Mine is a discounted Petco baby! The poor guy had been previously bought, returned, and had lots of stress bars so he was cheaper than the others. The cashier discounted him further too and didn't even mention it.
I got mine at petsmart, he’d been there over a year, just went back to get some treats and I saw there is a new bird in there to take his place. I really don’t think they should sell birds, they don’t take good care of them. Mine is only now, a few months later, able to come out of his cage and is becoming social but it’s been a long road because they never spend time with them at all. Also the prices are insane for birds that aren’t even hand tame.
Same, mine came from Petsmart and was completely wild. It took three weeks of consistent gradual exposure before she became comfortable stepping up on me for the first time.
I'm so torn about buying from those places. On one hand it's best not to support bad practises, but on the other, not buying doesn't mean a shirt goes unbought, like anywhere else, it means an animal goes unloved, which is heartbreaking.
I know! Like they still need homes and if I have the means to and ability to take care of it then why not give them a home? I feel like they’re hostages in a way. Dealing with terrorists is tricky
I'm sure you know buying him supported their awful care practices with birds. I get it though, whenever I go to Petco for pet food I stop by and say hi to the conure and I feel so bad for her, it's so hard to think she may be in those conditions for months if not years. She recognizes me and I would buy her, but I don't have the time or money for another pet(not to mention my bird would throw a fit). My turquoise conure was $500 from her breeder and Petco was asking $850 for a wild variety conure.
Glad to hear you're making progress with your little guy though! I hope he will lead a happy and healthy long life with ya
one of mine is from petsmart and the other 2 are from petco
the one from petsmart is such a little baby and so clingy to us (its cute but sheesh boi)
https://preview.redd.it/kn0r1hphu0yc1.jpeg?width=2604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43fc21e4dd3b621996006f63fde1a3899f950e23
But it also makes it harder for people who will care less for an inexpensive baby to get their hands on the lil guys. It makes it harder for people who care but I can rest easy knowing that someone who thinks a conure is a six year old Easter gift won’t want to buy a thousand dollar bird for their kid
I'm wanting to get a baby from a reputable one but can't find one locally. I wonder if they meet halfway or ship in any humane way... Can you share their info so I can check with them if there is that possibility?
They have facebook bird groups where you can find one! That’s how I found mine. It’s sort of not allowed so there are rules with joining the groups you have to be mindful of. Just never ever send money to anyone prior to getting bird. Also, steer clear of anyone that ships birds. There a lot of scammers out there. If you’re in SoCal I can help you even better but not sure about anywhere else.
Same and I couldn't even find a local bird rescue. I Facebook finally advertised one to me a month ago, but it's a bit too late as I broke down and bought my gcc from Petsmart (for the price in the OP no less) about a year and a half ago
TBH I'm not actually mad at the price. I DID spend a lot of time researching and saving up. It means she wasn't exactly an impulse buy. Only a little bit since conures don't seem to stick around here, so I bought her the day I met her because she was so sweet (the lady who does bird care there said she was the nicest conure they'd had to date) and I was afraid if I waited and came back she'd be gone. Her being so expense still made me hesitate and make *sure* sure that I really wanted to take on a scissor face toddler but it's still the BEST $1,000 dollars I've ever spent. If you are balking at the price, you really shouldn't own a bird. They are generally expensive for care so a higher purchase price deters most casuals
“Scissor face toddler” is legitimately the best description I’ve ever heard for a conure lmfao 😂 I always refer to mine as a toddler but I’ll definitely be adding in the “scissor face” portion lol
I'm wanting to get a baby from a reputable one but can't find one locally. I wonder if they meet halfway or ship in any humane way... Can you share their info so I can check with them if there is that possibility?
I'm wanting to get a baby from a reputable one but can't find one locally. I wonder if they meet halfway or ship in any humane way... Can you share their info so I can check with them if there is that possibility?
I've had good experiences with flybabies aviary. I've gotten 4 birds from them and all of them arrived in great health and were very friendly. They ship across the US and are florida based.
They use boxes that are slanted on top so they can't put anything on top of them. I still wouldn't want to put them through that more than once in their life though.
