Buying a Sun Conure via Craigslist - What to look for?

An ad on craigslist for a Sun Conure caught my eye, and I shall be going to see him on Saturday. The offer is $300 for the Conure, plus cage (comes with stand as well) which in the pictures looks to be a 24x18x31, just estimating off the pictures. I don't think it's big enough, but I may have to see it in person first.

His food is included as well, looks like just a seed diet, but I'll try to move him over to a pelleted diet. I haven't had much luck getting my parakeet onto one though.

What should I look for? The seller said he is 10 weeks old and was sexed by the vet at the store he purchased him, but he doesn't have any documentation of this. I personally don't care what gender it is, but I'm just trying to feel things out here. I would think you would want some sort of documentation if you're paying to have the bird sexed.

His reason he stated for selling him is he can't give him the attention he needs as he has to go on business trips.

$300 is a pretty good price in my area for a Sun Conure, and throwing in the cage does sweeten the deal, even if I would prefer a larger cage. I guess I'm a bit wary of purchasing a bird off of craigslist, but this would work out perfectly for me.

edit: After searching to find what cage the conure is in, it turns out to be 16.5" L X 11.8" W X 22" H. Ouch, that is way too small for that him! He looked huge in the cage, but I didn't think anyone would keep one in such a small cage. It's a barren cage too, just the perches the cage comes with, and the water/food dish, and a water bottle. Pretty sad, if he's friendly I might try to talk the guy down to $280 or something...Still a good price for a sun conure if it's tame.

10 weeks old and he doesn't have time for him? I mean, he hasn't had this parrot very long if he bought him from someone else. I wonder if the guy's being honest about the age. It just sounds kinda fishy.

I got Sunny from a breeder. He was $450. I just had to put down $100 and I made payments until he was fully weaned, at about 10 weeks old. He was a hand raised baby and came home very sweet & tame. The breeder did send off for DNA sexing and I have a certificate.

Baby suns have a lot of green on their backs and their wings. Their colors are a bit muted. The bright yellows and reds begin popping months and months later. If this bird is very bright, then he's older.

faeryphoebe1 said:

10 weeks old and he doesn't have time for him? I mean, he hasn't had this parrot very long if he bought him from someone else. I wonder if the guy's being honest about the age. It just sounds kinda fishy.

I got Sunny from a breeder. He was $450. I just had to put down $100 and I made payments until he was fully weaned, at about 10 weeks old. He was a hand raised baby and came home very sweet & tame. The breeder did send off for DNA sexing and I have a certificate.

Baby suns have a lot of green on their backs and their wings. Their colors are a bit muted. The bright yellows and reds begin popping months and months later. If this bird is very bright, then he's older.

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Here's the CL post: Beautiful young Sun Conure Tame and Cage

It definitely seems fishy, I just edited my first post, but the cage he's is in is so tiny! I thought it was a 24x18x31 because that's the only size I've seen that type of scallop topped cages come in, but apparently Petco sells this cage which looks exactly like the one he's in. That would explain why he looks so big in it... Definitely not happy about that.

Looking at the pictures, the picture of the conure in the cage has a lot of yellow on his feathers, but the other two pictures, it's much more green, as you said would be indicative of a young sun conure. I knew I should be cautious!

Sunny as a baby (approximately 10 weeks old).
View attachment 8544


Sunny now, 8 months old and the yellow is still coming in:

I tried to post some attachments, but I'm terrible at that. You can see what his colors look like now, in my avatar

He is very beautiful. There's more yellow in that last pic than what I would expect in a 10 week old Sun. Perhaps the first two pics are of him when he was younger? I think he's older than 10 weeks, but who knows how much older.

Maybe Boom Boom and some of our other resident, expert Sun Conure owners will chime in and help. I'm still new at having a Sun. They're such beautiful, fun clowns, albeit loud. Don't ever shoulder one unless you wanna go deaf, lol. I highly recommend getting one, unless you live in an apartment. Have you thought about trying to find a reputable breeder?

Usually, stores don't do DNA on their birds.....and the fact that he doesn't have documentation leads me to believe that it wasn't done.....but why would he lie about that? Stores usually have a 1 week return policy....if the bird is really 10 weeks old, he just got him so why not return him and get his money back?

