# Major petstore chains' bird selection:



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

How many people have purchased tiels from places like petco or petsmart?

Each time i go to a big petstore I take a look at the tiels and they _never_ seem to look healthy to me. They all have problems with their eyes and aren't active like a healthy tiel should be. There are also *flies* in there with them (ewwww). The bottom of the cage needs to be changed out way more often than it is and i don't think they ever change out the perches (or anything that can collect bacteria) so they are allowing cockatiel disease to be spread each time a new bird is added to the cage. 

And, no i'm not trying to trash the stores...I'm just curious how they turn out to be in homes, health-wise and as pets?

Btw...the arrow is pointing at a sick-looking bird and the circle is showing a fly sitting on the cage floor.


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## Set (Mar 14, 2011)

There's two pet stores here that sell birds. One is a chain store - Petsmart - and though their employees aren't hugely knowledgable, they mean well. Their animals are always in good condition, clean and healthy and active. I've gotten all four of my budgies from there and they're still around.
They don't sell cockatiels, though. They did have a gorgeous Conure once, and they did a lot of work with him because he was nippy. I had a nice long chat with one of the employees about him.

The other one I'm not sure if it's a chain or not. But their animals are generally not in good condition and they sell pupymill puppies. For outrageous prices. That are rarely healthy. And I hate even looking at the birds; the cages are small and dirty, they look sick, and aren't active at all. The only thing I've bought from that store is a clip to hold a cuttle bone because I couldn't find it anywhere else. It was a whole eight-some cents. But even that felt wrong.

It's weird how different pet stores can be.

ETA: I also bought a mouse from the second store. Petsmart doesn't sell them because people buy them as feeders; the second store sells them as feeders. Anyway, he was injured when I got him and only lived a few months :/


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## JudiNH (Sep 10, 2011)

My Mayzie came from a Petco. My friend bought her for me, as a total surprise to me. The store is clean though, and the animals are well cared for. Mayzie is a great pet, healthy and bright eyed and curious...although not super tame....yet. But, our Petco isnt bad, the cages are clean, and obviously, based on Mayzie's personality, they have nice birds.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Yeah the Petsmart over here doesn't sell cockatiels, is that every where? I wonder why...but petco does and usually their budgies and conures look nice but the tiels just look so sick and unhappy. No toys in their cage, no mirrors, poop everywhere...etc. I just don't understand how they keep selling them..any person educated on tiels wouldn't purchase one from there. It just drives me crazy.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

JudiNH said:


> My Mayzie came from a Petco. My friend bought her for me, as a total surprise to me. The store is clean though, and the animals are well cared for. Mayzie is a great pet, healthy and bright eyed and curious...although not super tame....yet. But, our Petco isnt bad, the cages are clean, and obviously, based on Mayzie's personality, they have nice birds.


I guess it depends on the area because of the different employees and breeders in the area..i just know that these over here don't look good.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

The petsmart and petcos I go to, they just have parakeets and finches. In one petsmart there was also a conure but it is gone now, I hope someone took him/her and that it didn't die. 

I don't know if the finches and parekeets look good. I do think there cage is way to small though. There are like 15 finches in 20 gallon tank, not a cage, and there is the same with the parakeets. The finches are flying around and eating, and the parakeets are on the perch still.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Yeah i think petsmart does a better job with their birds...despite the small cages (tanks). they look and act much healthier than the petco birds. Although those conures at petco always get me...they are so smart! I always put a mirror up to the cage and they always decide to look behind it. But the conures are one out of three species at petco and they always seem to be doing well in comparison to the other birds there. The only seemingly sick birds i've seen at petsmart are some little yellow birds..but they may just be a less active species, or they could've been nesting. 

But i strongly urge people to resist purchasing birds from large animal chains as they commonly get birds from bird "mills."

Anyone have a Petland in their area?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

When I started with cockatiels many of my birds were from petshops. In fact it was from petshop birds that I felt I was not inheriting somone elses problems or health issues. I bought from breeders too, and I have to say I will take a petshop bird over a breeders bird any day when I first began. 

