Guest Phunkygal Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Turns out my CAG, Gibson, is 6 months of age. I realize he will probably outlive me but I purchased a "handfed baby congo african grey parrot" and was told he was "12 weeks old"... I paid a "handfed baby congo african grey parrot" price (and then some)... Gibson is GREAT!, I don't have one complaint about him but I am wondering if I should speak with the shop about their claim/price or maybe I am just still getting over the sticker shock. I am sure the last 6 months were alot of work for someone and he's still full of love, piss and vinegar, so that someone did something right. I'm just a little suprised that's all. Opinions appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phunkygal Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 <snip> Ouch, Oldmolly comes in for the easy pickins... I guess I didn't know the date that a CAG is weened... My bad, I only knew that this one was. If they would had told me he was 6 months old, I would have still purchased him actually knowing his age. Not sure if 6 month would have brought the price down a bit. As for the research... I have done plenty. As far as finding local CAG's that I could experience in person, there weren't any. I didn't want to "mail order" a bird and get a "deal". I do count myself lucky with my healthy happy baby bird. I had done my homework as far as price goes... I found one guy with hatchlings in CT for $995 "if I put a deposit on one" or $1400 with "no deposit" (whatever that meant). That's it... Other than my find at Exotic. No rescues, nothing in the papaers, etc. Been researching on the Internet, magazines, books, etc., left was dealing with live birds of which there were few as I stated. What is an "awful lot of money"? CAG's are not plentiful in Connecticut. Is $1299 too much for a 6 month old weened baby CAG? Maybe, but my alternatives were limited. As in life, my motto, ya wanna play ya gotta pay... You can call me a fool though. I am sure you are rich beyond compare, as you are obviously no fool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phishbook Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 The problem is that you apparently didn't know that a 12 week old baby would not be weaned. If they had told you it was 6 months old, you wouldn't have bought him, wanting a 'baby'. Add to that the fact that you obviously didn't do any research about buying a bird, and you should count yourself luky that you have what seems like a healthy happy baby bird. Had you done your homework, you might have saved yourself an awful lot of money. Those who pay over the odds in pet shops, deserve to. A fool and his money are easily parted etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bennyguy Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 How did you find out his true age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phishbook Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I am not rich and I don't consider myself to be a fool. Cannot say what price would be a reasonable one where you are as I am in England. I managed to save someone several hundreds of pounds a few months ago when a pet shop quoted him £1000 for a hand reared baby grey. Had he looked about, contacted the parrot society, read the bird mags etc, he would have found that £550 is average and he could have got one for as little as £450. In the end I persuaded him to a bfa and saved him nearly £500 on the bird alone. I sold him a cage and he saved another £200 there.:0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phunkygal Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Thanks, that's how I look at it too... just wasn't sure about the "baby" part. The "pet" store is indeed a pet store but it is not a chain pet shop deal. It was Exotic Fin & Feather in CT who has been in business for 32 years. They are in a bigger place now, etc. I'm sure they have some overhead. Great place though, good selection, etc. even though their price is a bit high. I trust their employees' judgement on both their birds and their fish (I have two nice size tiger Oscars as well). I've seen the prices of dogs at the local mall pet shop and they are outrageous... And areachain pet shops I've been to haven't had any CAGs. As for the vet check... No check yet. I plan on it, though I have to research the best vet now. Gibson appears to be in great shape, very outgoing, cooperative, hungry (even though he's getting hooked on peanuts in a shell) and just appears to want to hang with me. I wish the wallet would allow the purchase of his cage mate, another fine looking CAG. There were two others, a month older, in another large cage. A guy came in yesterday (I am told) and bought both and a big cage... Almost $3000 he supposedly spent. Ouch! I couldn't be happier with my "baby". Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phunkygal Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 I went back to the pet shop to get a hatch date so that I could keep track of his age etc. the best I could. The helpful woman in charge of the bird section obtained a date of 03/12/03 for me. The sales guy at the time told me 12 weeks as did the helpful woman until she obtained the actual hatch date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phunkygal Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Thanks Gad, you hit the nail on the head... A vet visit is also in order and I will also never stop researching, learning and understanding my bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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