10 More Rescued in Albuquerque, NM

[FoxersArtist]

Yesterday afternoon I had just settled into my computer chair and was thinking about writing some updates, checking some e-mails, and trying to take a little breather from being on my feet after a long week of getting all of the Texas birds settled. Another rescue in the area who does small parrots had been notified that a family had to give up 7 of their conures. She was afraid she would not be able to take them as she is already packed and suffering some health issues right now. We are packed but I have worked really hard to collect as many resources as possible along our journey and just started making as many phone calls as possible looking for responsible foster families. I rejoiced for the birds when I had confirmed enough people to volunteer to foster these precious birds and agreed to do the rescue, which HAD to take place RIGHT NOW.

Rescue it was. The conditions were not as horrible as they could have been and I tried to encourage the family who were very embarrassed that their birds had gotten this way. I decided right away that the cages would have to sit on our front porch until they could get a bath. Sadly it was apparent that most had very poor physical health and even worse, the ones that we were told would not be surrendered looked dangerously ill. One amazon looked so overweight that he had to sit splay legged. His beak was badly overgrown and he could not outstretch either wing inside his cockatiel sized cage. Chronic sinusitis had swelled both nostrils closed and the face was red with infection. I gently tried to suggest that she could feed the bird some foods high in vitamin A to help with the issue. The other amazon looked like a sword fish with the upper mandible shaped like a finch beak and overgrown so badly that the beak extended at least several inches from where the lower mandible stopped. The beak is rotting in some places but did not look like it had spread up into the "live" part of the beak yet. The bird was in a round cage with bar spacing fit for a macaw but suitably sized for a parakeet - the kind build in the early 1900's with ankle chains to retrain the bird. I offered to trade her for some nicer cages but she insisted that the amazon loved her round cage and had special roosting spots on top. There was also a macaw who has been plucking but looked to be in otherwise ok health. His cage was also much too small and I am hoping she takes me up on the offer to trade for a larger cage.

When we arrived we quickly discovered that we would be taking 10 birds - not 7 - including 7 conures and 3 cockatiels. There were several other conures that she could not part with and we had to leave them behind, including an adorable little half moon conure.
Continued...

[FoxersArtist]

Please welcome:

Patagonian Conure, Sheba, is a 30+ year old at the end of her road. She is sporting a dull import band that tells us a bit about her history. It deeply saddens me to know that these imported birds once tasted the freedom of being wild and I shutter to know what they went through to get here. Sheba is badly crippled with one foot so arthritic that it is almost completely turned inward toward the other foot. Black spots on her feathers, smoothness on the roof of the mouth, and toenails that grow straight instead of curled suggested that this lady is severely vitamin difficient and in danger of major health complications. At some point the bird developed a cateract in one eye and then the lense fell out and is now floating around her eye. Obviously, she is totally blind on that side. She has deep bruising on her side which indicates an accident that bled profusely under the skin up to several weeks ago. We will have to wait for her bloodwork to return to know more about her. Sheba is perhaps one of the sweetest, most loving, and most endearing parrots I have ever seen. She is tender hearted and eager to trust and please. She wants nothing more than to be loved and has the most adorable personality. She seems happy with just about whatever happens upon her and really seems to take life in stride. We hope that she will know that she is loved and cherished before she passes on.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Resting.jpg

(Mexican) Green Conure, JB, was a little tricky to identify. At first I though white eyed conure but then noticed that he had no red on his wings. I looked him up and as best as we can tell, he is a Mexican or more simply put, Green Conure. They are commonly sold as pets in Mexico but very rare as pets in the united states as many people shrugged them off for more flashy conure species. I think this little fellow is absolutely stunning and his colors remind me of a green rump parrotlet. JB is very shy but has fantastic pet potential. His last owner said she rescued him from a filthy facility (that has since been shut down) in hopes of turning him into a sweet bird but it just never really worked out and she never pushed him. It has been many long years since he has seen the outside of a cage. JB seems to be in ok health despite his environment. His plumage is pretty bright though I bet we can get the little fellow to look even more stunning with a good diet.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/JB.jpg


Bubba is a sun conure though at the moment he doesn't look too sunny. I was shocked by how grey he and several other of the conures looked and cannot recall seeing such dull plumage in other conures we have worked with in the past. Bubba was the favorite and we could tell that the owner was really broken hearted about losing him, though he had not been out of his cage in some time. I guess that just shows that sometimes the human capacity is able to build and hold attachments, and compartmentalize daily activities, or lack there of. Some of the worst situations we have seen have come from some of the most well intended families. We tried very hard to praise them for doing such a hard thing by offering to give up their birds. Bubba gave one of my volunteers and foster families googly eyes and she was hooked so she took him home for foster care. I am wondering if Bubba will ever be on the market to become available for adoption or if he chose his rescuer as his new forever home. If that's the case...lucky, lucky bird. He is a very sweet fellow and we can easily see why he was the favorite.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Bubba.jpg

