I decided to move everything Cooper-related to a new thread, because I didn't want people getting confused about what kind of bird I brought home.
Let's recap all of the events that led up to me going and getting Cooper tonight from a woman who lives in Denver. (I've ordered them chronologically by number, to make everything easier on myself (and everyone just hearing about this now), because this has honestly been crazy and stressful, and I came out of it so angry for most of the night.)
1 - I've always wanted a conure. At first I thought "I like sun conures!" then I decided on a GCC thinking that would be a better place to start noise-wise.
2 - *Que me looking around on craigslist for about a week. Then moving to the Gabriel Foundation in Colorado. Then back to Craigslist.*
3 - I find (who I believed to be a man) on craigslist rehoming their conure Cooper because they just didn't have the time for him, and wanted him to get the care/attention he deserves.
4 - I jump on it.
5 - We begin texting back and forth. I found out this person's name is Brooke and she's a woman (oops). She has a 7 year old, GCC named Cooper who used to be very tame/snuggly before they "just didn't have the time anymore" (i.e. got bored and moved on to something else - her horses).
6 - I think "Wow this is great! I'd like to adopt him the 1st of December!"
7 - I promise to stay in touch, but I know she's going to quit responding before I do.
8 - I begin stockpiling toys, information, and excitement in preparation for bringing this bird home.
9 - LAST NIGHT - RIGHT BEFORE I'M SUPPOSED TO BRING COOPER HOME - she texts and says "Here's my address, and I'm out of food so you'll have to go buy some." I ask what kind. SHE SENDS ME A PICTURE OF COCKATIEL SEED FOOD.
10 - I'm so embarrassed for her. Obviously she had no idea what she was doing but I go along with it, knowing that I'd never buy the incorrect food for a bird. We chat more about what he likes and doesn't like.
11 - Dad and I drive up to Denver with $250 in our pocket for this bird.
12 - The whole way I'm a little mad about the food situation, but think "Hey, she's nice. She maybe just doesn't know about nutrition."
13 - We find her apartment and she lets us inside. Immediately I'm blasted by cigarette smoke and I'm PISSED. My dad could tell how visibly angry I am.
14 - This woman walks us to her BEDROOM. (So the bird wasn't socialized anymore because he'd been moved to a new spot in the house wherein he has minimal contact with people. Great.)
15 - Let's talk about Cooper himself. He appears healthy, bright plumage, and clear eyes, etc. I was distraught at the state of his nails. They kept getting caught on everything and getting him into the travel cage was a nightmare. (I knew for a fact he'd not eaten today because she texted me LAST NIGHT and told me she was out of food. So there's that. He'd also been deprived of water - at least for the last couple of hours, and although I know I told her what time I'd be there, there were no dishes or anything in his cage.)
16 - HIS CAGE. It's an outdated, tall, standalone white cage. It has three "dishholders" that no longer harbor any of the correct dishes. (Those dishes were so disgusting that I just threw them away as soon as I could.) It has rust-spots and weeks of droppings covering the grate, and old dried food stuck to the bars. This woman hadn't bothered to clean the thing in awhile obviously.
17 - There were three bedraggled, sun-bleached toys in the cage that didn't look like they'd been touched much, and were also immediately thrown out because they were also covered in poop.
18 - He tries to refuse stepping up on her towel-covered hand (because he bites). But immediately steps up on me and begins studying me. (She says that's never happened before, normally he doesn't want anything to do with new people, so that made me happy.)
19 - We paid her and got the heck out. I couldn't stand the condition he'd been living in for heaven knows how long. (After he was standing on me she explained that this had been a two-year process of finding him a new home.)
It took me an hour and a half to partially clean the cage. I decided I'd get the big stuff off and clean up the edges, but in the next two/three paychecks (probably around the first of the year), he's getting an entirely new cage. I'm appalled at how little he was cared for, and that she "forgot" to mention that she smoked around him. When I can I'm going to get him into the vet to get his nails trimmed (fingers crossed for tomorrow), and after that for a basic examination and THEN for blood-work.
I'm glad he's at home with me in his new decked-out cage. (I'll post pictures tomorrow, because he's sleeping right now.)
But because of the 7 years of smoking he has a croaky little voice that I pray isn't permanent. (But if it is that's totally fine because it's kind of growing on me.)
EDIT: On the car-ride home my dad and I decided his birthday. I know he's 7, so he was hatched in 2009, but I don't know the exact date so I decided to make one up.
His name is Cooper, so we thought "barrel-makers" like famous ones in early American history. Then when we couldn't find anything there, we thought of coffin makers because they're sometimes called coopers. Well there was a man in the 1800s named Almund something and he introduced the first cast-iron casket. We picked his birthday March 7, to use as Cooper's hatchday.
