Information about buying a conure from petco & how long to tame a baby bird?

[Pinkstiletto66]

Okay so, Im pretty sure store birds aren't tame, but I'd like info. I was going to buy a 5 month old gcc from someone but they werent tame. The price was good though $120. Petsmart, and Petco have them for about $300-$320, I figured its local, in comparison with a shipped bird plus getting to the airport (cab, favor.) So I might take a trup down there just to check em out, but I figure if they are both going to be untamed and probably the same age, Im better off with the cheaper bird that is in a cage most likely with its parents and siblings alone as opposed to the petco bird.. What do you think?

Also, the reason I told the person I didnt want the bird was because she said they were not tame, but its becoming hard to get a bird locally. I wanted to get a younger chick that was more socialized. Anywho, how long will it take to tame a baby bird? I know it varies by the bird, but what are your thoughts?

 

[BirdieNumNum]

Well I'm not sure if your Petco has the same or similar layout to mine, but our bird are in a separate room (I guess because they get loud) and we have two large cages with either a sun and a gcc or once I've seen two suns. You can interact with the birds through the bars. I think I actually have not seen a tame gcc, but some are very fearful and some just don't really care but they prefer you not touching them. The suns are always friendly. I would check out the Petco, maybe they're friendly! I had a gcc once, he came to me very fearful and bitey, couldn't even catch him. Within a couple weeks, he wanted shoulder rides wherever I went! It just takes some time and patience. He was 2 or 3 years old when I got him too, so it's not like he was just an untame baby. If I'm not mistaken he was also from Petco (a friend of mine got him and couldn't tame him). He would lay on his back and accept head scritches, even puffing up while I rubbed his head. It really depends on the bird you get and how much time you put into it. Find out what the bird loves. My gcc loved sunflower seeds, so I gained his trust through those.

 

[lene1949]

I just logged into this forum, and the last 20 posts are from you...

Have you got a bird yet? Have you found out which species you want...

Your posts really don't tell me what you're after... ????

 

[Remy]

Personally, I'd adopt a bird that needs a new and better home, as opposed to encouraging big-chain petstores that may or may not buy from questionable breeders (not sure about Petco). Conures are intelligent, and with time, effort, and lots of love, you can make friends with it!

 

[Autumn]

Hmmmm tough decision, and no one can provide an exact time length refferring to your tameing. But with dedication I'm sure in half a year.

 

[Pinkstiletto66]

I just logged into this forum, and the last 20 posts are from you...

Have you got a bird yet? Have you found out which species you want...

Your posts really don't tell me what you're after... ????

If you REALLY checked my posts you would see the answer to the question.

 

[Pinkstiletto66]

Personally, I'd adopt a bird that needs a new and better home, as opposed to encouraging big-chain petstores that may or may not buy from questionable breeders (not sure about Petco). Conures are intelligent, and with time, effort, and lots of love, you can make friends with it!

Not many conures for adoption over here, mostly bigger birds like Greys, and Toos. Someone tried to scam me to send money to France for a gcc. Not to go off topic, but adoption is a great idea but sometimes its easier to buy, whether a dog, cat, etc. It also seems once you finally buy a particular animal that you were waiting and looking do hard for at a rescue, all of a sudden there's tons of them.

 

[osnyder]

The Petsmart near me has had a sun conure for at least 6 weeks with a price tag of $699. It really has started to upset me. As messed up as the situation (i.e. big box store selling birds from who knows where for crazy high price) is I hope someone can take the poor dear home soon :-(

 

[Pinkstiletto66]

That's crazy! The gccs are 300 ish. The suns are $400 something.

 

[BirdieNumNum]

Personally, I'd adopt a bird that needs a new and better home, as opposed to encouraging big-chain petstores that may or may not buy from questionable breeders (not sure about Petco). Conures are intelligent, and with time, effort, and lots of love, you can make friends with it!

I agree, I always check shelters and Craigslist first (breeders are always coming out with clutches and so many of them end up unwanted).

The Petsmart near me has had a sun conure for at least 6 weeks with a price tag of $699. It really has started to upset me. As messed up as the situation (i.e. big box store selling birds from who knows where for crazy high price) is I hope someone can take the poor dear home soon :-(

Same . The suns are about $599 where I am and the gccs are $350. If I had that type of money I would buy myself a Hahn's macaw lol! I used to have a sun conure (had to give her up when we moved because we moved across the country and I thought it would stress her too much to be flown over with us) and I got her from a breeder for only $200. So much more affordable than a Petco sun! Plus I think birds from breeders are raised with more care, whereas pet store birds probably sit there and watch people come in and out or the store, stick fingers in their cage, lots of dogs running around... I would be pretty terrified. It sucks that pet stores price them so high. They end up just sitting there for months .

 

[Nakiska]

Well, we bought our conure (yellow sided green cheek) from Petco back the end of May and and he was hand fed/tame/vaccinated with all paperwork. He was just 8 weeks old.

