visit to a breeder

[Boysmom]

So my boys and me went to visit a breeder an hour away to purchase a used cage. Ruby's cage had 3/8 bar spacing and she was getting her feet caught, so with Hubby unemployed I searched for an affordable cage and prayed to find one before she injured herself. I found a brand new cage with proper bar spacing ( 3/4 ) that a breeder had for sale at a dirt cheap price. This breeder had hundreds of birds of all types. All housed outside ( our winters can get too cold for that ) plus she mentioned that some have been killed by raccoons and snakes. Poor birdies ! None were tame and would attack her when she placed food and water into cages. She showed us a 6 year old African Grey she wanted $900 for ( she stated she had adopted this bird for free from craigslist several months ago). Poor thing was housed in a closed shed with no light or open windows or AC, it was 88 degrees that day. Shed also housed a lawn mower and the gas fumes over took us all. She had no interest in my rescueing this poor bird. She said someone was to put a deposit on it in September. I pray that person pays this bird off before it dies. It was so sad to me and my boys to see animals living under these conditions. She also stated no bird on her farm has ever been vetted, hence I sanitized the cage 4 times prior to bringing it into my home even though it was new.

 

[henpecked]

Where did she keep the babies ?

 

[Boysmom]

babies were kept outside with the parents, but she did say she had very few babies this year as most parents were frightened from their nest by raccoons and the eggs chilled and died. She was charging way too much for untouchable birds. She showed me a Pionus she wants $300 for but he freaked out when she even approached the cage. It wasnt even close to tame, would take alot of work from whomever purchased it.

 

[henpecked]

That's a shame. I got a big dog for the raccoons, she works great, my coon problems when right away. Put her dog house out beside the aviary, she guards it well, even barks at the hawks if they get to close. I think your "breeder" sounds more like a "hoarder".

 

[Boysmom]

Hoarder is a good term for her as she also breeds several types of dogs, rabbits, goats, and mules. Sounds like you were smart ,henpecked to get a dog to protect the birds. I bet the dog loves to chase away all kinds of varmits and your babies are safe and sound.
She also had moth balls all around the cages and under them, she said to deter the coons. I wondered how safe it was for the birds to smell moth balls all the time.

 

[henpecked]

Big warning sign,,,, the moth balls are for mites!!!

 

[cdog]

Oh my gosh! That is animal abuse! Please call your locall humane society at once, she should be shut down!
That is so horrible, moth balls, gas fumes, raccoons! All things that can kill a bird! She needs to be reported now before anyone buys from her!

 

[Boysmom]

I do know a state inspector and she has been made aware of this situation !

 

[Pookamama]

That's terrible!

 

[henpecked]

Hope you didn't bring mites home.

 

[BeakerBird]

Needs to be shut down for sure.

 

[Boysmom]

Ok now im a bit freaked out about mites !!! This was Friday and we havent noticed any itchiness on our bodies since then. I disinfected the cage first with apple cider vinegar and rinsed. Next with a bleach/ water mix and rinsed and left in the sun for 24 hours. Next day I cleansed it with grape seed extract and left in the sun for 24 hours. It was just brought indoors last night. All perches I simply threw away and plan to move Ruby's perches into it today when I finally will try it out on Ruby.
What should I look for as per mites go ?

 

[henpecked]

Very small bugs, i use scotch tape and a magnifying glass. IMO you could clean the non-porous cage parts with bleach and then wash off with water, repeat after a week for any eggs that might have survived and hatched. Mites aren't the end of the world and they make meds to treat for them. They're just a pain in the fanny. Good call on the perches and anything else that could harbor mites. You could bake them in the oven at about 250 for an hour also. If you do the cage again pay close attention to cracks and joints where bugs could hide. Some cages have square tubing that the cage bars pass though, if these joints aren't welded close they harbor loads of stuff that is hard to get to.

 

[paulhanlon]

I'm going to agree with rich on this one your breeder sounds more like a horder no respectable breeder would try and sell a untame bird for $900 and the way you have described things it also sounds like she doesn't keep any of her birds in a aviary to keep birds in a shed without no light or windows and to keep a lawnmower in there with the bird aswell is horrid I hope she cleans up her act before anymore of these innocent birds end up sick or worse dead.

 

[Boysmom]

She is NOT my breeder, just someone I found selling a brand new cage for an incredible low cost. I wouldn't purchase a bird from her, but did feel quite sad for the poor conditions. I was shocked and appalled to say the least, that's why I shared it here, to have a little vent about it. I sure hope that poor Grey in the shed gets rescued soon.

 

[mtdoramike]

This a bird flipper. Any time you get a bird for FREE and then ask an unreasonable price for the bird a few months later.

 

[ShoniNikki]

Its sooo sad that those poor animals have to live such poor lifestyles because some selfish person only cares for the monetary gain and not their well being... I hate seeing animals of any type put through these type of situations... It would be nice to see her taken out of the business and all those precious animals put into better homes where they deserve to be!!
People like this do not deserve one bird let alone so many that there isnt any room left for another, except to be stuffed in a shed... And then there are the deserving people who cant get a deal to save a life!!

 

[mtdoramike]

By the way, here in Florida, we use moth balls as a snake deterent. If someone has issues with snakes such as in the back yard, you sprinkle moth balls around the edges of the property. It's one of those home spun remedies. Now whether it actually works or not is the question.

 

[LauraT]

This is so sad. I do hope the local animal control is aware and goes for a visit. The heat and fumes alone should be some sort of violation.

Laura

 

[IcyWolf]

Those poor birds! She definitely sounds like an animal flipper, they get animals for free or cheap, usually off of craigslist, house them as cheaply as they can and then sell them for outrageous prices Please, please do what you can to get this person shut down! Those animals deserve so much better and the first step is getting them away from such a horrible person. Geez, I can't even imagine, we have people over all the time to see birds and I get embarrassed if there's seed on the floor, I can't even imagine keeping animals in those kind of conditions.