Hand raised at Petco? & just held a bird for the first time! :D

[happycat]

I went to Petco a few days ago and a lady that works there knows my mom and she let me in to look at the parrots! Yay! Ive never held a parrot and she let the conures on me! They were soo cuddly and sooo adorable and soft!! I want them even more now! I love how warm and soft they were. But she said that she hand tamed/raised them. And they even knew how to "kiss" her and fly to her (and my) shoulder! I thought they didnt do that at petsmart/petco? I might get a parrot one day there cause she does a really good job with them.
Also, the suns actually werent as loud as I thought theyd be. I mean they were LOUD but I guess in my opinion not THAT annoying. Is this there "quiter" call or in my opinion they just arent loud as some people say? Well Yay! I finally got to hold a parrot!

 

[roxynoodle]

I bet you will always remember that day

 

[Customcasket]

You'll remember it for the rest of your life. I'll never forget what it was like to hold a very friendly bird. I never knew birds could be cute and cuddly like other pets. Now I'm owned by 2 parakeets and 3 conures

 

[cdog]

Never buy an animal from petsmart/petco, they get there animals from animal mills and there birds from bird mills. If you buy from them they will only replace it with another one. The conditions at those mills are horrible, the birds only use in life is to breed. If you buy from them it only encourages them to keep buying from those mills. They may hand feed them but they are still from the horrible bird mills.

 

[pamcor57]

I agree with CDOG.....Our Petco's and Petsmarts out here in Vegas do not sell larger birds. I witnessed a B&G Macaw rotting in a cage at Petco. I demanded that the bird be taken out of the store. People were making him nervous, he had started plucking his feathers. I own B&G's and I was furious! Petco and Petsmart dont take care of their smaller birds either....dirty cages, sick birds everywhere....even loose flying in the store! If you decide to get a larger bird find a good solid breeder who specializes in the type of bird you want.

 

[happycat]

Yeah. I heard they could be cuddly but I guess you have to experience it to really know. One said and nuzzled my chest.
I dont like encouraging it but well...I mean its better then a BAD person taking the bird right? The lady said she'll only let it go to a person she thinks is right tho.
They seem pretty happy though, dont look like their rotting or anything.

 

[amysaviary]

I haet to say this but she will have NO say in who buys the bird! They r a chain store and only care about money! If someone wants to buy the bird they will sell it! They don't care to who!!! I would never buy from Petco or Petsmart as far as animals. They do get the birds from bird mills and also they sell the birds for almost double the price then I (a breeder) sell them for.

 

[BillsBirds]

Welcome to the world of birds, Happycat! I hope it's a long, happy journey.

 

[Mare Miller]

If you and the bird 'click', do it a favor and bring it on home. To me it's kind of like an SPCA, no matter what, it's not their fault that they are there.

 

[roxynoodle]

Do all Petcos buy from bird mills or do some buy from local breeders? It kind of sounds like this one came from a local breeder, who was the person talking to HappyCat?

A lot of people here have birds that came from pet stores. Rowdy came from a locally owned one, so I'm guessing her breeder was local as well.

 

[evesta]

I know our Petco buys from local breeders and it is a very nice store actually. I was thinking of buying a conure from there myself, very nice birds there.

 

[amysaviary]

I am a small breeder and I talked to Petsmart and Petco around here asking where they got the babies and if they wanted a local breeder to work with and they both told me they have the birds shipped in. They don't buy from local breeders, it was all done through the company. I would never sell to them anyway but wanted to see what they would say. Sadly to me from what they told me they get them from bird mills for the lowest possible price and sell them for more then double what I would sell them for.

I am not saying it is the birds fault but if people keep buying from these stores they keep buying from the mills and it just keeps going.

 

[luvmytooo]

Now that was a special day for you

 

[happycat]

Yeah, they were all very friendly. They seemed to like me though one nipped me.
I dont remember her name XD But how would I know if this one bought from breeders?

 

[lene1949]

I know some people who works at pet stores also breed birds... They take in their handraised babies, and sell them through the store.

 

[happycat]

She brought one home for a couple of weeks and trained it (actually I think a couple of parrots)

 

[Customcasket]

I bought my Sun from the Petsmart they built around the corner from me. He was from a breeder in Florida. He sat in a cage for 8 months before I bought him. He was constantly out and being handled by the employees so he was very friendly. After him they had a Jenday and then a GCC. Since the GCC was sold they haven't had any bigger birds. All parakeets, finches, and canaries. I only bought Carlisle from them because he was always at the front of his cage wanting a scratching from my boyfriend through the bars. This went on for weeks before we bought him. It was kind of like he bonded to my boyfriend. This store is always clean and the birds are always healthy (looking at least :/ not sure if they really are or not), the cages are clean, water&food is always fresh looking, and the employees have more than the 2 brain cells it takes to handle a bird properly.

