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They have a Pionus!!

Sparkles!

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As someone who has done so much fostering......so much....
Maybe I can shed some light? Or at least make you feel better.
In many cases the phone numbers just go into a voice mail bin. Then some volunteer or board member has to listen to them, and get them where they need to go. For instance, I often had interested adopters tell me I got back to them three weeks or a month after they called. Well, sorry. But you called the listed number, left a message, which then had to get paired up with your application which then had to get approved, which then had to go to the foster coordinator, who then identified that it was me who has the bird you’re interested in. And hey, we’re all volunteers. We sometimes have to eat sleep and poo too. Depending on the approval process, it can take weeks! Especially when checking references. Because then everyone is playing phone tag.
Now, there are some bad sides to adoption applications. I’ve had people who gave me the complete freaking heebie jeebies get approved to adopt a bird I was fostering in my home— against my wishes and judgment. Some rescues will only base approval on the foster’s say when the potential adopter comes to meet the bird while others it goes to vote at each board meeting. And I have witnessed board members deny perfectly wonderful families to adopt birds based on utter crap. A 22 year old woman was once refused a large cockatoo purely on the basis that the odds were great she would probably get married and have kids sometime this century and this bird had been just given up for that same reason. The result? They allowed a single man to adopt him. Well, man got married and new wife returned the bird to us.
Rescues are sometimes complicated. I encourage you to reach out to a board member other than whom you’ve already spoken to, and ask if they had any concerns about your application. Be honest and tell them you feel that you are getting passed over. They may have something simple for you to fix, or they may come right out and say they don’t feel you’re requesting what species they’d choose for you.
 

Elysian

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Well I got a call on Sunday... not sure what to make of it though. I'm feeling intimidated and anxious about it.

My phone rang and it was the rescue owner/vet herself.
She said quite tersely: "I'm spending my Sunday going through adoption communications because I'm tired of people leaving nasty messages and google reviews ((honestly I looked, I see only one bad google review?)) - the adoption coordinator has been sick for two weeks and I see that you have emailed multiple times, along with the 400 other people, so I'm going to make you an appointment to meet some birds. Look at the site and pick some you'd like to meet but we have more than that. We have 121 birds and don't have time to update the site. When can you come in?"
I told her I can do any day! I get off work around 3 or 4 during the week. She then gave a sigh and said: "Well that makes it difficult. We close at 5 so it can't go longer than that. When do I put you down for?"

So I have an "appointment" for 4 today... she sounded so angry, I didn't want to make her more angry by rejecting the offer... but I don't really want to go?! I'm 36 but damnit she scared me!

For reference: I definitely did not leave a nasty message or review.
I followed their 'pandemic overload' rules and only emailed (no calls). Also my "multiple emails" did NOT fall within the "two weeks" the adoption coordinator has been sick. I have sent maybe 6 emails total ALL YEAR, none of them closer than a week apart.
The only email I sent that might be considered negative is the one when I was feeling frustrated about missing the Pionus ((did not explicitly state this, but I really wondered how I can apply multiple times in A YEAR and never get a response while they are clearly adopting out birds to other people)), and asking if there is something else I need to do to actually be seen/considered?

I respect this woman's work. She is the ONLY exclusively avian vet in our area. People come from states away to have their birds seen. She is incredibly affordable because she just wants birds to get care. She even rescues ducks/geese/pigeons - not just parrots. She is doing wonderful things, and doing her best in the midst of a pandemic.
I have never had an issue getting a check up for my birds on the clinical side - and I'm sure the rescue communication was better before the massive influx this past year. I was very sad that they aren't organized enough to retain my name/information but I thought I was waiting pretty patiently for things to get better.

But she was so rude :( :(

I'm afraid of cancelling, but I'm also afraid of wasting her time looking at random birds when there probably isn't even a good match left for me there right now...
Bleah.
 

Sparkles!

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Take a breath.

You can be an amazing person but have crappy social skills. You can be a great rescue but have zilch for customer service.

Rescue is hard. For every six people you interview, show birds to, check references, you only find 1 actually suitable. And frequently, those people want a perfect bird, and definitely not one that needs work. So give her some grace.

You have an opportunity to go meet some birds. Go do it.
Yes, their “customer service” sucks. But most rescues do suck in that department. Do you want a rescue that will just adopt to anybody Willy Nilly and have the mantra that the customer (adopter) is always right? Or instead of looking at them providing a service to you: look at it as you both are in this together to provide a service to the BIRDS.

