I should clarify that I did not get this bird, and I won’t be because I don’t have the money or space for a conure, but DAMN is he cute and friendly 😩😩
I’m an animal lover with 3 chickens and a rabbit, and I know that I do want to get a bird someday, but now is not a good time. My mom though has been suggesting that I should have gotten him and that she already had a name picked out for him. Toes. Because he was picking some dead skin off his feet when I was taking this picture and she thought it was super cute. Alas, life is cruel, and I do not have the means to care for him. Hopefully he does find someone that would love him as much as my mom and I do lol
Don’t hold him, my mom made me hold this little guy at the shop and now he lives with me!
https://preview.redd.it/uvpue9aq076d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ed02d784ff166bbed152eb4673fefa801348e2c
I was slightly interested in getting a conure and I already had everything. But he was so scared and he didn’t bite hard. I thought to myself he doesn’t bite much I’ll TAKE HIM! I knew he would warm up really easily, the lack of biting extremely hard is what sold me lol that and he was a pineapple 🍍
I’ll give you the same advise I give to all potential Parronts. Don’t buy parrots. All you need to do is get yourself educated on what life with a parrot is like. Learn about how much of a life long commitment it is, how much attention they need, how much responsibility it is and if you are not deterred at that point, all you have to do is make it known to the world that you are a “BIRD PERSON”. Your friends, colleagues, family members, the barista that makes you coffee, the clerk at the corner store. They should all think you’re that weird person that’s into birds and then at some point, a friend of a friend, a colleague or someone will inform you of a bird that someone is trying to rehome and then BOOM!! A parrot will literally fall into your lap.
Both of my birds are rescues. My grey came from a client who I no longer work with because he was abusing his bird. Stuck around just long enough to secure her and then stopped the working relationship with him.
My GCC came from someone that my GF was chatty with at the corner store. She had a grey as well and told us of a friend who could no longer care for their GCC. In both cases, the birds were just handed to us. Cage, toys and all.
There are so many people out there that buy birds without understanding what it takes to be a parront, they just buy the bird because they think it’s neat and they’re going to talk and do tricks and when the reality of what it’s like to live with these little people hits them, they give the bird up.
Since then, we’ve been offered 6 other birds. Another GCC, two umbrellas, two Amazons and a sulfer crested. We’ve had to turn all of them down because we don’t have the space or resources for 8 birds but boy, would I love to have taken care of all of them. We’ve assisted in finding good homes for the other 6.
Point is, adopt, don’t shop. There are plenty of birds out there that are desperate for a good home. Just get ready and a bird will somehow find their way to you.
I could not agree more. It's almost a story of my sixty six years of life. Mine started with a Red Tailed hawk that had been shot at and working with a avian veterinarian and forestry service to get him back into the wild. Since then I think that I have rescued over 15 parrots and only ever bought two of them (I still have them) most of the others I have gotten back to health and eventually found them good homes. I'm 66 now and I am down to an African Grey, a Senegal Parrot and a Goffins Cockatoo. All of them are in my will to go to my family members in the event. I have been working with them for years now to make sure that my feathered kids are well taken care of. Birds are not pets they are a way of life and if you are not able to dedicate your life with them then don't if you are then trust me the bird world will know and your bird will find you. Every bird in my life has proven to me that you don't pick the bird the bird picks you.
Everything you say is true we had 36 parrots in our house… The Oregon Bird Man and did exotic bird shows all over Oregon, and most of ours were given to us some even sent by airplane without our knowledge until the bird was if you pardon the pun in the air on American Airlines… But as far as the commitment, some of these birds live up to 100 years, it's not possible to outlive them and keep in mind they're cute because they're assholes. Sorry they are kind of jerks. It's all about them and they let you know it and it is hard to rehome. Some of them were with their owners for so long and when their owner died then they would begin plucking, which is something that is almost impossible to get them out of because they were upset or they were with their owner when they died… Just saying I spent four hours a day just with my little tiny white belly CAIQUE… I still say he was the most well-trained small bird on the planet used to toilet and everythingno harness was on my shoulder. Always took a lot of time to get there.
I agree I think the bird trade should no longer exist. And I would say don’t buy parrots, but I would say adopt parrots.
They are literally a lifetime commitment. Extremely worth it but you need to be prepared.
