Questions to ask Pet Store/Breeder

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jeekosmom
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Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:13 pm

Questions to ask Pet Store/Breeder

Post by jeekosmom »

Hi everyone, I've been on an IRN waiting list for some time and got the call that there are some babies available at an avian pet store in my area. I'm super excited! I need to be there first thing tomorrow morning to put a deposit down.

This will be our first IRN, i'm so excited! We had a bad experience with our last bird (a Lovebird named Freddie) who we purchased from a pet store who does NOT specialize in birds. Long story short, we had Freddie for a month and a half, gained his trust and fell completely in love with him. We woke up one morning to find him dead. Our whole family was devastated. He didn't show any signs of being sick or anything. We think that he was sick when we bought him, and probably older then 8 months old that we were told.

Anyway, we don't want to make that same mistake again. We want to ask the right questions tomorrow. We do know that the babies will be handfed and we will not be able to take one home until it is fully weened. They said that we can start coming in as often as we want starting Friday to bond with our baby.

Is there anything we should ask about the breeder, the parents or other babies in the clutch? TIA!
Melika
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Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:11 am
Location: Florida
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Re: Questions to ask Pet Store/Breeder

Post by Melika »

jeekosmom wrote:Hi everyone, I've been on an IRN waiting list for some time and got the call that there are some babies available at an avian pet store in my area. I'm super excited! I need to be there first thing tomorrow morning to put a deposit down.

This will be our first IRN, i'm so excited! We had a bad experience with our last bird (a Lovebird named Freddie) who we purchased from a pet store who does NOT specialize in birds. Long story short, we had Freddie for a month and a half, gained his trust and fell completely in love with him. We woke up one morning to find him dead. Our whole family was devastated. He didn't show any signs of being sick or anything. We think that he was sick when we bought him, and probably older then 8 months old that we were told.

Anyway, we don't want to make that same mistake again. We want to ask the right questions tomorrow. We do know that the babies will be handfed and we will not be able to take one home until it is fully weened. They said that we can start coming in as often as we want starting Friday to bond with our baby.

Is there anything we should ask about the breeder, the parents or other babies in the clutch? TIA!

How are they hand-fed? Syringe, cup, or gavage? Gavage/tube feeding typically means they don't spend as much time with the chicks.

Are they allowed to fully-fledge? This means allowed to learn how to fly before they ever have their wings clipped. This will help them to land more safely in the future even if they have clipped wings. And if you allow them to be flighted, it will mean safer flights.

How are they weaned? You'll want to hear something along the lines of Abundance Weaning, meaning the chick is given many many different foods. You want them to be as familiar as possible to many foods. This will end up being a healthier parrot in the long run.

What kind of vet care do their birds get? What kind of safety precautions are taken to preven disease from entering their breeding population? The best breeders won't let you anywhere near their breeding birds (and often not near their chicks).


These aren't really requirements, but these are my personal preferences when I'm talking to a breeder.
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I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
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