When Parrots Are For Sale--
3 Red Flag's To Watch For
As I spend more and
more time consulting, researching and coming up with solutions to help
people fix their parrot’s behavior problems, I’ve come to realize that
several problems could have been avoided by simply making a better
buying decision when originally purchasing their parrot.
So I thought I’d
share 3 warning signs, or “Red Flags” to keep an eye out for, if those
"Parrot For Sale" signs and ads in your town, are starting to catch your
eye.
Red Flag #1 – What type of diet
is the breeder or store owner fixing for their parrots?
If the person trying to sell you a parrot is feeding their bird NOTHING
but an all seed based diet, they don’t know what they’re doing, or don’t
care about the long term health of your bird.
Instead, don’t make an impulse purchase. Come back to the store several
times over a few weeks. And always come back at different times of the
day. Look to see if the store puts out fresh fruits and veggies, or
cooks them something nutritious.
Also make sure to take note of if they leave that food in all day, or if
they take it out after it’s starts to spoil.
If a store owner or breeder isn’t providing fresh fruits, veggies or
produce, then I suggest you never spend another dime with that shop
owner ever again.
They just don’t have
their parrot’s best interest in mind.
Red Flag #2 – Are there toys in
the bird’s cages, and are they being changed regularly?
It is very common for pet shops to take the least expensive road, and
not put a variety of toys into their parrot’s cages.
So make sure you check to see there’s a good variety of toys, and that
those toys are actually being played with. You can tell if a toy’s
being enjoyed by a bird if it’s being chewed on regularly. There are
usually pieces of that toy in the bottom of his cage.
But BEWARE, some bird’s just don’t like certain toys, and won’t play
with them, and this is just as bad as not having any toys at all. So
make sure that the toys are being played with, or new ones are
constantly being rotated in and out, to provide their parrots with
stimulating toys to keep them from getting bored and developing other
problems.
Red Flag #3 – Does the pet shop
spend time coaching you on how to raise your bird?
A good technique that I often use when trying to figure out whether a
pet shop is knowledgeable… is to play dumb. That’s right, pretend you
don’t know anything about birds and act interested in buying one. Then
sit back, listen to the what they say.
Are they just telling you what you want to hear? Or are they worried
that you don’t know what you might be getting yourself into. A good pet
shop will be worried about the well being of their bird, and won’t want
to sell it to you without spending time coaching you.
So if they don’t
offer to help you at all, they’re not doing a responsible job as a pet
store.
This is becoming a HUGE problem, especially with people wanting to
purchase the very popular African Grey parrots, with hopes they’ll talk
up a storm. But store owners do such a terrible job of coaching people
on what it takes to raise a happy African Grey, that thousands of Greys
end up developing severe phobias.
It’s such a common
problem, that I wrote a special article just on what it takes to raise
an African Grey, that you can find at
http://www.birdtricks.com/african_grey_problems.htm
I suggest you read that article even if you don’t own an African Grey,
because it serves as a guideline of the types of guidance you should be
getting from the next pet store owner you try to buy a bird from.
Copyright ©
2006 Womach Brother Productions - Parrots For Sale
This article was co-authored by Chet Womach & Kim Bear. Kim Bear
runs a parrot behavior counseling service and can be reached for
consultation at this number 850-683-9696.
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