Parrotlet Breeder recommendations

['rene]

Hi all! I've been researching parrotlets for a full year now, including reading up on all the helpful information on how they can be cute but bitey little demons. Maybe there's a forum here that I missed, but would the parrotlet owners here please give me recommendations on good breeders?

I'm in Colorado and there is a friendly breeder here that obviously takes some time rearing her birds but unfortunately she only has color mutations and I am absolutely convinced that I would like a plain green male. Nothing fancy, just healthy, and hopefully with a decent brain so that I can deal with normal bird behaviors and not anything extra from excessive inbreeding or possible color mutation associated issues.

I would really appreciate both positive and negative feedback on breeders, since I'll likely have to purchase my bird online and since I won't personally get to pick my bird by handling and checking his health and behavior, I am 100% dependent on the integrity of the breeder.

Help?

Thank you tons!

 

[WendyN]

 

[Jobot]

Hey! If you want to deal with the mail, then you could look up breeders on birdbreeders.com and look at out of state breeders. Otherwise, you could also look at local classifieds and find one in need of a home there. My birdie is a rehome, and he has become an absolutely awesome pet, even though it took work to get him there. The nice thing about adult birds is that you know what you're going to get, even if there are some existing issues. Babies don't always mean a clean slate, you know? And these birds tend to go through a really tough "terrible twos" phase, which my bird is currently going through. I am just glad I didn't get him younger and wonder why in the world he became such a terror!
Either way, you have to potential of ending up with a great pet, and it will be work either way, in my opinion.

 

['rene]

Aw, that's great that you trained your rehomed birdie to turn out well! I'm not looking forward to the terrible twos but every animal (and most people) end up being unpredictable and challenging during puberty. I guess since these guys don't live as long as the larger birds and their lifespans are about half of what they were originally predicted to be, I really care about the genetic background of the bird.

I have been poking around birdbreeders.com, but when I tried to get a bird from one breeder (I won't name who), she somehow completely refused to send me a picture of this bird that supposedly existed right now (not a future baby) yet wanted me to pay a deposit. Now, if this is a reputable breeder that just sucks taking pictures but otherwise has good stock, then that's fine, but I have no way of knowing.

So I'm hoping if anyone here got their bird from a breeder and it was a positive transaction that they'd give a shout out for a good breeder.