story know that he had it pretty ruff. We met some people at the store where we have got all our birds today. They posted a Military Macaw on Craigslist that came with cage, playstand, toys, and you know the rest. They show up with Rita, and one look at her when they bring her in the store her beak was overgrown, and her nails were so overgrown that if she was standing on a 2" diameter perch her nails would have probably overlapped. She had horrible dander, her feathers where dark, oily, and matted. She was also very skinny. We had them meet us there because the store owner that I do webdesign for was going to take some blood from her to test her for any diseases. They didn't charge us even though I told them we'd pay for it, but we told them to do her nails, trim her beak, and wings. The store owner is only charging us what he gets charged for blood sample tests. We are having him air overnight the sample to the testing lab so they can get it ASAP. He said they should give him a call with the results within 48 hours of them actually getting the sample. You can see in the photo she really has no toys, and no real perches. The cage is missing bars at the top and they thought it was cute she would stick her head out to get treats or be petted. They feed her the large parrot seed mix from like Wal-Mart which we all know is crap. It turns out she is about 12 years old. They were given this beautiful girl almost 2 years ago by a coworker of the daughter. The daughter moved out, and the bird really loves men, but her dad now works out of town up to 4 days a week. The mom doesn't like birds, and will feed it but that is it. As long as her blood test comes back disease free we will bring her home in the next week or so. We are going to see if the store owners son can weld new bars where the missing ones are.

That poor, poor bird!!! Thank you so much for rescuing her! Please post updates of her progress, won't you? I'm really enjoying these happy stories of birds blossoming in new homes and I look forward to reading Rita's. She's going to be stunning in no time, I can feel it in me bones.

Good thing you were there to take her in!

We weren't planning on getting another fid for awhile because we have our boys, 6 birds, and 3 dogs so we stay pretty busy. My wife (gizzygirl) is always looking at the pets on Craigslist. She sent me a link to the add they put on Craigslist. After seeing the photos, and talking to them we really couldn't say no. We were trying to figure out where to put a cage for her because we didn't have a spot where she would be comfortable, and that once she adjusted to our house she could be around our other birds, and where she will get well socialized. We have a almost 123 year old one of a kind double reed organ that is all original, and in wonderful condition. After much debate we decided to store it in the garage for the time being, and put her cage where it was. Now we're just trying to figure out how to explain to the rest of the family why we have another bird lol.

THIS BIRD NEEDS A NEW CAGE! This cage is junk and doesn't look like it has ever been cleaned. I hate it when people don't take 30 minutes out of there busy day to clean a cage.

Mtdoramike we are hoping to get it cleaned and sterilized and weld on new bars and fix the leg and wheel. The guy told us he's been meaning to fix it but it's held up by blocks of wood. Idk if we can salvage it or not but I'm hoping we can until we can get her a bigger cage. I have a thread on the possible cage repair on the cage forum.

We got the test results back today. Rita is disease free, and we actually found out she is 12. We will get her to be a good bird again. We made a huge amount of progress with Phoenix, and we still are so I know we can help her.

Can't wait to see the progress that Rita makes in your home Please keep us updated! Did you already pick her up?

Rita came home Sunday. The bird store owner I do web design for gave us a new assembled cage for her that he is letting me work off. So she is now in a nice pretty cage that my wife, and oldest son have made sure is filled with toys lol.

They had a sand perch, a concrete perch, and a I guess fake limb short perch in her cage. Which once she started climbing around in her new cage we could see the sores on her feet. We don't use sand perches or concrete perches so we don't have to worry about that. She is really liking her rope perch, and her boing. She really didn't play with her toys at first. The only toy she had was an old bell, and a shredder toy so I don't think she really knew what to do with them. Now she is having a blast breaking pieces off.

The only thing they fed her was "The high quality bird seed they have at Wal Mart.". They said she never had pellets before, and they always fed her seed. We figured we would have to ween her into pellets, and it would take awhile. She went in her new cage, and went straight to the pellets, and started eating them. She seems kind of malnurished, and she weighs about the same as one of our Goffins.

She had issues with females so we figure the mother of the girl who had her was abusive to her when the dad was gone. She has let my wife pet her, and even taken some applesauce with vitamins in it from my wife. Which those are giant steps.

She is doing a lot better then any of us thought. I will post pics later of everything that was hers that they gave us, and her cage.

Why do people get these birds if they have no intention of caring for them?!

Honest to freakin' god the damage they have probably done from years of neglect to this bird's liver and her feet... by not doing the basics.

