dasha
New member
I must make a preamble to my first comment below - I have not had much exposure to birds. The once or twice that I did they scared me because I thought I was going to have my finger bitten off. Perhaps a little dramatic but it was what it was. I had also never noticed a bird's interaction with a human. So then..
I never really paid much attention to the birds in the pet store....
until I spotted a beautiful sun conure...I walked up and started talking to him and moving my head and he started copying me! then I started doing more nodding with my head and he started bouncing around like he was dancing. Anyway, everytime I was in the store I would make a point of stopping in to say hi. After a couple visits though he was gone and there was a green cheeked conure in his place - Tanzy - with a "shy but will warms quickly" notation on his cage. He didn't respond as adamantly, but he still would quickly move over to the edge of the glass to get as close as possible to my face.
Well I have visited him a couple times now thru the glass and most recently twice with my family in person. He liked to sit on our shoulders and hide/play in our hair. He seemed a little nervous sitting on our fingers but was better when sitting in our palms. He nibbled and tasted our hands and shirts, but never bit. He made a few little noises, so cute! He is already 9 months old, poor guy has probably been at the pet store(s) since he was 2 or 3 months old. His colors are beautiful - bright green, red and a pale yellow on his belly, bright blue on his wings and red on his tail. The employee says she has noticed that when he poops on his perch and it falls on his stand - he will step in it, whereas other birds won't do that.
SO .... now is my dilemna. I have no idea if he was well socialized as a baby, no idea if has been exposed to other house pets as a baby, etc. If I get a GCC from a good breeder will I have a more easily adaptable, better socialized bird? The breeder I'm looking at has a small indoor/outdoor aviary and exposes her birds to the household activities including other pets. Am I off track here? How does the pet store GC seem to you guys, since I'm not experienced with bird behavior. I am already getting emotionally attached to him... but I'm trying my best to follow my brain. Oh, and going along with that - pet store price is $349, breeder price is $300 but includes bird outfitted shipping crate.
I never really paid much attention to the birds in the pet store....
until I spotted a beautiful sun conure...I walked up and started talking to him and moving my head and he started copying me! then I started doing more nodding with my head and he started bouncing around like he was dancing. Anyway, everytime I was in the store I would make a point of stopping in to say hi. After a couple visits though he was gone and there was a green cheeked conure in his place - Tanzy - with a "shy but will warms quickly" notation on his cage. He didn't respond as adamantly, but he still would quickly move over to the edge of the glass to get as close as possible to my face.
Well I have visited him a couple times now thru the glass and most recently twice with my family in person. He liked to sit on our shoulders and hide/play in our hair. He seemed a little nervous sitting on our fingers but was better when sitting in our palms. He nibbled and tasted our hands and shirts, but never bit. He made a few little noises, so cute! He is already 9 months old, poor guy has probably been at the pet store(s) since he was 2 or 3 months old. His colors are beautiful - bright green, red and a pale yellow on his belly, bright blue on his wings and red on his tail. The employee says she has noticed that when he poops on his perch and it falls on his stand - he will step in it, whereas other birds won't do that.
SO .... now is my dilemna. I have no idea if he was well socialized as a baby, no idea if has been exposed to other house pets as a baby, etc. If I get a GCC from a good breeder will I have a more easily adaptable, better socialized bird? The breeder I'm looking at has a small indoor/outdoor aviary and exposes her birds to the household activities including other pets. Am I off track here? How does the pet store GC seem to you guys, since I'm not experienced with bird behavior. I am already getting emotionally attached to him... but I'm trying my best to follow my brain. Oh, and going along with that - pet store price is $349, breeder price is $300 but includes bird outfitted shipping crate.
