Bad experience at Quinn's check up

[Sherry1]

The bird store where I got Quinn is an 'everything you could ever need for a bird' type of bird store and he goes there for his check ups (as well and nail trimming and wing trimming if you want). The lady who hand raised him and another young gal are usually the ones we see for his weigh ins and to ask for advise, etc. They are amazing and have been beyond patient with me as Quinn is my first bird. Unfortunately the other day when we went they were very busy and I had to be helped by this very rude woman who just came up and snatched Quinn off of me with no warning. Boy did he squawk at her. She just squeezes him and says, "His weight is fine." then she proceeds to totally rearrange his cage. She pulled out the toy and scolded me for having it in there saying that everything in his cage MUST be nutritious. I told her that the other gal advised I put a toy there because he was chewing on his food bowl. She then tells me his top perch is too high and lowers it. I didn't even bother to stop her and figured I'd just fix it after we left because the other gal advised I raise it because he was sleeping hanging from the bars in the top corner because he wanted to be up high. She then scolded me for not yet offering him strawberries or sweet potatoes and asked me if I've offered him eggs yet. I tell her he just had eggs that day and there might even be evidence of it on the cage floor to which she scolds me for allowing the egg to sit in the cage too long and possibly spoil. I go on to tell her that he eats very well and ask her if she is going to weigh him (since that was why we were there) and she responds with "Well I can tell he is good weight but I guess I can if you really want me to." He weighed in at 108 grams so obviously he is eating just fine. He likes kale, green beans, peas, zucchini, summer squash, carrots, apples, mango, pasta, scrambled eggs, his zu preem biscuits and he gets a tiny bit of seed each day which he mostly just picks out the safflower seeds. She just made me feel like I wasn't doing anything right and I had to remind myself that the fact that I have a very happy, healthy bird is the proof that we are doing just fine!

 

[Puck]

Ugh, yeah, some people can be "tell it alls" (one step up from "know it alls" who just look at you in disdain.) I HATE it when people grab my bird without asking first (of course my Quaker just usually bites the bejeesus out of them for doing so...) Obviously someone has control issues and an intense need to tell people what to do. And why in the world would she say he can't have a toy?

 

[Sherry1]

I'm sure she knows 100% more about birds than I do but I'm really trying my best to do everything right with him. When I first brought him home they didn't want him to have toys because they wanted to make sure he wasn't getting distracted from eating and lose too much weight. Basically they wanted him to use food as his entertainment. I had even been hanging his spray millet from 2 clips like a U and he would sit inside it and swing. When he started chewing up his food bowl I knew he needed a toy because chewing the dish was not 'fun' and showed he was desperate for something to do. They wanted him to weigh in 3 weeks after introducing the toy to make sure it wasn't distracting him from eating, which obviously it wasn't. And now that he's gotten bigger he keeps making his millet fall so I bought him a real perch swing and another toy. I bought a scale so I can just weigh him here and make sure he isn't losing weight. I appreciate all of their help and support but I do think they are a little militant on some of their 'rules'.

 

[Puck]

Wow... okay... Was he not well weaned? I mean, he should have been feeding exceptionally well before they sold him. I haven't ever heard of denying parrots toys to make sure they eat. That sounds like a recipe for intense boredom to me. Eating out of a bowl isn't "entertainment." Foraging for food, sure, but not picking pieces out of a bowl. Give him toys. Birds just wanna have fun!

 

[Birdman666]

Sombody seems awfully fond of their own opinions... and a tad lacking in the social graces dept.

I respectfully disagree with taking his toys away. And most birds want at least one tall perch. Even if it's a smaller one...

They should have at least one wooden chew toy. At least one preening toy, and at least one pipe bell toy...

Happy huts are a matter of opinion. My sun conure lived in one. (My other two were fabric chewers and didn't get one... )

He's eating just fine. Don't worry about it.

 

[Flboy]

A thought, this is very well written, why not email, or print it out for them! You did an excellent job of expressing how you felt and were treated! You can remind them that you know this is not how you are normally treated, but had it been your first time, you would have never been back.

 

[Doublete]

Great idea right there!

Also confused though that they said no toys.... Isn't a bored bird more likely to develop bad habits?

 

[Birdman666]

I think I would just choose to not interact with that particular woman anymore...

And I might possibly remind her the next time she is "overly helpful" that, while I appreciate the sentiment behind her opinions, this is not her bird... thank you.