We shampood and showered her the next 2 days and honestly the water was brown and she smelled like cat pee! She also had BLACK spots on her chest that we thought was a nutrition problem but the shower washed them away! The first day she came home she basically stayed at the food bowl eating the pellets and started as soon as she was put in the cage! She really hasn't touched the seed mix but we had it in there for over a week to try to wean her, wasn't necessary lol. The first few days I was able to pet her and give kisses (while in her cage), and I could hold her. Well, the honeymoon is over and I'm enemy #1 but it's fear based. I make sure to cuddle and kiss our birds in front of her, talk to her, and bribe her with treats. She will take them from me so gently! If I don't have treats she will bite me and trick me lol. She will put her head down for scratches but will bite when I go near, same thing when she puts her foot up to step up. When my husband holds her she will just retreat and hide from me. So, we are taking it much slower (she and I) to build some trust. It has been going better but very slow. She's pretty great with my husband and teenage son. She's already talking much more and saying new words, very curious and watchful of me, loves blanket time, has less anxiety, and is actually playing with her toys. She also dances on my husband while he makes music! Lol I just feel so bad for her and what she went through to be so distrustful of me makes me wonder what that woman did to her! She has so much more potential and I know in time we will be friends, just can't wait until I can at least get her to trust me enough to step up on me.

I'm glad to hear she's settling in. It sounds like she is really coming out of her shell and starting to enjoy life being in a home where she is loved and cared for. From the sounds of it, this little lady definitely deserved some love and care! And you are probably 100% spot on that it is a fear-beaded reaction to you. I'm sure if you have patience and give her the time she needs, she will eventually see you only want to give her love and kindness and warm up to you. Probably hasn't ever had a female human treat her well before. Kiwi was real scared of women when we got him. Seeing the way the prior owner approached him with a giant beach towel dramatically wrapped around her arm when she took him out of the CAT carrier he lived in when we went to get him gave me a good clue as to why he "hated women" (as she put it). He warmed up to my husband fairly quick, but it took several years for him to really trust me. It's well worth the wait though, and with parrots having the lifespans they do, you've got nothing but time

That is sad and disgusting that the poor baby was THAT dirty I wonder when the last time she got bathed was for her to be turning the water brown? I would love to see some pics of her now that she's all cleaned up (and presumable has gained some weight?)

I'll upload some pictures later for you.

All birds should still be in quarantine for a minimum of 30 days whether blood work came back ok or not. So many people think that if they get the blood work and things are ok there, it is ok to mix them in with the other birds. This is not correct and you are risking the lives of the others. Things that might be dormant can show up in birds when they have been stressed, i.e. moved to a new home and blood work won't show that.

Time and patience are you friend. So many people say to sit next to the cage and read a book. What happens if the bird does not want you that close? You can be stressing the bird out even more so by doing that. That was something that I learned when going to a seminar and it was either Dr Susan Clubb or Barbara H. who mentioned that.

This is where it is important to watch body language and figuring out what a bird likes such as whistling, playing peek-a-boo or just singing what I would call soft songs such a lullaby's. When you see something that relaxes Rita start building more from there but always at her speed.

I'll upload some pictures a little later, sick in bed right now her 1st owner of 10 years was a woman! Then she went to the family we rescued her from. I just wonder how she was treated before. Idk. She has put on some weight and most days we can get vitamins in her along with Avicalm in a tsp of applesauce, she refuses formula and is scared of the syringe so we use a spoon and she does like that. Right now, she is on a playstand in my son's room watching Sabrina the teenage witch, supposedly she really likes that show lol. My camilla macaw, Phoenix, would scream if we watched Eureka without him so we would have to pause it and bring him in front of the tv for better viewing. He would get excited at all the right times and scared (not in a bad way) at the scary parts too lol. I'm not sure who was more upset that the series was over! So, it's possible that Rita is a witch fan. Lol

Thank you macawlover, I have been doing that when she's been stressed, I move away from her and give her space.

Video of me, and Rita. The music in the background is a remix of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture lol

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Awwww, what a sweet heart. I'm thankful that you guys were able to offer this poor thing a home and it seems to be working out perfectly for all concerned.

Yeah, and the past couple days she has taken some giant strides with my wife which is awesome. She has actually started reaching for my wife, and showing her she wants to step on her and not bite her. She will reach out to step up on my wife but turn her beak away, and hold on to the edge of the cage or the edge of the playstand to show her she isn't going to bite.