Signs of bad breeder???

[a_conure]

At the moment I've been looking for a green cheek conure but turns out I can't get any out of town
We are actually in contact with a breeder (her birds are all handraised) but she is a bit patchy and I don't know what to do.
We messaged her on gumtree about two weeks ago and she responded in a few days (like 3-4) saying she was busy and the birds were too young (was that a good sign?) and sounded a bit grumpy so I sent another message and she said she would be in touch (she sounded nice then). It had been like 4 days so I sent a message (Wednesday) and she hadn't even read it until just Friday. Yesterday she took the ad down without saying anything which was very strange. She still hasn't responded and she has like 2 good reviews but I'm worried they are just her friends making her look good.
She is selling (from memory) a turqoise male and female for about $200 and some pineapple females cross yellowside I think for about $100. I thought the pineapples would be more expensive so I'm starting to think they might have health issues but am i just being dumb?

 

[expressmailtome]

Just because a breeder is selling a bird for a less than normal does not mean that they are are "bad" breeder. If it is substantially less, such as when you see a hyacinth macaw which usually sells for more than $20,000USD selling for around $1,000USD, then I would be concerned. However there can be many reasons that the price could be one or two hundred dollars less than expected. A few examples are having had the babies for a while without being able to sell them or having a large amount of the same species/mutation at the same time. On the other hand, if you have a bad feeling about a specific breeder it is best to try to find someone else. If you go with them anyways and something goes wrong you will always blame yourself.

 

[sunnysmom]

Are there any rescues near you? There are usually a number of conures at rescues in need of good homes.

 

[aooratrix]

I would think it would be hard to find GCCs in rescues in Australia.

She may be busy handfeeding lots of babies and got overwhelmed with responses.

 

[FeatheredM]

Sometimes breeders lower the price on a bird if the bird has like a bald spot on its head or something. Sometimes birds are sold very quickly, I just don't think there is enough information to judge because the possibilities of what happened are endless.

 

[Shezbug]

I would think it would be hard to find GCCs in rescues in Australia.

She may be busy handfeeding lots of babies and got overwhelmed with responses.

Rescues here It’s actually not real easy to find many bird rescues/shelters here especially ones that adopt out their birds!

I wasted so much time trying to find a shelter/rescue before I just rang a bird society to find a local breeder- I lived too far away to even be considered for the one shelter I could find that adopted out- not really adoption when you don’t actually have full guardianship rights anyway… The terms and conditions for rescuing here didn’t seem real good either- you never actually own the bird (if you manage to live close enough to the shelter to be considered able to adopt) so if I adopted and the bird became part of the family as they do then I died the bird has to go back to the rescue even if my family wish to keep their little flock member. If you want to move once you’ve adopted you need to have another home approval visit done to the new address first and keep your fingers crossed you can move the bird there- the bird can be taken and you charged $3000 if they decide the home is not suitable and you move there anyway, other pets? Forget it! Want the bird kept safe inside? Forget it! It’s considered cruelty

The rules for the one possible adopting shelter I could find were so unfair to the bird and the humans alike that it was honestly horrid, I’d be amazed if anyone ever adopted under their conditions.

That pricing mentioned for small conures seems about normal/correct from what I’ve seen and heard. The lowest I’ve seen is $60 and the highest $250, maybe more for larger conures.

I’d personally never consider buying a bird from gumtree- I’ve never really known of any reputable breeder to sell any kind of animal on gumtree- maybe times are changing but from what I see on there I’d steer clear.

The breeder may have had more people enquire and show interest in buying than they have birds (more than likely if advertised on gumtree) some will remove their ads in this case to stop them having to reply to numerous people who they don’t even have a bird to sell to. I’ve heard of breeders lining up potential buyers and having a couple of extra potentials than they do birds as there’s nearly always someone who will change their mind or not have the money etc. No use having a huge line of people waiting or enquiring when you only have three birds to sell/place.

 

[FeatheredM]

Rescues here It’s actually not real easy to find many bird rescues/shelters here especially ones that adopt out their birds!

I wasted so much time trying to find a shelter/rescue before I just rang a bird society to find a local breeder- I lived too far away to even be considered for the one shelter I could find that adopted out- not really adoption when you don’t actually have full guardianship rights anyway… The terms and conditions for rescuing here didn’t seem real good either- you never actually own the bird (if you manage to live close enough to the shelter to be considered able to adopt) so if I adopted and the bird became part of the family as they do then I died the bird has to go back to the rescue even if my family wish to keep their little flock member. If you want to move once you’ve adopted you need to have another home approval visit done to the new address first and keep your fingers crossed you can move the bird there- the bird can be taken and you charged $3000 if they decide the home is not suitable and you move there anyway, other pets? Forget it! Want the bird kept safe inside? Forget it! It’s considered cruelty

The rules for the one possible adopting shelter I could find were so unfair to the bird and the humans alike that it was honestly horrid, I’d be amazed if anyone ever adopted under their conditions.

That pricing mentioned for small conures seems about normal/correct from what I’ve seen and heard. The lowest I’ve seen is $60 and the highest $250, maybe more for larger conures.

I’d personally never consider buying a bird from gumtree- I’ve never really known of any reputable breeder to sell any kind of animal on gumtree- maybe times are changing but from what I see on there I’d steer clear.

The breeder may have had more people enquire and show interest in buying than they have birds (more than likely if advertised on gumtree) some will remove their ads in this case to stop them having to reply to numerous people who they don’t even have a bird to sell to. I’ve heard of breeders lining up potential buyers and having a couple of extra potentials than they do birds as there’s nearly always someone who will change their mind or not have the money etc. No use having a huge line of people waiting or enquiring when you only have three birds to sell/place.

Those are ridiculous rules! Like that less birds get adopted.

 

[Shezbug]

Those are ridiculous rules! Like that less birds get adopted.

I am not sure that we have a huge amount of birds actually waiting for adoption families here, maybe this is why they are so fussy- I really do not know but it certainly was not any kind of conditions I would ever consider agreeing to.
I know we do have rescues and sanctuaries but most of the ones I know about are for birds that most people may not be willing, experienced or equipped to care for- plucked, severely overweight, disabled due to injury etc. It is quite uncommon (in my experience and to my knowledge) to come across mutilating, plucking, disabled, poorly bred or seriously behaviour challenged birds here, many people who are bird people and have seen Birdie are honestly shocked and then fascinated by the way he walks and holds his wings and they ask so many questions as they've never seen a bird like him. I am not saying they are not here, they just do not seem to be super common.
It honestly was a massive shock to me when I first joined here to hear of so many needing adoption and to see so many birds with such severe plucking problems and many other things I am now used to reading about or seeing pics of. I have heard of people here in the past saying their bird plucks since some incident in their life but I had never seen a naked bird or even one with significant bald patches before joining here.

 

[AussieBird]

I’d personally never consider buying a bird from gumtree- I’ve never really known of any reputable breeder to sell any kind of animal on gumtree- maybe times are changing but from what I see on there I’d steer clear

I know of at least one reputable breeder (dog breeder) who sell via gumtree, so I think they’re out there.
I got W&E via Gumtree, and while the guy seemed like he cared for his birds and was quite knowledgeable, showing clipped birds in public places and saying they’re more tame then anyone elses’ is a bit ridiculous (also claiming to sell multiple “fully tamed” birds is ridiculous, that’s a bond that needs to be earned not just by him but by the new home too)
I kinda wish I’d gone to a good breeder instead.