I wouldn't make a stink about it.

 

[Solo]

Hmm..would have told her to get her grubby hands off my bird. She obviously doesn't know a great deal about birds since she immediately grabbed for a bird that had never met her acquaintance before. Next time you go in, if it is busy, simply tell the obnoxious one that you will wait to be helped by one of the ladies your bird is more familiar with. Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

 

[Kiwibird]

Hmmm... if someone grabbed my bird off my shoulder, they could expect stitches from Kiwi and a very unpleasant reaction from me And I would've told her to keep her hands off my personal property (i.e. cage, perches, toys ext...) too.

I would definitely not work with this lady ever again. Before we started doing it at home, I used to call ahead to make sure the man I liked to clip Kiwi was in at the bird store, and if not, I'd go another day. Is it possible to make appointments with the ladies you trust or at least call ahead to see if they're in so you can tell rude-lady you're waiting on so-and-so?

 

[Kalidasa]

Hi Sherry1. The treatment of your bird and yourself was absolutely unacceptable. Please leave the appropriate review (via Google, or yelp...and others). The appropriate reviews can be a game changer for any business, as many people check reviews before allowing their pets or other members of their family do business with small businesses.
What you experienced was an extremely unprofessional and potentially harmful experience with people who should know better.
Also complain to the owners of the business..as they should be aware that someone so stupid is representing their business.
And this just isn't for birds, but all service related businesses. People (especially under 30) check reviews. What you, and your bird experienced is beyond the pale. Please take the few minutes it takes to post a review of your experience there...it matters

 

[ShaunaR]

Rick and I have had our Caique for a year now so we are what you'd call novice as well. I thought I would give you my $.02 for what it's worth. I would not tolerate this from a Vet and I certainly wouldn't tolerate anyone mistreating my bird in a pet store. That bird is relying on you to keep him safe and I feel strongly that the store has to be made aware in writing as to what your concerns are asap. Think of all of the other birds she is mistreating and getting away with it because the owners are too shy to say something. Or perhaps she is on her last warning from the owners and your complaint will be the last straw. If the other people you have seen at the store were good, then they already are well aware this woman shouldn't be handling animals, or people for that matter. If a Nurse under my supervision treated the parents of a child like this she would be looking at being disciplined and perhaps even suspended. In my opinion someone who handles animals should behave as if they are handling your child....and for some of us our birds are our kids. To go ahead and start changing stuff in a cage...oh no how rude! I sincerely hope you take what she said entirely and toss it out. Anyone who obviously hates their job like that hasn't got a thing to say that I am interested in hearing. Once again just my $.02.

 

[Sherry1]

From what I understand that woman is the wife of the owners son so complaining likely won't do any good. I'll just continue to deal with the 2 ladies that I really like and have treated us very well (and pass on our experience to them) and steer clear of that other one. Thank you for the validation though that she was totally out of line to start rearranging his cage how SHE wanted it just when we got it set up like HE likes it. She even took off the clip I use to keep his door closed and threw it in the trash without a word. I told her I needed that for the door and she said, "Not this kind, they are dangerous." I then asked her if I could have my clip back for my keys and she dug it out of the trash and handed it to me. I thought I was in the twilight zone or something.

I did buy him some new toys. A manzanita branch swing and another that has little woven wicker stars and beads. He seems to like them both and climbed onto the swing as soon as I put it in his cage. We are continuing to work on getting him in his harness which I thought would be much easier but he is afraid of it. We are just going slow like the video says and I'm sure in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to get it on him. He has zero issues with me rubbing his face/eyes/head and all I have to do is say 'wings up' and put just a tiny bit of pressure with my finger and he will lift his wings for me so it is just the applying the harness that we need to work on.

 

[Doublete]

You're ahead of me and Loki! I tell Loki lets go outside and he gives me crazy eye. Wings up? No chance.
It's a bit of a pain to get him in it, but he is pretty happy once we go outside. Taking the darn thing off, I haven't found a good method. He just wants to perch on my finger and I can't undo the harness with one hand. Luckily he seems to be willing to help me on the learning curve.

 

[birdstheword]

Oh how frustrating! And that does make it a little sticky that she has a connection to the owner. Would you still consider a Yelp review or something of the like as had been suggested by Kalidasa, without giving details about who you were? I do agree that good business owners want to know how customers are being treated by their employees, especially if employees are giving conflicting advice. Sorry about your experience :/