In S. Florida there is an abundance of breeders of cockatiels, and the only time I received birds with health issues was from breeder. Many breeders are novice pet owners that know nothing of breeding, recognizing diseases etc. Some of my major problems came from very reputable breeders that cost me thousand to correct. As to handfed pets many times their birds are improperly weaned, and relapse on unsuspecting buyers. And the real lazy ones sell the babies unweaned to inexperienced people, and the bird is the ultimate victim. Or if they are selling *'proven* breeders (LMAO) you can bet it was their problem birds.

The birds bought from petshops were disease free....meaning no major diseases....though some were very stressed from the sales to the shops and further sales to the public which could trigger secondary stress related yeast and/or bacterial problems. Shops unfairly get a black eye from this from the public not understanding the stress upon the birds.


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## hscockatiels (Sep 21, 2011)

A petsmart associate told me that cockatiels became too much of a hassle to handfeed and also, after so many controversies they just decided to stop selling bigger birds and keep it simple by selling budgies and finches.

My flock of 4 budgies came from petsmart, very healthy birds, and they are very exercised.

I say that people shouldn't bash these petstores for a lame reason...if one petsmart is treating birds poorly, the title "petsmart" shouldn't be blamed. There are many great petsmarts, and there are some mediocre petsmarts here and there I guess, but it really depends on the store.

P.S-No, this is post is not towards bjknight93


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*A petsmart associate told me that cockatiels became too much of a hassle *

A few years ago an elderly man (and I think his grand-daughter was hospitalized) in TX died from psittacosis. Prior to this the birds were bought from breeders all over FL, and brought to their hand-feeding facility in the northern part of the state. Initially the facility was owned by Kaytee, and it was sold and the facility was run by another co. When owned by Kaytee (and managed by Preferred Birds) ALL birds were treated for all infectious diseases and all birds were weaned and eating on their own before they were shipped to the stores. Under new management, after the sale, this was not done and babies were sent out on 1-2 feedings a day to be weaned out at the stores. It was when this occurred the tragedy in TX happened. And it is from this happening that many may not see cockatiels in many of these stores.

Keets and finches are parents fledged and weaned, so they don't have to worry about unweaned birds.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

srtiels said:


> *A petsmart associate told me that cockatiels became too much of a hassle *
> 
> A few years ago an elderly man (and I think his grand-daughter was hospitalized) in TX died from psittacosis. Prior to this the birds were bought from breeders all over FL, and brought to their hand-feeding facility in the northern part of the state. Initially the facility was owned by Kaytee, and it was sold and the facility was run by another co. When owned by Kaytee (and managed by Preferred Birds) ALL birds were treated for all infectious diseases and all birds were weaned and eating on their own before they were shipped to the stores. Under new management, after the sale, this was not done and babies were sent out on 1-2 feedings a day to be weaned out at the stores. It was when this occurred the tragedy in TX happened. And it is from this happening that many may not see cockatiels in many of these stores.
> 
> Keets and finches are parents fledged and weaned, so they don't have to worry about unweaned birds.


Wow...i didn't know. But this makes a lot of sense. I wish Kaytee had kept the company since they actually took care of the birds prior to shipping them and made sure they were ready for homes. I'm disappointed that a company who takes initiative to overtake a reputable breeding company would take such a major step back from the practices that had been successfully carried out previously.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Very few pet stores (local privately owned) breed their own birds. In order to stay in business and be competitive they have to reply on local breeders to supply them with healthy sweet birds. Most birds that do go to the shop are nice and tame. But, it is each day that passes with strangers leaning over and reaching for them, staring at them, trying to catch them that can frighten even the tamest bird to react and scream, run, bite, and act unfriendly. 

