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Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Macaws, Cockatoos, Greys, Poicephalus, Conures, Lovebirds, Parrotlets, Parakeets etc. Discuss topics related to specific species of parrots and their characteristics, mutations, pros, and cons.

Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby triplebbirds » Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:50 am

Yes but they need to accept that it may not be like the book says, It may not act like the breeder said it would. As babies sometimes they seem to change overnight. So if you can accept the quirks of birds in general then your better off.
Can i accept that this bird will bite me?
Can i accept that this bird will not like me as much as this other person?
Can i accept the bird screaming a lot?
Can i deal with the mess?

Those sorts of questions are what we need to be asking ourselves, not caqn i accept the quirks of this one type of bird.
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby Michael » Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:22 pm

Sounds more like "Am I a parrot person?" in general...
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby windharper » Fri Jan 01, 2010 6:20 pm

MandyG wrote:I have high hopes that once he learns a bit more about birds and starts working with Mojo they're relationship will improve significantly. Unfortunately he's quite hearing impaired so I have to have the time to watch the videos with him and I haven't had the chance to do that yet. I think Mojo's biggest problem with him is that he treats him like one of the dogs, and Mojo quite clearly is nothing like a dog!


I could have written this comment as my husband is also very hard of hearing. So much so that he can tell Tamber :senegal: is talking but can't make out what he's saying.

What my husband can hear that aggravates the heck out of him is Teyla's :airmail: screaming. I have tried to tell him to not acknowledge her when she does it and to walk out of the room; but, it does no good! He acts as though he's training a dog! Unfortunately, Teyla learned how to scream from her nestmate Tico. :cockatiel: My husband didn't used to yell at Teyla in front of me until Tamber :senegal: busted him! Imagine my surprise when I first heard this:

Teyla :airmail: Squawk!
Tamber :senegal: Hey!
Teyla :airmail: Squawk!
Tamber :senegal: Cut that out!
Teyla :airmail: Squawk!
Tamber :senegal: Come on already!
Teyla :airmail: Squawk!
Tamber :senegal: Hey, did you hear me?
Teyla :airmail: Squawk!
Tamber :senegal: SCREETCH!!!!

This defeats what I've been trying to teach these birds! Now I appreciate that Tamber restrains himself, but eventually he gives in. If we ever have to move out of this house, we are going to have a problem with noise! It does leave me wondering just how many time birds are rehomed because the human family needs training
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby sift » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:10 pm

As has been mentioned, pretty much every instance of people giving up an animal has very little to do with the actual animal and a LOT to do with a lack of education, lack of understanding, lack of attention, or lack of caring.

I worked at an SPCA for two years and now I manage a large pet store. We have a number of birds in the store - from finches and canaries to budgies and 'tiels to Amazons and Congo African Greys - and I have been exposed to a LOT of people who are looking for animals or wanting to give them up. I think the problem stems from two separate but simliar issues; a) that the potential owner does not do enough research and b) that the potential supplier (be it a pet store, shelter, or breeder) does not do enough educating prior to the adoption of the pet (whatever pet it may be). We find it very easy to say, "Oh, this person should have done more research before they got their dog/cat/bird/bunny/ferret," but not as easy to say, "This breeder/store/shelter should have done more to educate the new adopter as to what they were getting into."

When we adopted out the greenwing macaw we recently had in the store I spent over two hours talking to the people who took her. They had all the right answers AND, more importantly, they asked all the right questions. I don't know how many countless times I've told someone who is interested in one of the green cheek or peach fronted conures that they have to be okay with loud noise and I've asked numerous people who have inquired about the Grays if they're ready to have a 2 year old child with wings for the next sixty or so years.

It is EVERYONE'S responsibility to ensure that an animal goes to a good home. If we just promoted education on all fronts we would have far less surrenders than we do now.
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby Michael » Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:14 pm

I completely agree that education is crucial but I must say that one thing I hate is a bird store, breeder, or adoption place that just tries to shove everything at the owner. Like I've talked to breeders and seen videos of adoption places that practically do a criminal background check of the people getting a bird. They try to set terms, require forms and paperwork and just completely kill the enjoyment out of the process.

I definitely don't like it when people get a parrot for the wrong reason. Sometimes when I visit the bird store, other customers will ask me for advice. Half the time I just want to tell them they should adopt a rock instead. As much as I think bird providers should have the answers to questions, I don't think it is their right to force all their opinions and bureaucracy upon the upcoming bird owner. No matter what the breeder/seller does, the new owner has to learn things on his own.

