One day while I was casually looking on Kijiji I saw a plain ad with no picture that simply stated “Rare Gold Capped Conure for sale. Serious inquiries only.” With the price listed as "To be negotiated". Those are not the ads that I’m usually interested in, and I really wasn’t looking to buy a bird at this time, but something made me feel like I needed to reply and ask a few questions (and I asked a lot). I thought it never hurts to ask, asking is free and maybe I’ll get some experience on the types of questions I do want to ask when I start seriously looking for a bird. When Pele’s owner (pronounced Pay-Lay) replied to my inquiry he asked me to call him so he could answer any questions that I had and he was very appreciative that I was asking a lot of questions instead of simply asking him “how much”. I didn’t really want to waste my time on the phone with somebody when I wasn’t really looking for a bird at the moment, but again something made me feel like I should call just to find out more about Pele. After talking to Pele’s owner a few times I found that I wasn’t simply talking to a man that wanted to get rid of an unwanted bird, this was their beloved family pet and they were having a very hard time dealing with making the decision to find a new home for him. They had been thinking about finding him a new home off and on for the last three years but they kept deciding that they simply couldn’t part with him, but they were finally coming to terms with the fact that their lifestyle had changed and they loved Pele so much they wanted to do what was best for him even though they didn’t want to see him go. To make a very long story short (when I originally typed this out in Word it was 3 pages...
), Pele sounded perfect for us and the family had decided they had finally found the family they were looking for. On Saturday we drove the 3 hours to go see him. He was everything they said he was and more. After a few hours of visiting with the family (and them making the final decision that we were the right people) we packed everything up. It was definitely bitter sweet; we were so excited about Pele but so heart broken over how sad the family was. Two of their three children made a special trip home so they could say good-bye, and the mother broke down crying while saying good-bye to him. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to say good-bye to a member of my family and we had to leave before I started crying! So long story short, I’d like to introduce my new Gold Capped Conure, Pele! (named after the famous soccer player from Brazil.) Pele is 9 years old, hatched July 10th of 2001 (Yes, another July baby for my family!). He’s sweet, cuddly, playful, and of course LOUD! He rarely makes a noise but when he does it’s horribly loud. If you were ever wondering, yes a Conure IS louder than an Amazon. Guess it’s a good thing my husband is almost deaf, although even he can hear him!
Pele was really taken care of in his old home, he eats good pellets and fresh fruit and vegetables. You can touch him absolutely anywhere, even when you first meet him. The only thing we have to work on is getting him used to being outdoors and travelling. He was in his travel carrier once when he was brought home from the breeder, and he stayed at a pet sitter's once. Other than that he hasn't travelled very much. He was quite upset when he was in his carrier during the drive home. I also get to introduce him to the wonderful world of flying, he's been clipped for the majority of the last 9 years but he just got his last couple primaries in.
Here's a few pictures:
