Botsari
Active member
Hi, I'm Marko. New member of the site as of today. I’m a Grey Parrot veteran of something like 54 bird-years.
I recently lost my going on 27 year old CAG. When I got him he was still only half weened, and needed some formula for several weeks. My other grey is a male TAG, 28, that I've also had since he was a baby. I have always bragged about how healthy my birds have been over all these years. But my congo started suffering from a mysterious problem a few month ago that got worse fast, and that none of the vets as I moved up the chain could ever definitively diagnose or effectively treat until a CT-scan finally revealed some growing lesions on his lungs and into his spine. It was very hard to let him go - he was really a once in a lifetime bird, very gentle and gregarious.
I wanted to do an intro here, but I also have been struggling with some issues and had two questions I wanted to ask people that may have some related experiences. I will say that I'm strongly in the camp that believes that birds have a birthright to be as much an actual *bird* as we can allow given personal resources, space and so on. It is wonderful that they respond to us so well socially, but I don't think I could bear to have one that did not also get to socialize with another bird ... let alone leave my other bird who just spent the last 27 years with a deep bond to his friend go without true avian social interaction. Now that a little of the extreme grief has passed I'm dealing with the obvious issue - I feel like I have obligation to my remaining bird to offer him some avian companionship, and not just me all the time. He is well brought up and quite gregarious, so even though he is mature I feel he will likely adjust well to a new bird. So I want to get another parrot - for him especially. That is the working plan, at least.
The two question I have relating to this quandary are, (1) Does anybody have experience with this type of situation, and do they have any advice? and (2) What is the deal with all these fraudulent websites, and can anyone recommend a legitimate breeder? Let me elaborate a bit below.
(1) At first I was thinking I should get a shorter-lived species that he might enjoy interacting with. Also I felt like it was impossible to replace my lost bird. But being realistic, short of another tragedy, I'm still just as likely to need to make arrangements in my will for my current bird 28 year old bird - next year I will turn 60. So presently the idea that there is even an option of getting out of a lifetime commitment really seems fundamentally out. So my thinking has evolved to the point that the idea of getting the (most likely) BEST bird for my situation and going all in now seems like the correct thing. I was especially wondering if there are people on the site that have had similar experiences. How did you deal with the issue? How did you patch of the hole in the social fabric left by a lot bird? Do you have any advice to share on the matter?
I have sort of come to the conclusion that the "best" would probably be another Grey. I like the idea of adoption since there are a lot of birds out there that need a new home. But I'm very worried about the challenges of getting two older birds to adapt to each other. I feel like another hand fed baby might be best. Since it really IS going to be a lifetime commitment shouldn't I just maximize the likelihood all around net happiness of the birds? But honestly my thoughts on the matter are still careening with my still raw emotions. Any thoughts?
(2) I've tried looking in the past few weeks online (where else does one start these days) but my heart still aches a bit doing this, so it has been in fits and starts. At the time I got my oldest grey a long time ago I was an very early adopter of using the web with "Mosaic" (precursor to google) at the national lab where I worked, but there really was no web as we know it today. But many or most of the hits I am getting now are very fishy seeming - so much for the big "improvement" to our lives. Even the top ones on the list seem like elaborate frauds - they carefully never mention what area they are in, often have pictures of "baby" greys with piercing yellow eyes, talk about how they are already talking at 4-6 months, and in some cases have cut and pasted the same description of each bird's "personality". In short, pure BS in many cases. I have many decades of experience with my birds, but haven't any idea where to start looking. Of course I would prefer to do a pickup. I live near Santa Cruz, California so the entire US West Coast and a good bit inland would be "easy" for me. Does anyone have advice or prior experiences they could offer on this?
In addition to the specific stuff. I really AM interested in hearing how other people have dealt with similar issues, and if they have any advice, or if there were any mistakes you learned from. It is a first time for me, loosing such a long time companion, and in addition to working through my feelings I'm having a really hard time figuring out the "best" thing to do. Anyway, already TMI for this round. Probably may need to move to a more specific sub-forum next time. Anyway, thanks for listening.
