You can take the GRITS out of Florida, but you can't take Florida out of the GRITS!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

To Adopt or Not?

A friend of mine found a parrot in her yard last week.  It's wings were clipped, so it couldn't really fly.  She called the two major bird places and the only local bird vet and left her name, phone number and description of the bird, hoping someone would  call reporting one missing.  Well, a few days passed and no phone call.  She threatened to trun it loose if no one claimed it by Sunday.  I refused to let her do that and said I'd take the bird and find someone who wants it.

I believe it's a Blue-fronted or Blue-faced Amazon.  Sex unknown. Age unknown.  Personality - known!  I don't think she's crazy about men (yes, I've decided to make her a "she"), she abhors "parrot biscuits" but loves baby carrots and pizza crust.  She likes it calm and let's it be known when it is too noisy for her liking.  She whistles that whistle that most birds learn to do and she imitates an alarm.  No talking yet.

I have her in a very large metal dog kennel that she seems to like just fine, but did acquire through Freecycle, a large, but rusty parrot cage.  I think it'll be pretty nice if I can get it cleaned up a bit....it would look nice in my office at work...I'm thinking my office needs a parrot, don't you?


Her name is now "Sookie".  Yes, we're all attached to her already.  Looks like we'll probably be keeping her for now.

Any parrot advice out there?  I've never owned one before so am willing to listen to anything anyone has to tell me!

6 comments:

myamuhnative said...

Ok here we go-first things first,take her to a vet to see if she has been chipped.I have figured out yet where you work, but Dr Harris at Avian and Exotic in Pinecrest can check or Dr Bushnell on Krome and 248 may have a wand too.Actually most vet should have a wand-reader.But call first.
If you keep her give her decent food preferably pellets mixed with veg and fruit and meat (they usually love chicken!)as a treat.
when you refurb the cage be extra cautious about what you use to clean and paint it.remember birds use their beak and tongue as fingers and hands and will be putting the bars in their mouth. I've always used plain rustoleum nothing extra fancy but no off brands either because of lead worries.
Love the Sookie name!!
Maybe you can ask Dr Kramer if he has access to a wand?

Anonymous said...

uh yeah that should be "have not yet figured"

SwampAngel65 said...

Ok....I give up. Who are you??? How do you know I know Dr.Kramer? I do know him, but how did you know I know?

I had no idea about chicken! I am assuming cooked, not raw, right? And I wasn't even going to repaint the cage because of lead and chemical worries, but if you say Rust-o-leum is ok, then that's what I'll use.

The bird's wings are clipped, so it can't have gotten too far from it's home. My friends has asked around to all her neighbors, but no one seems to know anything about the bird. We have a feeling it might have been let loose on purpose :(

Dina said...

Parrots with clipped wings can still fly pretty far. If you decide to keep it then get some books and read up on parrots. They are loud and need lots of attention. There are certain foods that are toxic to birds such as chocolate, etc. You talked about a cage at work. Will the parrot be there all weekend by itself. BAD IDEA. As long as you can take it home with you then you should be okay. I take my cockatiels on road trips to visit relatives all the time and they like being in the car.

Good Luck.

myamuhnative said...

It's a very small world-especially when you read florida related blogs and love the outdoors!You all seem to have mentioned each other in some way in the past. And Dr K chipped two of my parrots years ago when he was covering for Dr Harris.Like I said small world.
BTW Dina is right,I do agree that you need to carefully consider being owned by a parrot-they are highly social animals and do not do well without their flock mates (that would be you).They live a long time and can put a crimp in travel plans unless you take them along. I took one on vacation to NC once and it was great fun for both of us!
And yes, cooked chicken-like drummettes are perfect and easy to hold.Pretty funny to watch too!

SwampAngel65 said...

Don't worry! IF I bring Sookie to work with me, she will be brought home every Friday (of course!). As it is right now, she is at home during the day, but is just about never by herself...sitting right in the middle of the house on my pool table. She can see everything! She is calm 97% of the time, but the 3% she's not - hold your ears! I can calm her down pretty quickly, though (Thank God!).

I'll send Marc (Dr. Kramer) an email to see if he can scan her for a chip. That's a good idea.

And I'll be adding chicken drummettes to my shopping list ;)