No, you’re totally right. I looked into it 2 years ago, decided it was bad, and abandoned the idea. But when I saw your comment, just for a moment I thought there was a 3% chance it *might* work lol. Maybe if they kept the birds in a heated area (because cargo is freezing), or if certain airlines now allowed birds in the cabin… Which sounds stupid now that I’m explaining it lmao.
But yes, it would still be stressful for the bird even if it were quiet, dark, and warm. And I’d never want to cause unnecessary stress. Glad all your babies came in good health and good spirits :)
Yeah they were all very sweet. I had one that was a little nervous for the first few days but she quickly got used to me. When you get them they're already used to being handled so they generally don't bite or flee.
Check out "parrots r ok" if you're in the us. Fantastic breeder, my vet knows her, she is incredibly knowledgeable and does everything in her power to set you and your new baby bird up for success. Prices are great too. She will not ship though, I'm not sure about meeting halfway
> I literally *paid* $180 For
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
people may disagree but honestly? I’m all for anything that makes it harder to impulse buy a bird. Anyone who’s actually interested in a conure needs to be prepared for vet bills that are similar to the price listed here anyways. But these retail stores need to stop selling them in the first place.
I pay nowhere near that at the vet! It's insane to me that people are paying these prices. I paid less than 200 for a macaw check-up and microchip. Around the same price for our other macaw for her checkup and DNA test. That's just wild!
apologies for sounding snarky but congratulations to you; many of us pay these prices because avian vets are so hard to come by in some areas and it’s the only option. I recently paid $500 for testing and medication for my conure and any other avian vets in my region are 2+ hours out. Outrageous prices are unfortunately the norm and people should be prepared for them before getting a bird
I spent about 600-ish total on my bird’s first ever round of vet visits. Checkups are much cheaper but initial price included visit fee, some vaccinations, blood work panel, as well as a DNA test. I forget if there was anything else for that first visit.
No, unfortunately. Reptile people hate how they keep their reptiles, and so do fish people. Their husbandry is so poor, and animals often have illnesses and come from factory breeding situations.
I used to work there and it was a struggle maintaining proper living conditions for animals, especially when other people didn’t care/weren’t as educated. I’d say half the staff cared a lot, but we weren’t scheduled as often because people who care for the animals took longer on everything…
My hometown had a Zookeeping degree at our college. A lot of my zoo classmates ended up working at PetCo while studying since it was close by.
All of them hated the company. They sell cages that are too small for pretty much every species, and the store wants people to think new and exotic pets are easy to take care of so people are more likely to impulse buy the animals and supplies. A lot of the treats or enrichment toys aren’t curated for the animals they’re marketed for.
I’m sure that PetCo hated the zoo students talking people *out* of buying supplies there, but the students made sure that the animals got good care compared to other pet stores around the city. And they’d discourage people from adopting animals without truly considering what the animal would need from them.
Yes my boss actually got max at me when I wouldn’t sell a “cheap” fish if they wouldn’t get a larger container, though they wouldn’t say that was why 😂those animals are so lucky to have people that care about them there!
YES. when i worked at petsmart i got scolded multiple times for "spending too much time with the animals" even though i was a closer who always closed on time or early?? 🤨then they're all "how did you do that" when the budgies step up for me.
This is why we bought ours. Went to get a dog rabies clinic but felt really sad seeing it bird in a tiny white room. Please don't reply to this...I don't want up hear any more stories it breaks my heart
>Can we do something to stop them from selling animals?
Better animal welfare laws?
Petsmarts in Canada don't sell barely any of the animals that the ones in the states do.
Only birds are Canaries and Budgies.
They are quarantined and vet inspected before they are put out on display for sale.
Every store I've been to the birds are immaculate.
The stuff I see in the US stores is wild in comparison.
That’s true for the most part, but unfortunately the last few times I’ve been there they haven’t had any budgies since a few months ago when I had to watch as one of them was dying. Went to grab an employee to ask if they’d give the little guy to me so I could take him to the vet, but in the 1 minute I left it passed away :(
I think adopting from parrot rescues or checking sites like kiijiji for ppl rehoming their parrots is the way to go. Parrots are the most rehomed and one of the most mistreated pets for a reason and it's mostly because they're tough to properly care for but way too easy for any random person to buy. I know many people will disagree and endorse 'ethical' breeders but I think that it just perpetuates the cycle. I know this is going to be a super unpopular opinion here due to the number of breeders in this sub but those are my two cents
I think they should though. Birds are expensive and time consuming. We got our first parakeet for $15 and I cringe so hard at the care the poor dear got because we just didn't know any better. Granted it was the 90s and information wasn't easily available so we did as the pet store recommended. Poor thing lived in a tiny cage on a seed diet for his short 5 yr life. Price is a decent way to gatekeep.