Teka is a jenday conure who will hopefully someday have jaw dropping plumage. She is a beautiful bird and has a personality to match her fire colored belly. I laughed with amusement as I watched her owner try to take her out of her cage. Teka ran headlong into the towel, bit the snot out of it, and tried to drag it away to make sure it was good and dead. I quickly wrote the words "cage aggressive" on her carrier and went to assist the owner. Teka will be a bit picky to place, I am guessing, but she is bound to make someone very, very happy. She too looked to be in ok health, despite needing a really drastic diet change.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Teka.jpg

Kiwi and Nandy are both Nanday conures that upon meeting, reminded me a lot of Jenday Hobbit who was our last plucked conure. Kiwi has been a self plucker for many years and when he met Nandy, they fell in love but this newly found relationship did not stop his desire to pluck. She had been fully feathered but he fixed that in a hurry! Now she is more bald than him and I feel so bad for her. The birds seem to be fairly bonded but I would like to see how they do apart at some point as I just have trouble believing that allowing one parrot to pluck another can be healthy. If the birds are not able to be seperated we may have to just allow them supervised time together. Either way, I hope we can find what makes them happy but what also is healthy for them. They look a little dehydrated but are both good eaters and may even be a bit pudgy. A less fattening diet will help them to look and feel a lot better.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Kiwi-1.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Nandy.jpg

Merlin is an older cinnamon cockatiel that was supposed to go into foster care today, but because he has had a fluffed appearance and is not eating well, I'm going to watch him to make sure he's not going to crash. Merlin is all bark and no bite. He has all the spunk of an aggressive bird but he's really a pretty sweet little fellow. We are looking forward to getting to know him and crossing our fingers that he is not sick.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Merlin.jpg

Punkin and Nibbles are likely both boys but they are best buddies. Punkin is beautiful and a real softy. He will make a fantastic pet, even for kids, and we are happy to be giving him a new start. He could benefit from putting on a few lbs, but is not showing any outward signs of ill health. Poor nibbles on the other hand had a major crash this AM and I am glad to have found him clinging to life in his cage. We rushed him to the vet after a tube feeding failed to perk him up and though we still do not know the cause of illness, he survived the day with powerful antibiotics, steroids, oxygen, and tube feedings. He is still too weak to draw blood but hopefully we will know soon the cause of his illness. Please pray that he makes it through the night and will be strong enough to come home on Thursday.

Punkin:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Punkin.jpg

Nibbles:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Sick.jpg

There was also a green cheek conure and a whole flock of finches that ended up going with a different rescue group. The green cheeks beak was badly mal formed, twisted and he was suffering from beak rott. He went to the vet this morning and was given a good prognosis with the right kind of treatment.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/TwistedBeak1.jpg

With 17 new birds to care for in the last 2 weeks alone, and many more sure to come with this crummy economy, the stress of caring for all these guys is really on. We are trying hard to stay afloat and reaching out for foster families who can help take a little bit of the weight off. Too many birds to care for cannot help anyone, so we are fighting hard to keep our at home numbers down to the ones whose owners we have promised will stay with us until they are placed (including Sydney, Jessie, Dolly and the Texas group). We have 7 active foster families right now and hoping for more to volunteer. I have been petitioning for donations but don't know how to get our local community motivated as nearly all of our donations have come from out of state. It seems like the locals adore the work that we do for our own community, but are not willing to pitch in to help us remain able to serve them. Please keep us in your prayers for continued support.

Oh, and a huge thanks to Peggy for donating a bag of Higgins (sp?) food while we were in Houston. I thought she said it was Hagen's (pellets) but when I opened up the bag I was pleasantly amazed. I have never seen more tasty parrot food anywhere and these new guys desperately need it. God's timing is good.
-Anna

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

ohmygod I am weeping my eyes out....dear god.

[iti hoa's mom]

OMG Anna, you do have your hands full. Glad the food comes in handy. It is Higgins Mayan Celestial blend. Just about any bird I have received will eat this food. A bit pricey but great. Some use it as a treat type food a couple times a week. The shop I go to lets me purchase it at wholesale price which is great for the budget.

The cheeky does have a bad beak. Initial clean up can be done And with some time and routine maintenance the upper beak will reshape and he will do much better. I have had some as bad and a cockatoo that was worse.

Peggy

[too&me]

Great gift Peggy and I will send all the prayers and strength I can muster to help these little guys. So glad there is some help on the ground there for fostering part of the flock. Wish I lived closer I know hubby would allow fostering just not keeping. You must need to draft a fundraiser who has the magic touch to help out.

[birdie]

healing hugs to all the new gang. There sure has been alot of them lately. Wish I were closer also, I'd foster a few.

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

me too wish I could help more dear

[FoxersArtist]

You all are our support system. I don't think I could ask for more valuable help than that.
-Anna

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

Thank you for saying that, but I still wish I could do something to help.