Surrendering birds, need advice, please (MN area)?

I'm so sorry to hear that, both for you and for your birds. The best place to start will be with your local avian vets. They will know what rescues are the most trustworthy. They will also know if they have any trusted clients who may have lost a bird and are looking to adopt. Also, contact any local bird clubs. The keyword here is going to be trust. Can you really trust whomever you allow to adopt your birds. Those are two of the most trustworthy places to start. Best of luck to you and maybe things will work out so you don't have to part with them.

I've not surrendered a bird, but when a dear friend joined the USMC, I had to help him get his beloved Maine Coon cat adopted. We talked about it and I handled it for him. I'd had the cat fostered with some friends, but the arrangement didn't work out as well as we'd all hoped. I called as many people as I could think of, including family, and then I went to the local no-kill shelter and I made the arrangements. I signed owner give-up papers and paid the inital vet bills--it was about $100--the cat hadn't been fixed. (Probably a dude thing.) He got adopted in about 6 weeks--it helped that the cat was gorgeous and healthy and the story of his original owner heading to boot camp tugged some heartstrings.

What you can do is call your local vet office and see who they know and what they know. They might have a bulletin board of some sort. Mine has a "lost bird" and "found bird" board and they sometimes know people who have lost birds one way or another who might be interested in adopting a new friend. It's a couple of phone calls and maybe a visit or two--it's worth an attempt. Local will be better if it's doable, too.

You might also go to the Mickaboo Parrot Rescue website--if memory serves they have links and a list of rescue groups scattered all over the country. You might get lucky there. You might also go to www.cockatiel.org and see if that site has any listings.

I hope your luck changes, too so that you don't have to do this, but it's good that you're thinking so far ahead. You should have some time to find what you need. I'll do a bit of searching and if I find anything spectacular, I'll PM you.

Edit: Midwest Avian Adoption and Rescue Service--Stillwate MN--(651) 275-0568. Found them on the Mickaboo site and they've got a great website themselves. Do check it out.

All the best.

check around your area and see if there area any rehaber's, I had to get homes for my birds to several years ago, I did have a local pet shop keep them there to get them homes for me, most pet shops will allow you to post pics to get them homes also the grocery stores have post boards, try these sites Petfinder also helps place birds and other animals, and also local vets offices to can help , I might loose my home to pretty soon, but I am gonna buy a travel trailer to live in in instead, most places wont allow more than 2 pets and I have 5 cats that I will not let go, Id rather die than do that post ,http://www.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSear... , this one would be a great one to http://www.avianweb.com/rescue.html, http://www.maars.org/news/pressreleases/prpetsmart... http://shelters.theanimalnet.com/Minnesotapets.htm

Try petfinder.com They probably have bird rescues as I think bird is a search option. Otherwise try contact your local shelter and see if they could take them. I know the one in Burnsville takes in small pets, mice, rats, rabbits, so one near you might.