If you had to choose

Totally theoretical...If you had to choose between a bird being somewhere they were clearly loved and totally bonded to their human but the human either wasn't able or didn't properly know how to care for said bird what would you choose... to leave said bird with that human or uproot said bird for better care.?

I would try a third option of education... if the bird was totally bonded, have to think the person loves the bird and probably wants what is best for the bird.

In this theoretical situation, is teaching the person about proper diet and care, not an option?

Okay so not completely theoretical but I have tried education even bought a new cage and toys for the bird but still not getting through to the owner...

What is happening that is bad for the bird... not getting out? Bad diet?

Do you have any control or ability to persuade this person to give the bird up? If you have spent your own money for cage and such, presuming its some type of relation. Could you simply take over purchasing the food for the bird?

The guy has had the bird for 15+ years. He is a YN zon. He is on an all seed diet it seems like his cage only gets cleaned when I clean it. The bird hates me with a passion. I have given the owner toys for the bird that hardly ever end up in the cage. I have told him about a pelleted diet I have offered to take him in for a vet visit... The guy loves the bird and they have a great relationship. But I think it's the old if it ain't broke don't fix it thing...don't get me wrong the guy is one of my best friends and I even leave my birds with him when we go out of town and he does a great job with them follows the instructions I give to a tee. I just feel for the bird. Ya know....

I know he wouldn't give the bird up and I would really want him to Givin the relationship they have but I just wish he would take my advice...

How about showing him some reports about seed diet and bird health? Just it doesn't look broken doesn't mean it won't be soon...

Everyone tells me I don't look 'sick' or that I don't look like I have a disability, so sometimes you never know whats going on inside.

What about nutriberries? Not the best diet, but its way healthier then just seed, least some pellet nutrition mixed in there.

that's a tough one, I think if you offer advice, it's up to him whether he wants to take it.
sort of frustrating on your end since your more educated on diet etc....

does he give the zon ANY veggies or fruits?

He does share food but I'm not sure what kind...I gave him some apple and banana today

I'm curious to know what this guy thinks about how you care for Parker and Parker's setup?


I once tried to help an orange wing amazon by the name of "Mouth". Mouth was not tame or friendly. He didn't talk. As far as the family was concerned, they "rescued" him from a worse home.... and yet they kept him in a corner "finch" cage that Mouth was chewing apart (hence wires and rope holding the wire mesh to the sides). The cage was a mess and they fed him cheap bird food from Wally World....

Mouth had no toys. He lived in a home where everyone smoked. They rarely ever gave him anything other than seed. He was covered up frequently because he was noisy. Thanks to some help from my local bird club, I was able to provide him with a parrot cage (albeit not large), three manzanita perches (that I sanded down using a battery operated dremel - pain in the arse!), a large wooden block toy and I think new food dishes (because, hey, once again! cheap plastic perches!).


The following image shows his old cage vs his new cage.






A close up of him




Mouth and his cage





And his first bath in who knows how many years....







Sadly, I think I did more harm than good. I tried to educate them about diet. I tried to let them know the various kinds of foods that Mouth could eat. I even lent them my "Healthy Bird Cookbook" so they could get ideas on foods and have it for reference. What this resulted in was them cooking chicken wings, eating the meat off the bone, then tossing said chicken bones into his cage. Can we say bacteria galore?????


Mouth did at least chew up his toy... although I think the owners had that stupid mentality that if your animal destroys it's toys, it must hate toys, so why bother buying toys when all they are going to do is destroy them???? Without realize that is exactly *WHY* they need toys!



I knew the son in the family, but we were never close (not even as friends) and at one point in time he talked about helping me to steal Mouth and giving him a better life. We ended up having a "fading-out" (to put it lightly... no longer on speaking terms) and I did eventually end up calling Animal Control on them.... and they in turn called AC on me... (not that AC found any problem with my set up, other than the fact that I had a bunch of leaves covering the floor of the room that I had *JUST* stripped from some dried out branches! LOL)


Anyway, when I saw the son some years later, I found out that Mouth had died from a gas leak, so the son converted the bird cage into a ferret cage.




I can't help but wonder, if I had done something differently.... maybe if I could have tried to convince the owners to give him up to me.... maybe he'd still be alive. Maybe he'd be happier. He didn't deserve the life of a "trophy bird" abandoned in the corner of the dining room, then covered up because they couldn't put up with him.... made worse by the fact that they thought that they had rescued him from a bad situation when in reality they just transferred him from one bad home to another. I kid you not, they were proud of the fact that they "rescued" him out of a bad situation.




If education doesn't work, then I vote for finding the bird a new home. As long as animals have 3 basic necessities - food, water and shelter (living in a clean environment), the law doesn't care about anything else. It doesn't matter that the food is crap, that the animals have no enrichment, or that their crammed in a tiny cage, animal control can't do much about it.



At least, that's my opinion of it, after having gone through a situation where a bird was poorly lacking in care and the owners didn't care to improve it. Animals shouldn't suffer because of our desires.

Oh, what a stupid guy! I cannot stand this attitude! I got my bird on impulse, but the night before we got him I was reading until 3-4am and since then I'm constantly learning about parrots. I'm also trying to volunteer at a local bird shelter to get some hands on experience with them. And I have a tiny gc conure. This guy dared to get an Amazon, and he doesn't know how to properly care for this bird, and the worst thing is - he DOESN'T WANT to know! I'm sorry, he is your friend, but it makes me so angry and upset.
However, when I look at the picture, I can tell this bird is NOT an unhappy one. He is like some people living in poverty and still being happy and loved. But this doesn't excuse his owner at all.

He didn't choose to get him it was given to him by a family member

What picture did you look at

Sorry, I think veimar got the amazon I talked about confused with the amazon you are talking about Parkersmom!

MonicaMc said:

Sorry, I think veimar got the amazon I talked about confused with the amazon you are talking about Parkersmom!

Click to expand...

That makes sense.