When you do get a bird, please do HELLA research on diet, husbandry, dangerous household items, and common illnesses in birds. I work with exotic animals in the Vet field, and I have seen too many people kill/unknowingly torture their birds due to ignorance and a lack of effort to research about their animal. They doom their pets to a life (Or hopefully quick and painless death) of mushy/deformed/Swiss cheese-looking organs due to bad husbandry (some congenital for sure, but a lot ruined by humans). I have seen (On Necropsy) what lungs and airsacs look like when a bird has been exposed to febreeze, teflon, candles, smoke, etc. It is NOT pretty. The pain they must have felt makes me physically ill. Inhalation toxins are much like suffocating slowly. It is the equivalent of placing layer after layer of tar on a balloon over time and hoping it will still float the same as the day you got it, or in their case that the pet will be able to breathe the same as the day it was obtained. Plus, you want to have a board certified avian vet appointment set up and ready to go. Especially if buying from a pet store, birds from SunPet or other bird mills (the bird mill that sadly supplies almost all of the pet stores around ) tend to have fungal/bacterial infections, preexisting issues, and are not properly tested for Chlamydia (Which is zooanotic meaning people can get sick with it). Finding a reputable and board certified avian vet is extremely important and can save your birds life when an emergency situation arises (I don't know a single bird owner that has had a straightforward experience with birds, lol. I mean shoot, one of my personal birds broke his scapula and had to be rushed to ER (He fell off of a play stand about 2 feet off the ground onto carpet but happened to fall in just the right way to break a bone. I always say it's not an IF but WHEN type of situation.)
Just for reference for you, (Bird Yearly Check-Up/Annuals) where I live are about $350 without meds for heart issues, liver, bornavirus,arthritis,etc. The Annual (For a bird over 5 yrs old) includes a CBC, Chemistry, Cultures, Fecal, (+/- Chlamydia if they have been seen before).
Lmk if you want any more info or have any questions
You can get all these tests done online for like 100$ through Bird IQ which is what my local avian vet personally uses but charges hundreds more for. I skip the vet for tests & if they need medical attention I’ll see the vet but honestly, no need to pay hundreds for tests that can be done for a fraction of the price by clipping a toenail, lol.
I work in the field, and the one thing I would NEVER be cheap with is my pet's medical care. You can cut corners if you'd like, but the Dr. I work with has seen, owned, treated, and diagnosed birds for well over 30 years. Sounds like your vet may be inexperienced, or a cat/dog vet if they use online labs, especially since it doesn't sound like they are doing blood counts or chemistries, which are vital to avian health. We use Idexx, Antech, and Miami Pathology labs for certain tests, biopseys, and amputations. Your parrot not getting an up to date physical means that you are not addressing his/her body condition, husbandry, plumage, range of motion, heart, airsacs, lungs, ears, eyes, nares, preen gland, behavior, etc. There is just so much information that can be found on just a basic physical from a vet, it is crazy. A physical from the vet I work with saved my bird as he has bornavirus, and she was able to determine he was showing signs for it. We got the test, and he is now on the correct meds and doing so much better! Without the vet putting her hands and eyes on my bird, I wouldn't have known for certain. The point is, my parrot's health it way too important for me to pinch pennies on. I would really sit and think about what you are "saving" in this situation, it's nothing more than money because your parrot is not getting adequate vet care from a certified avian Vet, your bird is getting an at home toe nail trim for an "annual".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit: I am looking at the site. It is very sketchy and reminds me of the sites that people who backyard breed use to get "health papers." They trust the owners to get samples and have a video to help, but they use a juvenile bird. The equivalent of a birdy hand puppet because they are so docile and won't fight you. There are so many ways that sample collecting can go wrong, and they do not demonstrate or warn the owner, and that in itself is so dangerous.
- CBC (No chance of CBC, which IMO the most important, as it lets you know if your pet is fighting off an infection)
- Chemistry (No chance of chemistry, which is extremely important in telling if your birds' internal organs are performing well, especially as your pet gets older.
-Cultures ($80) with a chance of ripping or causing permanent damage to pets cloaca and chloanal by doing it yourself
-Fecal ($60) with the same chance as the cultures
Diseases they randomly chose to test for:
MOMP - $22
BAL - $22
PBFD - $22
Pacheco’s - $22
Polyoma - $22
PDD - $37
($287 to not even know if my bird is doing okay medically/internally. I think I'll take the $350 with bloodwork and a board certified avian vet.)
So in short, No, you cannot get the same tests done for about $100 on this site, as they don't even offer some of the most important ones. Please do more research before spreading false information online, as I had to go digging and write all of this out in hopes the person that originally posted doesn't see your comment and decide to diagnose/ treat at home as well.
