Hello from South Carolina

Latrine

New member
Feb 18, 2014
3
0
South Carolina
Parrots
Yellow Naped Amazon
Timneh African Grey
Hello all, nice to meet you:)
My name is Sarah and my fiancé and I have recently (by recently I mean almost two years ago) moved from Upstate New York to South Carolina.

You can imagine the car ride here, with our two Jack Russell Terriers, 'Ben & Phibber', our Pit-bull/German Shepherd mix 'Izzie' and my two parrots, 'Tyler' about 37 (we think) year old Timneh African Grey and 'Rocky' a 26 year old Yellow Naped Amazon. Both parrots are pretty much the first rescues from abusive homes that I have had since I was a teenager.

It's very sad, the way the majority of the people in this area treat animals, particularly dogs. So we have since added to our dog family..

Although we brought her with us from New York, Izzie was actually found abandoned quite near to our newly purchased home here in South Carolina.
Hearing that she would immediately be put to sleep in the shelters around here, because she is very noticeably part Pit-bull, My fiancé made an early trip here and brought her home. She is a wonderful addition to our family, with that loving and sweet pit bull temperament.

Sprocket, another Jack, suffers from extreme fear and anxiety issues. She seems to do best in a place with more dogs so the family member who had adopted her brought her to us.

About 3 months ago, a gorgeous Australian Shepherd wandered to our front yard. It was so sad and obvious he had been on his own for quite some time, wandering and just trying to find a safe place.

It was pretty clear most people had turned him away aggressively as I had to lay on the ground to finally get him to come over to me.
As soon as he realized I wasn't going to hurt him he just gave me the happiest greeting you can imagine, hugs and kisses:)
We started calling him 'Bugs' because he was just covered in them, and the name stuck, he's our 'Bugsie' :)

We immediately brought him to the vet but he had no microchip and no one seemed to be looking for him. He does have a slight case of heart-worm (from wandering in a swampy area for two months, no doubt, but he is now being treated for it)

We later learned his owners had died two months before and their children just... turned the dogs out.
There were two dogs, Bugsie and a black lab, who were apparently seen wandering together. The Lab had apparently been hit by a car and killed. Makes me cry to think of that.. And how poor Bugsie probably witnessed it.
It's sad that people act like this, even aiming cars at feral dogs in the road..

Our neighbors thought a dogs lifespan was about 3 years because they don't bother with veterinarians or the very necessary heart worm meds in this area.

Happy ending, we had Bugsie fixed a month later and he will be with us forever.. The dogs all get along great although I must admit, 5 dogs in one house gets almost as messy as one parrot!!
Sorry.. I went off explaining our pups there. :)

I used to work with a parrot club that had monthly meetings and a surrender/adoption program.
I adopted most of the 'unadoptable/broken/badly abused' birds.
Some of them just needed some love and extra patient TLC but some required a lot more due to physical and mental abuse..
Bad diet was a big issue. It was almost always due to people JUST DYING to have that unweaned baby cockatoo because it was so adorable/fun to hand feed.
Unfortunately it isn't quite as easy or fun to wean them (Not that I would ever call hand rearing a parrot 'easy')
And so they ended up with a not as cute, very demanding, underweight bird that 'refused' to eat 'bird food' etc..
These were usually the easiest ones to deal with, especially when there were so many other birds around eating properly.. Most of the time these birds would settle right into copying the feeding behavior after the quarantine period.
I found homes for many of the parrots when they were ready, even though it was very hard to say goodbye.
The most I had at a time was I think 12 or 13? About the limit my parents would allow as I was still a teenager living at home.
I did have a Blue and Gold Macaw, Madison, whom I raised from 4 weeks, ( she was supposed to be older than that but when she showed up so young, so sick and still so adorable, I wasn't about to send her back)
I had Madison for 16 years. During this time I became very very sick with digestive issues. I required lots of surgeries and many long hospital stays. We had 3 parrots, total, at this time.

When I came home from the longest hospital stay, seven months, it was so wonderful to see all the birds and it was clear my fiancé had taken extra wonderful care of them, but Madison had lost weight and had taken to screaming incessantly and even started pulling some feathers.

There was no way for her to understand why I went away for so long, although when I showed her stitches/staples/wounds, she clearly understood I had been injured, even going so far as to say 'Ow, Boo-Boo' the first time she saw it. (Still makes me cry when I remember that)

She was insanely happy to see me and immediately went back to her spoiled behavior of being attached at the hip. (My fault for spoiling her as a baby, I know) but I was still very sick, I came home on IV medications and feedings. I was also exhausted and unable to do much and she didn't understand that it was dangerous to have her near the IV's..etc.

