Thinking of adopting a rescue bird sooner than I thought

[Majora]

Hello!

I've been on here a few times for questions before I adopt another bird, but I'm considering adopting one sooner than later. For quick background context, I used to have two green-cheeks. Ocarina passed away unexpectedly, and Majora has been on his own since. I have been wanting to adopt another conure, or maybe a quaker, for something different, but because we're in the middle of renovating and I planned on making my own bird enclosure when I move into my new room, I wanted to wait and expected to move into my room late last year. We're not really close enough to doing my room for me to feel comfortable keeping him alone for any longer, and I'd like some advice.

Right now, Majora is in my room and gets attention whenever he wants. He can't come out of his cage for a lot of the day because of our dogs (my training fell short when it comes to getting them used to him, so it's absolutely my fault that they don't know how to act when he's out) and I fully believe that social, domesticated animals like birds will never get the same amount of social quality with humans as they would with birds, so I'm honestly considering adopting a bird before we're even up to working on my room. I do try to keep him busy otherwise, getting him new toys often and encouraging foraging behaviours. The problem is, I wanted to wait until my room was being done so that when the new cage is done, I could put Majora in the new cage and the new bird in the old cage, saving the stress of the dogs having a fit over a new cage and a new bird at the same time. With building the new cage, I thought the dogs would get used to the smell over time and would have less of a fit over it than getting a completely new cage with a completely new bird. Hopefully that's making sense.

I don't know, I just feel bad for him. He wasn't super close with Ocarina; he never felt that they were soulmates, unlike Ocarina, but you can tell her absence has affected him. All I want is for him to be happy, and I can do that, but I'd like to know if anyone else agrees that this adoption needs to happen sooner, or maybe I'm just overthinking it!

If possible too, I'd like to ask if anyone knows of any bird rescues on the Gold Coast in Australia! Google won't stop showing me wildlife bird rescues haha.

Thank you!

 

[Nostromo]

Would your new bird also be stuck mostly in their cage until renovations were over? If so, it probably isn't an ideal time, since this could significantly impact a new bird settling in, bonding with you etc. I'm also a little confused about the situation with the dogs - how are they affected by a new cage? Do you let them go up to the cage a lot? Is it possible to keep the dogs out of your room so the birds could spend more significant time out of their cages?

 

[Majora]

Would your new bird also be stuck mostly in their cage until renovations were over? If so, it probably isn't an ideal time, since this could significantly impact a new bird settling in, bonding with you etc. I'm also a little confused about the situation with the dogs - how are they affected by a new cage? Do you let them go up to the cage a lot? Is it possible to keep the dogs out of your room so the birds could spend more significant time out of their cages?

It is a bit of a confusing situation, apologies for not explaining it clearer.

The new bird would be stuck in a cage as well for the majority of that time until renovations are done. I was more concerned about Majora feeling lonely than the concern of the bird bonding to me, so I understand where you're coming from.

The reason they would be affected by the new cage is that my dogs are quite sensitive to changes. The new smells are what interest them. We rescued two budgies from someone who was abusing them a while back, and because of the already established cage that they came with, one of my pups would not leave the poor things alone, and so we had to quickly find a new place for them to go. To be fair, the cage absolutely reeked with an unknown cleaning product, which would have been more interesting to my pup at the time, but still. I mainly want to avoid stress to the new bird as much as possible, that's all.

My house is quite small, and because I take care of and pay attention to them the most out of the rest of my family, they like to hang around me and my room. I do tell them off if they get close to the cage, and it took a long time to finally get the older dog to fully stop reacting to Majora. Most of the time, unless the older one really wants my attention, she has absolutely zero interest in Majora's cage.

 

[Finchbreed]

I think you will find that your local bird vet or the RSPCA is the best point of contact for rehoming of birds in Aust.

 

[Nostromo]

@Majora From the sound of the situation, honestly, I would wait to adopt another. It seems like there's a lot going on, and adding another bird will just make things more stressful. It's also very unpredictable how your current bird will respond to the new one; your current bird may like the company, but birds have very distinct personalities, and not all are compatible. So you could end up in a situation where your first bird is stressed not only by long hours in his cage, the dogs, and the renovations, but also by a newcomer he doesn't like.

If I were in your situation, I would start prioritizing keeping the dogs out of the bedroom so your current bird can be out more. The fact of the matter is that it's much harder on a bird to be kept in a cage for long hours than it is for your dogs to not be allowed in a room they like to be in. I know it may not be easy to keep them away if you love the company and they want to be in there with you, but to prioritize your bird's well being during this time, it seems the option that is kindest to all the animals involved.

 

[Finchbreed]

And you can give the dogs attention with a nice walk.