Little Store

[jessdecutie18]

So my husband and I went to this little bird store that we heard yesterday was going out of busness... and saw a couple things I wanted to comment/ask about.

 

We walk in and there is the little one room store, and a lady behind the counter working on making a bird toy with beads and leather and plastic rings. There are 4 Congo's sitting out in separate corners on playstands, and other birds in cages.

 

While we were there, one of the Congos (who had plucked the feathers off of her right wing) jumped off the playstand and, wham, hit her right side on the floor... two of her growing in wing feathers were all bent and hanging afterwards, so the lady went to go get the pizza guy next door and had him hold down the bird with a towl (to which he went ballistic) and she pulled the now bleeding feathers and put some powder on them. She said this was a normal occurance, that the bird keeps breaking his growing in feathers, but I was quite shocked.

 

Also, all her birds cages had lots of toys sitting on the bottom as she said some love to get down there and play. I've never seen Yoshi on the bottom of her cage voluntarily, and I haven't really heard of that, maybe I should put some toys down there?

 

She told me that her birds all switch cages all day, that they all live in different places throughout the day, so they are used to change. Is that sanitary though with different birds?

 

I guess I just wasn't ready to see the Congo dealt with like that, but perhaps it's a normal occurance...

[ramsabi]

I am not able to find words or emoticons to convey my feelings !!!

[danmcq]

Most in stores are housed separately and not let out together. This pet store is obviously different.

 

The lady evidently looked at the broken blood feather and determined it was beyond repair and therefore needed to be pulled and steptic and some other powder like flour or corn was applied.

 

My Grey has played on the bottom of the cage all the way back to being at he breeders. We keep foot toys down there at all times and also a case of Pepsi box with a hole cut in it. He goes inside, knocks around, chews holes in it and sometimes lay's down and sleeps.

 

Unfortunately, commercial environments are about money, time etc. and so what you witnessed was getting the job done quickly and completely, then back to business. Theres no love in an environment like that, for the most part.

[rbpittman]

All of my fids have foot toys in the bottom of their cages to play with. I've put a large cardboard box in the bottom of Sterling's cage and he loves to bang on it and chew threw it. Dixie likes to carry her foot toys and then drop them - producing a very loud banging noise that makes me jump - I think she likes the reaction. Blue, well he's just Blue - dunking his pellets in his water, climbing all over and around his cage. Beau likes to sleep on the bottom of his cage still and has a few foot toys but he's not played with them yet. All have their own cages, they are not "allowed" to visit each other's cages, however, Dixie did sneak into Blue's cage once.

[cf737]

I am disgusted with what you mentioned about the store - I work in an exotic pet store and we spend hours upon hours every single day without fail keeping everything as spotless as possible. Before a new bird is ever moved to a cage another bird has been in it gets sanitized a number of times and is done a few days in advance.

As far as toys on the bottom go Darwin LOVES the bottom of her cage. She has a basket with foot toys down there and I'll often fill a box or paper bag with shredded paper and a few nuts for foraging. I think it simulates their natural environment, as they sometimes will forage on the ground for food. I would say go for putting some toys on the bottom - Yoshi might like it!

[Tycos_mom]

poot bird even though blood feathers do have to be pulled if they get broken the least she could have done was take the bird to the bathroom or a back room to pull them instead of right in front of customers I think as far as the bird living in different cages go I really don't think that should be done not only for sanitary reasons but for the birds emotional well being a bird should have its own home a place of saftey that they can call its own where no other birdy can go without permisson from its owner the bird that lives there. I think all birds need a safe place to go that so when they want to be alone they can without fear of someone else moving in.

[jessdecutie18]

Good thing the store is going out of business, hopefully all the birds go to good homes... she seemed like she was just fed up of dealing with her birds...

 

I'll have to try some toys on the bottom of the cage! Any ideas besides boxes? What do you guys have on the bottom of their cages that they like most?