Anyone else bothered by impulse buyers?

[MissV]

Originally Posted by brdfvr

The pet store I got Skyy from said that Green cheek conures were not good apartment birds and they were loud, then they pointed me to their baby Sun Conures! And this was one of the store managers!

Ahahaha! That's terrible! Oh my.

Maybe they were very young? Young suns can seem sooooo quiet and adorable. It's once they start testing out their growing vocals that everything turns around! I used to say to Luca, "What happened to those adorable little cheeps you used to make?"


I hate when store people have no clue what they're talking about. And I swear sometimes they just make crap up. I understand that sometimes they're just trying to make the sale and get the bird a good home, but lying to your customers is NOT the way to ensure a good match!

The girl who "took care" of the birds in the petco I got Karis from told me that "he" (turned out a she) would grow LARGER than a sun conure.
Uh...sure.

Then she told me that the sound he was making was the sound they made when they were getting ready to talk.

....
....
...


No. No, they just make that sound naturally. All the time. Maybe she meant when they're getting ready to talk DUSKY LANGUAGE?

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by brdfvr

The pet store I got Skyy from said that Green cheek conures were not good apartment birds and they were loud, then they pointed me to their baby Sun Conures! And this was one of the store managers!

HA! That's hilarious. Did you know better at the time or did you take their word for it?

I got my sun from an animal shelter, the kind that deals mainly with cats and dogs. I think they did a fairly good job considering that they weren't set up for birds at all. Stewie (they called him Martin) was kept in the bunny room.

I had to wait a week before I could take him home, and in that week I needed to show them a picture of the cage I have for him (that had to meet their minimum size requirements) and read a bunch of materials they gave me. They also made me sit down with an adoption coordinator and talk through everything I needed. They handed me a list of *avian* vets in the area and a coupon for a discount if I had him checked out within a week of bringing him home. They did not, however, require a home visit although the agreement was that they could do one later if they decided it was necessary.

All in all, not a bad experience considering it wasn't a parrot rescue. And I think they did what they could to prevent an "impulse" adoption. And they knew more about parrots than I would have expected considering they don't really deal with them often (outside of an aviary full of budgies that I don't think ever got adopted out).

Later, I got my pionus from a young woman on Craig's List, who obviously didn't have a formal process, but she did tell me she turned a lot of people away. She said I was the first person to contact her who didn't seem "crazy" or way too inexperienced. She said that reading my blog made her feel much better about me as a candidate to take her baby. She was not in a huge rush to rehome Mika and seemed very willing to wait for the right person. But I think she was also one of those people who kind of got into the bird-owning thing without too much preparation. I think she only had Mika for about a year and a half before she realized that her lifestyle just wasn't conducive to owning a medium-sized parrot.

Even though I think I'm a relatively decent bird owner, I still think that I wasn't really prepared. Getting Stewie was sort of an impulsive decision since I wasn't even looking to get a bird when I found him listed for adoption, and I hadn't realized just how loud he'd end up being (I'm not sure you can ever be fully prepared for a sun conure). I took more time deciding and researching my second bird, but also wasn't entirely prepared for how much Stewie would hate her. I educated myself on the worst case scenario, but I didn't actually think it would come to that.

So in my case, I think the places I got my birds from did a decent job vetting me all things considered. And I did research, but research only gets you so far... all the sad stories show that you need to do at least SOME research.... but sometimes all the research in the world doesn't prepare you for the reality.

Unfortunately, the general public just isn't that educated about birds and the info isn't that easy to find unless you're really looking. People who'd never consider buying a puppy on a whim, decide to get a bird. Not sure how we can change that mentality on a large scale, but having a friendly, helpful and accessbile forum where newbies can easily ask questions is a good place to start.

[bakerfamily]

