Patagonian conure for rehome - MD

[41Gryphon]

Dakota is a 14-year-old Patagonian conure. She is a very spunky bird that loves to talk and be VERY loud. She is not an old bird, as she can live well into her 50s with the right care. She's very affectionate and will follow me around the house because she loves to be with people. She's very rowdy but loves to cuddle and have down time with her person. She says "woof", "hello", and "Dakota". She's currently trying to learn the ABCs. She also dances when you start singing. She is a highly intelligent bird that has a knack for unscrewing nuts and bolts. She does fine with dogs, but I'm not sure about cats.

I am not rehoming her to just anyone. My goal is to find her a home equal to or better than the one she has, and I am in absolutely no rush. Feel free to ask me any questions. Cage is not included in the fee (which is negotiable for the right person).

I live in Maryland, but will be traveling to NY/NJ next weekend for about a week, during which I can bring Dakota if someone up there is interested. Dakota's adoption fee is $375, but this is entirely negotiable.





Here are some videos of her:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adfVCHvVhq0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIntdiFh15o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo37UngEkzo

[Atbird]

She's beautiful. I hope you find the perfect home for her.

[41Gryphon]

She's beautiful. I hope you find the perfect home for her.

I do too. I wish I could keep her, but I'm finding that high school doesn't allow for much free time. I thought I could make it work, but now it's too obvious that I can't. No more parrots for me 'till I'm at least done with college.

[Atbird]

Just giving you another option, I had an Indian ringneck when I was in junior high. When I went away to college, I built a indoor aviary and bought her a "mate" ( that turned out to be female ). My parents fed them, watered them but didn't do much else. Then after college, when I got moved out and got married I took my birds back. There was a slight adjustment, but they settled and I still had my birds until they died of old age.

[41Gryphon]

Just giving you another option, I had an Indian ringneck when I was in junior high. When I went away to college, I built a indoor aviary and bought her a "mate" ( that turned out to be female ). My parents fed them, watered them but didn't do much else. Then after college, when I got moved out and got married I took my birds back. There was a slight adjustment, but they settled and I still had my birds until they died of old age.

That could be an option, but I'd hate to leave a chore to my parents (they hate the parrots anyways) and my idea of parrot care involves more than food, water, and a cage buddy. I'm not sure if Dakota would get along with a buddy either (she's strictly a one-person bird and didn't tolerate my other conure), or if I'd be ready to take them back when I'm done with college.

I'm really not sure. I'm only 15 and don't really have any time limit on trying to find her a home, so unless someone with a better, more permanent offer comes along, I'll have to find another solution.

[MiaCarter]

Oh goodness is she ever gorgeous.
I wish I lived near you as I'd scoop her in a heartbeat! You don't see Patagonian conures too often. They're so gorgeous and smart as a whip!

You can see the intelligence in her in that top photo where she's looking you in the eye.

I hope you find a solution that works for you and for Dakota, whether it's finding another friend and keeping her with your parents until you graduate or re-homing.
If you did opt to keep her with your parents and didn't want to burden them with tending to her varied diet, you could always make up little prepared meals. Each one in a little bag or container and pop them into the freezer. Lots of people use those pill organizers for supplements and dry foods.

I'm glad to hear you're in a position where you can take your time to find the perfect home for her.

It takes a lot of love to care for a bird.
It takes even more love to let that bird go when you realize that you don't have the time to give her the attention she needs to thrive.
I say follow your heart. Your intuition always knows best. When you find the right home or the right solution, you won't have any doubts that it's the right course of action. You'll just **know** it's the right thing to do.

[41Gryphon]

Oh goodness is she ever gorgeous.
I wish I lived near you as I'd scoop her in a heartbeat! You don't see Patagonian conures too often. They're so gorgeous and smart as a whip!

You can see the intelligence in her in that top photo where she's looking you in the eye.

I hope you find a solution that works for you and for Dakota, whether it's finding another friend and keeping her with your parents until you graduate or re-homing.
If you did opt to keep her with your parents and didn't want to burden them with tending to her varied diet, you could always make up little prepared meals. Each one in a little bag or container and pop them into the freezer. Lots of people use those pill organizers for supplements and dry foods.

I'm glad to hear you're in a position where you can take your time to find the perfect home for her.

It takes a lot of love to care for a bird.
It takes even more love to let that bird go when you realize that you don't have the time to give her the attention she needs to thrive.
I say follow your heart. Your intuition always knows best. When you find the right home or the right solution, you won't have any doubts that it's the right course of action. You'll just **know** it's the right thing to do.

She is too smart for her own good.

Perhaps I could try that, but she really craves human interaction (parents aren't willing to handle her) and goes through toys so fast it's crazy. My parents don't have any money either, so she'd be stuck sitting in a cage for hours a day.

I think it's best that I find a new home for her. It'd just be easier on everyone, mainly Dakota. I hate rehoming birds (recently rehomed Inca, my jenday conure, and I still don't have days where I don't deeply regret my decision), but if I forget my emotions for a second it makes all the sense in the world.

[MiaCarter]

41Gryphon -- Well, I hope you can find a solution where you don't regret it.
When you find the right solution you'll know it's right in your heart. You'll probably always miss her, but if you find the right home or another solution, hopefully you shouldn't feel regret.

Maybe seek out a home with someone who's willing to keep in touch and provide an occasional photo, video, and note?
I know that helps many people find peace of mind. I offer that for all of the animals I adopt because I KNOW how hard it is to rehome an animal.
And I post updates on my bird site that a couple former owners peek in regularly. And I keep in touch with a number of people who adopted foster birds (and cats and dogs) from me.

