Not entering a bird store ever again

[~Drini~]

I am going to be away for a couple days and decided to check out a nearby bird store (TC Aviary in Chantilly, VA) to grab some extra toys for my guys so they don’t get too bored.

I enter the store and they have cats just roaming around alongside the many birds out on perches. Many of the birds are naked from plucking. The cages themselves are dirty with bugs and roaches everywhere. The birds are all fed some seed mix and no enrichment is provided in their cages. The average Petsmart/Petco provides way better conditions than this. There is a retired breeder blue crowned conure pair where both birds are completely plucked and shivering. They had a plucked elderly senegal and elderly sun conure at the front for sale. I check out the toys they are selling and find that some of them are made with hot glue. Some of the wood toy parts they are selling look like they might have mold on them.

I’m not sure what the story is with the older and plucked birds. I just know that they all looked so sad. I keep thinking about the blue crown conure pair and the elderly sun conure and senegal. I don’t want to bring home any other birds. I don’t have the income to support vet bills for any elderly addition. Yet, I keep thinking about those guys. I will call to ask about pricing when they open.

May I never enter another bird store ever again. Let me live in ignorance.

 

[Toy]

Call Animal Control & report them.

 

[Rebel]

Call Animal Control & report them.

That was my first thought.

 

[April]

That sounds absolutely horrifying,that's so upsetting that they are living in such deplorable conditions.

 

[Sparkles99]

That sounds awful. I can’t believe all bird stores are like this.

 

[AW2023]

I've been to several bird stores that seemed well run, with birds that seemed to be cared for at least okay.

But there was one once.... A relative and I drove by it and decided to stop.
It was the creepiest thing I've ever experienced. The store had 3 rows of bird cages, several small birds or 1 large bird in each. And it was silent. Dead silent. You could hear the birds moving around on the perches/cage bars, but there was not a peep.
The hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I got out of there pretty quickly.
I know birds have naptimes and such where they get quiet, but to have so many birds all silent at once, not sleeping but staring at me? I've never seen that in another store. It gave me a very bad feeling.

 

[Shezbug]

Very mixed reviews for them but more reviews than not are good ones. I hope you just caught them on a bad day maybe.

Sounds like many of the birds are not actually for sale but possibly live there from some of the reviews I read about them. Either way, it probably pays to steer clear of bird stores for all of us... be awful to bring home a disease to our own birds after visiting a store like that- one of the reviews is about being sold a bird with bornavirus and that it is their only bird so it was apparently sent home with the virus.

 

[caspin22]

Oh, dear, that sounds awful. We are lucky here in the Phoenix area to have 4 really great exotic bird stores within a reasonable drive. Please do report them, the cats alone, prowling around the birds, would be a huge stressor, it's no wonder they are all plucking.

 

[expressmailtome]

In the late 90s, there were 7 different bird only pet stores in my state, now there is only one. Not all of them were "good", but two of them were exceptional, including the one that is still open.

 

[~Drini~]

So I did call about the retired breeder blue crown conure pair. They are not asking for any money, they just want them to go to a good family home where they can stay together.

This does make me feel a lot better.

 

[Pretzel]

I am going to be away for a couple days and decided to check out a nearby bird store (TC Aviary in Chantilly, VA) to grab some extra toys for my guys so they don’t get too bored.

I enter the store and they have cats just roaming around alongside the many birds out on perches. Many of the birds are naked from plucking. The cages themselves are dirty with bugs and roaches everywhere. The birds are all fed some seed mix and no enrichment is provided in their cages. The average Petsmart/Petco provides way better conditions than this. There is a retired breeder blue crowned conure pair where both birds are completely plucked and shivering. They had a plucked elderly senegal and elderly sun conure at the front for sale. I check out the toys they are selling and find that some of them are made with hot glue. Some of the wood toy parts they are selling look like they might have mold on them.

I’m not sure what the story is with the older and plucked birds. I just know that they all looked so sad. I keep thinking about the blue crown conure pair and the elderly sun conure and senegal. I don’t want to bring home any other birds. I don’t have the income to support vet bills for any elderly addition. Yet, I keep thinking about those guys. I will call to ask about pricing when they open.

May I never enter another bird store ever again. Let me live in ignorance.

