Neglected Bare-eyed Too

[savagem13]

There is a pet store near me that has a BE2 in residence. The bird is in a cage that is no bigger than 24" by 18" by 36" tall. Today when I went in the store, he didn't have anything to eat in his food cups. He has perches that are too small, and a single toy that is never changed hanging from the top of the cage. I've never seen him out of the cage when I was in the store. Today his nails were waaaayyy too long. He is also kind of mangy looking--I'm sure he hasn't been bathed in months. Cage always seems pretty clean, but that's about the only good thing I can say. All of the birds in the store had sunflower seeds with a few kibbles mixed in for food. But like I said--today, this guy's dish was empty. I've asked before whether he was for sale, and they told me he was a personal pet. He says "hello," and sings and bobs his head when I talk to him. Today when I put my finger in through the bars, he tried to grab my finger with his foot, but was having a hard time because of his nails. I soooooo want to bring this guy home, get him vetted, on a good diet, in a bigger cage, and load him up with toys. I feel so sorry for him! Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this poor little guy a better life? He's so sweet, and seems so sad.

By the way--I've only posted a couple of times, but I read all the time. I've posted once or twice about my "rescued" goffins that I purchased off of craigslist about 8 months ago. She is doing sooooo well now! I just wish I could bring this poor little corella home and shower him with love!

[SDavid]

I have actually bought toys to give to birds in pet stores. Last week I fixed a broken perch for a Timneh that had been broken and down for weeks without anyone in the store replacing it. It's so tough to see something like that and you feel so helpless. And mad! A pet store should know better. How hard is it for a caring employee to mist a bird, take it out, interact with it, talk to it, give it some fun food, fresh fruits and veggies now and then. A little would go so far. But, so many stores have "sleeping" employees who would barely notice a dead bird much less a neglected one.

"Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this poor little guy a better life?"

I wish I did but I could use those suggestions myself.

[savagem13]

The thing that galls me is that I believe this little guy is a personal pet of one of the owners! They have a couple of other birds in the store for sale that look pretty good and have food. But no one has toys, and another bird that doesn't have a price on it (which usually means not for sale) is in really rough shape too. I think that one is a pionus. I mean, why would an owner neglect their own bird for all the world to see? And why not sell him if they don't even care enough to cut his toenails or make sure his food dishes don't go empty? Almost makes me want to become a thief--steal the little guy and whisk him off to the vet. Almost....

[Tom Lawless]

They say everyone has a price. You could pursue it a little farther. I was also thinking the same thing about asking if you could buy some toys for his cage. If they get used to seeing you interacting with him and doing some nice things for him they might soften and give him up.

[savagem13]

I'm so timid about these things. I'm so worried about offending anyone. I'm afraid that they would be offended if I offered to buy him a toy. I so, so, so wanted to ask if I could cut his toenails today...but I chickened out! Poor little guy--he only has two perches, and they are too small to begin with. With those extremely long toenails, I don't even know how he managed to hang on! I spent quite some time today just holding "hands" with him, and talking to him. Ugh! I hate feeling so powerless to do anything about this!

[becca623]

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't give him a couple toys. Go ahead, offer to clip his nails. What's the worst they can do? Tell you no? Anyway, they are offending you and this little guy by leaving him like that.
One of our pet stores is like that. They have a 20+ male blue front amazon "pet". His beak and nails are horribly overgrown. His cage is directly in the path of a constant draft. He has no fresh food. They couldn't care less. They won't listen to anyone.
It's scary when you consider that these people are not only selling animals to other people but telling them how to "properly" care for the poor animals.
Good luck!

[Sprecker]

Just ask if s/he is for sale. If it is consider taking him home, if you can afford it that is. If he is for sale I am sure the pet store owners won't take offence to some one offering some advice like, "I would love to buy a bird like that. Too bad he seems to be neglected. Would probably be hard to care for a bird that is in that condition. Do you mind if I cut his nails so I can hold him?" Any petstore I know of knows that a held animal is a sold animal. They may let you do it. Then after you hold him tell them you are sorry but you can't afford him but would like to maybe buy a toy or 2 for him/her instead. There is no way the store owner/manager/employee will say no to a sale.
Just check in with him every once in a while and see if the owner kept the toys in the cage or tried to resell them after you left.
It tough seeing a little darling in that kind of condition. I have purchaced 3 fids because of the condition they were left in. The most recent was a moustache parrakeet that was caged with 2 cockateils after he was moved from a cage where the other birds had totally plucked his tail feathers. I was crushed when I saw the little guy. He seemed happy and was playing but I couldn't believe they left him with the other birds knowing what happened with the last cage he was in. Instant sale for me.
The other 2 I bouhgt when SuperPet was bought out by Petsamart. They took all their parrots that used to share a room with cages and play gyms, and put them in small display boxes with no contact with the other birds other than sound. I couldn't believe it. So I bought a Red belly and a Senegal. I got the senegal day one after the store changed names. The Red belly I had to save for and took almost a year to get. S/he is here now and is slowly coming around. ALl that time in the small box has made the poor guy a little clumsy and jumpy. He has a big cage and he just sits on the food dish all day. That's all he did at the store aswell.
Breaks my heart to see these things happen.

[savagem13]

Thanks for everyone's responses. I've just got to get my nerve up and ask again if he is for sale. And I agree...they are offending me and probably others by neglecting this poor guy, so I need to get over my worry about offending them. I will try really, really hard to make myself go in there and be more assertive.

[Monica]

Usually in a situation such as that, it may be best to contact animal control and see if they have any bird experienced people there. However, so long as the bird has food and water, they may do nothing about the situation.

After that however, it's a good idea to speak with the owners, and if you'd want to buy him then you'd have to consider that they may want $600 or more for the bird... would you be able to pay that, plus new supplies and vet visits?

[savagem13]

I really can't afford much for a bird right now, as I've just started a new job. I would put the vet visit on my credit card, and I'd have to get a new cage, too. I'm going to try to stop by the place again tomorrow, and see if the bird at least has food this time. And maybe his wings clipped! I mean, at least he has visitors to entertain him all day long. So this kind of makes up for the lack of toys. But what about no food? What about lousy food when he actually has some? What about the overgrown toenails? Poor bird.