Disgusted...

[tonkatiel]

I'm a member of a fair few bird groups on facebook, some that are pages specifically for selling birds, some that are for owners of specific species, and some that are just for bird lovers... For the most part I find them interesting and worth being a member of - but just in the last hour I have seen 2 different posts that disgusted me...

- 1 was someone who was selling an aviary bred rainbow lorikeet he bought 3 weeks ago. He was hoping to tame it, but so far has only managed to get it to eat from his hand so he's now selling it and planning on buying either a younger bird or a handreared one :( DON'T BUY AN AVIARY BIRD UNLESS A. YOU'RE PLANNING ON KEEPING IT IN AN AVIARY WITH OTHER AVIARY BIRDS, OR B. IF YOU'RE WILLING TO TAKE THE RISK THAT IT WILL NEVER BE TAME, AND LOVE IT ANYWAY!

- And the 2nd post was someone who has a galah who up until recently had been very friendly. She's apparently still friendly for the most part but has been biting her owner occasionally. Her owner asked if this was 'normal' and if there was anything she could do about it. She received some great advice, and then replied on her post 'okay well I guess I'll keep her for a bit longer then and see how we go' :/

I don't understand these people! I like to think that even if I wasn't a bird person, I'd still understand that these are living creatures who have feelings and needs!!
[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[spiritbird]

Do you chime in with some good advice?

[tonkatiel]

I do sometimes, depending on what has already been said. In these 2 cases I definitely did - and am now waiting to be blocked from both groups lol... I just don't understand why people think this is okay and why more people don't speak up :(

[Debra]

That's crazy! 3 weeks isn't enough time to try to tame an aviary bird! If it's going to be tame then it will take months! As far as the other one, there has to be a reason why the bird is starting to bite on occasion. It could be something as simple as nail polish. Sheesh! Lucy bites me but I wouldn't rehome her for anything. Luckily my hubby can handle her. Some people really should have done more research before buying these poor birds.

[tonkatiel]

Debra, that was pretty much my exact reply on the galah one, that she may just not like the colour of the shirt they're wearing :/

The aviary bred lorikeet one hit home the most though - I have 6 birds who want nothing to do with me... My lovies will let me handfeed them, but my tiels and budgie are petrified of me... Can you just imagine if I'd decided to rehome them all and replaced them with younger versions? Probably the only thing that would have happened is that I would be replacing my birds every 3 weeks :/ but instead of these people just being patient and keep trying, or just sitting back and appreciating how beautiful these birds are even without being tame, they rehome them and make the poor birds even more anxious and scared than they were in the first place :(

[coltfire]

my teils are the same, scared of me but i still love and keep trying with them and the budgies where all aviary birds bar the babies i hand raised, but even in the aviary they were coming around slowly one by one would land on me, now they all climb on me , still trying to get a few to step up with out flying off but if i leave them they come to me.

[Rescued]

People are very selfish, they get an animal to fill their needs rather than consider the needs of the animal. It is really frustrating and the poor animals suffer.

[Debra]

My Bobby, Yellow Rose, and budgies are strictly hands off birds. They will, however, sit still and let me talk to them and let me feed them without them panicking. Yellow Rose was always stand-offish from the time she was a baby. Bobby was left in an empty house with someone coming by once a day to feed him seed for a couple of months before they would finally bring him to me. Budgies just simply want to be by themselves. lol

[plax]

People are very selfish, they get an animal to fill their needs rather than consider the needs of the animal. It is really frustrating and the poor animals suffer.That's exactly how I see the problem. And in my view, it's one big reason that more people are interested in owning pet dogs than in owning pet birds. Dogs typically always respect and pay homage to their owners/guardians, whereas many companion birds simply will not. A great many humans insist upon having their egos stroked by a pet's willingness to please them. As I see it, if that's all that's important to someone, it indicates that he or she is quite selfish.

The above is merely my personal opinion derived from my observations of people with their pets throughout life. And please know that I'm not saying that I think all humans who own and enjoy having pet dogs in their lives are selfish. I'm absolutely not!

[Mare]

Getting to know birds, like I do now, from not knowing them, at all, 5-6 years ago, I have to say..you've better be a person that loves all critters, regardless of what species and thankfully we have many out there like us. Furry animals are nothing like the feathered ones, as we know but those that don't know and then bump into a bird situation better be a person that loves ALL critters, regardless. We can only hope, for the birds sake.

[Pinkbirdy]

I think maybe on a positive note [if we can ]. Talk to bird owners [be like "Tell me all about your bird"] :) Then if theres problems [you can offer advice ] and maybe they will listen. There was this guy at my work telling me about his Grey and Eckie. He smoked and the birds had never had baths [also no fruits or vegs]. I wanted to wring his neck [the grey was plucking] and take them. But that was not going to happen. So I got him excited [talking all about my birds ] . Then he really wanted to hear what I was suggesting to do [he stops back and lets me know things are getting better] Maybe if we all try [ and say something ] we can make a difference.

[Mare]

I so much agree with you Terri! If we can communicate to people, on a personal level, what we do to live with our birds and keep them happy,,,:). Such a good thing :)

[plax]

Helpful, well-intentioned communication is always worth trying. Unfortunately, there are those with steadfastly closed minds concerning the subpar treatment/care they impose upon their pets :(

[Blancaej]

It's sad but true, but all we can do is at least try.