re: pet store birds

Geez, I really should order all my pet food from catalogs and Internet sites. But, I go to pet stores for certain things, and as I went into one today I heard the unmistakable sound of a conure! Now, no bird could ever replace Tiki, but the house is a tad "pale" with a white cockatoo and a white/grey cockatiel, so I thought I'd at least look. Two little babies, one of which the clerk (who was about ten of me both up and out) said was amazingly friendly, and the other which still didn't like hands. We went into a room between all the cages that was probably the size of a phone booth, and he opened the cage doors for me one at a time. Well, both birds were situated much higher up than me, so felt dominant, and therefore were nippy and would'nt come to me. I took that as a sign, since if a bird likes me, I generally know it.

Anyway, the clerk blandly tells me that because of their short-staffing and limited hours at the store, they don't really have time to socialize the birds properly so they're not hand-tame. OMG! My heart is breaking for these little guys!!! Dollars to donuts they'll end up going to a newbie, bite, and end up relegated to a cage for the rest of their lives with no human interaction! My heart is just breaking. I know we can't save them all, but !!!

I hate going to the less-than-stellar pet stores. It just depresses me.

It's like that in most pet stores unfortunately. Unless they specialize in exotics they really don't have a clue what the birds needs are. I steer away from them.

It's especially sad if one of them might be a bird you've personally had contact with and they don't get sold for months. At least the good ones make an effort to keep them tame and they let you visit at the store so they are handled.

This was PetSmart, which doesn't have a very good reputation for selling birds. There's another one down the road, I believe it's Pet Supplies Plus, which has amazing birds. The staff plays with them, let's them out, let's them ride around on their shoulders, etc. They're so well-socialized!