Anyway, the price is decent, even if the bird is a bit older. I don't have Suns so I can't judge the age by the pic.

when your dealing with anyone who is on Craigs list or Kijiji, more than half the ads are not as they seem.
I do know at Pet Smart they only call in a vet when one of their animals are ill.
certain stores will receive certain sexes of animals, one store will only carry males, or females.....but I've seen them botch that up as well.

Now we don't have Petco here in Canada so I can't comment on them.

When you go Saturday, you will get a sense of what the owner is like(truthful or not).
Since I breed, I've been to over 100 homes checking out birds, have been burned a few times too ....having said that, just go with common sense....if you believe him,then buy him, if your the least bit doubtful, walk away.

He said he was hand tamed, he should go on his hand without any difficulty if that is true.
If things go well, he should step up onto your hand as well, particularly if he is only 10 weeks.....gosh he is still a baby and still trusting.

If this is your first bird, he really does look like he needs to be rescued, he has no toys, a crappy perch, and probably a diet that is terrible.
best of luck, I wish I could go with you, I LOVE checking out birds, ha ha.

I say go with your instincts!....does he look a bit puffy in those pictures?

I really do want to rescue that conure, his living conditions are so sad. I can't go with that mentality though. I already have a parakeet, two cichlid tanks, turtle, and a dog. I spoke to someone else from Craigslist exchanged a few texts, and the gentleman is moving and can't take the bird with him. It does look like a baby sun conure in the pictures, and he's throwing in all his stuff; cage, toys, food, etc. He's going to let it go for $110 if I can take him/her soon. He's moving next week, so I'm going to see if the bird likes me and if he takes to me, I'll bring him home.

Sadly breeders in my area want $450 for a hand fed conure before taxes. Factor in a cage, perches, toys, etc and I'm in for $600+ and I'd prefer to spend a little less.

Crimson, he does look a bit puffy.

Kairus, it's totally understandable wanting to save money. Parrots, their food and accessories (and any medical bills) can get quite expensive. Best of luck with everything. I hope it works out with the Sun for $110. Keep us posted.

That price for the last conure is very good, as long as it's in good health. if you adopt a ill parrot you'll still be spending hundreds or even thousands at the vet.

Just know some people will take everything out of the cages to take pictures, so he might have toys. Don't judge a book on it's cover!

That goes both ways! So be mindful and good luck!

I know I had to get ride of a pet I had bought, but I let him go for free. I paid close to 200 dollars for everything and I found I couldn't take care of the animal the way I needed too. So I ended up giving him up about 2 weeks after I bought him. It was a gerbil.

So it does happen! If he is only asking for $300 he might be trying to get rid of him fast because he knows he can't care for him like he should be cared for. So give the benefit of the doubt. Good Luck and hope you get a good pet in the end!

What are some signs of a sick bird? If their feathers are in good condition, they're active and alert, their eyes look okay, and their stool consistency is fine, what else is there I can visually see?

Here's a page from the Association of Avian Veterinarians web site that goes over signs of illness
The Association of Avian Veterinarians | Technicians

Birds hide illness very well, the only way to truly know if they're healthy or not is to get a new bird check up. They cost around $300-$600 depending on how many test you want. But you can always adopt the conure, watch him carefully and take him after you saved up some money at a later date, Just try to keep him quarantined from your current birds. But if the current owner has been taking great care of him, and he recently went to the vet(if you contact the vet they should have the records) that's awesome.

Kairus said:

I really do want to rescue that conure, his living conditions are so sad. I can't go with that mentality though. I already have a parakeet, two cichlid tanks, turtle, and a dog. I spoke to someone else from Craigslist exchanged a few texts, and the gentleman is moving and can't take the bird with him. It does look like a baby sun conure in the pictures, and he's throwing in all his stuff; cage, toys, food, etc. He's going to let it go for $110 if I can take him/her soon. He's moving next week, so I'm going to see if the bird likes me and if he takes to me, I'll bring him home.

Sadly breeders in my area want $450 for a hand fed conure before taxes. Factor in a cage, perches, toys, etc and I'm in for $600+ and I'd prefer to spend a little less.

