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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 9, 2014 0:38:34 GMT
Today I had to drive down to westchester county, about an hour south of here.
Because I was in the area, I stopped in to a store called "Bird Jungle." They specialize in all types of parrots.
They had quite a number of baby cockatiels, mostly lutinos, some pieds, and a couple that look just like Emma. The associate called the ones that look like Emma "cinnamon." The only thing is, they sell them unweaned, which I have read is not good. The associate said they teach you how to feed them and then you have to bring them back once a week to be weighed and checked. Many of them were really darling. Another tiel is not something I want to do right now, but I would like to find a place where I could get a young one when and if the time comes.
I asked whether you can reserve one and then pick it up after it is weaned. She said that usually doesn't work out well.
The ones that were weaned were the "cinnamons."
The store also had a lot of medium to very large parrots. I walked around and looked at them and talked to some of them. One of them was a HUGE blue parrot that started saying "hello" to me. When I talked to it, he kept reaching out with one of his feet. Then, he would bob his head up and down, so I would do the same thing (I probably looked like a crazy lady). Then, he'd start with the foot again. I wasn't prepared to pick a bird like that up! However, it was very interesting to see him. I mentioned to the associate that he seemed to really want to be picked up. She said "yes, but then he doesn't want to get down." He had a sign on his enclosure that said "I break jewelry." The price was $12,000!!!!!!!!!!
The store was incredibly noisy--a warning to all of us who want more birds!
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Post by Budgiebonkers on Jan 9, 2014 0:59:37 GMT
The 12,000 dollar bird most likely was a hyacinth macaw
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Post by Pammy on Jan 9, 2014 1:35:54 GMT
Wow! What a neat experience!
I went to a bird store up in OKC last summer. It also was very noisy, and it made me cough for several days afterwards. They had African greys, cockatoos and scarlet macaws and a military macaw, along with lots of smaller parrots. There was a padlock on the cage of one of the huge scarlet macaws, and the owner told us that it was because he had been known to let himself out of his cage, and go around the store opening cages of smaller birds and EATING them!!
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 9, 2014 2:00:50 GMT
I do think it was a hyacinth, BB.
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Jan 9, 2014 2:01:54 GMT
there was one pet store that had an amazon and it was singing merry christmas lol
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Post by Pammy on Jan 9, 2014 2:04:44 GMT
Oh, I would've loved to have seen/heard that!
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 9, 2014 14:26:01 GMT
When the hyacinth macaw was reaching his foot out to me, so flirtaciously, I was thinking that I was like Emma and he was like me. He was saying "It's okay! You can pick me up! It will be sooo nice! you"ll see!"
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Post by roxhum on Jan 9, 2014 14:32:46 GMT
I wonder why the pet store person said taking a bird after it is weaned usually doesn't work out well. I too have read that the opposite is true. And having such a young bird be handled in a pet store, I wonder if that is dangerous for the bird, you know introducing germs. Probably great for socialization. I bet they buy the babies for cheaper if they are not weaned. I hope when we purchase pets we do not purchase from irresponsible sources. Pet store puppies are often the result of unscrupulous puppy farms. Maybe it is the same for birds. Just because someone at the pet store says doesn't make it so. Sorry, I got on my soap box for a second. We all love our pets here but I shudder to think of all the lonely birds in dirty cages, all the furry rodents without food or water or being tortured by an unsupervised child. Dogs left alone in a backyard. And 1,000's being euthanized every month because there are more pets being born than families to take them. Oh noooo I can't stop.....
What I meant to say is that Sweetie is a cinnamon. I think she is pretty, but I think my favorite is the regular grays with a really nicely marked Pearl being my second fav.
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 9, 2014 14:51:52 GMT
Roxhum,
I tend to agree with you.
What she said about reserving a bird and then taking it after it is weaned is that their experience is, if a bird is reserved before it is weaned, by the time it is weaned it is being handled much less and is not as friendly. Therefore, when the purchaser returns, they want a different bird, because the bird is now less cuddly.
From what I saw, only the normal grays were still available, having been fully weaned. So, I think the more colorful mutations "go" more quickly.
I agree that we should deal with reputable sellers. The difficulty is, if one wants a young bird, but there are none available except from situations like this. They had about twenty young cockatiels in the "being weaned" cage, and about ten in the other cage. She said they regularly have young cockatiels for sale.
I am not ready right now to have a second cockatiel. It is tempting, especially when I hear how friendly Mistletoe is. But, I think I should give my relationship with Emma a lot more time to settle in. However, it is hard to resist the temptation and do what is best.
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Post by roxhum on Jan 9, 2014 15:09:54 GMT
I agree that waiting until you and Emma's relationship is well established is best. Emma will probably never be as people orientated as a hand fed. That said, when the timing is right, I know a woman with a cockatiel that was finger trained but did not seek her attention. After she got a hand fed baby the other cockatiel was more interested in being handled and became more tame, but still not tame like the hand fed.
From all that has been written it sounds like Pammy found a vey good birdie breeder.
So it is off to the showers for me. Sweetie on my shoulder, our morning routine. Pearl wants to come too. I don't know if I should leave this as our time or include Pearl. Also the dogs are in the house and Pear tends to get friethened and fly away and with me in the shower the dogs might try to mouth and hurt Pearl. I know my OCD dog doesn't want to hurt the birds. He likes cats like he likes birds and he chews on my Lucy cat covering her with slobber. Somehow I just don't think a little bird could with stand that much puppy Love.
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 9, 2014 16:05:57 GMT
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Post by Budgiebonkers on Jan 9, 2014 16:41:51 GMT
The price gave it away. Since they are on the endangered species list and are the largest of macaws |
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Post by Sarah on Jan 9, 2014 17:34:11 GMT
Hyacinths are beautiful birds with wonderful personalities. The trouble is that they are so large that if they start to have behavioral problems or become scared or startled, they could break your arm or remove your finger with those massive beaks of theirs. When you have a bird that big, its not a matter of 'if' they send you to a hospital for stitches, its 'when.' I'm still crazy enough to want to rescue a Greenwing Macaw some day - about two thirds the size of a hyacinth.
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 9, 2014 19:17:07 GMT
Does anyone know whether it is legal to sell a bird on the endangered species list?
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Post by Sarah on Jan 9, 2014 19:30:21 GMT
It is legal to sell parrots on the endangered list so long as they were captive bred in the country in which they are being sold, with the accompanying documents and bands to prove that they were not taken from the wild.
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