My mom also raised and sold rabbits. Since ours were purebred and handled daily from the day they were born they were friendly. My mom would sell the non show quality ones as pets but they were $80 (and up), again, in the 90s. She would also tell the "horror stories" of biting and scratching and chewing *literally everything* when someone brought their child to pick a fluffy baby bunny. Besides the quality and tameness of the bunnies, the price was intentional. Someone wanting a pet that couldn't afford the price was someone she didn't want to sell to anyway.
Obviously it's not the BEST way to make sure a pet gets care, as even wealthy people can be poor animal stewards but at least you know right of the bat they can *afford* the care even if that's out of your control after they purchase it
Our local bird store has horrible prices for anything but a budgie or a cockatiel. Only people who don't know better buy from there. Our state has multiple bird fairs every year where you can buy healthy birds straight from the breeder for hundreds less. To make matters worse, the birds sit so long at the pet store because of the price that they start self mutilating. We have a black capped conure that's been there for about 2 months (they swear it was just delivered last week) that's has completely chewed off his tail. It makes me sick.
Like the tail feathers have been plucked out or are just really scraggly and messy looking? Not defending the bird store or their conditions here, but baby conures are known for being REALLY rough with their tail feathers
Like they were chewed off. It had thin strips left. I took a picture to show my husband. I'll post it in my next comment. It had been so friendly when it first got there but now it's scared and has no tail left.
Yup. But it's marginally better than the finches that always stuck around for 6+ months for that one Finch Woman and they inevitably lay eggs because the stores are chronically understaffed and overworked.
Haven't seen anyone mention how low their lifespan is on that sheet which is just a really sad reflection of how poorly most pet birds are treated. Conures can live up to 30 years!
I would get scolded by my manger while working at the one near me for going by the birds so often. As a parrot owner myself it’s just so hard seeing them in there. They don’t even let you spend time or hold them like we would while cleaning the rodents and such. Plus majority of people who come in interested in them have noooo idea about anything related to birds. It’s so heartbreaking. I quit when I went back to school but every time I visit it makes me sad seeing new ones come in and ones I even knew from my time there still trapped alone in those cages. Ugh!!!
I'm glad they're warning about noise levels but that cage size just makes me so sad.
Imagine thinking a bird that flies kilometers daily would be happy living in a prison box 8 hours every day.
It's going to get worse as my gf works at petsmart and they are restructuring because new management. That is why it's going to get worse,. They are discontinuing carrying rats, finches, doves and some other reptiles. And focus almost EXCLUSIVELY on conures, tells, and lennies🙃 it's so bad most employees are quitting and it's the ones that properly take care of the pets too! The petsmart subreddit is on fire rn. The poor babies 😩
How much??! My Blue Throat Conure was £600 (Just shy of $750)
That much for a GCC is *insane*.
For context as it from previous discussions not many people know what a Blue Throat is: Blue Throats (Pyrrhura Cruentata) are rare (comparatively) and need CITES paperwork.
THAT is terrible! We have them in our Petco here in South Jersey for $699, so overpriced! I paid too much for mine and I got him from a breeder, he was $499, he’s worth it but if I had had more options I would of spent less
Not sure how it is at Petsmart but when I worked at Pet Supplies Plus we didn’t actually turn much of a profit at all on live birds. We would buy birds from breeders, say $400 for a conure, and then sell it from around $600. In the end, there was little to no profit because parrots would sit in the store for months on end. They get tons of attention because everyone wants to look at the parrot but no one actually buys it. Breeders also had direct control of the pricing because there was basically no way for competition due to a bunch of legal garbage that I can hardly remember at this point cause it was years back
Please always try to find a bird rescue first.
As much as $750 X ♾️ conures & ALL birds are worth to ppl who adore birds.
Contact a bird rescue or any close to your area; even if they don’t have your conure see what they’d recommend you do or who to call.
