Loaner Parrot

[TheNzJessie]

i love the idea of the parrot club but not so much so of the 'loaning parrots' idea

im in new york april 2012, club set up by then i would love to meet kili and truman

[pchela]

I do not like the idea of a loaner bird. A bird needs a stable environment and a steady home. I'm not really clear on how this would work. If a bird is being passed around from home to home, I don't see how that's any different than a bird on Craigslist that gets passed around all its life. It will be hard on the bird. It would need to have one dedicated owner.

Now, if somebody has a bird that is trained and wants to bring that bird to the meetings for people to interact with, that's different. That's how it's done at our parrot club. The founders alternate bringing in their own parrots to demonstrate tricks, behaviors etc. For example, bringing Truman to meetings would be a great idea because he is young and if he starts being handled by all sorts of people at this age, he shouldn't become a "one person bird."

[Rrrma]

I find it ironic that you want to do this after preaching how stressful rehoming a parrot is on the bird itself. You are basically rehoming this loaner on a regular basis.

I do not like the idea of a loaner bird. A bird needs a stable environment and a steady home. I'm not really clear on how this would work. If a bird is being passed around from home to home, I don't see how that's any different than a bird on Craigslist that gets passed around all its life. It will be hard on the bird. It would need to have one dedicated owner.

Now, if somebody has a bird that is trained and wants to bring that bird to the meetings for people to interact with, that's different. That's how it's done at our parrot club. The founders alternate bringing in their own parrots to demonstrate tricks, behaviors etc. For example, bringing Truman to meetings would be a great idea because he is young and if he starts being handled by all sorts of people at this age, he shouldn't become a "one person bird."

I think if you wanted to have a travelling bird you would need to start with a baby, so they were used to the constant changes before they knew better, like Truman. Maybe you could find an adolescent that was rescued, but even then it is likely to have been through trauma already. I hate the idea of a healthy bird travelling often, so the idea of a previously traumatized bird travelling really bothers me.

[thejoie]

Terrible idea.
Think of the poor bird. What if it bonds to someone only to have that person ripped from their lives. When a bird is rehomed it takes months for this bird to adjust to a new environment. This would be a new family, new smells, sounds, foods, routine... every single month. That poor bird would be so stressed out.
Even if they started their lives like this it's not healthy. Birds bond to their humans. If a bird is unable to bond, I don't think they'd be really happy.

[kellybird]

I have to agree with some of the others that it would be way to stressful on a bird to go from home to home with totally different environments and I too worry about the health risks. Does not sound right to "loan" birds.

[Azure Hanyo]

Upon hearing the replies... I respectfully puss out of my original response and agree that it is for the better interest of the bird to not be "loaned out". Yeah I am big enough to admit I was wrong. Great idea in theory, bad idea when acted upon.

*walks away in shame*

[Michael]

I don't see why it would be too stressful if that is the life it is accustomed to. Some people's parrots get stressed out from being taken into another room. Meanwhile other people's parrots travel with them all across the country. I walked down a bustling street carnival with my parrot today with balloons popping, bells ringing, people yelling, and she was not particularly phased. I walked across the carnival the first time holding her on my hand and keeping a grip on her leash. By the time we were walking back, she got to ride the whole way on my shoulder and I didn't have to mind her much attention. She wasn't going anywhere. Then on the other hand, there is nothing that scares her more than cardboard boxes. I know other parrots love to play with boxes, Kili is absolutely terrified of them.

My point is that "rehoming" parrots is typically stressful because they are unaccustomed to any drastic changes. However, if that is the life a parrot becomes accustomed to, I don't see a big deal. And as for changing people and not developing a bond, I see no problem with that. If the parrot never lives with the same person long enough to develop a special bond, that parrot will just be bonded to "people" as a whole rather than having allegiance strictly to one person. This would probably make for a much friendlier parrot anyway. It's the parrots that don't get to experience enough people that get overbonded to one.