It is further compounded when it comes to national chain pet stores. The birds are bird from breeders, many times 100's of miles from the hand-feeding facility. They are lumped in with several dozen other babies and mass fed, with little to no socializing. Once weaned they are driven or shipped to one of the chain stores. This in itself is stress and the bird has to adjust to a new set-up and environment. Regardless of this change in their short life, some breeders breed for temperament and even though the bird may be frighten in the store, when brought to a stable home it can easily adapt and show it's true personality.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*Wow...i didn't know. But this makes a lot of sense.*

It was very disappointing. I used to sell to Kaytee until this changeover. I can't remember the name of the Co. that bought it but it sounded like some type of gardening or non-bird related name.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

That's good to know. I guess i just might worry too much about purchasing a bird from a big store like that...i would prefer to be able to ask questions about the bird's background and to be able to talk to the person who has watched the chicks grow up. Thanks for your feedback srtiels, you always put some insight into the discussions here. 

P.S. this is in response to the post about the birds temperament positively changing once they've reached a stable home...not to the one about the gardening-sounding bird company.


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## stevechurch2222 (Sep 25, 2011)

The wife and I live in Oskaloosa,Iowa and the Petco store nearest to us is in West Des Moines,Iowa and their cocaktiels are 8 weeks old and they said they are eating seeds,but to me they are still too young to sell,even tough Petco says they are ready to go home.We found two breeders here in Iowa one in Des Moines and one in Cedar Rapids that have been breeding for all most 24 years and they don't let their birds go home till they are 4 months old.And they feed them pellets and seed.We feel more comfortable with the breeder than Petco.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*and they don't let their birds go home till they are 4 months old*
----------------------------------------------

That is great. Ideally a tiel should not even be sold until it is 3-4 months old. By this age their immune system is stronger and they handle stress due to changes better.

it amazes me how many people push for 6-8 weeks to have their birds weaned. It is an injustice to the bird, and the birds immunity is not as far developed. Changes from a sale and a new home have an unseen negative impact on the bird.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I believe Kirk was about 4 months old when we got him...Luna was a few days short of 6 weeks old;she was kind of a rescue mission because a woman was selling her on craigslist. I think the woman meant well and honestly thought the chicks weren't getting food from the parents anymore. But nonetheless, we brought her home and finished her weaning up. It was only about a week before she wanted to eat completely on her own...but i still felt i was justified to take her in. 

And i do feel like it was very stressful on her being at a young age when she changed homes...although she came to trust me fairly quickly.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

we have two petsmarts here, one is not so nice so i wont shop there. if it were nice id shop there, but ours is not. 

however, i have a favourite local store who breeds their own budgies or works with local breeders to get their animals and birds and they socialize and play with their animals. they were the breeders i got my budgie from. they know what theyre doing and have their budgies in a big flight cage, give them veggies, toys, clean food and water. theyre awesome. toby did get sick when we brought him home, likely as srtiels said, the stress of change. there's petstores out there that are awesome, theres good petsmarts somewhere out there. these birds, if they find homes, as long as they receive the proper care and love can be just as good as any birds bought from breeders.


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## bear2491 (Feb 26, 2011)

I work in an Aussie "chain" pet store although we are a franchise, not a corporate owned store so we get more of say.
On the flip side there is another pet store in town that is not a chain but is....urgh horrible. They sell pups and kittens and they get sick, and they die. I'd hate to think what the birds go through.

I can say, of our store, we have our "regulars" who we know are looking after their tiels =] they have the sweetest little temprements and are always about 3 months old. All of my tiels have come from my work and they are very healthy and happy.
One of the breeders though.....ugh. We've refused his birds before for being unweaned and he rarely comes in now... Wish I could tell him never to come back, he was the guy I got my 2 very first tiels off over 10 years ago and he hasn't improved =[ He is the sort of breeder you want to avoid. 

I think it helps if the pet stores have a bird lover in the staff. I know myself and my new workmate adore our birdies (especially tiels) and we take special pains with their care. We worm them, make sure new owners know the importance of worming and feeding a proper diet and proper cage requirements. We've never had an ill bird in my time (or I would take it home and care for it myself)

Just my 2 cents.


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## hscockatiels (Sep 21, 2011)

@bjknight93

No... I wasn't talking about you :blush:!

I know you were curious and that post wasn't speaking towards you, I'm making a statement about the public thinking the title petsmart is cruel. There is even a site based on petsmart's "cruelty"! I agree with you and yes, that fly is gross! I am also curious about how many stores do this.

