Hello-

This past December I brought home a 14 year old Quaker I've renamed Arianna (she was previously known as Big Bird). Ari was boarded at the bird store I work part time at, and after several months there her owner became unreachable by phone and his credit card started bouncing. After 6 months, my boss let me take her home.

She is about as plucked as any bird I have ever seen photos of, though she has her wing primaries and tail in tact...but her body and shoulders are completely naked and she occassionally mutilates slightly as well. But she is a sweet little timid bird!!! Though she guards her food bowls when I change them, she does not seem to be as fierce or outgoing as other Quakers I've met. She never was taught to step up and has a fear of hands, though we are working on that.

For her whole life she would be snatched up in a towel if she was to be moved from her cage....I have a feeling her previous owner hardly even did that, but allowed her out on her cage semi-regularly. He had rescued her from a pet shop over a decade ago when he witnessed the employees throwing and poking pencils at her when ever she made noise. He had never owned a bird before, but wanted to get her out of there...she was already plucking by then. It sounds like he truly cared about her...despite abandoning her, he paid over $800. in boarding fees before he turned off his card and quit calling to check on 'his little buddy'.

I have now 9 other parrots and hadn't really planned on getting a Quaker...but I always talked to her when I was over in boarding cleaning cages and wanted her to go home and get out of that tiny boarding cage. When it became clear she'd been abandoned, I hatched a plan. I had wanted to adopt a Patagonian Conure for some time, and a friend had told me about a 9 year old Patti who needed a home. He had food issues, and tended to go on hunger strike when put into new homes or stressful situations. He also liked Quakers, in fact in the foster home he was at he would say "QUAKER" to have one brought over next to him, and then "THANK YOU" afterwards! I knew conures are very social, and decided to try getting both Ari and Lenny at the same time to go though quarantine and be buddies. I knew Arianna was a really great pellet eater, and I hoped that would help out Lenny the Patagonian.

Well, my plan sort of worked. The only kink is that when they are together, Lenny DOES NOT want to leave Ari and will attack me. So now they are allowed to hang out on separate gyms near each other to avoid that, but both do like each other and I am SO glad to get Ari into a large cage and out and eating vegetables and getting showers and everything. I think she is a wonderful little bird and we are taking things slowly, but she had made major progress already....instead of picking her up with a towel, now I just have to show her a towel and she leaps onto it and snuggles her head down in a corner of it with her face covered...then I can move her anywhere. No more chasing and catching, she just would rather get on the towel herself!

I am learning little by little how she is different from my other birds, so I would love to hear ideas to expand her world from the people on this forum. I've offered a lot of weaving materials, but that doesn't seem to interest her at this time...she likes fleecy things and I have a feather and leather toy she likes to preen...otherwise she mainly likes to perch on her cage top and is VERY into her food. She likes to be out of her cage as much as possible, but she doesn't attempt to roam at all, just stays on the door or the playtop perch, observing me and the other birds. She really is a pretty QUIET Quaker, but her vet check came back normal.

Glad to hear any thoughts about Arianna!

Welcome!!!

I just want to Welcome you and Ari to the forum...Sounds like a sweet baby you have and also from what you have said, you are truly making good progress with her....

I can't offer any advise at this time but I'm sure someone will help us out here soon....

My best to you and Ari and hopefully she'll stop her plucking when she realizes she is loved....

Oh wow, what a wonderful ending to a sad story!!! Ari sounds like a wonderful little bird.

Just to touch on a few points...

Females aren't big weavers. From what I gather it is mostly the males that do the weaving/nest building. As for her nakedness, her feathers may never grow back. Sometimes after so much plucking the feather follicle is so damage it just can't produce a healthy feather anymore. But we'll keep our fingers crossed for little Ari

Although I'm not from Seattle I have spent a great deal of time there and in the surrounding cities. I absolutely LOVE that area!!

So, you spoke of other parrots? What other kinds do you have?

I too was touched by your post what a precious fid you have and you are too for taking her. Please keep us posted on her. WELCOME to this fab place!

Thank you, Cheekys Mum, this looks like a really good forum...and thanks Carrie-Anne for the info that females don't do as much weaving, I thought it was opposite!