I'm not suggesting that just any parrot could just fit into a lifestyle like this and I know it would have to be well thought out. But based on the arguments I have thus seen, I'm not convinced that a parrot cannot do this. Yes, you have made me see that it's not for just any parrot, but I think with the right training and methods it can be done. I'm fairly certain that either of my parrots could handle rehoming fairly easily and not be too stressed about it. And the more time it would happen, the less stressed they would get about it. Not that I'm offering my own parrots for this concept, but I do see that it can be possible.

So far the most notable concern brought up is the health risks. I'll probably need to consult a vet for further advice and find out if any amount of vet checks can make this possible.

Another reason why I would generally consider rehoming very stressful for a parrot is because of the lack of communication between the buyer/seller. Sure they might talk about price and stuff, but the bird isn't very involved. I like how lzver is handling Kylie. I'm sure that will be a fantastic example of a bird slowly eased in to the new situation with an understanding of how to continue the care seamlessly between old owner and new. So for the loaner parrot concept, there would probably be a booklet about things that the bird is used to, how to care for it, and additional care takers would be able to write in new pages based on the parrot's development. Also, remember that I mentioned that there would be a primary care taker. This would be the person the bird would revert to if no one is borrowing it, if the club folds, or if anyone has problems or questions.

I understand that this idea may be quite controversial and I have no definite idea if I will do this or not. However, I'm just trying to get a collective set of thoughts about it to help me decide if I should advertise this as a potential feature for the club or not. Perhaps there will end up being a modified version of this where there is a club parrot but only available at meetings. So keep the ideas coming for what makes a good club parrot, even if it is not being borrowed. But now, assuming this is being done, what species do you think are most suitable? Do you know of an appropriately sized cage that is at the same time very durable/portable for such a move around solution?

I can't think of anything outside of Poicephalus, but maybe that's just my bias. Your ideas?

[Azure Hanyo]

I don't see why it would be too stressful if that is the life it is accustomed to. Some people's parrots get stressed out from being taken into another room.

Galileo is terrified of the door knocking. TERRIFIED. She screams, flaps around, starts shaking, and then falls to the bottom of her cage and trembles. I wonder if I should create a new post about this and see what everyone thinks...

Anyway I stand by my cop-out. I think the argument against a loaner parrot far outshines the argument supporting it, though you spoke eloquently... Upon thinking about it, I don't see any difference between loaning a parrot than rehoming a bird 1,000 times. The previous posters made me realize I answered the post without thinking it through logically.

Even if the bird were accustomed to it, do you think it would be happy to not have a bond with anyone? Birds that "travel the country" have a stable environment in the form of their favorite person. Kili and Truman have you to protect them, and therefore they feel safe. What would make a loaned parrot feel safe? They have no bond with anything. It would be a sad, lonely life without a "mate" or favorite person.

[MandyG]

I don't see why it would be too stressful if that is the life it is accustomed to. Some people's parrots get stressed out from being taken into another room. Meanwhile other people's parrots travel with them all across the country. I walked down a bustling street carnival with my parrot today with balloons popping, bells ringing, people yelling, and she was not particularly phased. I walked across the carnival the first time holding her on my hand and keeping a grip on her leash. By the time we were walking back, she got to ride the whole way on my shoulder and I didn't have to mind her much attention. She wasn't going anywhere. Then on the other hand, there is nothing that scares her more than cardboard boxes. I know other parrots love to play with boxes, Kili is absolutely terrified of them.

Keep in mind that throughout all of those things she is with 'her person'. She is accustomed to a lot of things and she's very desensitized but as you've said during your flight training you've trained her to look to you when she's stressed or frightened and to go to you. When a bird doesn't have that bit of security with them it would be very stressful. The same with the people that travel across the country with their birds; they are with them. They may still be travelling and be in different places with different sounds but they're with the same people and basically getting the same generic routine.

[Azure Hanyo]

Keep in mind that throughout all of those things she is with 'her person'. She is accustomed to a lot of things and she's very desensitized but as you've said during your flight training you've trained her to look to you when she's stressed or frightened and to go to you. When a bird doesn't have that bit of security with them it would be very stressful. The same with the people that travel across the country with their birds; they are with them. They may still be travelling and be in different places with different sounds but they're with the same people and basically getting the same generic routine.

LOL that's the gist of what I said but you said it better! We are on the same wavelength!