Hi QP folks....

I posted on this forum a year ago, soon after I took Arianna home from being abandoned at my work's boarding facility. She is a 15 year old, very plucked DNA'd female Quaker who is handshy but not aggressive and actually pretty quiet as well. I have decided in the past few months that I would like to rehome her to someone with another Quaker or more, as I believe that would improve her quality of life. But I really want to feel whomever is interested in her wants this special girl permanently.

And I want to be the person she comes back to if this doesn't work out. She is a very -easy- bird. But she is hand-shy, and not a cuddly bird to people. If you cover up your hands, she relaxes and will then step up into a towel willingly. She is very naked on her body and shoulders, but has grown in beautiful tail and flight feathers, plus she has a very cute little face. She was abused at the original pet store her last owner rescued her from. employees poked and threw pencils at her whenever she'd make noise. Her previous was not a 'bird person' but he was kind and would not leave her in that store when he saw what was going on. He owned her for 10 years, then boarded her at our store while his wife was dying of cancer then disappeared.

I took Ari home in December 2006, and she has had two complete annual vet exams and is healthy, eating vegetables, Harrison's coarse pellets and a cooked bean mix daily. She has tested negative twice for Giardia. She loves showers. I have a new Island Monaco Playtop cage for her. I just want her to go to a home with a Quaker fanatic who wants to adopt a special needs little Quaker. I think she is a bit lonely with only big birds around her who she can't play with. I do not believe she would ever be able to fly, her wing muscles seem atrophied/she seems like she probably never fledged. She falls easily, so her smaller cage is appropriate for her.

Please contact me at jeangaut@comcast.net if you would like to give Arianna a home.
-Jean G.

what a sweet baby! I sure wish I was closer I would take her in a heartbeat! Good luck finding her a forever home.

Here's a link back to my previous thread about Arianna and my other birds from posting last year...

http://www.quakerparrots.com/forum/lofiver...php/t23484.html

I am not looking for monetary reimbursement for her or her cage and supplies. Originally I was going to ask for partial reimbursement for her cage since I bought it new through the bird store I worked at, but I want it to go with her because it's appropriate for her (she chews a bit on cage bars, so it needed to be a quality powdercoated cage, and he likes to hang out on the playtop and needs a lower cage because she falls from time to time.)

Last year I rehomed my Goldie's Lorikeets with an experienced, small-time local lory breeder, on the condition that they come back to me if she needed to sell them or they were past breeding age. I live in a small rental house presently and they had figured out how to get around a sheer curtain I'd come up with to give them daily flying/out time (that worked fine for a whole year, but when they figured out how to squeeze over the top, suddenly there was no way to keep them partitioned safely while out...and they have energy to burn!!!).

Lories, even the really small ones that are supposedly less aggressive (ha) are very smart and I found will identify quickly who the compromised birds in your flock are. They would make a bee-line for Ari's cage to try to harrass/attack her through the bars. I do not have doors to separate rooms in this 750 square foot rental, so I couldn't just keep Ari in my bedroom and I didn't want to have the lories cooped up indefinitely from that point on, and they were at breeding age and I felt I was not going to be able to work on breeding them myself at this point in time. So I rehomed them, and may have that pair return someday or their offspring.

However I learned, I need to keep a bird like Arianna in a room separate and safe from aggressive and smart birds. She's fine and safe now, but if you are considering your first special needs bird, that is worth knowing...other more aggressive birds (like lories, caiques, etc.) will figure out who's a target and may be relentless. But she IS friendly to other social birds like conures and quakers, and I feel she would get a lot emotionally and psychologically from at least another appropriate 'bird friend'.

I am not interested in adopting birds and rehoming them over and over again. But looking logically at my guys and seeing who is doing best here and who would benefit from an upgrade, I believe Ari would benefit from another home, provided it is truly an upgrade. If she would be rehomed as a single bird who is left alone for 8 hours or more a day, I don't feel that would be helpful. Though I had to stop letting her and my Patagonian Conure out to play together because he became to rough and overbonded, long past the time he quit being obsessed with her, she still had affection for him and would bark at her old buddy when I walked him past her cage. My very large plucked Vos Eclectus Pilot seems to like her, they have neighboring cages and he likes to sit near hers on a low perch and gaze at her. She seems to appreciate that, but he's not a play buddy.

