Possible new addition

[Elle]

We lost our lovebird Petie February 14, 2014 and in April 2014, we lost our budgie Kio. Both were mates to Phoebe (she allowed the budgie to go in the nest box with her and he would feed her and preen her. Since we lost both, she has been lonely. It wasn't so bad when my mother was living with us since Phoebe hung out a lot with her green cheek conure but since she moved away last September, you can see that Phoebe is very lonely.

My Greys are too big for her and out Hahn's Macaw is extremely possessive of his cage and territory and will not tolerate her if she's on his stuff. Phoebe is blind on one side so she is extremely vulnerable. Our Hahn's has injured her a few times. We ended up at the vet with a beak injury and a few months ago, he bit her on the leg and caused some severe nerve damage.

For months, I have been searching for an older male lovebird to adopt. I thought it would be easy to find one but it has been quite an ordeal. I have had a few people contacting me but I don't want to adopt a lovebird that's in an environment with multiple other birds (I'm so scared of cross contamination). We fostered a little sweet hybrid peachface/black mask hoping he would be friend with Phoebe but it turned out Pickles was a girl who wanted to be with humans more than birds. I had an agreement with the owner that if it didn't work out, Pickles would go back home.

I am now hopeful that I have found a new friend for Phoebe. He's a 7 year old male who lost his mate a while back. The age is perfect since we've had Phoebe for 9 years. I didn't want a baby but a mate that is closer in age to her.

I have to drive 2 and a half hours to go get him and we've planning on going next Sunday. I'm hoping this time it will work out because there's no going back. Our experience has been that Phoebe welcomes every lovebird with open wings and tail up. Let's hope that this little guy works out for her.

[linda040899]

Good luck to you, Elle, with this new potential companion for Phoebe. How well I understand the need for parrots to have friends that also wear feathers! They get a kind of attention from each other that, in many cases, is beyond what humans can provide. There are, of course, exceptions and I have a few of those in my flock, too.

If this works, the drive is well worth the end result. I've taken a couple of long rides myself and I've not regretted it. :)

[Elle]

So things did not happen as planned. After changing the date of the pick up, I made a comment on our bird club web site and a friend contacted me saying that they have a lovebird, about 3- 4 years old, not really tamed, a bit cage agressive that we could try out with Phoebe. After explaining that she's blind on one side and cannot use one leg and I'm hoping for a bird a little bit older, they offered me Squirt. He's a 7 year old male (90% sure), very gentle, mild tempter, very sweet. They told me if our deal with the other person fell through, to think about it.

We decided to cancel our arrangements and give Squirt a try. My friend had offered us that if it didn't work out, she would take Squirt back. They were not looking to rehome any of their birds but if they can find a companion for Squirt and because they know us they were willing to let him go home it us (with Squirt, they had 24 birds. Most are rescues and rehomes, They have, just to name a few, Parrotlets, Lovebirds, Greys, Ringnecks, Goffins).

We've had Squirt one week and he is definitely a little Sweetheart. He hangs out with Phoebe but still comes out to explore on his own. he loves landing on our shoulder and stare at us. He sleeps in the box with Phoebe and I caught him feeding her yesterday.

I think this is working out better for me in the end. Ultimately, Phoebe was depressed and alone. She wasn't really coming out of her cage anymore and she was more like a shadow of herself than the ray of sunshine we have come to know and love. We are really looking forward to watch her come out of her shell with squirt.:)

[linda040899]

Congratulations on the new addition, Elle!

I'm so glad this is working out and it sounds like you have a keeper! The most important thing is that Phoebe is happy and that appears to be the case! :)