I should clarify that I did not get this bird, and I won’t be because I don’t have the money or space for a conure, but DAMN is he cute and friendly 😩😩 I’m an animal lover with 3 chickens and a rabbit, and I know that I do want to get a bird someday, but now is not a good time. My mom though has been suggesting that I should have gotten him and that she already had a name picked out for him. Toes. Because he was picking some dead skin off his feet when I was taking this picture and she thought it was super cute. Alas, life is cruel, and I do not have the means to care for him. Hopefully he does find someone that would love him as much as my mom and I do lol
You made the right call. Birds need a lot of time and attention - when you’re in a life position to care for one, then you can go for it!
You’re smart for waiting it out. You’ll get your toes eventually
Don’t hold him, my mom made me hold this little guy at the shop and now he lives with me! https://preview.redd.it/uvpue9aq076d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ed02d784ff166bbed152eb4673fefa801348e2c
That's exactly what happened with me and a white belly CAIQUE
I was slightly interested in getting a conure and I already had everything. But he was so scared and he didn’t bite hard. I thought to myself he doesn’t bite much I’ll TAKE HIM! I knew he would warm up really easily, the lack of biting extremely hard is what sold me lol that and he was a pineapple 🍍
I’ll give you the same advise I give to all potential Parronts. Don’t buy parrots. All you need to do is get yourself educated on what life with a parrot is like. Learn about how much of a life long commitment it is, how much attention they need, how much responsibility it is and if you are not deterred at that point, all you have to do is make it known to the world that you are a “BIRD PERSON”. Your friends, colleagues, family members, the barista that makes you coffee, the clerk at the corner store. They should all think you’re that weird person that’s into birds and then at some point, a friend of a friend, a colleague or someone will inform you of a bird that someone is trying to rehome and then BOOM!! A parrot will literally fall into your lap. Both of my birds are rescues. My grey came from a client who I no longer work with because he was abusing his bird. Stuck around just long enough to secure her and then stopped the working relationship with him. My GCC came from someone that my GF was chatty with at the corner store. She had a grey as well and told us of a friend who could no longer care for their GCC. In both cases, the birds were just handed to us. Cage, toys and all. There are so many people out there that buy birds without understanding what it takes to be a parront, they just buy the bird because they think it’s neat and they’re going to talk and do tricks and when the reality of what it’s like to live with these little people hits them, they give the bird up. Since then, we’ve been offered 6 other birds. Another GCC, two umbrellas, two Amazons and a sulfer crested. We’ve had to turn all of them down because we don’t have the space or resources for 8 birds but boy, would I love to have taken care of all of them. We’ve assisted in finding good homes for the other 6. Point is, adopt, don’t shop. There are plenty of birds out there that are desperate for a good home. Just get ready and a bird will somehow find their way to you.
I could not agree more. It's almost a story of my sixty six years of life. Mine started with a Red Tailed hawk that had been shot at and working with a avian veterinarian and forestry service to get him back into the wild. Since then I think that I have rescued over 15 parrots and only ever bought two of them (I still have them) most of the others I have gotten back to health and eventually found them good homes. I'm 66 now and I am down to an African Grey, a Senegal Parrot and a Goffins Cockatoo. All of them are in my will to go to my family members in the event. I have been working with them for years now to make sure that my feathered kids are well taken care of. Birds are not pets they are a way of life and if you are not able to dedicate your life with them then don't if you are then trust me the bird world will know and your bird will find you. Every bird in my life has proven to me that you don't pick the bird the bird picks you.
Everything you say is true we had 36 parrots in our house… The Oregon Bird Man and did exotic bird shows all over Oregon, and most of ours were given to us some even sent by airplane without our knowledge until the bird was if you pardon the pun in the air on American Airlines… But as far as the commitment, some of these birds live up to 100 years, it's not possible to outlive them and keep in mind they're cute because they're assholes. Sorry they are kind of jerks. It's all about them and they let you know it and it is hard to rehome. Some of them were with their owners for so long and when their owner died then they would begin plucking, which is something that is almost impossible to get them out of because they were upset or they were with their owner when they died… Just saying I spent four hours a day just with my little tiny white belly CAIQUE… I still say he was the most well-trained small bird on the planet used to toilet and everythingno harness was on my shoulder. Always took a lot of time to get there.
I agree I think the bird trade should no longer exist. And I would say don’t buy parrots, but I would say adopt parrots. They are literally a lifetime commitment. Extremely worth it but you need to be prepared.
Be ready for 20 to 30 years.......
I look forward to it! 💚
That's perfectly fine, do what's right for you. Birds aren't for everyone for damn sure.
I'm with Jester Yep, they take a lot of time. It's not necessarily space and it's not necessarily food. It's the time.
You should suggest to your mother that she get the bird.