With my African Grey I kind of came into the situation. My ex boyfriend in high school bought it on an impulse and didn't really give it too much attention. I stayed with him at his families house a majority of the time. I learned about her just by spending time with her and other than looking for a few things here and there when I wondered why she did certain things. I didn't do much research, but like I said she was technically his families. They thought it was just a pet to be kept in a cage. But I was always left alone over there, sometimes for days so I spent a lot of time with her outside of it too. Unfortunately that relationship ended after three years. And have always wanted a bird of my own since then. So Thursday I began looking at craigslist while my kids were taking a nap (initially for a cat) and saw the add for my greenwing. It was an impulse decision for sure. It had been years since I had been around a bird. And we were scheduled to go meet with her the next day. Well we hashed out the price for her through e-mail and came to an agreement. She came with her cage, and all of that. The re-homing fee wasnt out there I didnt think. And when we went to meet her, her and I bonded instantly. I knew I had to bring her home that day. So we did and I have been refreshing myself while she got used to being here. We have only had one incidence where I was unsure of what was going on and that was when she would want to be with me constantly but at the same time just be so mean. She was treating me like a battered wife. But I asked around on here, and did some more research and she has been doing so much better. So it lasted all of a day. The family that gave her to us, had asked if they could come visit her from time to time and I agreed, and they of course asked me about my experience with larger birds. And I told them. When we got home, I shot them an e-mail jsut to let them know how the first night had gone and the ride home and all of that. And still have not gotten word back from them on anything. I am glad that we decided to get her. If we hadn't I would have been very sad. She is my fourth child, really, and just a big baby herself.

[brdfvr]

Originally Posted by MissV

Ahahaha! That's terrible! Oh my.

Maybe they were very young? Young suns can seem sooooo quiet and adorable. It's once they start testing out their growing vocals that everything turns around! I used to say to Luca, "What happened to those adorable little cheeps you used to make?"


I hate when store people have no clue what they're talking about. And I swear sometimes they just make crap up. I understand that sometimes they're just trying to make the sale and get the bird a good home, but lying to your customers is NOT the way to ensure a good match!

The girl who "took care" of the birds in the petco I got Karis from told me that "he" (turned out a she) would grow LARGER than a sun conure.
Uh...sure.

Then she told me that the sound he was making was the sound they made when they were getting ready to talk.

....
....
...


No. No, they just make that sound naturally. All the time. Maybe she meant when they're getting ready to talk DUSKY LANGUAGE?

Yes, they were young Sun Conures but they were selling them for $600 where Skyy was only 200. And they didn't want to sell me Skyy because they say she bites! I was wondering how this little Green Cheek was supposed to get out of that store if that is what they were telling people. She had already been there for 2 years. And they told me that she was 1 when on her leg band it says '07. ROFL!

I agree that a lot of times employees will make things up. When I worked at a pet store, I made it my mission that each bird/ rodent/ fish I sold the people were well aware of what it took to care for that animal. They even had care sheets that I gave to each person that inquired about them and made them read before getting their animal. Some people even realized that animal was not for their family after reading them

Dusky Language, so funny. I was wondering, are Dusky's very loud? I heard that they were supposed to be very quiet, but not sure if that's just quiet overall or just for the Aritangas.

[brdfvr]

Originally Posted by jenseits

HA! That's hilarious. Did you know better at the time or did you take their word for it?

Oh yes, I volunteered for a bird rescue for 2 years and even though I loved the Suns, Nandays and Jendays, I was determined to enjoy them at other people's houses, LOL! I even fell in love with a Jenday named Nacho, he even started to regurge for me since he would always be with me (which he never did for anyone else).I did feel bad because he would always be left in his cage when the larger birds were all let out. I loved him so much. I may own one one day they are so wonderful, just never in an apartment.

[hsmoscout]

Originally Posted by brdfvr

Yes, they were young Sun Conures but they were selling them for $600 where Skyy was only 200. And they didn't want to sell me Skyy because they say she bites! I was wondering how this little Green Cheek was supposed to get out of that store if that is what they were telling people. She had already been there for 2 years. And they told me that she was 1 when on her leg band it says '07. ROFL!

I agree that a lot of times employees will make things up. When I worked at a pet store, I made it my mission that each bird/ rodent/ fish I sold the people were well aware of what it took to care for that animal. They even had care sheets that I gave to each person that inquired about them and made them read before getting their animal. Some people even realized that animal was not for their family after reading them

Dusky Language, so funny. I was wondering, are Dusky's very loud? I heard that they were supposed to be very quiet, but not sure if that's just quiet overall or just for the Aritangas.

That's the problem with big chain pet stores. They only care about making the sale. We were going to get Peanut from PETCO for $145 until the guy that was the "bird person" and took care of the birds said that if we really wanted a a nice pet with quality service to go to Varietees (the bird store). We followed his advice, and got Peanut for $75 at the bird store. It seems that the bird store's prices are always half of what PETCO charges. Sun conure: Petco: $600
bird store: $300
"Fancy" green cheek conure (that's PETCO's name for a cinnamon green cheek):
PETCO: $300
bird store: $175

[RockysMom]

I see that a lot to with my pet stores. When I decided to get Rocky I looked around at the pet stores and they wanted like 600!! So I found a breeder and got him for 350.00! Pet stores are crazy with there prices!!

