An innocent visit to a pet store

[Anneka]

Yesterday, I decided to take a break from everything and visited a few pet stores... just to look around and maybe find another budgie I would not mind to bring home (which I did BTW).

Of course a visit to a pet store w/out looking at the birds would be pointless:rofl:One of the stores had a pair of blue masked lovebirds. They were sitting peacefully very close to each other, which looked simply adorable.

I stood in front of their cage observing them. One was more alarmed by my presence, the other was alert but not so alarmed. I asked the "bird person" to let me hold the calmer-looking one. He said their wings were not clipped, that he could fly away but I insisted and asked if maybe they had a small room/office where I could see how he reacts to me holding him.

After talking to the the manager, I was allowed to go into one of their office rooms and I got to hold the one I wanted. He was handfed but obviously was not tame; however, he was not bad at all. He was not trying to run away from me and even accepted some head scritches.

I left that store, visited another one, and was OK for a while, but as soon as I got home, I started thinking about that lovie.

I have a blue Fischer's who is almost 1.5 yo. A very friendly lovie, loves all my other fids. May not play with some but never shows any aggression toward them.

To make this story short, I am pretty sure I am going back to that store today and if he is still there, he is coming home with me.

Pics might follow soon. :)

[michael]

Hi Anneka. ... Any idea how long the lovebird pair have been together? .... Not to squelch your decision......>o......I guess i'd feel a little awkwards separating them. ........ Gosh...Now i'm a real party pooper :(.

[Chickobee]

Ha ha Michael! I was thinking exactly the same thing. :wink: Maybe they would give you a deal on the pair..? At least you know they get along with each other.

[Anneka]

I thought about that too. The way they were sitting together was a precious sight and I don't feel good about seperating them.
I am still thinking about it, but I can't take two no matter what deal they give me :)

[kimsbirds]

Good Luck! Don't forget the all-important quarantine!!

[personatus]

Don't worry about the 2. Whilst lovebirds may look all loved up the way they cuddle and preen they can soon forget about a partner and move onto someone or something else.

[michael]

I thought about that too. The way they were sitting together was a precious sight and I don't feel good about seperating them.
I am still thinking about it, but I can't take two no matter what deal they give me :)

Obviously, some choices to separate are understandable. .. Genetics, age, overall health. ... Then too, with some breeders, splitting a bonded pair will make no difference at all. ... Others, who perhaps are a bit less proprietary, may lean towards keeping certain pairs together. ... Certain pairs "would hopefully be those who've already shared a rather lengthly companionship". ... On the other hand, I would love to think that most breeders sell individuals because they are still young, separable, or simply all alone. But as we know, this is not always the case.

Thank you Anneka for giving that some thought. .. At the same time, please forgive if in anyway I helped you feel bad about it. Certainly not my intention :(..... Hopefully, your dealing with a respectable breeder who really cares about their birds. Even after their sold. ... Good luck!

[Pips mom]

The pet store where Pip came from will sometimes have a clutch of baby lovebirds, maybe four or five together. I would go in there to get my millet and go look at the lovies and each time one bird would be gone. Then once it gets down to two and then just that last one is left I always feel so sad for the last little one.....alone with all his brothers and sisters gone and I keep track of how long that last lovie has to stay there alone and hope that last one is gone when I go back.....one time I was so sad about it, I was considering taking the last one, but he finally sold! I never have to worry about that anymore.....that little pet store went out of business just before Christmas :( I got fresh millet there too for alot cheaper than what you can buy anywhere else. This was the only pet store around that ever had lovies and they would get the lovies locally from people who's lovebirds had babies and needed homes. They also had rescue birds in there.....a miltary macaw, two african greys, some other parrot that I wasn't quite sure what kind he was! they even had a cockatiel and a lovebird who lived together and were quite old! These birds lived there and I loved going in there to see them! I especially miss the little young male tiel that belonged to one of the women who worked there.....he talked and I would get him to talk for me many times!

[LauraO]

I'm just glad I buy all my seed and supplies at the wholesale wherehouse so I don't have to see any pet store animals. It's too depressing:very_sad:.

[linda040899]

I, too, have a soft heart for any bird that appears to be in an unhappy situation! I constantly remind myself that I do not need another parrot, regardless of what my soft heart tells me!!! I try to stay out of pet shops and I've even been known to drive down detour streets just to avoid seeing the storefronts.....

[Pips mom]

Oh I can't help myself, I always go to look at the birds! Our Petco here usually does pretty good with their birds, but the things I have seen though....one time I went in there to the sound of a cockatiel yelling. Their birds are inside their own enclosure and they keep it warmer in there for them as well, but this was inside the store itself. I said to my boyfriend...that's a cockatiel yelling and we looked up and there was the tiel free and flying around the store up near the ceiling! Geez, somehow it had gotten loose! Now tell me.....the guy who cares for the birds there doesn't really have a hard job making sure this kind of thing doesn't happen since they're in their own room! so I was saying to myself.....how the %$#@ did this happen? I checked on if they caught the bird and apparently they did and all was ok, but about two weeks ago I went in there and there was a nanday conure and his head was all fluffed up more than I've ever seen a bird fluffed before! he was sitting in the food dish making this whining sound about every 30 seconds or so....almost like he was crying. The poor thing.....I went to the cashier and told her that I thought the bird was ill and to please have someone check on him soon, but I knew being late in the evening that no one would probably get to it until morning. I thought about going back to see if the bird was still there, but I stayed away until last night when I had to pick something up there. I saw the guy there who cares for the birds and I asked him......did you have a sick conure and if he was ok? he told me that the bird was fine and they had taken him to the vet and that it was just that he was molting! I'm sorry, but I've never seen a bird whine and fluffed like that from molting, and the bird was no longer there! he told me that he had sold, but I seriously wonder if was being truthful with me.
One of these days maybe I'll learn to stay away from pet stores!

[Eliza]

Anneka -- did you go back and visit the masked pair? What did you decide?




One of these days maybe I'll learn to stay away from pet stores!

You and me both :(

One of my friends has a parrot specialty shop that practices under the closed-aviary concept. No baby or consignment birds, no grooming, no boarding. It makes it MUCH easier to shop for supplies b/c believe me: I am always tempted to bring home another beak, lovebird or otherwise :evil:

[Birkah]

We hit up Petsmart a few weeks ago, and there was this sweet little conure just BEGGING for someone to play with him! He looked so vibrant and active and playful. A few days ago, we went back in to get more birdie toys (Cipher is getting spoiled), and he looked depressed or sick - dull and fluffed up, and he wouldn't even turn his head to look at anyone. It's just so sad.

[akira-shakira-the bruce]

Oh, yeah. I don't have any local pet shops here, only PetCo; I always tear up when I see the birds they have there, I just want to take them home, all of them. The budgies seem to be in good health, but the cockatiels always seem so sad and unloved. There was one lutino cockatiel I ALMOST bought, but they charge like, 150 dollars for one (and I am poor).

There is one local pet store where my mum lives who actually adopted my grandma's mini-flock of budgies a few months ago. They have super cheap millet and awesome birdie toys, and I love to go there to pick up some supplies when I'm in the area.