I think ive been conned ???

[honeybear]

hi.. i bought a cockatiel a few days ago ,as i wanted a companion for my female tiel as i am out a lot through the day. I placed the new bird a pearl Lutino in a seperate cage for quarantine time etc. i bought the bird from a suppose good pet shop and paid £70 (ouch) !! which i know is a lot but was told it was about 18 weeks old and was hand reared.
Well it seems scared stiff if i go near the cage and hisses all the time ,it goes mad when i change the water or fill its food.But not only that but it seems a big bird compared to my 20 week female that i already have.
Its tail is very long compared and i looked on its leg band it has 2004 and 06 as well as some letters and 224 on it, so im asuming that 2004 is the year of birth?????.
Im so angry if thats the year of birth as i was told it was only 18 weeks and hand fed.The bird is a lovely looking bird but the way its acting its scared as hell of humans ect. Apparently the same shop sells unhand reared birds at £25 so they have made £45 out of me

[catschair]

Your new baby sounds very nervous at being in a new home. Could you handle him in the store and now he has changed? In any event, as you probably know, it will just take time and patience to bring him around. Try talking to him quietly without trying to handle; offer a treat and see if he will eat it from your hand, etc. There are a lot of great threads about socializing a new nervous baby. We would love to see pics of your new (albeit pricey) baby. Wishing you many happy years together.

[birdlady49]

It's possible that the breeder didn't use up all the 2004 bands and is putting them on newer babies. That's one reason I don't like bands, although identification is the law ... at least in Colorado USA, where I live. The "06" is probably the sixth band of that set and the other number is probably the breeder's identification.

Cockatiels are fairly easy to tame and turn into loving companions. Just be patient and work with him on a daily basis.

Yes, you probably were ripped off but now your heart is probably being tugged by this new little cutie. So just chalk it off and think of it as offering a loving home to a little guy who will be with you for a long time.

[Monica]

This lutino could be a female. Year's are usually just two numbers, however it's also possible that some breeders may use the entire year... if so, your new tiel is probably 3 years old, and 06 is the birds ID. Otherwise, 06 would be the year of birth, and 2004 is the birds ID.

Regardless, it may very well be that the tiel was tame at one point in tame, but being moved to a new area, the bird is scared. Even if she wasn't tame, it's still possible to tame her down.

I suggest you go back to the store to see if you can find anyone who knows anything more about her...

[honeybear]

Hi,, thankyou very much for your replys. Just to update you all that i have just had a lovely lady down to check her out (use to breed them). She had a good look at the leg band,and it is 2005 (05) on the band. I saw it wrong,mind you the bird would not keep still as i was reading it.
Any way thats still 2 years older than what the shop said.The lady also said its no way tame like they said.But i will try my best with her as she is a lovely pretty bird im sure with lots of love and attention ill get there.
I shall mind you be getting in touch with the shop tomo and let them know as i think its not fair to future buyers of their birds to be told wrong info.
If i was told they was not sure about age and tameness when i bought her then i could accept that and they should of sold the bird at the reduced price that they advertise untamed tiels like £25 and not £70. Once again thankyou for your replys and i shall keep you posted how we get on with the taming.

[janejacinto]

Here we go again, handfeed.

Did you ask or did they say, how long was the bird handfeed, when did it stop handfeeding, or any thing else other than handfeed? Some people will grab the bird, shove food down it and put it right back into the holding area. Others will get the bird, feed it, talk to it, play with it, teach it to behave.

Now when you stop doing with a bird, put it in a cage and not interact with it, it will not stay tame. So a good bird can turn very fast, the young ones change very fast. This can be a good thing also. You could tame it really fast also.

Good luck
Jane

[sweetpeaches]

yeah, and here we go again...another pet store deceiving the buyer including the age...hmmmmm wonder if it's the same chain where i got my lovie????????? i'm sorry to keep harping on this, but as i shared in another thread a different owner purchased a lovie a month before mine and he had to return it to the store because it had pfbd! and through another bird forum another owner purchased a lovie from the same chain store different location and it tested positive for this terrible disease! the first owner returned his lovie. the second owner returned hers, went back to the store to purchase another one and they sold her the same lovie!!!! sorry...i'm just really down on petstores right now. especially if my lovie ends up being positive.

[catschair]

I'm sorry that you have had such bad experiences. I've dealt with great petstores and horrid ones -- just like car mechanics (or any service industry). It always pays to be cautious and be sure to tell your friends about the good folks you find to be sure they get the business they deserve.

Oh....and don't let me get anyone started on mechanics , just trying to make a point

[sweetpeaches]

thanks for the support. you are right. there's bad and good everywhere.

[honeybear]

Originally Posted by janejacinto

Here we go again, handfeed.

Did you ask or did they say, how long was the bird handfeed, when did it stop handfeeding, or any thing else other than handfeed? Some people will grab the bird, shove food down it and put it right back into the holding area. Others will get the bird, feed it, talk to it, play with it, teach it to behave.

Now when you stop doing with a bird, put it in a cage and not interact with it, it will not stay tame. So a good bird can turn very fast, the young ones change very fast. This can be a good thing also. You could tame it really fast also.

Good luck
Jane

Hi just say, in the shop cage where the bird was , was a large notice saying
"these baby cockatiels are handreared so very friendly and very tame £70.00."
I rang the shop yesreday to mention about the birds age etc and the snotty manager said he could bet his life on it that the bird was only 4 and a half months old and tame,, so i offered to take the bird in to show him the year of birth on the leg band 2005, to which he replyed " oh it must of got muddled up in with the babys" and then offered me the £45 difference back.
I was offered a 5 month hand reared from a breeder i met the other day so i went and got a male grey. He is lovely and friendly and already says "what you doing". I didnt know they could talk so early!!!. He is just starting to molt and he has a few grey feathers replacing his baby barred ones etc.
I think these birds make lovely pets and think pet shops should have more knowledge on the live stock they are selling.