Let's recap all of the events that led up to me going and getting Cooper tonight from a woman who lives in Denver. (I've ordered them chronologically by number, to make everything easier on myself (and everyone just hearing about this now), because this has honestly been crazy and stressful, and I came out of it so angry for most of the night.)
1 - I've always wanted a conure. At first I thought "I like sun conures!" then I decided on a GCC thinking that would be a better place to start noise-wise.
2 - *Que me looking around on craigslist for about a week. Then moving to the Gabriel Foundation in Colorado. Then back to Craigslist.*
3 - I find (who I believed to be a man) on craigslist rehoming their conure Cooper because they just didn't have the time for him, and wanted him to get the care/attention he deserves.
4 - I jump on it.
5 - We begin texting back and forth. I found out this person's name is Brooke and she's a woman (oops). She has a 7 year old, GCC named Cooper who used to be very tame/snuggly before they "just didn't have the time anymore" (i.e. got bored and moved on to something else - her horses).
6 - I think "Wow this is great! I'd like to adopt him the 1st of December!"
7 - I promise to stay in touch, but I know she's going to quit responding before I do.
8 - I begin stockpiling toys, information, and excitement in preparation for bringing this bird home.
9 - LAST NIGHT - RIGHT BEFORE I'M SUPPOSED TO BRING COOPER HOME - she texts and says "Here's my address, and I'm out of food so you'll have to go buy some." I ask what kind. SHE SENDS ME A PICTURE OF COCKATIEL SEED FOOD.
10 - I'm so embarrassed for her. Obviously she had no idea what she was doing but I go along with it, knowing that I'd never buy the incorrect food for a bird. We chat more about what he likes and doesn't like.
11 - Dad and I drive up to Denver with $250 in our pocket for this bird.
12 - The whole way I'm a little mad about the food situation, but think "Hey, she's nice. She maybe just doesn't know about nutrition."
13 - We find her apartment and she lets us inside. Immediately I'm blasted by cigarette smoke and I'm PISSED. My dad could tell how visibly angry I am.
14 - This woman walks us to her BEDROOM. (So the bird wasn't socialized anymore because he'd been moved to a new spot in the house wherein he has minimal contact with people. Great.)
15 - Let's talk about Cooper himself. He appears healthy, bright plumage, and clear eyes, etc. I was distraught at the state of his nails. They kept getting caught on everything and getting him into the travel cage was a nightmare. (I knew for a fact he'd not eaten today because she texted me LAST NIGHT and told me she was out of food. So there's that. He'd also been deprived of water - at least for the last couple of hours, and although I know I told her what time I'd be there, there were no dishes or anything in his cage.)
16 - HIS CAGE. It's an outdated, tall, standalone white cage. It has three "dishholders" that no longer harbor any of the correct dishes. (Those dishes were so disgusting that I just threw them away as soon as I could.) It has rust-spots and weeks of droppings covering the grate, and old dried food stuck to the bars. This woman hadn't bothered to clean the thing in awhile obviously.
17 - There were three bedraggled, sun-bleached toys in the cage that didn't look like they'd been touched much, and were also immediately thrown out because they were also covered in poop.
18 - He tries to refuse stepping up on her towel-covered hand (because he bites). But immediately steps up on me and begins studying me. (She says that's never happened before, normally he doesn't want anything to do with new people, so that made me happy.)
19 - We paid her and got the heck out. I couldn't stand the condition he'd been living in for heaven knows how long. (After he was standing on me she explained that this had been a two-year process of finding him a new home.)
It took me an hour and a half to partially clean the cage. I decided I'd get the big stuff off and clean up the edges, but in the next two/three paychecks (probably around the first of the year), he's getting an entirely new cage. I'm appalled at how little he was cared for, and that she "forgot" to mention that she smoked around him. When I can I'm going to get him into the vet to get his nails trimmed (fingers crossed for tomorrow), and after that for a basic examination and THEN for blood-work.
I'm glad he's at home with me in his new decked-out cage. (I'll post pictures tomorrow, because he's sleeping right now.)
But because of the 7 years of smoking he has a croaky little voice that I pray isn't permanent. (But if it is that's totally fine because it's kind of growing on me.)
EDIT: On the car-ride home my dad and I decided his birthday. I know he's 7, so he was hatched in 2009, but I don't know the exact date so I decided to make one up.
His name is Cooper, so we thought "barrel-makers" like famous ones in early American history. Then when we couldn't find anything there, we thought of coffin makers because they're sometimes called coopers. Well there was a man in the 1800s named Almund something and he introduced the first cast-iron casket. We picked his birthday March 7, to use as Cooper's hatchday.
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Can't wait for the pictures!!!! 
He's definitely got the correct personality for a cheekie haha
) I'll definitely let everyone know! I'm going to take him in to the vet this afternoon, and see if they accept walk-ins. I'm just kind of concerned about her getting bit. (I got bit last night when I took him out of his travel cage and it broke skin, lol.)
