Lying to sell birds...

[LivingFiction]

We bought Hurley from a small pet store in Roanoke Virginia. As I've said before, I'm not a fan of buying birds that way, it just came to be. The shop told us that Hurley and his siblings were born 9 months previous

Jenny called me yesterday on her way home from the vet. The vet had noticed that the band around Hurley's leg says '03. So he's a year older than the pet store told us he was. I suppose there are many possibilities here, the breeder could have lied to the shop, the shop could have lied to us, or the breeder could have mistakenly used '03 bands.

I just think it's scary, and further firmed my determination to buy direct from breeders rather than pet stores.

[CKD]

I have only gotten one bird from a pet store & that was my Pandora. I knew the min. I saw her she was coming home with me. The pet store had no info on her. No age , no name no nothing. I was told by my vet that she is around 3 but that that is just a guess.
I got Piper from a great breeder. She gave me his DNA certifiacte saying he was male plus a hatch date certificate that has his parents names on it. Piper is a split to blue. His moms name is Greenbean & his fathers is Hanzel.

[basketbagley]

My budgie Sunny came from Petsmart. I just had to have that lilac-y, blue baby! (holding my head low in mild shame) it was an impulse buy, one I do not regret! I did not want to get even another budgie from a pet shop!

I was so happy that the breeder I've been using had some baby budgies ready to go! now I will know everything about them, and can know that it's healthy! not to mention very tame!

One day I'd like to raise budgies and hand-feed them. Not even my breeder does that, I think there could be a good market here for them.

[The Outlaw]

If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, when a bird picks you out, its just like any other love......you just lose control. Its like everything else: there are good petshops and good breeders. And, of course there are bad petshops and bad breeders. Its our obligation to the good ones of each to support them and stop letting dollar signs be the determining factor. Its more expensive to do it right.

THE OUTLAW

[basketbagley]

As usual - I agree with you Nancy! I'd rather pay more from the "good" breeders/shops, then less from the bad ones!

By the way, which shops around us to you consider good ones? There are none that I Love so far. Curious where you go and who you support. What do you think of Parrots Plus on Crain Hwy?

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, when a bird picks you out, its just like any other love......you just lose control. Its like everything else: there are good petshops and good breeders. And, of course there are bad petshops and bad breeders. Its our obligation to the good ones of each to support them and stop letting dollar signs be the determining factor. Its more expensive to do it right.

THE OUTLAW

[LissaKokoKiwiKaseySam]

in my opinion, any pet shop that keeps a clean and safe environment for every animal they have in their shop is worth patronizing..this includes fish. Knowledgable sales people are a plus, especially if you're not sure what you're looking for, but if you are pretty savvy about what you want, it isn't necessarily a requirement..at least for me.

[Tiel_Princess]

I got Kramer at the Petsmart that I work at. Even before I worked there I thought that this store was the best in Gainesville. We really keep our animals well and everyone is healthy.

[dino24]

Michael,
Our RB2 came to us from someone else who bought her from Petco and when she bought her she was given the certificate and everything that came from the breeder that has her hatch date and her testing info on it, vaccination info and all that good stuff. I thought all pet stores gave you that info when they sold you birds of where they aquired the bird, etc.

[RachelLynn]

Ok now this has me wondering.... My B&G's leg band has 3 letters which I'm guessing is the breeders initials? and then it says 89. What does that stand for? He is around 3.5 years old so I know he wasn't born in 89. Now I'm really confused LOL.

[Tiki]

My first cockatiel came from a pet shop almost 5 years ago. I shudder to think how ill-informed I was about birds then. Since then, I have joined a couple birdclubs, mostly for the journals, because the clubs are breeder orientated rather than clubs for Parronts. But now I would only buy direct from a breeder either at their home or at a bird fair.