You had to pick 4pm due to work, that’s okay but don’t make that the rescue’s fault. Write down your “hope list” before you go. Make your visit as quick and easy as possible. If you’re only interested in 3 species, say that. I normally recommend that potential adopters meet absolutely all the birds they can to find the best match, and it sounds like she gave you that opportunity but you had some time constraints. So my advice, my a hope list and stick to that. Meet the birds that match your hope list, as many as you can in that 1 hour window. Ask succinct questions! Can I take a bird home today or this week? Bring VIDEOS OF YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE AND SET UP. That may serve as a hone visit to some rescues.

Don’t let anxiety ruin this for you. You have a part to play, and so does she. She offered you a time, you accepted. If nothing else, go meet birds you’ve never seen before. It’s an hour. You’ve got this. Take pictures!
 

Elysian

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Thank you for the support and suggestions!
I plan to be *super nice* and grateful despite the attitude.. but venting sure helps. I'm already intimidated by people on a good day :D

Honestly didn't think about an hour being a short time :( - since I've never been invited to go before, I have no clue how they usually do things! I wish she had explained that a bit.. I could have made some accommodations.

I will take pictures/video of everything here today, that is a great idea.
 

tka

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Rescue work burns people out.

It's not you. It's the fact that there are 400 people who are emailing - often with wildly unrealistic hopes and dreams, sometimes being demanding, occasionally being rude - and some poor overworked person has to go through these emails and do their best to shift through them for people who are capable of living with a bird and who have a realistic idea of what they want from a bird companion. Maybe you have a ton of people falling in love with a bird who has very specific requirements and want to argue with you that this bird who needs to be homed with a single woman with no partner, kids or pets will be just fine in their busy family household with teenage sons and dogs.

Then there are probably a lot of desperate people who can no longer keep a bird and who are frantically trying to get someone to take their bird otherwise it will get dumped on craigslist or just abandoned. Then there are the neglect cases. Then there are the cruelty cases. It makes you angry and frustrated that you can't do more.

Then there's the medical and behavioural care that these birds need. Maybe the bird has been in a perfect home and has come to rescue because their person has died. But many birds come into rescue having not had good, experienced care - they've been on the wrong diet, or they've been encouraged to scream and bite, or they're hormonal and stressed.

This person sounds stressed out and frustrated and overwhelmed, and your emails just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back. It really isn't anything you've done, and it's not anything personal.

Just go there and make it easy for them. Give them a complete and realistic picture of the care you can offer: take photos of your environment, be completely honest about your working life, tell them who lives with you and who the bird will encounter. Don't over-promise - if you work 9-5, then you can't offer out of cage time all day. Make it as easy as possible for them to match you with a bird that will thrive with you. One hour isn't long so make sure you use that time wisely.
 
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Elysian

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I can imagine... I don't have any foster kids in my home (bf know he can't handle it) but I am a CASA... I have this one kid on my caseload with such an angelic appearance, but the worst and most manipulative behaviors. I love him to pieces and it kills me how many families have looked at his picture - fallen in love with his smile - gone through the whole process of meeting him and having him over for visits... and then when they actually *see* the behaviors I already warned them about, they bail. Making it even harder for him and the next family.
At least kids take 9 months to make so there aren't *quite* as many of them out there :(

I will do my best to give her the benefit of the doubt. Thankfully my auto response to angry or aggressive people is to get quiet and accommodating so hopefully that works in my favor lol.
I know I'm still down about the Pionus... seeing a second one after all this time gives me some hope that I might actually be able to get one someday, but I'd almost rather not have that tickle in the back of my head so I can be more open to other species.
 

Sparkles!

