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Is it okay to buy a bird from Petsmart?

ElisaDove81

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Hello I have a question, is it bad to purchase a parakeet/budgie or any other bird at Petsmart or Petco? I heard their birds come from bird/animals mills. Has anyone bought their birds from there and how were they?
 

hrafn

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My cockatiel was purchased at Petland when I was fourteen, and to this day he is a neurotic, anxious, fear-aggressive mess with a debilitating terror of hands and strangers.

I also have brought home budgies from Petsmart in the past, to "rescue" them, and they were all ill, fearful, and poorly bred.

Quality breeders do not supply the stock that shows up at major retailers like Petsmart; they're either wild-caught, or they're from bird mills. They deserve a good home as much as any other bird, but the simple fact is that buying pets from these huge chains is just fueling supply and demand, and will ultimately result in more birds being brought in to replace the stock that is sold.
 

flibbus

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Hello there,
When I bought my green cheek I knew nothing about birds - I bought from Petsmart for a couple of reasons:
1) they had a 2 week return policy
2) the bird was already used to being on its own overnight, and used to people and noise
Whether or not it was 'bad', I don't know, but it was the right thing for me and my knowledge level at the time. I have no idea if she came from a bird mill, but she is missing one claw which the vet said was probably bitten off by a nest-mate. She is very sweet, and was instantly willing to start hanging out with me almost the moment we got home. She was healthy, and is still going strong 6 1/2 years later.
Now that I know a little more about caring for a bird (and about the existence of the people on this forum willing to share vast amounts of knowledge), I would look into rescuing if I was going to get another.
 

Fergus Mom

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Both of my birds have come from Petsmart. They are healthy and happy. I did google the issue before I went to get Fergus, to make sure there had been no outbreak of disease in recent months. Would I have paid more and adopted from a local breeder? Sure, but I didn't know any, and Petsmart was 'there', and my boy and girl winked at me :) (Not really, but it felt that way!) Good for you on doing your research before adopting a new family member!
 

ElisaDove81

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Both of my birds have come from Petsmart. They are healthy and happy. I did google the issue before I went to get Fergus, to make sure there had been no outbreak of disease in recent months. Would I have paid more and adopted from a local breeder? Sure, but I didn't know any, and Petsmart was 'there', and my boy and girl winked at me :) (Not really, but it felt that way!) Good for you on doing your research before adopting a new family member!
I love diamond doves and the only place that sells them around where I live is Petsmart - there are no diamond dove breeders anywhere close to me, I have looked and looked. I always hear about how bad it is to buy birds from Petsmart because you are supporting bird mills, but I have no where else to get a diamond dove from (except paying 75 dollars to have one shipped to me from a breeder that lives states away, and I can't afford that). I feel so guilty buying one from the petstore but the diamond doves there look perfectly healthy and seem to be okay and happy.
 

Sunny&Mars

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I bought a lovebird from a breeder and he took to us after about two weeks. I bought another lovebird from a pet store at the end of December and he is just starting to come around now.

Good Question though and good answers, I'm interested to hear what other say. On one hand buying one from their is increasing the demand, on the other hand you can think of it as rescuing them!
 

BirdField

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I really don't like any big chains. A lot of their animals come from irresponsible breeders and their care of the animals is deplorable. The bird care is pretty bad at most of these stores, but if that's not enough, just take a look at all their dying fish, rodents who never get a break from breeding, and starving reptiles with stuck sheds. I don't morally think it's right to buy animals from pet stores and continue to put money into huge businesses that "can't afford" decent care because they'd supposedly lose money. Even if the pet store in your area is good, you're still supporting the whole chain and all of their stores, including the awful ones.
If you're looking for budgies, I'd highly recommend you rescue one, which typically aren't hard to find. There's so many budgies that are thrown out of their homes all the time, and a lot of craigslists/kijiji/classified ads are out there to prove it. Budgies are unfortunately seen as "throw-away" animals that are cheap to buy and easy enough to "maintain" without worrying about screaming, biting, and plucking like bigger birds might do.
Budgies are just as fragile emotionally and physically as bigger birds, they're just not taken nearly as seriously as big birds that can do lots of damage or make their discomfort easily known (through screaming mainly). And many people buy from pet stores impulsively because they see all these beautiful mutations are are told by employees they are easy "starter" birds. So there's plenty out there for whenever a person's kid gets tired of caring for it, from whoever gets annoyed by the constant chittering, who don't have the space, or any number of other reasons.
Budgies are bought and sold like furniture or any other non-living decoration/toy, they're just so easy for anyone to obtain. And people don't care about them enough to even try to keep them around like you might with a dog/cat or even a bigger bird.
I can completely understand trying to rescue a bird in trouble from a pet store (I became obsessed with a little black cap conure a while back myself), but I don't think it's a good idea to buy a bird from them just to get a bird. There's so many birds in need, and there's already too many suffering in chain stores like these, that's why I don't think anyone should really buy from these stores just to get a bird. Even if someone claims they don't have many birds around them, I don't think any person's want to have a bird should come before the wellbeing of the birds in the shops they're actively supporting by buying one there.