Anyway, I've gone on too long here. I am not planning on rehoming any of my other birds, and only want her to go to a good home because she could stay here indefinitely. I was rereading my copy of the Duke of Bedford's 'Parrot and Parrot-like Birds', which is anolder parrot reference but often has good, astute observations in it. Under Quakers it says, 'The Quaker Parakeet...is an excessively hardy bird and the only thing that will kill it is permanent confinement in a parrot cage. It is highly gregarious in a wild state, even during the breeding season...when not employed for the rearing of a brood, (the colonial nests) are kept in good condition for a dormatory." To me this translates as a Quaker should be around other Quakers and a human who can be considered a true member of their flock if that's what they will allow, and sitting alone in the corner with no playmates when she never learned to play with toys though she has them much is not the way she should be. I do interact with her and she comes out daily, but I would not say she has bonded to me to the extent my other birds have. She is certainly not a mean bird, or a 'disposable' bird (none are!!!), or a problem bird.

Okay, I hope that makes my intentions clear and that I do care very much about this little girl.
-Jean G. in Seattle, WA

Molly the Meyer's
Aukie the Lesser Jardine's
Donald the Aru Eclectus
Pilot the Vos Eclectus
Sylvain the CAG
Nigel the CAG
Lenny the Patagonian Conure
and Arianna the Quaker

It's too bad that you are set on her belonging to a home with other Quakers. That really limits the chances of her finding a home.

I do have to say though that I do not agree with the statement regarding Quakers should be around other Quakers. Most of the members on this forum are one Quaker homes and have no issues with their birds. And, you'll hear more bonding issues with Quakers when a person has more then one. As the birds tend to bond to each other, rather then the human.

Needless to say, it is your choice to do what you think best for your little girl I wish you the best of luck in finding her a forever home.

She is, to an extent, afraid of humans....she does not have that same fear with birds. If she sees me approach the cage, she tends to move to the back to hide, run to the back of her playtop, etc. unless I keep my hands hidden. People cause stress for her. She will bail off her cage and fall to the ground if she feels too threatened. If someone really worked with her over long periods of time, she might become less bothered by human touch. She will relax when toweled, but she does not particularly want her head rubbed or preened, even if you hide your hand from her face...she will try to nip your fingers to stop you. She is not 'wild', she was an abused bird. She IS 15 years old, so some of this is probably -just how she's going to be-. I feel a potential owner needs should really love Quakers and want to help out a Quaker like her in particular, and be willing to let her be what she is rather than force her into a cuddly bird, which she may not be capable of being. I would think a small conure could also work out as a bird friend for her, but I just think same species combos tend to work out best, at least in the more social species.

I will say I would consider shipping Ari at my expense if I could feel certain about the situation she's going to. She would get cold easily if the temp while being transported was too low, so I'd want to wait until we were into mid April at least. I want to know that her new owner would be able to take her to an avian-experienced vet and spend money on a vet exam easily, even though she was a 'free Quaker'. And I would want that person to have had their parrots for at least a few years, and really understand that a special needs bird like her is not going to be as perfectly adjusted as a normal handfed baby.

I have friends who run a small bird sanctuary that includes Quakers, and Ari has a standing invitation to go there. I told her I wanted to try to find her a non-sanctuary home first amongst Quaker freaks, she is not a bird that -needs- to be in a sanctuary, and I know santuaries get overburdened easily...my friends do a great job with their approximately 30 birds though, and the species do hang out in little flocks during daily play time. She is not an aggressive bird, nor an overly fearful bird, just not a grade A cuddly bird. Ari does recognize me and is more at ease with me that even friendly visitors, so we do have a degree of bonding. A bird club friend came over last night who has another female Quaker and has had special needs birds, but her issue was that her husband said he really didn't want a plucked bird looking like as her in their home. I personally think she is cute, especially her face and her little dainy movements, but I also think my equally bald male Eclectus is a doll.