And I admire that in your original post, you specifically said "I don't mean to insult these chain stores."


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i think with the chain stores, employees, and managers make the biggest difference. ours are bad. theyre in small cages theyre always sick, and the sun conure was deathly ill and they swore he was normal (he was falling off his perch as he slept with his head on his chest having trouble breathing and clogged nostrils....) but ive heard stories of good petsmarts and i believe it. so i think theyre all different. i wont shop at OUR petsmarts here because they wouldnt do anything about the poor conure. but im sure theres good ones out there. theyre not ALL bad. its just like even some small local petstores. i only have 2 petstores in my city i will shop at. the rest, no theyre not that good at all, local and chain here. it all depends. some are really good on their animal care and those ones, people should have no shame buying pets from them. of the petstore gives their animals good care, they shouldnt share a bad rep. unfortunately the few bad give the good ones bad names too


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

hscockatiels said:


> And I admire that in your original post, you specifically said "I don't mean to insult these chain stores."


I felt like people would attack me if they thought i meant it to be ALL major chain stores...which i promise i don't. 

Today, I went to the same pet store again (btw no petstores have any blackfriday deals on bird stuff)...the cockatiels got spooked and then the flies came out of the cage and started attacking my dog! So then my dog kept trying to eat them and although it was very comical-looking, I realized that the flies are (and i'm not exaggerating) the size of my pinky nail! :blink: They are huge! I bet they lay their eggs in the dirty bedding...


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

This thread made me realize that i shop pet stores way too often! Anyway...the pet store today had changed out the litter in all of their bird aquariums and had replaced or cleaned everything in the cages. It looked so much better! I just wish they'd clean it up more often (and put some toys in). Two of the four birds had been homed so they should get a new group pretty soon. I don't think the little fluffed bird was sick; maybe it's a petstore bird's life, but they always seem extremely inactive to me. But i usually shop in the afternoon--i found they are a bit more lively in the mornings...i guess all the people just wear them out since they're probably kept alert..but i find it strange the tiels rarely use the perches, maybe they get spooked too often?


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## Copper (Nov 26, 2011)

Petclub, a bay area chain that should only sell pet stuff because they're prices are better then everyone else, really shouldn't sell birds  The employees know very little and, other then the conures, don't work with the birds.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

A lot of places are like that. People are hired right off the street that might or might not know anything about birds or whatever animals they sell there. So you can't always count on employees to be knowledgable about them. =/


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## DesertDweller (Oct 8, 2011)

I used to be a manager of the Specialty Department of a Petsmart. This was around 1997 thru 1999. Before I became a manager, I hired on as a sales associate and was in complete learning mode at the store.

They had just finished a complete remodel of the store and just started getting birds and fish in. In a short time, I noticed that bird deaths went up to about 90 percent!! They were using an abandoned mop closet in the receiving area of the store for their quarantine room. It was totally dark day and night if someone forgot to keep the light on. Birds were unable to find their food in the dark and were drowning in their water dishes because they couldn't see them when they flew in the dark. 

The birds who made it to the front of the store were not given an adequate diet and were suffering very prolonged molts (I watched a Red Bishop finch go through an agonizing molt - I had a Red Bishop at home that molted fine, so that's how I know). Birds were getting bald spots on their bodies. The new aviaries were not properly ventilated and birds got aspergillosis. I did, too and was hospitalized with it for a week. It's horrible.

When I became manager, I was able to stop the deaths. I cleaned up the ventilation, made a big salad at home and brought it in for the birds in the store. They improved rapidly. I ended up buying up to 24 birds because I couldn't stand to see them suffer in the store when they came in through shipments injured.

Also, numerous finches were coming in with bird pox. This is a really horrible, painful and terminal disease which is completely avoidable. I called the bird supplier and they told me that the birds 'looked okay' when they shipped out. NO EXCUSE!!!!

I was totally disgusted with Petsmart. Before I became manager, they experienced an average of $3,000.00 per MONTH loss in bird and fish deaths alone - for 3 years. I was able to reduce that to an understandable $15.00 per month. No more birds died on my watch, and the $15.00 loss was from fish.