It sounds like you're seeking a permanent home for Dakota. But I did want to mention that some people offer long-term foster homes.
They're rather hard to find but they do exist.

I offer this myself. I've kept birds, dogs, cats and even ferrets for people who needed a home for their pet anywhere from a few months to a couple years.

Most of the owners have been military people who didn't want to give away their pets due to deployment. I've had owners who had a 6-month deployment and others who had several deployments over the course of a couple years.

But I've also had other situations, like a woman who needed open heart surgery and knew she'd be facing months of recovery. But she couldn't afford boarding, didn't have any family who could take the bird. So I took her for 5 months while she had her surgery and recovered.

Long-term foster homes are hard to find but they do exist.
I imagine it would be tough for you since you're looking at finding a home for 3 years of high school, plus 4 years of college. And even then you may not be ready to take her back since you don't know where you'll be in 7 years.
But that's how long-term foster homes work. Every long term foster that I take in, I'm prepared to keep them for the rest of their life if need be. I've taken in a couple dozen long-term fosters and all but two took the animal back (and in one case, it was because the cat passed away.)

If you do do a long-term fostering arrangement, make sure you get something in writing. If it's something that interests you, I can send you the agreement that I utilize.

You're not traveling to Florida any time in the near future are you?
If so, I'm dead serious when I say I'll take her in a heartbeat!

[41Gryphon]

MiaCarter

It would be great if I could find someone like that for Dakota, long-term foster or permanent. I'm not sure if I could find anyone like that, or even if it's fair to the foster owner (several years is more than enough time to get attached to an animal). If I do find someone, however, I'd love to see that written agreement of yours.

I've only driven down to Florida with my family a couple of times, and I'm not sure when the next time will be. Would you be interested in having her flown to you? I'm not sure how the process works, but I could certainly look into it.

[MiaCarter]

41Gryphon -- Yeah, finding someone who's willing to foster in the long-term is tough.

I won't lie. It's hard giving up an animal that you've had for months or years.
I mean, you go into it knowing that they're a foster but you still get attached. The good thing about long-term fosters though (vs. a fostered rescue who's going to a new owner whom they've never met) is that you know they're going to someone who loves them just as much as you do. That seems to make it a lot easier.

I'd be willing to foster her for you long term if we could figure out a way to get her down here. We could fly her. But it's stressful so I hate to fly animals unless it's the only option.

So I'd say keep trying to find someone in your area and if that doesn't work out, I'm happy to take her.

My only worry would be that you said that she didn't get along with your other conure and obviously I have other birds. Was it a clash of personalities? Or was it all-out aggression and she just doesn't know how to socialize with other birds?
(Granted, I've been able to socialize a number of birds who didn't get along with others -- mostly because they were never exposed to other birds. But it can be a long process that's tense at times.)

Another thought - there are lots of bird rescues out there. Most of the people who offer long-term foster care are affiliated with avian rescues. So it may be worthwhile to send out a few emails or make a few calls if you think that's an avenue you'd like to pursue. They generally don't advertise that sort of thing on their sites, but most people involved in rescue know lots of other people involved in rescue.

I'm happy to send along those papers if you'd like. It's basically just an agreement saying that Person A is giving an animal to Person B for long-term fostering. Person B agrees to care for the animal for the anticipated timeframe of X number of months/years. At the end of that timeframe, you'll convene and decide whether to return to the owner or allow the foster care provider to keep the animal.
The foster care provider typically tends to food and routine care. The owner generally assumes any costs not associated with routine care (e.g. if there was a serious illness, the owner would be responsible for costs if they wanted to hospitalize.) There's also a bit in there that says that the foster care provider will consult the owner in the event of a life-threatening illness or injury. And there's also a clause that says the foster care provider won't re-home/sell/euthanize the animal without the owner's permission.
That's the general gist of it.

[41Gryphon]

MiaCarter

I'm sure if I wait long enough someone suitable will come up in my area. It's really a matter of whether you want to take her in or not.

It wasn't severe aggression. Inca (my other conure) would fly over to her stand and she'd tolerate him unless he tried to interact with her. Inca is a very sociable bird and wants to be friends with everyone. She'd "nip" him (she would basically knock her beak into his) and he'd back off. He once landed on her cage while she was inside and she came up and actually nipped his toe, drawing blood. As far as I know, she's been an only bird for years on end. I'm not sure if this can be corrected, if she didn't like JUST Inca, or if it's just her personality.

If you could PM me those papers, that'd be great.

[41Gryphon]

UPDATE:

Dakota has found a fantastic home in Philadelphia. Her new owners drove down and picked her up today. Thanks for all your help.

[delray]

41Gryphon great!!!!

[Arama]

Great news! I know your sad to have to let her go but you are doing what's best for her. High school can be quite demanding. You Made the best choice for both of you. I hope she loves her new home. Your going to go places in life. Not many people your age are so responsible. I bet your parents are very proud of you.

Trisha

[41Gryphon]

Great news! I know your sad to have to let her go but you are doing what's best for her. High school can be quite demanding. You Made the best choice for both of you. I hope she loves her new home. Your going to go places in life. Not many people your age are so responsible. I bet your parents are very proud of you.

Trisha

I feel sad (for myself) and happy (for her) at the same time. I'm just glad that I was able to rehome her before school got too serious. This way, I was able to take my time.

I hope so! I'm aiming towards med school (still have years to choose a direction, I know). Thanks for the compliments~