Samphibian
New Member
- Messages
- 21
I do!
I've always admired parrots, but only really got particularly "into" them since seeing practice at an exotics vets a good few years ago and getting some good hands on clinical experience with them.
Recently, I have become involved with a very special place (and some very special people) called The Island Parrot Sanctuary: a non-rehome parrot sanctuary over on the island of Kerrera, near Oban in south west Scotland.
After hours of chatting on the phone with them, I took a wee trip over and was nominated to become a director! Its very exciting to be able to help with such intelligent and beautiful creatures, though the number of sad stories there are can be tough at times.
Basically, the sanctuary takes in rescue birds from all over scotland (and some from England and Wales too!). It acts as a nursery, a rehab unit, a playground, a school and a hospice for the birds that come in. First veterinary requirements are met, and then diet and husbandry are addressed before finally the birds are integrated into small flocks in large outdoor aviaries. We call these their "forever flocks" because they integrate so well into their own flock units that it would be a vile act of cruelty to seperate them again. Unfortunately, this makes the sanctuary a "non rehome" sanctuary and as such they are not eligible for sanctuary funding. For a while, they ran on public donations from visitors, but that stopped when they were told (despite lengthy discussions with councils and DEFRA prior to opening) that they required a zoo license to take in visitors. So, the sanctuary relies on donation and sponsors to raise the £30,000 per year required to keep the birds healthy,well fed and happy (note there are no paid staff at all, all money donated goes straight to the birds).
A lot of the problems causing birds to come to us are based on either peoples unrealistic expectations of pet parrots, or inappropriate rearing causing parent-deprived birds to overbond to humans which can never satisfy their deepest needs. As such, there is a major drive at the sanctuary to educate.A lovely colour booklet has been made, named "how to free your parrot",which is helping people deal with issues of basic husbandry: diet and such.
If any of you fancy a free copy, fire me an email at [email protected] and I can either email you an electronic copy or send you a lovely shiny printed off one. Share it with your friends and any parrot keepers you know!
And, if any of you want to find out more about the sanctuary and follow our progress, hit like on this FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Island-Parrot-Sanctuary/183889001630239
You can donate on the fb page or the main page for the sanctuary, or email to sponsor a bird.
Here's a wee video of the birds to whet your whistle:
[YOUTUBE]BuTGOFi0WIQ&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]
I've always admired parrots, but only really got particularly "into" them since seeing practice at an exotics vets a good few years ago and getting some good hands on clinical experience with them.
Recently, I have become involved with a very special place (and some very special people) called The Island Parrot Sanctuary: a non-rehome parrot sanctuary over on the island of Kerrera, near Oban in south west Scotland.
After hours of chatting on the phone with them, I took a wee trip over and was nominated to become a director! Its very exciting to be able to help with such intelligent and beautiful creatures, though the number of sad stories there are can be tough at times.
Basically, the sanctuary takes in rescue birds from all over scotland (and some from England and Wales too!). It acts as a nursery, a rehab unit, a playground, a school and a hospice for the birds that come in. First veterinary requirements are met, and then diet and husbandry are addressed before finally the birds are integrated into small flocks in large outdoor aviaries. We call these their "forever flocks" because they integrate so well into their own flock units that it would be a vile act of cruelty to seperate them again. Unfortunately, this makes the sanctuary a "non rehome" sanctuary and as such they are not eligible for sanctuary funding. For a while, they ran on public donations from visitors, but that stopped when they were told (despite lengthy discussions with councils and DEFRA prior to opening) that they required a zoo license to take in visitors. So, the sanctuary relies on donation and sponsors to raise the £30,000 per year required to keep the birds healthy,well fed and happy (note there are no paid staff at all, all money donated goes straight to the birds).
A lot of the problems causing birds to come to us are based on either peoples unrealistic expectations of pet parrots, or inappropriate rearing causing parent-deprived birds to overbond to humans which can never satisfy their deepest needs. As such, there is a major drive at the sanctuary to educate.A lovely colour booklet has been made, named "how to free your parrot",which is helping people deal with issues of basic husbandry: diet and such.
If any of you fancy a free copy, fire me an email at [email protected] and I can either email you an electronic copy or send you a lovely shiny printed off one. Share it with your friends and any parrot keepers you know!
And, if any of you want to find out more about the sanctuary and follow our progress, hit like on this FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Island-Parrot-Sanctuary/183889001630239
You can donate on the fb page or the main page for the sanctuary, or email to sponsor a bird.
Here's a wee video of the birds to whet your whistle:
[YOUTUBE]BuTGOFi0WIQ&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]