Puzzle

Puzzle, one of the most adorable Weber's lories ever, was up to his tricks of entertaining us last week.

Nikki, a hybrid mini macaw, was being adopted.  When her new owner came to pick her up, she dropped off some tasty treats for the volunteers to eat, including some delicious and fancy sandwiches.

Puzzle, who'd been wandering around the front counter, decided that these sandwiches were fascinating:

Despite his best tapping efforts, they remained out of his reach:

Because Puzzle, as a lory, requires a specialized diet, and especially because he has suffered from health problems due to a poor diet in his previous home, we didn't let him eat any of the sandwiches.  Instead, after filming this video, we distracted him with something better -- attention!

Though we don't understand why, Puzzle has not yet been adopted.  He's hoping he'll find the right home soon.!

RIP, Pepper

We're taking a break from talking about our senior pets to talk about one who recently died before reaching that senior age -- all due to poor care and bad nutrition in his previous home.  This is really inexcusable as there is so much correct information out there, that with a little bit of research, Pepper could still be a happy, living parrot.

We introduced you to Pepper, an approximately 16 year old red lory, back in August.  His previous owner fed him fruit loops (yes, the sugar-laden breakfast cereal) as his main diet, supplemented only with grapes.  Lories require a specialized diet, and neither sugary breakfast cereals nor grapes are proper food for them to eat.

We'd taken Pepper to the vet on several occasions and were working to get his liver working properly again.  We were able to do this, but he was obviously not feeling well -- sitting puffed up in his cage and not playing with toys or interacting with people.  We took him to the vet again yesterday.  His abdomen was quite distended, and the vet removed quite a bit of fluid from it.  Ultimately, given his poor physical condition, the tough decision was made to euthanize him and end his suffering.

We had a necropsy performed immediately, and it confirmed our suspicions: Pepper suffered from iron storage disease.  There is no way to combat this.  Only prevention, which would have happened had he been fed a proper diet.  He was so young and this should not have happened.

CARE gets many birds in who are suffering from malnutrition due to poor care in their previous homes.  Many times we are able to reverse the damage once we get them on a good diet.  Unfortunately for Pepper, his diet was so poor for so long that we were unable to save him.

RIP, Pepper.  You were loved and we miss you.

Puzzle Update

We last talked about Puzzle here, when he was featured as one of our less adoptable pets. He's still up for adoption. The only reason he's listed as less adoptable is that, due to poor care in his previous home, he will likely always need milk thistle supplementation added to his diet.

This is a miniscule amount of extra work compared to the joy that Puzzle brings!

He's definitely going to have to pick his person, as he can be choosy about who he does and doesn't like. And when he's in love, it's amazing to see.

If we can't find him a home, I suppose we could consider hiring him out to do administrative work:


Of course we are joking about that :) He just has the adorable habit of standing up tall and saying "hello!" when he hears the phone ring.

Please stop by if you're interested in Puzzle as we need to make sure his new family understands the importance of feeding him a proper diet, including his necessary supplementation.

Puzzle Update

We introduced you to Puzzle a few months back, here. He's still with us, and still looking for a home. It appears as though we never updated the blog on the health problems Puzzle faced during the intervening months.

Lories require a special diet, but we've found that most people who surrender their lories to us are not feeding this. That was the case for Puzzle. As a result, he was very sick for a while. However, under our care and the supervision of his vet, he has mostly bounced back.

For a while, our vet thought that Puzzle might have permanent damage to his liver due to malnutrition. However, this does not appear to be the case. He does have to eat milk thistle a couple of times a day to help with his liver function, which is why we're including him in our week of less adoptable pets.

This isn't a huge deal as you just squirt it on his food and he eats it. And, Puzzle has such a charming personality that it's more than worth it!

Puzzle loves coming out and being with people. He chirps, sings, and whistles around his favorite people. He loves to play with toys, and has a joie-de-vivre that is quite infectious!

He's been through a lot in his young life, and we'd like to ensure his happiness in the future, in a home that understands the special dietary restrictions lories and lorikeets have. We can help educate you on this subject.

If you think Puzzle might be the bird for you, please stop by to meet him!

Meet Pepper

Meet Pepper, an approximately 16 year old red lory. We're still waiting for Pepper's DNA certificate, so we're not sure if Pepper is male or female.
Pepper was surrendered because his owner is dying of cancer. Although he was very loved, his owner did not feed him a proper diet -- he was fed fruit loops as a staple, along with the occasional grape. It is likely that this improper care will result in a shortened lifespan for Pepper.

Given that, we want to make sure that the time he has left with us is as happy as possible! We haven't had him long, but so far he is a very sweet bird. Once he is cleared medically, he will be looking for a forever home.We'd love for Pepper's new owner to have lory experience, but an educated person willing to learn could also provide a great home.

If you think this could be you, please stop by to meet him!

Meet Puzzle

Meet Puzzle, an approximately 7 year old Weber's Lorikeet. He was surrendered because his family was moving and didn't want to take him with them. This may have worked in Puzzle's favor as he was not allowed out of his cage in his prevuious home, but he loves to be out!In fact, as I was taking this picture of him, he put his foot up because he wanted to step up instead of model!

Lories have special dietary needs and liquid poop, so they're definitely not the right bird for everyone.

Puzzle has been delighting us all with his antics -- he loves to play and is very energetic!

Stop by if you'd like to meet him.

This next post may seem a little strange since we are a nonprofit and exist thanks to your donations and support. Why would we be promoting another charity in need? Read on...

While parrot rescues such as ours play an important role, it's a role that we wish we didn't need to play. Parrots do not make good pets. They are wild animals, and not well-suited to living in captivity. Very few homes are willing/able to provide the high quality lifelong care these sentient beings require. We see the results every day: parrots that scream, bite, pluck, mutilate, etc. Even with the best possible captive care, some parrots will develop these behavior issues.

That being said, we are realistic. The parrot trade is unlikely to go away anytime soon. CARE, and other reputable rescues, exist to help parrots find new homes, and to educate people about how to provide their bird the best home possible.

But we think it's also important to support organizations that are working to save these majestic creatures in the wild. The Indonesian Parrot Project is one such organization. In a nutshell, they work with former bird-trappers to provide them with alternative means of income. They also work to rehabilitate and release parrots that have been recently captured back into the wild. Please check out their website for more detailed information!

They also sell Molucca nuts, which provides jobs for people who otherwise might be trapping parrots, and helps support their mission. One of our volunteers has been buying these for her parrots, and they love these special treats, even though her parrots are native to Africa and South America; not Indonesia!

Thank you for reading, and once again, thanks for all of your support of CARE over the years. We've helped over a thousand birds find new homes over the years, and we couldn't have done it without you!

Some of our longer-term adoptables found homes over the past weekend, including the lories Aussie and Ruby and parrotlets Tina and Tiny! Although we're always a bit sad to see some of our favorite birds leave, we're overwhelmingly happy that they can start their new lives!

We still have tons of adoptable birds, and we'd love for you to stop by and pay us a visit!

Juicing For Parrots!

Here is a link to an article that discusses juicing for parrots and the health benefits that can come from that.

One of our volunteers has been juicing for his parrots for the past year or so. They all get excited when they hear the juicer start up! They sip it right out of a cup and bite the edge of the cup once they've had enough.

Enjoy!