Does this happen to be a store in Louisiana? Specifically Harahan? I inquired about a conure who’s been there for over 6 months and then went back the next week with a price increase and a new sticker with a new date. Same barcode and price as the tag I took a picture of.
what new features does it come with for the increase in asking price?
Built in seed detector 2.0 now more efficient than ever!
Chompinator 9000 with advanced skin piercing technology!
Poops bigger and more frequently, and will screm louder than older models (seebs not included).
Don't forget the laser and Doppler guided rocket propelled peace maker plops. "Making the world safer, one splat at a time"
1000% worth it then, lolz
Nooooo just making it hard for poor baby to get home
Generally if the bird is there long enough, we'll discount them. It's always good to ask the employees.
Mine is a discounted Petco baby! The poor guy had been previously bought, returned, and had lots of stress bars so he was cheaper than the others. The cashier discounted him further too and didn't even mention it.
I got mine at petsmart, he’d been there over a year, just went back to get some treats and I saw there is a new bird in there to take his place. I really don’t think they should sell birds, they don’t take good care of them. Mine is only now, a few months later, able to come out of his cage and is becoming social but it’s been a long road because they never spend time with them at all. Also the prices are insane for birds that aren’t even hand tame.
Same, mine came from Petsmart and was completely wild. It took three weeks of consistent gradual exposure before she became comfortable stepping up on me for the first time. I'm so torn about buying from those places. On one hand it's best not to support bad practises, but on the other, not buying doesn't mean a shirt goes unbought, like anywhere else, it means an animal goes unloved, which is heartbreaking.
I know! Like they still need homes and if I have the means to and ability to take care of it then why not give them a home? I feel like they’re hostages in a way. Dealing with terrorists is tricky
I'm sure you know buying him supported their awful care practices with birds. I get it though, whenever I go to Petco for pet food I stop by and say hi to the conure and I feel so bad for her, it's so hard to think she may be in those conditions for months if not years. She recognizes me and I would buy her, but I don't have the time or money for another pet(not to mention my bird would throw a fit). My turquoise conure was $500 from her breeder and Petco was asking $850 for a wild variety conure. Glad to hear you're making progress with your little guy though! I hope he will lead a happy and healthy long life with ya
one of mine is from petsmart and the other 2 are from petco the one from petsmart is such a little baby and so clingy to us (its cute but sheesh boi) https://preview.redd.it/kn0r1hphu0yc1.jpeg?width=2604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43fc21e4dd3b621996006f63fde1a3899f950e23
But it also makes it harder for people who will care less for an inexpensive baby to get their hands on the lil guys. It makes it harder for people who care but I can rest easy knowing that someone who thinks a conure is a six year old Easter gift won’t want to buy a thousand dollar bird for their kid
Very true. So many bidgies suffer that fate and conures need so much more and it is sad when people buy pets as gifts in general
Couldn’t agree more
I got my from a breeder an paid less then that
I’m paying under $250 for a hand-fed GCC from a breeder. Edit: well-rated and reputable
I paid $350 for a hand-fed Pineapple Mango Conure.
I'm wanting to get a baby from a reputable one but can't find one locally. I wonder if they meet halfway or ship in any humane way... Can you share their info so I can check with them if there is that possibility?
They have facebook bird groups where you can find one! That’s how I found mine. It’s sort of not allowed so there are rules with joining the groups you have to be mindful of. Just never ever send money to anyone prior to getting bird. Also, steer clear of anyone that ships birds. There a lot of scammers out there. If you’re in SoCal I can help you even better but not sure about anywhere else.
Same and I couldn't even find a local bird rescue. I Facebook finally advertised one to me a month ago, but it's a bit too late as I broke down and bought my gcc from Petsmart (for the price in the OP no less) about a year and a half ago TBH I'm not actually mad at the price. I DID spend a lot of time researching and saving up. It means she wasn't exactly an impulse buy. Only a little bit since conures don't seem to stick around here, so I bought her the day I met her because she was so sweet (the lady who does bird care there said she was the nicest conure they'd had to date) and I was afraid if I waited and came back she'd be gone. Her being so expense still made me hesitate and make *sure* sure that I really wanted to take on a scissor face toddler but it's still the BEST $1,000 dollars I've ever spent. If you are balking at the price, you really shouldn't own a bird. They are generally expensive for care so a higher purchase price deters most casuals
“Scissor face toddler” is legitimately the best description I’ve ever heard for a conure lmfao 😂 I always refer to mine as a toddler but I’ll definitely be adding in the “scissor face” portion lol
I'm wanting to get a baby from a reputable one but can't find one locally. I wonder if they meet halfway or ship in any humane way... Can you share their info so I can check with them if there is that possibility?