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....please be careful when someone who is selling a conure as beautiful as the suns are, at that price!...he is essentially giving it away, but charging you for the cage etc only....sorry, I would walk from that one....I just don't want to see you get taken.
suns here go for around the same price, so to me it makes sense why would anyone sell a $450.00 bird for a fraction of the price.....that deal is too good to be true.....

The price is very good at $110 but nor unheard of! Suns are LOUD and sometimes hard to rehome quickly! There is no risk to go over and see for yourself.....

Kairus said:

What are some signs of a sick bird? If their feathers are in good condition, they're active and alert, their eyes look okay, and their stool consistency is fine, what else is there I can visually see?

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Nasal discharge, dirty vent...

I got Lukah off of craigslist. I think its almost better than getting your bird from a breeder because you get to help out a bird that not as many people would want. Just be aware of common signs of illness.... Look at the poop and make sure there is a solid green feces with white urates around it and clear liquid, check and make sure there is no liquid around the nostrils, no red blistering on legs (could be indicative of mites), not poofed up all the time (though Lukah was very poofy when I first bought him and stayed that way for a while and is fine), eating well and playing well, not at bottom of cage or having trouble balancing.

If all those are okay, more than likely the guy will be healthy and happy

Both of my green cheeks are from craigslist. I'm pretty sure Oliver was from a bird broker. It was very weird, I went with my dad to get him from a parking lot and this guy and his gf pulled up in a really fancy convertible and got a little tiny bird carrying cage out of the TRUNK filled with about 6-10 green cheeks and had me pick one. It was pretty sketchy but it was cheap and my dad was paying (I was only 14 so no job). Oliver is amazing but I wouldn't do business with someone like that again. Also my dad talked to him on the phone before hand and this guy knew NOTHING about the birds, he kept telling my dad all this bs -.-

My newer bird, Mia, was also from craigslist from a couple who had quite a few other birds and just weren't attached to this one/didn't have time/got bored of their birds. She was on a terrible diet, terrible perches in her small cage and very dirty! She was also on a seed diet but she's already switched over, she loves Harrison's.

I don't know if this applies in your situation (seeing as they're including a cage) but in my area there are a lot of bad 'backyard breeders' (for lack of a better term) that don't care about the birds and just want to make money. They always advertise as rehoming pet birds because they don't have time for them but it's ridiculous because they'll be selling 4-5 of the same birds at 4-10 weeks old, often unweaned too. It makes me sad to see, I hope they don't make any money and stop breeding their birds.

kellie said:

I got Lukah off of craigslist. I think its almost better than getting your bird from a breeder because you get to help out a bird that not as many people would want. Just be aware of common signs of illness.... Look at the poop and make sure there is a solid green feces with white urates around it and clear liquid, check and make sure there is no liquid around the nostrils, no red blistering on legs (could be indicative of mites), not poofed up all the time (though Lukah was very poofy when I first bought him and stayed that way for a while and is fine), eating well and playing well, not at bottom of cage or having trouble balancing.

If all those are okay, more than likely the guy will be healthy and happy

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I agree, I was really happy to give my birds a better home. Especially Mia who was an actual rehome. I feel kind of bad about supporting the broker I got Oliver from, but happy that I have Oliver.

I went to visit the gentleman who had the conure available for $130. He's extremely active, extremely friendly, has quite the appetite for his pellets, and goes nuts over toys. He looks like he's in great condition, so I took him home. He's sitting on my shoulder as I type! He lets you touch him all over and do whatever to him, much better than I could have even hoped for!

The cage they gave me was pretty small, but I put my parakeet in it, and put the conure in the cage my parakeet was occupying. It's 24" x 18" x 24, but I'm sure he will need a larger one very soon.

Him hanging out on the cage:


My girlfriend holding him on the drive home:


And a few things I purchased for him/her:


edit:

Two questions if someone could answer

1) What size cage should I realistically purchase? Obviously bigger the better, but I want something in the range of $120-$160.
2) Opinion on [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Zupreem-Avian-Entrees-Harvest-2-Pound/dp/B0079DYF70/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1378514844&sr=1-1&keywords=harvest+feast+mix+zupreem"]this[/ame] pelleted food? It's what he's eating now, and he seems to enjoy it, so if it's a decent quality pellet, I'd like to stick to it.

Some more pictures:


His current cage: