Visit to Petco

[Doyle'sMommy]

So I stopped by Petco on the way home to look at the toys and to play with the birds. There was the sweetest Gold Cap Conure sharing a cage with a Jenday. The Jenday wanted nothing to do with me but the Gold Cap loved me! He was begging for scritches and turned over on his back and let me rub under his wings- such a sweetheart!

And the there was this little budgie that was watching me and came up to the bars of his cage and stared at me. He even let me touch him! I have never seen a budgie in a petstore let anyone get close to them! It was too cool! The budgies were on sale for $12.99. I really hope they get good homes, they are so inexpensive I am scared of people who just decide to get one and then don't take care of them. I guess as fellow bird lovers you all would understand that fear. Such a sweet little guy!

[Tiki]

OMG, most 10 year olds get more than $12.99 for an allowance these days. I hate seeing birds sell for so cheap, that turns them into "throwaway" birds since it is cheaper to buy a new one than to get vet care for a sick one. :pissed:

[Archive]

We don't sell budgies in the store, but we get a lot of calls asking for help with peoples' sick budgies. When I say "you need to get him to a vet right away..." ... well, you probably know the answer "I only paid $10.00 for him." Drives me nuts.

[Archive]

Oh I HATE that budgies are considered throw-away birds due to their prices. Jerry was on sale for $17.99 when we got him. :swearing: And the tiny little cages that pet stores sell for budgies (and tiels as well) - they are soooo tiny, kind of similar to a beta fish living in a tiny bowl. We had our old beta in our 55 gallon tank and the poor guy had to work to build up his muscles because he couldn't swim at first because he was in a tiny glass bowl smaller than a coffee mug.

I look at Jerry every day and am so thankful that he has a good home and happy life and I hate that there are so many like him out there that are tossed out with little thought or care.

[Sheri]

The budgies hubby brought home were all pretty cheap too, 2 were $30 each(handtame) the other 2 were $15 each. I'm pretty sure they caught his eye partly because of the price. Then I went and ticked him off cause I told/showed him that budgies, even though cheap, would get the same treatment in my house as the rest of my birds. No bird should ever be "throw away". I believe that the prices on all birds, especially budgies should be raised for that fact in itself. Otherwise the human mind(the dummies who DO just throw away) is never going to change.

[Archive]

It's amazing how many people think parrots are 'ornaments' instead of a living thing. I hate Petco and Petsmart for the reason that they actually sell birds...and to have 'sales' is just cruel...

[Doyle'sMommy]

Sarah- I almost took that little budgie home, he was SO sweet! But I have my hands full now. $12.99 is just scary to me!

[Archive]

Sarah- I almost took that little budgie home, he was SO sweet! But I have my hands full now. $12.99 is just scary to me!

Yes you do have your hands full at the moment :lol: And a nosy little busy-body of a budgie would have you running in circles to keep up :tongue:

[Doyle'sMommy]

Yes you do have your hands full at the moment :lol: And a nosy little busy-body of a budgie would have you running in circles to keep up :tongue:

Yep I resisted! :woohoo: But I was standing there thinking- he is so cool, who do I know that would want him! LOL! I've lost my mind... :eek:

[Bustersbuddy]

I completely understand! If I took every bird I saw at Petco that caught my eye, there would be nothing but birds in my house! My local Petco has beautiful birds most of the time and I'm really happy to say that all the birds have at least one toy and usually more in every cage, the food cups are clean and have a variety of foods in them. I met the two employees in charge of the birds the other night and both of them really knew how to handle birds. I had asked to see a couple of tiels and they helped right away. We had a good time playing with several tiels and a beautiful Ringneck that was quite the bird. In this case, though, the birds were way overpriced! The ringneck was a normal Indian Ringneck, just coming into maturity, but he was 500.00!! Way too much in California. But the budgies were indeed very cheap and I don't think that is a good thing at all! I hate the idea that the little guys are considered "throw aways". It breaks my heart!

[Eliza]

We don't sell budgies in the store, but we get a lot of calls asking for help with peoples' sick budgies. When I say "you need to get him to a vet right away..." ... well, you probably know the answer "I only paid $10.00 for him." Drives me nuts.

GAH! I know... that's so frustrating. In my mind, a budgie is as much a parrot as a macaw. It would be like having a foster child and denying him or her care b/c you didn't invest your DNA to create that child.

-e-