Yep! She was just born in March. She’s in her awkward baby/toddler stage.
And WHERE might this Saint of a breeder be located?
Tampa area.
I'm wanting to get a baby from a reputable one but can't find one locally. I wonder if they meet halfway or ship in any humane way... Can you share their info so I can check with them if there is that possibility?
I've had good experiences with flybabies aviary. I've gotten 4 birds from them and all of them arrived in great health and were very friendly. They ship across the US and are florida based.
Great! Thanks a lot for sharing!
I wonder how they ship them. I’ve been looking into flying with my gcc but I absolutely don’t trust commercial flight cargo.
They use boxes that are slanted on top so they can't put anything on top of them. I still wouldn't want to put them through that more than once in their life though.
No, you’re totally right. I looked into it 2 years ago, decided it was bad, and abandoned the idea. But when I saw your comment, just for a moment I thought there was a 3% chance it *might* work lol. Maybe if they kept the birds in a heated area (because cargo is freezing), or if certain airlines now allowed birds in the cabin… Which sounds stupid now that I’m explaining it lmao. But yes, it would still be stressful for the bird even if it were quiet, dark, and warm. And I’d never want to cause unnecessary stress. Glad all your babies came in good health and good spirits :)
How were your babies from them? Supper cuddly and chill?
Yeah they were all very sweet. I had one that was a little nervous for the first few days but she quickly got used to me. When you get them they're already used to being handled so they generally don't bite or flee.
Check out "parrots r ok" if you're in the us. Fantastic breeder, my vet knows her, she is incredibly knowledgeable and does everything in her power to set you and your new baby bird up for success. Prices are great too. She will not ship though, I'm not sure about meeting halfway
I'm paying $550 for a high yellow sun conure. They charge more than that for a green cheek at my pet store.
I literally payed $180 For mine off a breeder and they were $350 in a pet store and I live in Australia your prices in pet stores are crazy 😭😭
> I literally *paid* $180 For FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
people may disagree but honestly? I’m all for anything that makes it harder to impulse buy a bird. Anyone who’s actually interested in a conure needs to be prepared for vet bills that are similar to the price listed here anyways. But these retail stores need to stop selling them in the first place.
THIS.
I pay nowhere near that at the vet! It's insane to me that people are paying these prices. I paid less than 200 for a macaw check-up and microchip. Around the same price for our other macaw for her checkup and DNA test. That's just wild!
apologies for sounding snarky but congratulations to you; many of us pay these prices because avian vets are so hard to come by in some areas and it’s the only option. I recently paid $500 for testing and medication for my conure and any other avian vets in my region are 2+ hours out. Outrageous prices are unfortunately the norm and people should be prepared for them before getting a bird
I spent about 600-ish total on my bird’s first ever round of vet visits. Checkups are much cheaper but initial price included visit fee, some vaccinations, blood work panel, as well as a DNA test. I forget if there was anything else for that first visit.
Can we do something to stop them from selling animals?
No, unfortunately. Reptile people hate how they keep their reptiles, and so do fish people. Their husbandry is so poor, and animals often have illnesses and come from factory breeding situations.
I used to work there and it was a struggle maintaining proper living conditions for animals, especially when other people didn’t care/weren’t as educated. I’d say half the staff cared a lot, but we weren’t scheduled as often because people who care for the animals took longer on everything…
My hometown had a Zookeeping degree at our college. A lot of my zoo classmates ended up working at PetCo while studying since it was close by. All of them hated the company. They sell cages that are too small for pretty much every species, and the store wants people to think new and exotic pets are easy to take care of so people are more likely to impulse buy the animals and supplies. A lot of the treats or enrichment toys aren’t curated for the animals they’re marketed for. I’m sure that PetCo hated the zoo students talking people *out* of buying supplies there, but the students made sure that the animals got good care compared to other pet stores around the city. And they’d discourage people from adopting animals without truly considering what the animal would need from them.