*edit: I realized this post goes a bit all over the place. To sum up, I don't think it's a good idea to buy a bird from a pet store because that animal will just be replaced by another animal suffering again. If we want to stop the cycle of cruelty and of seeing animals in such generally awful states, we need to stop supporting these corporations at all. So I personally don't think it's worth it to buy an animal from a pet store unless it is a truly urgent situation where the animal is in immediate danger. They all deserve homes and I'm certainly not saying they don't, but in the long run, buying an animal from a pet store will just allow them to continue to get more and more animals, multiplying that cruelty onto so many more souls.
 
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iamwhoiam

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If there is a bird there that you have a connection with and vice versa then I really don't see an issue with that. It is nice to try and adopt a bird from a rescue or a re-home situation but then maybe you won't connect with one of those birds. In addition, you are getting that bird out of the pet store setting and into a good home. Even birds in pet stores need homes.
 

faislaq

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Our first bird was an impulse buy at PetSmart. We went in for dog food & came out with a green cheek conure & all sorts of supplies. He was such a funny, happy, friendly little clown he actually danced so hard for us that he slipped off of his perch! (Thankfully into bedding about 4 inches below.) He made us laugh and smile so much in the few minutes we watched him, how could we leave our bird at the store? Heck no, he was coming home with us! And we don't regret it for a second. :xflove:

I do realize that we were lucky that our PetSmart is different than many pet stores, especially the chain stores, because the animals were well cared for and played with several times a day. Pistachio was friendly and adventurous from the minute we got him home and thankfully healthy, too. :) On the other hand, there are folks who buy a baby from a breeder and still end up with a bird that isn't as healthy or friendly as advertised. :shrug:

 

Zara

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but I have no where else to get a diamond dove from (except paying 75 dollars to have one shipped to me from a breeder that lives states away, and I can't afford that).
If you can´t afford 75 dollars... Maybe you should wait before bringing a bird home.
 

taxidermynerd

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As @Zara said, if you can't afford the one time cost of 75 dollars shipping, will you be able to afford the at least 100$ for an appropriate cage? Or the hundreds for vet bills, or hundreds for toys and perches over time? If you can't afford 75$, you can't afford a parrot. This is coming from someone on a fixed income. I know that we don't all have infinite money. But we manage, we set aside money for what we need. And things like toys, vet care, etc, those aren't optional.

And I personally would never get a living being from Petsmart. Their business practices when it comes to living animals is appalling. I believe that those birds do deserve a home, but buying a bird from them will only perpetuate the suffering of future birds.

If you are going to buy a bird from a store, please find a local small business that actually takes care of their birds.
 

ElisaDove81

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As @Zara said, if you can't afford the one time cost of 75 dollars shipping, will you be able to afford the at least 100$ for an appropriate cage? Or the hundreds for vet bills, or hundreds for toys and perches over time? If you can't afford 75$, you can't afford a parrot. This is coming from someone on a fixed income. I know that we don't all have infinite money. But we manage, we set aside money for what we need. And things like toys, vet care, etc, those aren't optional.

And I personally would never get a living being from Petsmart. Their business practices when it comes to living animals is appalling. I believe that those birds do deserve a home, but buying a bird from them will only perpetuate the suffering of future birds.

If you are going to buy a bird from a store, please find a local small business that actually takes care of their birds.
I am not getting a parrot, I am going to buy a diamond dove from there. There are zero diamond dove breeders where I live or anywhere close by, not even on craigslist can I find them. I already have a large cage, toys, perches, etc. everything the bird would need. Right now all I can afford is the bird itself, not the extra 75 dollars to ship it. And I have no idea what kind of a bird I would be getting through the mail - I can't see it or pick it out myself.
 

Erikalynnha

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I bought Papaya and Lennerd from Petsmart and Jellybean and Uchtred are customer returns/ rehomes from Petco.

Jellybean and Uchtred have some health issues I'm dealing with from previous neglect. I understand the whole adopt don't shop the problem is that there are a lot more uneducated people who don't think about the whole bird mill aspect or simple don't care. They want convenient babies.

I do not regret buying Lennerd (Papaya was my sister's bird but she didn't want him anymore). Both of them are good birds and deserve a loving home just because they are Petsmart birds doesn't make them any less deserving.


Also a sane person wouldn't put up with Papayas screaming, Jellybeans bossiness or Lennerds Turd Bird ways. :lol:

Uchtred is a perfect little lady of course :angelic:


 
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Zara

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I already have a large cage, toys, perches, etc. everything the bird would need. Right now all I can afford is the bird itself, not the extra 75 dollars to ship it. And I have no idea what kind of a bird I would be getting through the mail - I can't see it or pick it out myself.
That´s great that you already have the cage etc.
But what if you buy the bird, and then a week later it gets sick and needs an emergency vet visit?
Just something to thing about.
 

JLcribber

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I already have a huge cage and toys, perches etc. I have owned birds in the past and have everything I need already.
What happened to those birds?
 

Budgiebonkers

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Petsmart here anyways use to be good as budgies ive boughten in the past from there lived 4-6 years old now They arent living past 2 so I no longer buy from there as the person they are getting their birds from is breeding the same birds back to back to back and prolly inbreeding them aswell as why would they wanna buy new ones when they can just use the offspring to make money
 

ElisaDove81

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What happened to those birds?
My beloved cockatiel of 17 years acciddently flew out the back door when my daughter was playing with him :( We never saw him again after that day but we heard him calling in the trees. He was the best bird and we miss him. I also had 2 diamond doves but they were fighting with each other and I couldn't keep them together, so I had them adopted to a lady who had a big bird aviary with other doves.
 
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