[FirstTimeBirdie]

oh yeah, my mom said she met a lady that does bird rescue and she told her to call her if she had any parrots available. I was like MA, NO. You don't even pay attention to your cockatiel and have zero time (she's always running around doing something). I told her, a parrot is a huge responsibility, not throw some seeds in a bowl and you can take off for a day or two. They don't even really eat seeds....LOL I know the way she thinks. She was like, yeah, you're right. How do you think I ended up with 6 dogs?

[MissV]

Originally Posted by hsmoscout

That's the problem with big chain pet stores. They only care about making the sale. We were going to get Peanut from PETCO for $145 until the guy that was the "bird person" and took care of the birds said that if we really wanted a a nice pet with quality service to go to Varietees (the bird store). We followed his advice, and got Peanut for $75 at the bird store. It seems that the bird store's prices are always half of what PETCO charges. Sun conure: Petco: $600
bird store: $300
"Fancy" green cheek conure (that's PETCO's name for a cinnamon green cheek):
PETCO: $300
bird store: $175

First, about Dusky loudness...no, they're very quiet. But Karis picked up on Luca's screaming and tries to match her. (She fails, but it's pretty loud...she can't keep it up though!) I think she just enjoys being loud and the excitement is causes (in Luca). We're breaking her of that right now by not responding to it...Luca did so well retraining at that, and Karis is already showing sliiight improvement. She needs time, being a pseudo-rescue and all ^^

The only catch is that a Dusky can apparently hit this high note that is quite ear piercing!


As far as petco...ugh. I got Luca (a sun) for 250. That's right....250. But that's because the guy really didn't know what he was doing. He was a game breeder who ended up with two breeding suns one of this friends didn't want and tried his hand at the profession! He did a good job though with the help of his daugther...I finished hand feeding Luca myself--part of why he charged such a low price. She was only 6 weeks when I took her home.

Karis, on the other hand, set me back about 495, I think it was? Rather overpriced for a Dusky, but I was happy to pay it to give her a better life than I knew she'd have with the issues she was expressing.

I've seen their suns for ridiculous prices and their greencheeks are not too fary behind..


And ooooh, I wondered what the crap a "fancy" greencheek was! I saw the color mutation and thought it was cinnamon..


Reminds me of the "fancy" rats they sell. When all rats in this country are the same species!!

Im not sure why they think adding that word onto something makes it any better...they perfect as they are.

[hsmoscout]

Originally Posted by MissV

First, about Dusky loudness...no, they're very quiet. But Karis picked up on Luca's screaming and tries to match her. (She fails, but it's pretty loud...she can't keep it up though!) I think she just enjoys being loud and the excitement is causes (in Luca). We're breaking her of that right now by not responding to it...Luca did so well retraining at that, and Karis is already showing sliiight improvement. She needs time, being a pseudo-rescue and all ^^

The only catch is that a Dusky can apparently hit this high note that is quite ear piercing!


As far as petco...ugh. I got Luca (a sun) for 250. That's right....250. But that's because the guy really didn't know what he was doing. He was a game breeder who ended up with two breeding suns one of this friends didn't want and tried his hand at the profession! He did a good job though with the help of his daugther...I finished hand feeding Luca myself--part of why he charged such a low price. She was only 6 weeks when I took her home.

Karis, on the other hand, set me back about 495, I think it was? Rather overpriced for a Dusky, but I was happy to pay it to give her a better life than I knew she'd have with the issues she was expressing.

I've seen their suns for ridiculous prices and their greencheeks are not too fary behind..


And ooooh, I wondered what the crap a "fancy" greencheek was! I saw the color mutation and thought it was cinnamon..


Reminds me of the "fancy" rats they sell. When all rats in this country are the same species!!

Im not sure why they think adding that word onto something makes it any better...they perfect as they are.

I think the funniest thing is that those "fancy" green cheeks, which at the bird shop are called cinnamon green cheeks (like they should be), are actually the cheepest green cheeks at the bird shop. Normal GCCs are $200. I guess PETCO thought since it was a "color mutation" they though it "fancy" so they could charge more for it.