What do I need to ask before buying a bird?

[songsparrow]

As I mentioned in the other thread I posted a little while ago, my daughter has been begging for a pet bird for a couple of years now, and she has fallen in love with a cockatiel that is at our local independent pet store. The owner of the store raises the cockatiels, and all of the birds that we have seen there over the last six months or so all seem very hand tame and friendly - they will step up and happily go to just about anyone. The cages and store are very clean.

My daughter and I have both done a lot of research, but poking around here at the forums I realize that we still have so much to learn!

So . . . what questions do we need to ask before buying the bird? Are there vet records or tests that we should ask to view? What sort of guarantee or return policy should we expect? What questions should we ask?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[MissTaz]

My only advice is to make sure that you choose a bird that picks you. It is so much easier through the hard times in training if that bird has already bonded to you. Also make sure you take the bird to an avian vet right when you get it to make sure there is no underlying health problems.

 

[Mayden]

As I mentioned in the other thread I posted a little while ago, my daughter has been begging for a pet bird for a couple of years now, and she has fallen in love with a cockatiel that is at our local independent pet store. The owner of the store raises the cockatiels, and all of the birds that we have seen there over the last six months or so all seem very hand tame and friendly - they will step up and happily go to just about anyone. The cages and store are very clean.

My daughter and I have both done a lot of research, but poking around here at the forums I realize that we still have so much to learn!

So . . . what questions do we need to ask before buying the bird? Are there vet records or tests that we should ask to view? What sort of guarantee or return policy should we expect? What questions should we ask?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

In all honesty, you're best off just asking a few baseline questions 'how old is he/she?' 'male/female?' 'general temperament?' to gage what type of bird you'll be bringing home with you. Letting the bird choose you is important, but if your daughter has her heart set on a specific one already and they're all equally tame, equally lovely to everyone, then I don't see why she shouldn't take that one home.

Then whisk him off to the vet for a health check. Most of the questions you'll want to ask about cockatiels will revolve around actually raising the bird, so you're better off asking us folks here, who arn't trying to sway you into buying a bird from our store.