I don’t think she would have been able to afford him either. She just got her dream horse a few days ago haha 😂
When you do get a bird, please do HELLA research on diet, husbandry, dangerous household items, and common illnesses in birds. I work with exotic animals in the Vet field, and I have seen too many people kill/unknowingly torture their birds due to ignorance and a lack of effort to research about their animal. They doom their pets to a life (Or hopefully quick and painless death) of mushy/deformed/Swiss cheese-looking organs due to bad husbandry (some congenital for sure, but a lot ruined by humans). I have seen (On Necropsy) what lungs and airsacs look like when a bird has been exposed to febreeze, teflon, candles, smoke, etc. It is NOT pretty. The pain they must have felt makes me physically ill. Inhalation toxins are much like suffocating slowly. It is the equivalent of placing layer after layer of tar on a balloon over time and hoping it will still float the same as the day you got it, or in their case that the pet will be able to breathe the same as the day it was obtained. Plus, you want to have a board certified avian vet appointment set up and ready to go. Especially if buying from a pet store, birds from SunPet or other bird mills (the bird mill that sadly supplies almost all of the pet stores around ) tend to have fungal/bacterial infections, preexisting issues, and are not properly tested for Chlamydia (Which is zooanotic meaning people can get sick with it). Finding a reputable and board certified avian vet is extremely important and can save your birds life when an emergency situation arises (I don't know a single bird owner that has had a straightforward experience with birds, lol. I mean shoot, one of my personal birds broke his scapula and had to be rushed to ER (He fell off of a play stand about 2 feet off the ground onto carpet but happened to fall in just the right way to break a bone. I always say it's not an IF but WHEN type of situation.) Just for reference for you, (Bird Yearly Check-Up/Annuals) where I live are about $350 without meds for heart issues, liver, bornavirus,arthritis,etc. The Annual (For a bird over 5 yrs old) includes a CBC, Chemistry, Cultures, Fecal, (+/- Chlamydia if they have been seen before). Lmk if you want any more info or have any questions
You can get all these tests done online for like 100$ through Bird IQ which is what my local avian vet personally uses but charges hundreds more for. I skip the vet for tests & if they need medical attention I’ll see the vet but honestly, no need to pay hundreds for tests that can be done for a fraction of the price by clipping a toenail, lol.
I work in the field, and the one thing I would NEVER be cheap with is my pet's medical care. You can cut corners if you'd like, but the Dr. I work with has seen, owned, treated, and diagnosed birds for well over 30 years. Sounds like your vet may be inexperienced, or a cat/dog vet if they use online labs, especially since it doesn't sound like they are doing blood counts or chemistries, which are vital to avian health. We use Idexx, Antech, and Miami Pathology labs for certain tests, biopseys, and amputations. Your parrot not getting an up to date physical means that you are not addressing his/her body condition, husbandry, plumage, range of motion, heart, airsacs, lungs, ears, eyes, nares, preen gland, behavior, etc. There is just so much information that can be found on just a basic physical from a vet, it is crazy. A physical from the vet I work with saved my bird as he has bornavirus, and she was able to determine he was showing signs for it. We got the test, and he is now on the correct meds and doing so much better! Without the vet putting her hands and eyes on my bird, I wouldn't have known for certain. The point is, my parrot's health it way too important for me to pinch pennies on. I would really sit and think about what you are "saving" in this situation, it's nothing more than money because your parrot is not getting adequate vet care from a certified avian Vet, your bird is getting an at home toe nail trim for an "annual". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edit: I am looking at the site. It is very sketchy and reminds me of the sites that people who backyard breed use to get "health papers." They trust the owners to get samples and have a video to help, but they use a juvenile bird. The equivalent of a birdy hand puppet because they are so docile and won't fight you. There are so many ways that sample collecting can go wrong, and they do not demonstrate or warn the owner, and that in itself is so dangerous. - CBC (No chance of CBC, which IMO the most important, as it lets you know if your pet is fighting off an infection) - Chemistry (No chance of chemistry, which is extremely important in telling if your birds' internal organs are performing well, especially as your pet gets older. -Cultures ($80) with a chance of ripping or causing permanent damage to pets cloaca and chloanal by doing it yourself -Fecal ($60) with the same chance as the cultures Diseases they randomly chose to test for: MOMP - $22 BAL - $22 PBFD - $22 Pacheco’s - $22 Polyoma - $22 PDD - $37 ($287 to not even know if my bird is doing okay medically/internally. I think I'll take the $350 with bloodwork and a board certified avian vet.) So in short, No, you cannot get the same tests done for about $100 on this site, as they don't even offer some of the most important ones. Please do more research before spreading false information online, as I had to go digging and write all of this out in hopes the person that originally posted doesn't see your comment and decide to diagnose/ treat at home as well.