It is my hope that people will seek answers for themselves because they care about their pet. This is why I created this forum, so that bird owners can freely share information and knowledge to assist other owners.
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby sift » Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:27 pm

If I can prevent a bird/dog/cat/ferret/rabbit (whatever!) from going to an inappropriate home by ''shoving'' reality at them, then that is what I'm going to do. I definitely agree that people need to do their own research and make their own decisions but at the same time I think that the person on the other end of the spectrum needs to be sure that the potential new home HAS done their research. A lot of the time you do that by offering information and seeing what they chime in with. I also have absolutely no problem saying to someone who comes into my store to buy a pet, "No, I'm sorry, I don't think that this animal is right for or will suit your lifestyle."
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby MandyG » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:50 am

Michael wrote:As much as I think bird providers should have the answers to questions, I don't think it is their right to force all their opinions and bureaucracy upon the upcoming bird owner. No matter what the breeder/seller does, the new owner has to learn things on his own.


I agree it isn't right to force personal opinions on somebody. But I also believe there's a difference between forcing opinions and presenting questions to a person for them to ask themselves. People don't realize there's a lot more that they do need to learn on their own without somebody or something initially helping them see that there's so much they don't know. If you let them know basic things like how important good food is (not telling them what type of pellets they should get or what ratio of pellets:fresh food to feed), telling them how important foraging and toys are, etc. that could open a lot of doors for them to make them realize some of the things they should look into. And sometimes just a bit of additional information is enough to help somebody see that a bird really isn't the pet for them.

That's basically what the breeder I dealt with did, and I really appreciated it. I had talked to another amazon owner but I didn't get much from her, basically she said have toys and feed Zupreem colored pellets. My breeder gave me some information about some of the healthy things that they feed their birds just for an example of what should be fed, and I got a list of poisonous foods and other toxins (i.e. Teflon). I thought I knew everything there was to know at that point, but sometimes you just don't know enough about something to know that you don't know anything! They also pointed me towards birdtricks.com and their training blog, youtube videos, and products are really what opened the doors for me. I haven't stopped researching since, and that path led me here! It is your responsibility to research and to continue learning but sometimes you need somebody to help you get onto that path. Just like I hope people see the fliers for this forum in pet stores and come check it out :thumbsup: .

I'm really happy that there are people like sift in pet stores promoting learning about the animals prior to buying. So many pet stores just worry about the $ and nothing else. Or the employees themselves just don't know anything about that particular animal.
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby Suzzique » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:51 pm

The lady that I got Martini from didn't want to give him up. She loved him and he had lots of toys great cage. She had plenty of time for him. The problem was he decided that he didn't like her any more. Every time she tried to pick him up he would flutter away from her. She tried for 6 months to fix the problem to no avail. She finally decided that what would be best for him would be a new home. She didn't ask a lot for the rehome fee but she wasn't going to let him go with just anyone either. My youngest daughter went with me to meet her and Martini. He took one look at my daughter and was in love. He wouldn't leave her. I still email his old owner once every few months and send her pictures. I do understand the agression to another family member as a reason for giving the bird up. I happen to be that family member. It doesn't matter that I do 95% of everything for him. He doesn't like me. I'm not sure if I'm the rivil or what. I've learned to work around the cage agression. The stuff that gets me is when I'm not doing anything and he attacks me. All bits I recive from him draw blood. Yesterday was the worst attack to date. I was sitting and reading and he had been sitting on me. One minute everyting is fine the next he is attacking me. He bit thew my fingernail into the nail bed. I am the only family member that his is like this with. He does have some cage agression with everyone else except my youngest daughter. But he does not treat anyone else the way he treats me. Everyone says clip his wings and he will be better. I don't for one minute beleave that. He was just as mean to me when we first got him as he is now. The only difference is now he can get to me easier. Am I going to rehome him? No I took him in knowing that they can be agressive.
Alex - cag
Martini - senegal
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby pfinarffle » Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:57 pm

Don't forget bird-related health issues. Our foster :senegal: PeeWee was originally owned by an elderly woman who apparently died. Her husband kept PeeWee in the cage and would apparently bang a broomstick against the cage whenever PeeWee made a sound. Thankfully PeeWee was re-homed by an adoption agency. The family that adopted him re-socialized him wonderfully. Unfortunately, they could no longer keep him after a few years because the wife developed something called parrot breeder's disease. It was relayed to me as "allergies" and I thought it sounded like a really weak excuse to get rid of all their parrots. But I recently read an article about this condition in Bird Talk and realized it's pretty serious and a really good reason to find another home for your birds. PeeWee ended up going to a foster family with several other birds. He became very anxious and aggressive, apparently tried attacking a couple of their parrotlets. That foster owner told my boyfriend and me that PeeWee would only step up to one person (living up to their "one person" rep). PeeWee bonded with my boyfriend right away, probably because he was pretty confident and unafraid of getting bitten. But after I became the designated "treat person," providing him with his favorite treats and food, PeeWee has grown to accept me as well and seems to behave similarly towards both my boyfriend and me. It's all about mutual trust, respect, communication and training with regards to behavioral issues. But sometimes we can't control finances or health problems.
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Re: Why do Poicephalus get rehomed?

Postby Pola » Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:36 am

I saw that they rehome senegals when they are 18 months, this is because they are going through puperty and i read that they can bite and be nott very friendly
Pola :D
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