As for my other birds, MBS is fully rampant by now!
I started off with my little Meyer's Molly, and realized how wonderful Poicephalus parrots were, so I brought home Aukie, a Lesser Jardine's about 8 months later. Unlike most people, my first birds were second-hand birds, Molly was 3 years old and her owner brought her back to the store a year and a half after he got her from when his new fiance demanded he get rid of his two Meyer's, and Aukie was found in 2003 on consignment at a different bird store by someone who then sold her to me 3 months later...she was 5 when I got her and she has a slight screaming problem, but wow do I love her!!!! Molly is great too, the ultimate cuddle bird, her only problem is she will always hate Aukie!!!

I had decided my third and final bird (ha) was going to be a male Eclectus, so I joined an Eclectus list and several months later brought home Donald, then a 4 year old Aru Eclectus who had become aggressive to his mate and strongly bonded to his female owners. He'd been through 3 homes by then. He can scream like you can't believe when he is afraid I'm leaving or he's ready for me to get home from work. But is he ever a great guy...just that was the end of living in apartments or with roommates!!!

Yeah, that was supposed to be it. Well, suddenly I went out and bought 3 baby birds. I thought I was just going to get a pair of Goldie's Lorikeets. Mitch and Mickey are like hummingbirds crossed with budgies, they are small but very high powered little birds!!! And smart, and quick to cause trouble!

Almost at the same time, I wrote a breeder on my Poicephalus list because I had thought about taking in a handicapped parrot someday, and read that if you contact breeders and tell them to call you if they have a baby that might normally be hard to find a home for, it can encourage them to spend the extra time with the baby for you and not put them down. Would you believe ONE MONTH after I wrote her, she told me she had two baby Congo Greys who were pulled with calcium deficiency issues, and one was really bad off. I offered to take the baby who might not make it, and he has grown into my very dear friend, Sylvain. I actually was a little intimidated by owning a Grey, but Sylvain is just the best and most tolerant bird...he just turned two years old a few days ago. He has a curved spine, and walks oddly, but otherwise he's a healthy, happy, very funny and affectionate grey...hangs upside down and battles his toys and everything!

Okay, that was SIX....and at that point I was still attending college and not financially stable. Last July I started working at the store I originally purchased Molly the Meyer's from, my favorite parrot store. I knew that meant there was a chance MORE BIRDS would find their way into my life.

Well, right after Ari seemed to be abandoned in boarding, one of the baby Congos for sale in the main building became distressed when his sister was sold. He got very frantic about not wanting to stay in his cage, then started chewing his tail. Soon he had totally chewed off his red tail feathers, and started working on his chest feathers. I asked the store owner if she would consider selling him to me, I felt he needed to go to a new home quickly and it needed to be a home where there was already a grey since he was so focused on being with the other greys, though he was people friendly. I named him Nigel, and he just turned 11 months old. He still is lacking tail feathers and plucks the down on his sides when he gets nervous, but he loves hanging out with Sylvain (unfortunately it's a one-sided relationship, Sylvain is still rather scared of him but Nigel doesn't let that bother him, he just trucks around Sylvain's cage and chews his toys when he can!) and he eats well and has learned to chew up just about any toy. I think he is an incredibly intelligent grey....more neurotic that Sylvain but he figures things out and is always looking for mental challenges.

Then came Ari Quaker and Lenny Patagonian...Lenny was on his third home. For years his first owner fed him baby food, if you can believe that....learning to eat pellets has been a long trial I guess, but he does well here as long as he can eat in front of Ari. Two of the homes he was in, the male partner of the couple became jealous of his affectionate nature to his female owners and they each threatened to hurt him....the foster people wanted to make sure I didn't have some boyfriend who would get jealous of Lenny. He is an absolute love, nearly cockatoo like in cuddlabilitily!