I can't bear living with the nightmares I'm left with from working at Petsmart. And, I didn't even tell you everything.

To be fair, the Petsmart near me that I used to work at now has a new store general manager and is at a new location. The food is fresher, the store is cleaner and the animals look good. Someone is doing something right today, I'm happy to say.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

as said, its location and employment. when one petsmart might be bad, there are good ones out there.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Thank you for reminding everyone, DallyTsuka. And thanks DesertDweller for adding insight to issues that some petstores have, and good for you for taking control of the bird population there. Did you manage to educate any other parts of management about the problems with birds?


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

The petsmart in my area has a big tank of budgies... I've gotten four from there over a year ago and I still have all the little mean things. Lol.

They have one other big cage and the rotate out the birds based on when they sell them. They had a parrot FOREVER. He recently sold and now there are three tiels in the cage. They claim that they are tame but they are far from. But they all look healthy.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

That's the first petsmart i've heard of still selling cockatiels. They always have a conure in the big tank for sale for about $600, the one that's there now has been for over a month.


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## DesertDweller (Oct 8, 2011)

bjknight93 said:


> Thank you for reminding everyone, DallyTsuka. And thanks DesertDweller for adding insight to issues that some petstores have, and good for you for taking control of the bird population there. Did you manage to educate any other parts of management about the problems with birds?


They ended up removing the plexiglas aviaries and found another location for quarantining new arrivals. I also started quarantining sick and injured birds behind the display area rather than in receiving, so they could be cared for and not forgotten. So, some positive things came out of it.


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## Copper (Nov 26, 2011)

The petsmart I go to is pretty good, and the employees are respond immediately when I tell them a bird isn't well. and the petco I go to is also pretty good.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

anyone have any good stories to share? i mean, we cant just name the bad stories, theres good petstores out there.


i have a small local petstore which i absolutely love. they house their birds in spacious cages, and even flight cages for the budgies. they breed their own budgies and work with local breeders for other birds. they keep cages clean, give their birds toys and veggies, they give their birds fresh foods and water too. they love their pets, they play with the hamsters and other pets too. all their animals are socialized, except the birds because they have a resident cat and they wont let the birds out with him around. they have rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, and guinea pigs as well as fish and birds. everything is clean, well fed and given the proper space, care and attention. 

some photos from my favourite pet store


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

These were the only two I could find, taken in CA. There are three shops where I lived, two were connected. The birds had free reign in one shop and in the other they had huge cages and plenty of hands on attention. Sorry for the blurry pix, taken with my phone.


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## Woodstock (Feb 25, 2011)

Have you checked out the rescued birds' sanctuarys? That's where I got Woodstock and he could not be a better little guy. I love him to pieces.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I know this is a very old thread and has been closed...but I just wanted to update everyone. After an incident with the pet store that I wrote this thread about, I wrote corporate a letter expressing why I was disgruntled and told them what had been going on for a very long time. The last straw for me was when I told the "animal manager" that a cockatiel had conjunctivitis which can be an indicator of chlamydia which is very contagious..and can be transferred to humans. She told me that she knew about the disease and that she would "keep an eye on it." In my opinion, she should have removed the bird to quarantine immediately. Anyways, since I wrote the letter I have gone back several times. The cages consistently have been cleaner and the birds have appeared healthier; I am very pleased with the result and although they did not contact me back they immediately took care of the situation.

If you have an issue with the care of animals in a chain petstore, I highly recommend that you write them and tell them of your experience. Corporations cannot fix problems if they are unaware that the problem exists.


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## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

I just read this thread for the first time and realized that the poor Petsmart on Brodie must be waiting for the hammer to fall. I have been in there several times over the past two years and wrote a letter to the management last summer regarding an obviously sick cockatiel. I have also gone in with my NCS materials and introduced myself to the manager in order to gain their attention that someone is watching the condition of the birds. LOL. I have also seen a marked improvement in the cages, the last time I was in there the cockatiels even had toys.


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