That’s horrible! I wish I could buy them and save them all but there’s also the dilemma that buying them gives money to the company and in turn they buy and abuse more animals. I wish I could steal them all away and give them love and care and toys and a proper diet and a giant aviary. I hope they all go to good homes. If only proper bird care and education was common

 

[Dartman]

Well maybe they are more of a rescue that hopes to find good homes for older cast off birds and they are doing the best they can for them. I wonder if they are just overwhelmed from so many birds and just can't keep up rather then they just don't care

 

[T. gillii]

this is where my friend purchased his turquoise gcc

 

[LiveLolBrd]

I walked into petco a while back and was looking at the budgies. They seemed well cared for enough, but they did have a seed only diet. But then I looked at another bird in a different cage (
I don’t remember what breed) and it was all alone in a cage to small to stretch its wings out and the one perch in there was metal (worse than a dowel I imagine) and it was welded right above the food and water bowls. There was no food as far as I could see and the water was so gross it had so much poop. There was only one teeny tiny plastic toy. The bird looked beyond sad. When I got home I looked up to see if other people had seen petco do that to other birds and I found out something awful. Petco is known for throwing away in the dumpster live animals! When they get to many fish they just throw the extras in the trash after dumping out most of the water from their little containers. If a bird gets sick or doesn’t sell within a certain period of time they just throw it away. I am never buying ANYTHING from Petco again.

 

[rocky'smom]

Petco cage set ups are god awful agreed. My Local Petco uses a local breeder that I happen to know personally. I called her after walking thru my Petco. Ms B ( I will not use her name here) was appalled by the conditions I described to her. She and I did a undercover deal. She took pictures of every bird, every cage she set up for those babies. I went to Petco the day after she delivered 5 full weaned cockatiels. I took pictures of the way it was 24 hrs later. She had put wooden chew block toys in those cages for the birds to play with. Fresh pellets clean water scrubbed every cage of the filth. There was not a toy in any of the cages,the food had been changed to all seed diet, the water was green amd scummy. Bird feces everywhere. One of the birds looked sick already and other 4 were clinging to bars because their perches were filthy dirty. She picked me up the next day and we went to the manger without telling the store she coming. She no longer sells to Petco. Her words "buy food only from them. DO NOT BUY ANY BIRDS FROM PETCO."

 

[Rebel]

I walked into petco a while back and was looking at the budgies. They seemed well cared for enough, but they did have a seed only diet. But then I looked at another bird in a different cage (
I don’t remember what breed) and it was all alone in a cage to small to stretch its wings out and the one perch in there was metal (worse than a dowel I imagine) and it was welded right above the food and water bowls. There was no food as far as I could see and the water was so gross it had so much poop. There was only one teeny tiny plastic toy. The bird looked beyond sad. When I got home I looked up to see if other people had seen petco do that to other birds and I found out something awful. Petco is known for throwing away in the dumpster live animals! When they get to many fish they just throw the extras in the trash after dumping out most of the water from their little containers. If a bird gets sick or doesn’t sell within a certain period of time they just throw it away. I am never buying ANYTHING from Petco again.

I dont know where you live but my local Petco is nothing like you described. Birds are in huge plexiglass enclosures/cages. Always plenty of food , clean water and clean pellet bedding. Conures go for close to $1000 and theyre never there very long. When they get new birds in, theyre not for sale right away. They weigh them every day to make sure theyre gaining / not losing weight. To say they throw away live animals is crazy talk.

 

[rocky'smom]

I dont know where you live but my local Petco is nothing like you described. Birds are in huge plexiglass enclosures/cages. Always plenty of food , clean water and clean pellet bedding. Conures go for close to $1000 and theyre never there very long. When they get new birds in, theyre not for sale right away. They weigh them every day to make sure theyre gaining / not losing weight. To say they throw away live animals is crazy talk.

Sorry it's not crazy talk it happens here too. It was reported immediately to the authorities. Their dumpsters are now locked. I believe that every district is different.

 

[Rebel]

Sorry it's not crazy talk it happens here too. It was reported immediately to the authorities. Their dumpsters are now locked. I believe that every district is different.

Are you saying its Petcos policy to throw live animals in the garbage or would you say that its individual workers who take it upon themselves to throw away live animals?

 

[LiveLolBrd]

Are you saying its Petcos policy to throw live animals in the garbage or would you say that its individual workers who take it upon themselves to throw away live animals?

I don't know.

Maybe these will give you more info. I would like it if it is just individual workers because then they could be fired if found out.

 

[LiveLolBrd]

I dont know where you live but my local Petco is nothing like you described. Birds are in huge plexiglass enclosures/cages. Always plenty of food , clean water and clean pellet bedding. Conures go for close to $1000 and theyre never there very long. When they get new birds in, theyre not for sale right away. They weigh them every day to make sure theyre gaining / not losing weight. To say they throw away live animals is crazy talk.

I live in OR where do you live? Maybe I can move there.