I recently lost my going on 27 year old CAG. When I got him he was still only half weened, and needed some formula for several weeks. My other grey is a male TAG, 28, that I've also had since he was a baby. I have always bragged about how healthy my birds have been over all these years. But my congo started suffering from a mysterious problem a few month ago that got worse fast, and that none of the vets as I moved up the chain could ever definitively diagnose or effectively treat until a CT-scan finally revealed some growing lesions on his lungs and into his spine. It was very hard to let him go - he was really a once in a lifetime bird, very gentle and gregarious.
I wanted to do an intro here, but I also have been struggling with some issues and had two questions I wanted to ask people that may have some related experiences. I will say that I'm strongly in the camp that believes that birds have a birthright to be as much an actual *bird* as we can allow given personal resources, space and so on. It is wonderful that they respond to us so well socially, but I don't think I could bear to have one that did not also get to socialize with another bird ... let alone leave my other bird who just spent the last 27 years with a deep bond to his friend go without true avian social interaction. Now that a little of the extreme grief has passed I'm dealing with the obvious issue - I feel like I have obligation to my remaining bird to offer him some avian companionship, and not just me all the time. He is well brought up and quite gregarious, so even though he is mature I feel he will likely adjust well to a new bird. So I want to get another parrot - for him especially. That is the working plan, at least.
The two question I have relating to this quandary are, (1) Does anybody have experience with this type of situation, and do they have any advice? and (2) What is the deal with all these fraudulent websites, and can anyone recommend a legitimate breeder? Let me elaborate a bit below.
(1) At first I was thinking I should get a shorter-lived species that he might enjoy interacting with. Also I felt like it was impossible to replace my lost bird. But being realistic, short of another tragedy, I'm still just as likely to need to make arrangements in my will for my current bird 28 year old bird - next year I will turn 60. So presently the idea that there is even an option of getting out of a lifetime commitment really seems fundamentally out. So my thinking has evolved to the point that the idea of getting the (most likely) BEST bird for my situation and going all in now seems like the correct thing. I was especially wondering if there are people on the site that have had similar experiences. How did you deal with the issue? How did you patch of the hole in the social fabric left by a lot bird? Do you have any advice to share on the matter?
I have sort of come to the conclusion that the "best" would probably be another Grey. I like the idea of adoption since there are a lot of birds out there that need a new home. But I'm very worried about the challenges of getting two older birds to adapt to each other. I feel like another hand fed baby might be best. Since it really IS going to be a lifetime commitment shouldn't I just maximize the likelihood all around net happiness of the birds? But honestly my thoughts on the matter are still careening with my still raw emotions. Any thoughts?
(2) I've tried looking in the past few weeks online (where else does one start these days) but my heart still aches a bit doing this, so it has been in fits and starts. At the time I got my oldest grey a long time ago I was an very early adopter of using the web with "Mosaic" (precursor to google) at the national lab where I worked, but there really was no web as we know it today. But many or most of the hits I am getting now are very fishy seeming - so much for the big "improvement" to our lives. Even the top ones on the list seem like elaborate frauds - they carefully never mention what area they are in, often have pictures of "baby" greys with piercing yellow eyes, talk about how they are already talking at 4-6 months, and in some cases have cut and pasted the same description of each bird's "personality". In short, pure BS in many cases. I have many decades of experience with my birds, but haven't any idea where to start looking. Of course I would prefer to do a pickup. I live near Santa Cruz, California so the entire US West Coast and a good bit inland would be "easy" for me. Does anyone have advice or prior experiences they could offer on this?
In addition to the specific stuff. I really AM interested in hearing how other people have dealt with similar issues, and if they have any advice, or if there were any mistakes you learned from. It is a first time for me, loosing such a long time companion, and in addition to working through my feelings I'm having a really hard time figuring out the "best" thing to do. Anyway, already TMI for this round. Probably may need to move to a more specific sub-forum next time. Anyway, thanks for listening.