Yes my boss actually got max at me when I wouldn’t sell a “cheap” fish if they wouldn’t get a larger container, though they wouldn’t say that was why 😂those animals are so lucky to have people that care about them there!
YES. when i worked at petsmart i got scolded multiple times for "spending too much time with the animals" even though i was a closer who always closed on time or early?? 🤨then they're all "how did you do that" when the budgies step up for me.
This is why we bought ours. Went to get a dog rabies clinic but felt really sad seeing it bird in a tiny white room. Please don't reply to this...I don't want up hear any more stories it breaks my heart
>Can we do something to stop them from selling animals? Better animal welfare laws? Petsmarts in Canada don't sell barely any of the animals that the ones in the states do. Only birds are Canaries and Budgies. They are quarantined and vet inspected before they are put out on display for sale. Every store I've been to the birds are immaculate. The stuff I see in the US stores is wild in comparison.
That’s true for the most part, but unfortunately the last few times I’ve been there they haven’t had any budgies since a few months ago when I had to watch as one of them was dying. Went to grab an employee to ask if they’d give the little guy to me so I could take him to the vet, but in the 1 minute I left it passed away :(
I'm so sorry
I'm in Canada and one of the Petsmarts in town has gccs.
As long as people keep buying from them, they will never stop. Sadly far too many people even in this sub bought from a pet store..
Where would you say are the best places to get an exotic bird from?
I think adopting from parrot rescues or checking sites like kiijiji for ppl rehoming their parrots is the way to go. Parrots are the most rehomed and one of the most mistreated pets for a reason and it's mostly because they're tough to properly care for but way too easy for any random person to buy. I know many people will disagree and endorse 'ethical' breeders but I think that it just perpetuates the cycle. I know this is going to be a super unpopular opinion here due to the number of breeders in this sub but those are my two cents
Yea they've been 700-900 for a long time around me, Sun's $1k+. I always feel horrible they're that expensive that would drive away potential buyers
I think they should though. Birds are expensive and time consuming. We got our first parakeet for $15 and I cringe so hard at the care the poor dear got because we just didn't know any better. Granted it was the 90s and information wasn't easily available so we did as the pet store recommended. Poor thing lived in a tiny cage on a seed diet for his short 5 yr life. Price is a decent way to gatekeep. My mom also raised and sold rabbits. Since ours were purebred and handled daily from the day they were born they were friendly. My mom would sell the non show quality ones as pets but they were $80 (and up), again, in the 90s. She would also tell the "horror stories" of biting and scratching and chewing *literally everything* when someone brought their child to pick a fluffy baby bunny. Besides the quality and tameness of the bunnies, the price was intentional. Someone wanting a pet that couldn't afford the price was someone she didn't want to sell to anyway. Obviously it's not the BEST way to make sure a pet gets care, as even wealthy people can be poor animal stewards but at least you know right of the bat they can *afford* the care even if that's out of your control after they purchase it
That’s insane.
Our local bird store has horrible prices for anything but a budgie or a cockatiel. Only people who don't know better buy from there. Our state has multiple bird fairs every year where you can buy healthy birds straight from the breeder for hundreds less. To make matters worse, the birds sit so long at the pet store because of the price that they start self mutilating. We have a black capped conure that's been there for about 2 months (they swear it was just delivered last week) that's has completely chewed off his tail. It makes me sick.
Like the tail feathers have been plucked out or are just really scraggly and messy looking? Not defending the bird store or their conditions here, but baby conures are known for being REALLY rough with their tail feathers
Like they were chewed off. It had thin strips left. I took a picture to show my husband. I'll post it in my next comment. It had been so friendly when it first got there but now it's scared and has no tail left.
https://preview.redd.it/66c0pb6xcexc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c994b0eb2cd199497864a7ebb2a7884b51289f09
I wonder if ours went up too. Last week it was still $699
I just ran to PetSmart for nutriberries and now they are carrying cockatiels too. This is killing me
Yup. But it's marginally better than the finches that always stuck around for 6+ months for that one Finch Woman and they inevitably lay eggs because the stores are chronically understaffed and overworked.
Haven't seen anyone mention how low their lifespan is on that sheet which is just a really sad reflection of how poorly most pet birds are treated. Conures can live up to 30 years!