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And don’t forget, sometimes our brains make us feel things that aren’t true.
We can feel intimidated but sometimes that’s just us internalizing. It does not sound as if they ignored you. And if they felt you were not a good home for a bird, the meet and greet would not have been scheduled.
You have a lot to offer to a bird. Keep repeating that until you believe it! Once you believe it, say it as many more times to yourself until you could comfortably walk up to the Vet who runs the place and say it to her!
There IS a bird out there for you. It may not be a pionus but there is a bird for you out there.
 

tka

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I have this one kid on my caseload with such an angelic appearance, but the worst and most manipulative behaviors. I love him to pieces and it kills me how many families have looked at his picture - fallen in love with his smile - gone through the whole process of meeting him and having him over for visits... and then when they actually *see* the behaviors I already warned them about, they bail. Making it even harder for him and the next family.
That's exactly it, I think. In a way, you've seen this from the rescuer's side of things, and you know how hard it is to find a good match and to manage sometimes sky-high expectations. Like @Sparkles! said, the majority of those 400 people aren't going to be a suitable home for a bird or aren't going to be a suitable home for the specific bird that they've expressed interest in but it takes so much time to filter these people out, and the only way to do that is to talk to them. It's such a time-consuming process, and frustrating when someone who looks good in their initial enquiry turns out to be the opposite once you've probed a bit or they've met some birds. Like your angelic kid, you get people who say that they're okay with noise and/or mess and/or bites, then they freak out when they actually encounter what a medium-to-large bird can actually do.

Do vent here - I know that you're frustrated and feel knocked back. Then pick yourself up and go into this with an open mind and an open heart.

As for Pionus: they are good birds, but they are not magical calm, quiet angels as some uninformed sources would have you believe! If I was screening for a potential Pionus adopter, a red flag would be if the person thought that they'd be guaranteed a calm, chill, cuddly bird. I would much rather see someone who knows that they are a parrot first and is less blinded by this reputation.
 
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camelotshadow

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Keep your options open. I would not expect too many pionus readily avail at shelters. If you really want a pionus & none of the other available birds really speaks to you then look into other options to get a pionus. Thing is every bird & pionus is an individual & brings different baggage. I suppose you have to decide if you want a challenging not well socialized bird with problems.
Yes some will come to a shelter for reasons not due to behavior problems but many will have issues. To be honest all birds you can get will not be perfect. You never know you might meet a bird that you never really thought about & fall in love. Birds are so much more than just there species. Sure species can have some generalizations but depending upon how they were raised they could be so different. Its best to try to get a bird who has been loved & well cared for but not all birds have that luck. Some of them may need lots of work & may never be the sit on your hand quietly adoring bird that so many of us would want. We have to take them for what they want to give.

Generalizations are all relative. Sure many pionus owners would not call there birds quiet but I suppose compared to a macaw they would be.

I wanted a rare bronze wing pionus so I'm out of luck. Found Penny a Hawkhead & gave up on that dream. I've never even met a pionus but I am in love with them for there looks & reputation. Both my Penny & Rio are on the whole quiet behaved birds but there are some times when they just go off but luckily its not too often or for too long. I'm just really sound affected physically. My heart rate & stress just soars so I am a poor candidate for having birds but its sometimes a can't live with em or can;t live without em scenerio so I get thru the rough patches & recover.
Penny is such a love & Rio is a sweet guy who can be a pest sometimes & the mess....

Yikes....

Good Luck & enjoy visiting the birds.

An hour might be enough to watch one or 2 birds of interest but not enough to meet all the possible candidates & determine if any of them might just speak to your heart. Sometimes you just find a bird that you can't keep your eyes off. You can watch them for hours interacting & taking them in.
 
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scrape

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Maybe you could try to volunteer? It is easier for people to trust and get to know you when you spend face-to-face time. Even if you don't find a bird this time you're going, the rescue will be more aware of you. It's better when they can put a name to a face.
And if you are patience, I'm sure another pionus will come to you. Rescues get all kinds of birds, a pionus is not an exception.
 

Sparkles!

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How’d the appointment go? :)
 

triciakoontz

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So sorry about the frustrations. It’s very hard to adopt from most rescues.

It helps if you understand what it’s like for them. All bird rescues that adopt out get swamped with emails and contacts because so many people want to get a bird for “cheap”. I’m absolutely 100% for SURE not saying that’s you because it’s obvious it’s not. But you know what today’s world is like.

I’m sure you can understand that there are tons of people who look at the price of buying a parrot from a breeder vs adoption fees and they see the potential for dollars in their pocket. There is a group of scamsters that definitely want to just resell after adopting. It’s very stressful for the rescue.

Rescues are run by all volunteers. How would you like hours of work you don’t get paid for facing you all the time just to plow through emails, most of which are not even close to a potential adoption candidate? But it has to be done and they cannot respond to hardly anyone.