And most recently I heard about a plucked male Vos Eclectus who was in a home where they had sold his cage and he was living on the floor, sharing his seed bowl and water bowl with a Chihuahua. I contacted them, brought over one of my travel cages for him for two weeks and got him vet checked, then took him home when he checked out okay. His name is Pilot, he just got a huge new cage and with showers he is smelling better and coming out of his shell. He's 11 years old, and at age three he was found in a garage alone with a space heater in a budgie cage. They said it took him a year or two to not say aggressive things he'd learned from his first owner and to become more trusting and less fearful. Recently his owners had trouble finding the time and money to take care of him, put him on consignment at the same bird store Aukie had wound up at, but Pilot bit someone on the nose so he went in the back room for nearly a year, not getting rehomed and getting dirtier and plucking more. I guess he's really particular about who he likes, and they let me take him after checking how I took care of my other birds by coming over because he stepped right up for me and was interested in me when ever I came over. He is a good guy, he's still settling in and learning to eat well. Donald is a little territorial about me to him, so I am limiting their interactions somewhat.

So...is this the end of the story? I don't know, actually I've had several communications about two more birds, so we'll see. They are a lot of work, but you get it back because they are all so great...not a bird out of the whole group I regret taking in!!!!! If I have a favorite, it's my Aukie Jardine's.

I think most of Ari's feather follicles are permanently damaged, some of the wing feathers even come in at odd angles. But her head and tail both look beautiful. Pilot is plucked in a similar fashion, but I can see feathers still coming back in on him....he has a bare spot on his back that I think is permanent, but at least down may come back on most of his body.

Ari and Pilot both just act like showers are sooooo soothing to their skin, it makes me mad that people can't figure out these poor birds need showers to feel clean like we do!!! If you had long dirty hair you couldn't clean and your scalp itched all the time, wouldn't you constantly scratch you head or want all your hair cut off? Pilot's owners especially mentioned he used to love to go into the shower but they didn't do that anymore and, then they would ask if there was there anyway I could help him stop his plucking???? Argh, I mean he smelled BAD, like a really dirty dog with greasy feathers. He doesn't smell at all now and he looks clean and even fluffy in spots.

Welcome to the Forum and OH MY you have a lot of birds.....

LOL, and I'm single, because if I had a husband NO WAY would this have happened, right?

Yeah, they all get attention and out time and believe it or not, Molly, Aukie, Donald, the lories and Nigel are flighted, so that too is interesting....Aukie never knew how to fly originally, so that has been really rewarding to see her make so much progress. Donald and Molly are both incredible fliers, I have started flying them in a large building about once a month with a parrot flying group who require vet checks, etc, before you can become a member. It is amazing to see...one of the best fliers is a little Senegal, and Molly is starting to learn how to do those huge fast laps around the inside of the building like Babylon does. Aukie is kind of jumpy and I think could hurt herself flying in such a large space, so she just gets to fly in my house. Her new thing is to get sick of being on her cage and I'll hear her wings whirring and turn around to catch her, and she'll land on my hand and say "I Love You!!!" She just learned to say that several weeks ago, but she always says it now when she lands on my hand after a flight across the room. Her flying isn't as effortless as the others, it's more like she really tries hard and it's a major accomplishment everytime.

I am a Washatonian also.......do you have pictures of your birds? They all sound so special....and you are special for taking them in. I got my Kiwi from a pet breeder in Tacoma, 7 years ago. I got my little green cheek, Gidget from a breeder up in Bellingham, 2 years ago.

Here's a link to most of what I wrote above on a conure forum where I posted photos...except I don't have photos of Pilot on that, or anywhere yet. My new computer here isn't posting photos like my old one, I need to get it all figured out eventually...but you guys can see what Ari looks like, and her and Lenny hanging out (now verboten, he just gets too aggressive and will even then try to bite her if I come near).


http://conuresandmore.proboards20.com/inde...read=1170643203

oh WoW what beautiful birds you have. Those are great pictures. Thank you for sharing.....

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the pics and bios!

Welcome to the forum! Always nice to see someone who loves rescues and is in the area! Great to have you here!

Welcome!

Welcome to the most addicting place on the internet! You have quite the zoo, and your birds are beautiful!

Welcome to you and all your fids....

Incredible story and photos - you must be very warm-hearted, Jean.

Welcome to the forum. What a great bunch of birds you have there. Can you hear anymore? LOL. You must have a very big heart to take in all those birds. Wonderful stories too.

Jeff

Welcome to the forum. You have some beautiful fids.