Some of our chain pet stores in the area are pretty grungy looking. I was at a pet store in Philadelphia called Monster Pets (I think... its near the Ikea) and I watched them clean the bird cages with Windex!!!!! YES WINDEX!!! Spraying it in the cage while the birds were still in here. They took the GCC out when they cleaned his cage, but left the parakeets in there and sprayed Windex all over to wipe the glass. My boyfriend and I were so appalled by it. The manager was there helping the employees clean with Windex. My best friend was with us and he loudly says "GEE, DO YOU GUYS USE WINDEX WHEN YOU CLEAN THE BIRD CAGES AT HOME?! I THOUGHT THAT WAS BAD FOR THEM." and glared at them while saying it. They looked at us like we were stupid and continued to use it and spray it all over.

 

[happycat]

I always think its funny (but bad) when people say something like that and the people ignore the one whos talking. I like sugar gliders (marsupials) and theres a place that sells them (called Pocketpets) and they are a mill. On a forum people talk about how they said things like "oh i thought you werent supposed to do that. Thats bad for them" and stuff like that and they ignore them XD
The person seems to spend a lot of time with them so I think its just certain petcos that are bad to there animals.

 

[thermodynamic]

I haet to say this but she will have NO say in who buys the bird! They r a chain store and only care about money! If someone wants to buy the bird they will sell it! They don't care to who!!! I would never buy from Petco or Petsmart as far as animals. They do get the birds from bird mills and also they sell the birds for almost double the price then I (a breeder) sell them for.

I haet to say this but she will have NO say in who buys the bird! They r a chain store and only care about money! If someone wants to buy the bird they will sell it! They don't care to who!!! I would never buy from Petco or Petsmart as far as animals. They do get the birds from bird mills and also they sell the birds for almost double the price then I (a breeder) sell them for.

<br />
<br />

Very true.

Worse, they claim they have to charge more because of all the time taken to care for them. (yeah, right.)

A decade ago, they had a pionus - I wish I had bought him... now, in my area, they're impossible to find. Not even via breeders, who I prefer people get birds from.

At a petsmart buying food as I hadn't ordered online, did my usual banter with employees to scope out how competent they were. Now, SOME chain store locations are good and thankfully I can't travel across the country, and I can vouch for two Petco locations. But the petsmart people always chased this pineapple conure with their hands. I saw this. When they told me how they chased her around all the time and that they only knew about her acrobatic tricks was overnight when they put in a webcam to find out if she was stealing metal objects... I was livid. $400 down the tubes and Rosie* is now mine and has been for 2 years now. It took 5 months before she would open up to me, as she frequently does her acrobatic tricks openly for me... she will finally take treats out of my hand as well, but those (bleeps) at petstupid terrorized her so badly that she will have issues for life.

Oh, the same employee that won me over by ignorantly telling with such glee over how they chased the birds and had no idea what it liked or what tricks it did until after smugly putting in the webcam still works there. It's not that I reported any of them, but usually at these places the turnover is high because the workers are treated just as badly as the birds...

Rosie may never be hand-tame or cuddly, and it's sad to see her so timid, but I can tell she accepts me.

She is kept separated from Rusty (a cinnamon GCC) at all times as they WILL fight and draw blood. Rusty me won me over from Petco with his outgoing personality.

Scooter, my other GCC - normal color, I got because Rusty hurt his toe and had to go to the vet. Scooter was his cagemate at Petco. Scooter's been shy, but he trusts me with his life. Both are 5 years old.

Sadly, I had another GCC - Syzygy. He would be on his back and propel himself with his cage bars. He adored me in the store. He did every trick imaginable and loved to cuddle... most perfect pet ever and the Petco had taken really good care of him, or he was such a new arrival that the breeder who raised him (and I met the breeder once - she's a gem). One day, Syzygy had escaped his cage and I found him. I don't know how he managed to burrow in so deep, but he got under the bed sheet and suffocated. How can cheap 200 thread-count bedsheet kill a parrot?!! He did seem to be really snug within, so he probably couldn't move his lungs... but I cried as I unwrapped him out. He did love to snuggle. Ever since then I've got the doors locked. There will always be one bird somewhere that will figure out how to open their cage door. That was maybe 4 years ago, but I still feel just as bad today.

Right now, petco has a yellow-sided who seems to be human-friendly. I bet he bites just as badly as all the petsmart conures... since that's the only species any of them sell anymore, which might be for the best - if they sold African Grays, they'd all end up being feather pluckers within months...

* Rosie is seemingly a male, as she's almost 3 years old and hasn't laid eggs and tried to mount Scooter and I don't think females are quite that adventurous...

 

[mtdoramike]

Never buy an animal from petsmart/petco, they get there animals from animal mills and there birds from bird mills. If you buy from them they will only replace it with another one. The conditions at those mills are horrible, the birds only use in life is to breed. If you buy from them it only encourages them to keep buying from those mills. They may hand feed them but they are still from the horrible bird mills.

Well, I agree with what was said, but I will have to disagree with not buying a bird from them. If someone can and does buy a bird from them, at least the bird will have a better life than stuck at a pet shop.