I was no longer able to give her what she needed. Luckily ( I guess.. Because I still want her back more than I can put into words,even though I know how selfish that seems ) She had met my sister in law's brother a few times and they had hit it off.. I asked if he would consider taking her and he said yes.

It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do but we brought her to him and from what I hear from my brothers family, and occasional pictures, (they all live far away from me now in Pennsylvania and New Jersey) she seems to be very happy and in perfect feather.

As for the other two birds,

Tyler does not like my fiancé. We don't understand it but.. Humans don't all get along so I guess birds and humans don't, either.
My brother had always loved Tyler and upon hearing the trouble my fiancé was having while I was hospitalized, offered to take him home.

This was hard because I wasn't even home but wonderful because Tyler loves to listen too and mimic small children. (Although he is a big biter and cannot be handled by many people ) The family understood this and they all seemed to get along wonderfully.

Unfortunately, a few months after I came home, Tyler suffered from a prolapsed cloaca and needed emergency vet care. At the time, we lived close and we got him and brought him to the vet. This happened again within the week and became quite expensive, my brother was not going to be able to handle bills like this if it was going to keep happening, and so Tyler came back to live with us.
The cloaca issues all ended up being diet related, although they have always been on Harrison's pellets, I also made them a quinoa/bean/veggie/egg mixture which I froze and heated for them daily.
It turned out that was too much egg for Tyler, duh, and he has not had one issue since I stopped feeding them that.

Tyler now absolutely HATES my fiancé. I honestly think it's almost all just anger and resentment.
I was too sick to travel and my fiancé is the one who took Tyler away from my brothers house to come live with us again. We know how smart these birds are, Tyler misses being around the children and he is very unhappy now.

My fiancé is very good to the birds although he can't catch a break.. Rocky, the amazon, hates all men unless they have long hair, I think that's only because he's mistaken them for women..
He was very badly physically abused by a man in the previous home.

As for Tyler, he came to me a depressed plucked mess but he perked right up with proper diet and positive reinforcement.
We do know he was in several very abusive homes before the guy who rescued him gave him to me.

Wow this has gotten long. I guess I just really wanted to introduce myself well, not just join and immediately put up a post about adopting out a bird.
I don't want anyone to think I'm the type to dump animals off, if we can't find a good home for Tyler, he will, of course, stay with us. I'm just trying to find a way to make him happier.
I like animals more than people.

I've just gotten home from my 13th major surgery.
I'm not able to do much of anything right now, but seeing how unhappy Tyler seems to be has prompted me to do what's best for him and possibly try to find a home that would make him happier. I'm going to put up a post about him in your adoption section, I hope that's okay. (I'll read the rules first) and I guess we will see what happens.
Tyler also has one very bad foot/leg. The vet says his best bet is the bird was thrown, the bones were broken and he was never given medical treatment for it, so it healed improperly. He has a heated perch several different sized wooden perches and several flat platforms in his cage, so he can decide which is more comfortable.

We purchased him a larger cage, which even after several months, he hated, so we got him a smaller one which seems to have made him happier.
He hates to have anything touch his tail, ever, so the inside of his cage is pretty sparse, no toys really. He comes out to play with toys and boxes on the top of his cage, when he wants too. This is only because he seems to get very upset if those toys touch him when he doesn't want them too.

Rocky is fine, he wants snuggles from me and just doesn't want my fiancé to touch him.

Nice to meet you all, sorry this was so horribly long.. :)

- Sarah
 

Terry57

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Nov 6, 2013
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Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada
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Hawkhead(Darwin),YCA(Dexter),VE (Ekko),OWA(Slater),BHP(Talli),DYH(Calypso),RLA(Kimera),Alex(Xander)CBC(Phoe),IRN (Kodee,Luna,Stevie),WCP (Pisces),CAG(Justice)GCC (Jax), GSC2(Charley)
Hello Sarah and welcome.
I think that all the rescuing you have done of both feathered and furry creatures is wonderful. I hope your health gets better and that you are able to find Tyler a perfect forever home:)
 

Huey

New member
Apr 1, 2013
17
0
South Carolina
Parrots
4 budgies- Huey,bigD,Skippy,Taco
1 lovebird
Sophie
Welcome to the forum! Also welcome to South Carolina! I have to admit I have rescued a few dogs too! I've now resorted to carrying dog biscuits with me because I see so many sad and neglected pups.

Love to see pictures of your birds.
 

