Pet Stores

[Stasia]

Thanks everyone! Good suggestion Willow...I am located right outside of Milwaukee. WI if anyone knows a store to recommend, thanks for all the helpful advice! :)

Stasia

[Izzy2006]

do you know any good breeders in dfw?

[birdsnthings]

Someone needs to give me the definition of a "breeding mill".
USDA doesn't have one.
Alice

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by birdsnthings

Someone needs to give me the definition of a "breeding mill".
USDA doesn't have one.

I bet they don't have a definition for puppy mill, either. Doesn't mean that they don't exist.

To the original poster, it's great that you are here asking questions before you go out to buy a bird.

[The Outlaw]

Well, its been my experience that great birds can come from just about anywhere. With Petsmart, you get a bird that has been tested for beak and feather disease as well as pssitacosis. That's more than MOST breeders I know.

However, simply observing the conditions the birds are kept in is the best indicator. If it looks dirty, don't buy the bird.

Also, you might want to call your avian vet. Often, they will have birds needing homes posted on their bulletin boards. The added advantage is that the vet usually knows a little something about the bird and where it came from.

In smaller stores, its been my experience that you get more information, in general, about proper care and feeding. There are, of course, exceptions, but in the end, its up to YOU to know what to look for. Generally speaking, I try to avoid buying pets where the clerks are just out of high school and know nothing about their animals. I figure its not a "career" for them, and they really don't give a damn.

[Irish]

We purchased 3 of our birds from the same bird-specialty store, and are very happy with the friendly and helpful service we received. That was our own personal experience, though. Yours may differ, and I know that at least one other person's experience with our fav store also differed. We don't "do" chain stores, and we didn't go through a breeder and have a bird shipped because we want to be able to interact one on one with a bird before we purchase it, to see if the situation is compatible with everyone and bird involved.

2 of our birds were rescues from 2 different sources. We were also happy with those options, although the birds were older and came with some interesting and sometimes frustrating and painful "baggage". We were prepared for that, though. The important thing is that they all came from clean environments, and are, for the most part, healthy and happy members of our family.

[jamieo]

I've bought a Budgie, a Cockatiel, and a Jenday Conure from PetCo and not had any problems with them. The conure did have a problem with gram negative bacteria but a round of anitbiotics got that under control. I believe that was due to improper quarantine procedures at the store. The PetCos in this are a are reasonably good about keeping their cages clean and the birds fed. They also have toys in the parrot cages. The PetSmarts are a lot better, in my experience but I have not bought any birds from them... also, as another poster stated, PetSmart tests and vaccinates their birds and most breeders do not.

I have also bought from breeders and my vet's retail store- which is essentailly a rescue operation.

It is is extremely difficult to generalize experiences with retail pet stores, small breeders, locally owned pet stores, etc. You can find good,bad and horrible examples of each one pretty much anywhere you look. You simply have to evaluate them on a case by case basis.