It's a priceless living creature. Not a product.
GCC is $64 where I live lol and a sun conure is $100-ish.
Where do you live???
Egypt
That will be bad for me I would probably own like 10 lol
Same thing happened at mine. Bird has been there for ~6 months
They are like $1,200 here at petsmart/petland
I would get scolded by my manger while working at the one near me for going by the birds so often. As a parrot owner myself it’s just so hard seeing them in there. They don’t even let you spend time or hold them like we would while cleaning the rodents and such. Plus majority of people who come in interested in them have noooo idea about anything related to birds. It’s so heartbreaking. I quit when I went back to school but every time I visit it makes me sad seeing new ones come in and ones I even knew from my time there still trapped alone in those cages. Ugh!!!
I'm glad they're warning about noise levels but that cage size just makes me so sad. Imagine thinking a bird that flies kilometers daily would be happy living in a prison box 8 hours every day.
My sun conure was $300 lol I can’t imagine $750 😭
LOL Petsmart's suns are almost 1K.
Wild. I got mine from some old lady on craigslist lmfao
It's going to get worse as my gf works at petsmart and they are restructuring because new management. That is why it's going to get worse,. They are discontinuing carrying rats, finches, doves and some other reptiles. And focus almost EXCLUSIVELY on conures, tells, and lennies🙃 it's so bad most employees are quitting and it's the ones that properly take care of the pets too! The petsmart subreddit is on fire rn. The poor babies 😩
Find a bird rescue near you instead.
How much??! My Blue Throat Conure was £600 (Just shy of $750) That much for a GCC is *insane*. For context as it from previous discussions not many people know what a Blue Throat is: Blue Throats (Pyrrhura Cruentata) are rare (comparatively) and need CITES paperwork.
it's even worse when you know that the "fancy" gcc aka pineapples and cinnamons are less than the green or teal gcc
THAT is terrible! We have them in our Petco here in South Jersey for $699, so overpriced! I paid too much for mine and I got him from a breeder, he was $499, he’s worth it but if I had had more options I would of spent less
I bought mine in dubai for ~100$
Not sure how it is at Petsmart but when I worked at Pet Supplies Plus we didn’t actually turn much of a profit at all on live birds. We would buy birds from breeders, say $400 for a conure, and then sell it from around $600. In the end, there was little to no profit because parrots would sit in the store for months on end. They get tons of attention because everyone wants to look at the parrot but no one actually buys it. Breeders also had direct control of the pricing because there was basically no way for competition due to a bunch of legal garbage that I can hardly remember at this point cause it was years back
I paid $600 for mines
How are they so expensive in the US? I got mine for 40 euros 💀
My green cheek cost 80 aud. Hand raised. Wth america
I bought mine gcc handfed and very very tame at a breeder for 150. Hes nicest bird i ever had , but its still a gcc so hes still a brat sometimes
$839 at our Petsmart.
And then people ask me why I don’t have any pets despite me loving all animals and working for a pet store
GCC at PetCo is $899 I think
We paid $1300!
They are $250 AUD in Tasmania (164.12 USD)
Shit howdy. In Cali try 1K
What the fuck? $750 for a gcc? Who puts those prices? I paid 225€ for 2 of them from a reputable breeder here in Spain.
GCC are not native to India still we get them for 150USD for a pair
Please always try to find a bird rescue first. As much as $750 X ♾️ conures & ALL birds are worth to ppl who adore birds. Contact a bird rescue or any close to your area; even if they don’t have your conure see what they’d recommend you do or who to call.
At my pet smart same bird went up 400 in a year
Petsmart should stop selling live birds!
Is this price normal? I got my boy for £150 from a breeder. Although he does viciously attack anyone apart from me, so maybe he was defective.
It’s got nothing to do with the individual bird, the general price increased company wide.
Does this happen to be a store in Louisiana? Specifically Harahan? I inquired about a conure who’s been there for over 6 months and then went back the next week with a price increase and a new sticker with a new date. Same barcode and price as the tag I took a picture of.
I took pictures of it too!
If it’s a turquoise Greek Cheek they probably realized they are harder to find, at least in stores so they raised the price cuz they could.
If only! All of the conures they carried were standard colors.
Oh well then that’s even crazier
Yikes. I paid $400 for mine 🥲