Betrisher

Well-known member
Jun 3, 2013
4,253
177
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Parrots
Dominic: Galah(RIP: 1981-2018); The Lovies: Four Blue Masked Lovebirds; Barney and Madge (The Beaks): Alexandrines; Miss Rosetta Stone: Little Corella
Sarah, welcome to our forum and bless you for all the good work you've been doing! I don't mind your long post as I'm a bit of a long-poster myself. I appreciate the effort you've made to let us know you. A scant 'Hello' will do, but it's not much to go on, really. :)

I have one glaring question for you: where did your user name come from? I'm dying to find out! :D :D :D

PS. I have several family members who have Crohn's disease, so I understand about major surgeries interfering with life. You're a champion to keep on keeping on as you are!
 
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Latrine

New member
Feb 18, 2014
3
0
South Carolina
Parrots
Yellow Naped Amazon
Timneh African Grey
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Lol.. I originally had Ulcerative Colitis, I'm sorry to hear about your family member having Crohns, its awful to deal with.. :(
When life has me down, I have to make myself laugh so I decided to pick a funny name for myself with a hidden meaning. It's always fun to see who picks up on it :)
I usually go by 'ShinyLatrine' but I was afraid that would be pushing it for this forum so I shortened it to Latrine:)

I have to say I really hate living here in South Carolina.
Aside from the horrible treatment of animals in my area, the, uhm.. 'Southern Hospitality' has been horrible. They really don't like us Yankees!!

Our neighbors only speak to us for a few reasons. The first was a continual often rude 'request' for us to join their church. They seem to have given up on that one now and will really only talk to us if they think we have some sort of really fresh gossip.
Oh, they also don't mind completely ignoring us in public and then stopping by to ask for fresh brown eggs.
We used to give fresh eggs to everyone, only asking for cartons back in return.
Now I tell the rude people we no longer have chickens.. (Which is actually pretty funny because our friendly flock of 30+ Assorted Chickens and Guineas are usually standing at our feet when I tell them :)
I'll try to steal my fiancés laptop tomorrow to figure out how to post some pictures of my feathered babies.. Thanks for the welcome:)
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
14,233
190
College Station, Texas
Parrots
Red Bellied Parrot /
Ruppell's Parrot /
Bronze Winged Pionus /
English Budgie
Hi Sarah! As Trish pointed out, when I first saw your username I said to myself "hmm, isn't that the john? A commode? The porcelain god? A TOILET??! LOL... and that's okay!! :D We all have our little reasons for choosing what we have ;) Welcome!

Interesting story too :) I'd love to see your parrots and chicken pics...
 

MikeyTN

New member
Feb 1, 2011
13,296
17
Antioch, TN
Parrots
"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
Welcome to the forum Sarah!!!! It is sad how some people treat their animals as most of our animals were rescued. But we are at our limit so I have to turn down a lot of people who asks me to take one in. I hope you get better soon!!!
 

labell

New member
Feb 17, 2014
1,988
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East
Lol.. I originally had Ulcerative Colitis, I'm sorry to hear about your family member having Crohns, its awful to deal with.. :(
When life has me down, I have to make myself laugh so I decided to pick a funny name for myself with a hidden meaning. It's always fun to see who picks up on it :)
I usually go by 'ShinyLatrine' but I was afraid that would be pushing it for this forum so I shortened it to Latrine:)

I have to say I really hate living here in South Carolina.
Aside from the horrible treatment of animals in my area, the, uhm.. 'Southern Hospitality' has been horrible. They really don't like us Yankees!!

Our neighbors only speak to us for a few reasons. The first was a continual often rude 'request' for us to join their church. They seem to have given up on that one now and will really only talk to us if they think we have some sort of really fresh gossip.
Oh, they also don't mind completely ignoring us in public and then stopping by to ask for fresh brown eggs.
We used to give fresh eggs to everyone, only asking for cartons back in return.


Now I tell the rude people we no longer have chickens.. (Which is actually pretty funny because our friendly flock of 30+ Assorted Chickens and Guineas are usually standing at our feet when I tell them :)
I'll try to steal my fiancés laptop tomorrow to figure out how to post some pictures of my feathered babies.. Thanks for the welcome:)

Your post cracked me up, my husband and I lived in SC for a while and I saw the same sort of things. The church and Jesus pushing from total strangers got really old. I actually starting getting pretty sassy with them such as "Do you have a church?" My reply "no, do you have one for sale? or Do you know Jesus? Yes, he was my room mate in college but we've lost touch! It made me crazy that they fly the confederate flag at the capital building and see no problem with this! I am sure some people have had better experiences there and I apologize to the people who love it there but I for one was very happy to leave.