Two ideas:

Can you volunteer for this rescue? Often birds are placed with people they know. How about volunteering at their vet’s office? Scooping poop and mopping pee will definitely get you to the front of the line with the veterinarian’s recommendations to the rescue!

Start a very special savings account in a special place or special container. Make it a large one because the change really adds up. Remove all your $1.00 bills and $5.00 bills plus all of your change from your wallet and put them in the container every day. If you have a SO ask if you can have their ones and change every day. Don’t count it for a month. You’ll be shocked at how much you can accumulate in 6 months! Absolutely shocked.

Another idea - I do this whenever I want something I really can’t afford and start one of these special savings accounts. What service can you provide in exchange for extra cash? What skills do you have that might be useful to someone? Paint a room? Pet walk? Mow grass? Wallpaper? Sew? Wash a car? Post your service on the Nextdoor app. All the proceeds go in your Pi savings!

The cool thing about the savings account efforts is that they make the waiting better and make you feel that you’re getting there.
 

Elysian

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Thanks @triciakoontz -
I've actually been trying to volunteer for this rescue for longer than I've been trying to adopt from them! That was definitely my original plan - volunteer, get used to all the birds, then pick one to adopt.
But this vet locked down HARD on covid, even before lockdown really became a thing. I don't blame her, its my bad luck that I got everything arranged and was ready to commit to a bird right as people started getting sick.. but she basically hasn't let anyone in the building since the first reports of "corona". She still isn't, in most cases. I was able to go into the rescue room because I'm vaccinated and was masked, but I was led straight there (no lingering in the staffed areas) and had to close the main door right behind me.

I already saved up the money to buy a Pionus from a breeder too :(
Its one of the only larger bird species I would be willing to buy from a breeder rather than rescuing (just from a moral standpoint, with so many greys and amazons rehomed). But you can't find them anywhere.
When I realized volunteering at the rescue was not going to happen I started going to bird shows instead to try to familiarize myself with them... I met only one Pionus breeder. He had a waiting list for Blue Heads and I gave him my name but he had absolutely no timeline...he said its a long list.
I have my name on file at a bird store 3 hours away but they told me they never get Pionus and it's very unlikely they will ever call.
I'm wary of online breeders but I found two that seem legit.. one has babies so rarely that she won't keep a waiting list. The other took my name down also but again said it would be a very very long wait.

Thats why I was so excited to see one in rescue!
 

triciakoontz

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Oh wow you are dedicated! I saw Birdman’s Parrots has a tiny one posted on his site right now. He has a retail store so it’s an actual bricks and mortar thing.
 

finchly

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Oh wow you are dedicated! I saw Birdman’s Parrots has a tiny one posted on his site right now. He has a retail store so it’s an actual bricks and mortar thing.
OMG its’ so cute!!!
 

TheBirds

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Oh wow you are dedicated! I saw Birdman’s Parrots has a tiny one posted on his site right now. He has a retail store so it’s an actual bricks and mortar thing.
Are these less common birds being sold here or ....? I realize people have the right to charge whatever they want (if it sells, then there's a market for it right?!) but I couldn't help but compare the CAG they have listed for $6,200 with the well-known bird store nearest me which sells them for $3,300 (none in stock at the present moment, but still).

Not to derail the thread by any means, but if the pet I'm looking to add to my household needs to be financed through the pet store, it's probably not the pet (or store) for me (as evidenced by the smaller species of parrots I keep, I guess!) :roflmao:

OP, I hope you do find your BH Pionus - or equivalent - in the near future!
 

Elysian

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Are these less common birds being sold here or ....? I realize people have the right to charge whatever they want (if it sells, then there's a market for it right?!) but I couldn't help but compare the CAG they have listed for $6,200 with the well-known bird store nearest me which sells them for $3,300 (none in stock at the present moment, but still).

Not to derail the thread by any means, but if the pet I'm looking to add to my household needs to be financed through the pet store, it's probably not the pet (or store) for me (as evidenced by the smaller species of parrots I keep, I guess!) :roflmao:

OP, I hope you do find your BH Pionus - or equivalent - in the near future!
I agree the prices are odd. The pionus and CAG pricees are both almost double what I've seen before.
I've seen baby CAGs for sale 3 or 4 times this year much less than this.
 
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