Heading for BirdMart in San Jose (late July)

[Abyssinian1]

Hi... I and the hubby are planning a weekend trip to San Jose the end of next month for the Bird Mart on Sunday, the 29th(?) of July. We're coming in from Colorado on Friday, will probably take in Great America on Saturday (unless I can convince the man to take me to the Japanese gardens in San Francisco) and the show on Sunday. I've honestly never been to a Bird Mart before, though my husband has and he says that I had to go to at least one. Apparently, the Mart that he's referring to is a pretty large one - he last went to the San Jose Bird Mart in 1993 or so, back when they were at the fairgrounds, which I think is where I think he picked up our current little green-ball-of-razor-blades (Oddly enough, he says that he chose her because she was so easy to handle - who knew?). What is the Mart like now? - Bird Marts aren't really something we have a great many of out here at 5000 some-odd feet above sea level and while we have a few specialty bird stores, it's nothing like what's out in California. Since I've found myself in a bird-owning household, I figured that it would be a decent place to pick up some new toys and potential training treats for Corina. Any good vendors I should know about for things specifically related to Mini-Macaws? Anything I get there will have to be packable.

And, are there any decent restaurants in the area that aren't attached to a hotel or part of a big national chain? I've heard there is a fantastic dim sum place somewhere in Sunnyvale, where the hubby used to live before he moved back to Colorado. Any recommendations?

Cheri

[tielmama]

No recommendations, but sounds like my kind of road trip! Have fun. Are birds packable?

[Tinna]

Originally Posted by tielmama

No recommendations, but sounds like my kind of road trip! Have fun. Are birds packable?

:LMAO: If you stay at a motel six you can pick up a bird that you can play with and take it home for you to enjoy. I recommend a cuddly conure as they won't sever fingers

[MiniMama]

HI Cheri - well, I feel like I"m obligated to respond to my fellow Coloradan. I just moved to N San Jose in March from Thornton. (I miss my CO terribly, though!!!) I live 2 miles from the Great America that you are referring to, and hte bird mart is right across the street from it. I walk to the Bird Mart everytime they have a show - Im that close.

My take: The shows in Denver are MUCH better. You won't be impressed out here, sorry. There are VERY FEW birds here, probably because of fear of diseases. It's mainly the small finch displays, and a handful of the bigger parrots. Plus, I've been to this show 3 times now, and ahve noticed some disturbing trends. Very few vendors have sanitizer, and if they do it is not enforced much. There are also a few breeders who keep bringing around these plucked, sad looking birds trying to farm them off. That's the most upsetting because one vendor in particular has stinky, malnourished birds and one of them is a yellow collared... This vendor is the southwest corner, FYI... They do have a nice selection of toys. But this was wierd - at the last show they had guns??? At first I thought they were toy guns, but then I realized no - they were actually shotgun type stuff. I don't know what the hell that was doing there. I'ts $7 to get in. the most you will get out of it are some good prices on toys, and check out the food display. I"ve gotten some high quality sprout and seed mix here.
Let me know about your travels. I could probably walk down and say hi!!

[MiniMama]

Oh - and to the first poster - yes, I packed up my three minis and drove from Denver to San JOse!! Oi. Picture yourself driving through the fine barren wilderness of Nevada and Utah with non stop chatter from your darling parrots...

[jimpierce7]

thats where Cricket came from!! Hopefully we will be there in July as well!!

[Willow]

My friends from the Parrot Adventures yahoo group run Forever Parrot and I think they do some of the bird marts in CA.

[Abyssinian1]

Actually, Dave and I only have four days, so we're flying out Friday, spending two days and then flying back Monday. A weekend trip if you will. The last time we took a real vacation was 2005 (last year was the wedding), so bringing a bird back wasn't really our goal. I wouldn't subject a brand-new bird to airline handling and I won't have a bird shipped - too much trauma. Once we get some things squared away at home, we're going to to try to adopt from a bird sanctuary out here - provided that the bird chooses us. We're going more for the the shopping. I've been on Dave to build her some new perches and if he hasn't done so in the next couple of weeks, I'm just going to plunk down money for the manzanita at the show, have it shipped and build them myself *makes nagging wifely growl ing noises*

I can understand why a reliable and contientious breeder wouldn't want to bring birds to a mart prêt à porter, if disease control is the issue. Since I haven't been to the San Jose Mart, I'm not familiar with the breeders that exhibit there, but I'd be leery of one that would let me take a bird home the same day, especially if I were from another state.

Dave told me that he decided on Corina when he saw how her breeder was handling her at the Bird Mart (I guess all babies are easy to handle). He and his ex didn't take her home right away - she was a little too young and still not quite weaned. Instead, he put money down on her and waited a few months, until she was completely off of the formula and was eating adult food on a daily basis. The breeder he purchased her from was happy to wait to give her to Dave and to finish weaning her before she went to a good home. So far, she's pretty well adjusted as far as being a mini-macaw, aside from being a one-person bird.

And I hear you about missing Colorado. I've grown up here and i start to get twitchy when I can't see my mountains. I lose all sense of direction - I mean, how can you tell East from West during the daytime if there are no mountains to tell you which way is West?!? I mean, you could wait around until sunset, but who has that kind of time? I do have some sympathy for a long car trip with three birds in the backseat - I did it once across country with a couple of dogs and decided that if I ever did it again, either I or the dogs would have to be sedated and neither of them had a license.

Cheri