One funny story, I used to collect primitive antiques, spinning wheels, jelly cupboards and the like. I went into a store and after looking around I struck up a conversation with one of the older ladies working there. I told her I had expected to see more primitive furniture and was surprised by the lack of any and her reply was "That's because Sherman that SOB (she used the full words) burned it all!" It took me a moment before my mouth dropped open and I realized she was speaking about General Sherman and the Civil War like it had all just happen last night.
 
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Latrine

New member
Feb 18, 2014
3
0
South Carolina
Parrots
Yellow Naped Amazon
Timneh African Grey
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
Lol.. Wow! And we think our dogs have trouble understanding how much time has past.. Some of these people are nuts, huh?!

I'm actually hoping to find some sort of bird or animal related club to join, when I feel better. I used to belong to 'The Real Macaw' bird club when I was a teenager living in New Jersey and it was a hoot!

We are also hoping/planning on setting up a small kennel for some of these stray dogs, specifically the Pit bulls, since they euthanize them immediately. I don't know how it works, but we are hoping we can have some sort of relationship with the local shelters, animal control person (not sure we have one at the moment) and the local veterinarians.

Maybe they would be okay with contacting us when they received an 'undesirable' dog and we can take them in, work with them if they have any issues and then ship them North, when we find homes.

We will probably only be able to deal with up to three or four at a time but every little bit helps. Who knows, maybe our neighbors will see what we are doing and be a little kinder to their own animals.

Oh look I've done it again.. This terrible medication makes me way too chatty and I just love talking to animal people.. Sorry for the long message, again!

- Sarah
 

MikeyTN

New member
Feb 1, 2011
13,296
17
Antioch, TN
Parrots
"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
Type all you want! We don't mind chatters in here!!! :)
 

Robinsnest63

New member
Aug 21, 2018
1
0
SC
Parrots
I am trying to get one wanted to hatch my own African grey I raise cocktails now.
New from South Carolina.Recently I tried getting an African grey from a man on facebook needless to say I was ripped off. Anderson's,puppies and birds. Thoughts I posted was in search of one and he got in touch with me. I research to late now out money and my beautiful bird. You see when I was much younger and military wife I had Ann African grey I tasked from a hatching my friend had . Her name was molly. We we got station to Japan for 3 years and wasn't at that time allowed to take her. It broke my heart . My sister since molly knew her said she would keep her I got back. As you can guess a headmaster she sold her molly would have her 7 years old then . I didn't find out till I got back home . I search and detached to find her to get her back ,unfortunately to no availed. I was devastated. So am searching again for another sweet heart that needs a loving ready home? So if anyone near here has any and don't want an arm and leg for it. Please let me know am already out 800.00 so don't have much money now to give other thang a huge empty cage that I kept my molly in? Yes I still have her cage after 35 years. That's my story thank y'all for the warm welcomes
 

ChristaNL

Banned
Banned
May 23, 2018
3,559
157
NL= the Netherlands, Europe
Parrots
Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
LOL@ Latrine, I immediately went

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

https://cdn1.jigidi.com/thumbs/1IVLJ4QP/l

that character was a hoot!

That was a fun read! Nice to meet you!
It is not easy to let a bird go, but if you have to because of health-issues ... I dont think anyone will blame you.
You've got a great human there too btw - putting up with a bird that basicly hates you ... quite a challenge.
 

imemi

New member
Aug 19, 2018
22
0
Australia
Parrots
1 Male eclectus
Welcome and what an amazing story you have!
It takes a special person to rescue those "damaged" souls. I do the same with ferrets.
I look forward to reading more stories from you and learning!
 

LoriS53

New member
Aug 19, 2018
28
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Utah
Parrots
1 Sun Conure: Sunnie
1 Green Cheek: Sweet Cheeks
2 Pineapple Green Cheek Conures: Patches & Petrie
2 Peach faced love birds: Priscilla & Elvis
15 parakeets
2 Amazon Yellow Nape Parrots: Max & Ha
Welcome! I would come and take Tyler if I didn't have my hands full with Max and Hannah right now. I know how hard it is to let someone you love so mucho.

I have celiac disease. It was undiagnosed for 48 yrs. It was pretty much a nightmare, nothing compared to yours but still a nightmare. Now I have nerve scarring from the all the yrs of undiagnosed illness and lupus on top of it all. Thankfully my husband is a RN so he takes good care of me and the birds. My thoughts and prayers are with you hon.
 

imemi

New member
Aug 19, 2018
22
0
Australia
Parrots
1 Male eclectus
Welcome! You do know you appended a 4 year old post!

Haha I didn't even check the original post date! Just read comments and more comments and added to the original, not realising someone had just restarted a very old one!
 

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