We are thrilled to pieces with him and we paid 399.00.

So not all purchases from large chain pet stores are "bad."

As far as taming a conure that isn't already handled. It depends, it could take weeks, months even years. Depends on how much time you have and the personality of your chosen bird and I suppose age is a factor too.

Toni

 

[Customcasket]

My Sun came from the Petsmart around the corner from my house. He ran my boyfriend and I about $599 but was worth every penny. I adopted my Dusky from a bird rescue in my area (I'm from Southern NJ) and she is a sweetheart. My Sun was very tame and loved people. The employees would take him out every night and play with him so he was always around a lot of different people. We would go into Petsmart all the time just to look at him and always played with him through the bars. This went on for weeks and then months. Eventually we just broke down and bought him. He was a total sweetheart and sat in that little cage for almost a year before we bought him. I guess it all depends on the bird. The other conures they've had since him haven't been as friendly and one they have at another Petsmart near my house is tearing his feathers out. He's eaten every tail feather and is now working on the rest. One of my friends works there and is always playing with the bird but he's just so unhappy being there. I feel so bad for him and wish I could take him home to my little feathered family.

Good luck finding a bird!

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

A Here's a little slightly off topic info (yes I'm a breeder and you may feel free to think I'm biased, but the following information is public record and you can feel free to confirm)

There "were" 2 major little bird breeders that contracted with the large chain stores... one breeder had FANTASTIC quality birds, bust sadly they went out of business about 2 years ago. So as of today I can't confirm where the large chain stores get their birds.

A few years back Petco was allowed to carry large birds, but due to a long series of umpleasantries with PETA the settlement was that Petco agreed not to carry anything larger than a Sun Conure.

That "5month old baby bird people see at PetSmart could be as old 3 years are better (PetSmart "rotates their stock of larger birds" it gets about 3 to 6 months in one store before being shipped to a store in a different state.

Both PetSmart and Petco have had serious health problems with babies being handfed by store employees and dying....

A good breeder has years of experience, your Petco and PetSmart babies were raised by a 15 year old who took a 2 hour class, and that baby just happens to be the lucky survivor.

(I managed several petstores in my college years)

Please try to be patient and find a rehome, or work with the untamed one. It depends on the bird, but wild conures can be tamed with time. 3 to 6 months at longest (in my opinion).

 

[Pinkstiletto66]

*Update. Im getting a gcc from a breeder. And will tame it. I made a post about it.

 

[Mamanda]

I got Keen almost 2 weeks ago from PetCo. He is 5 months (according to his hatch certificate). He was originally $400 and because he'd been there a while so they reduced him to 50% off to try & find him a home. I was in love with him & brought him home and couldn't be more thrilled. If we had any local breeders in my area I would have gone there, but the closest place is 2+ hours away and the drive is through a mountain pass, two lane roads, etc. I'm glad for how things worked out because he seems FABULOUS. He wasn't tame at all, but in less than 2 weeks he's gotten comfortable enough with me to take food from my hand, come out willingly (this started yesterday) and he spends 1-2 hours happy as a clam just sitting on me enjoying the rubs and my love.

 

[Nakiska]

Ours was hand raised by the breeder, not the store employees. Franklin was only at the store for 7 days then we bought him.

Feathered Friends Co. out of Oregon was his breeder and they are FANTASTIC!

Toni

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

I am glad they have gotten away from buying unweaned babies..... it was a disaster

 

[lene1949]

I bought Max (Alexandrine) from a breeder at 4 weeks of age... It has been an amazing experience... All my other birds, past and presents, were from people who didn't want them for a various of reasons (mostly aggressiveness).

Since this forum doesn't discourage breeders, I would definitely recommend a baby... preferably weaned, if you don't have any experience in hand feeding.

 

[Nakiska]

I am glad they have gotten away from buying unweaned babies..... it was a disaster

Oh, I'm sure it is/was. We happen to have a pretty good Petco store here in our area, they are "supposedly" only buying their conure "type" birds from this smaller breeder because they are just so nice, hand tame, friendly and loaded with "take me home" personality.

I've seen many of the birds from Feathered Friends Co. in there and even contacted the breeder after getting Franklin, JUST so I could praise them on the job well done and assure her that this conure went to a very very good home.

You brought up a point I had been wondering about though...and that is the age of the birds. We also have a Petsmart in our area, and their green cheeks were much larger then our Franklin. I asked about the hatch dates of theirs...for which they had no information and told me, "they are about 4 or 5 months old." None of which were tame either. I couldn't believe it, I thought, wow! Our Franklin is sooo tiny! I know now...like you "confirmed" these are most likely older birds of 2 - 3 years old or more.

Because of this, I think many folks have a more difficult time trying to hand tame these "babies" because quite frankly, they aren't babies...they are 2 - 3 year old adult birds.

Anyway, this "debate" of sorts could go on and on I know. I'm lucky to have had good experiences with the Petco in our area.

Have a great day,

Toni