A few more photos, I'm sorry that first one came in sideways!!! I'm not as great at rotating/editing photos. Some of these are with my Patagonian who she first buddied up to.

The little girl...

Another face photo

See, she is cute!

I just got off the phone with Cindy in Michigan, who has a young Quaker and a 15 year old Nanday Conure. She sounds like she will be a great home for Arianna!!! So in a month or so as it warms up a bit we will work out all the travel details.

Thank you to the people who've contacted me on her behalf!
Jean G. in Seattle

Wow, shes adorable. Im glad she found a new home so quickly

I am so sorry that you are rehoming her, it sounds like you really love her and are providing a great home I hope you will also consider the stress of shipping.

Yes, that is an issue. I am now looking at flying with her on a budget airline. It really isn't much more expensive than shipping, and that way I KNOW she wouldn't get chilled, because I'd be with her. US Airways accepts birds in the cabin, Frontier doesn't. I may consider someone closer, but I'd want to do a home inspection first before giving up taking her to Cindy...I felt she was ideal, quite frankly.

Just wanted to say Ari is a Beautiful Quaker. I am so sorry for her that people abused her in her early years. Thank God you came into her life. I wish I could take her on, but I am new at being a parront myself. I have just owned my TeiKei 6 months now, and she is the first bird I have ever owned. But, if things don't work out, please let me know. She deserves all the love in the world. Good Luck with re-homing her. Prayers for you and her!
JA

I will be heading to Seattle on Friday, I have two other naked qp's in a flight, and she's welcome to join them if you'd like. My mom also has a naked kid. More details feel free to contact me.

I would recommend talking to Andie or Connie first. They are very experienced and trustworthy. Even though you will be flying with her, take some time to read about the stress related issues. There are going to be so many new noises, pressure changes, temp changes (even if they aren't dangerous), motion sickness, etc etc I just worry the poor girl may get a stress related illness, especially having to adjust to a new home on top of it

Just a thought.

Just wanted to say Arianna was sent via Delta Pet First Cargo last night from Seattle to Flint, MI via Atlanta (one of the three locations in the country where Delta has a climate controlled holding area for live animals being shipped). I sat and checked in on websites to track her flights, and Cindy and her mom also were there to pick her up early to make sure she made it okay.

She travelled well, I had given her a slightly larger cat carrier with two cholla perches for gripping and hung her sleeping tent inside secured to the right side of the carrier, so if she got chilled or frightened she could be in her tent.

I checked the weather here, in Atlanta and in Flint before she left, and it was warm or mild everywhere....plus I fed her dinner and she travelled mainly at night and early morning, so she also missed the heat of the day. Cindy said the Delta staff were really helpful and immediately got her off the plane when she said she was a special needs bird. I had given her juicy grapes and other fruits as well as carrots and red peppers, but not water...I've been told by many people that water winds up spilling so to keep her hydrated, give her plenty of fruit. Also I'd heard that Delta and Continental tend to be the best airlines for shipping birds, and in this instance Delta was great.

I have to say as I said good bye and left her at the airport, she looked out at me scared that I was leaving and that has been etched in my mind, I just needed to hear the whole report that she arrived safely and drank some water but is mainly sleeping in her new hut and cage right now. She probably was up for most of the trip and is exhausted. I gave her Benebac for the past several days before the trip, and as you can see, we waited months and months so it would be warm enough for the little naked girl! Cindy was so good to tolerate me having a volunteer recommended though a rescue group come and inspect her home and the way she cares for her animals. I believe Arianna has got a great life in front of her, and thanks to this Quaker forum for helping me find her that forever home!

-Jean in Seattle, WA

Glad to hear she's found a home. I know how hard it is for you to let her go. Sending big hugs your way.

She id adorable and im glatd that you have found a home for her> i washed i was closer to you and that I would have taken Arianna in. That is such a pretty name for a pretty quaker like her.

aww glad to hear she made it safely to her new foever home What an adorable lil sweetie, she deserves it!