upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

I went to Pets Mart today to buy pellets & toys and they had this Cockatiel there for sale. Of course I went to the cage to talk to her and I feel sooo bad. She was bigger than Rosie and she looked so miserable. Her eyes weren't big ol round bright eyes like Rosies they were almost like half closed and dull and she looked all dirty. She wasn't sitting on the perch instead she was hanging onto the back part of the cage (where the breath holes are) which looked very uncomfortable. It broke my heart. She looked miserable and unhealthy IMO.. I asked the cashier how long they had her and she said "about 2 weeks we haven't had her long" I know it hasn't been 2 weeks tho cuz I go to pets mart like twice a week now and she wasn't there this past weekend when I went. Anyway... I told the girl "Poor thing she looks so miserable" and she just laughed how can you laugh at a innocent animals misery? I was trying to talk to the bird & she was looking at me thru the corner of her eye but she just looked so miserable. I just wanted to hold her & cuddle her and make her feel loved and safe..

If her eyes were half closed she might have been sick, I hate to say...

Thats what I thought, she looked so unhealthy.

It's bad when you have to see things like that. Last time I went into the pet store where I just love to go and see the birds, there was one loose flying around the store, and crying so loud----poor thing looked so scared! I hated to leave. Those stores have a person that is in charge of those birds-----you should have just asked for that person and told him that the bird looks sick and should be seen by a vet. I would have asked for a manager and complained about it if it was me.

Also, those stores have web sites where you send them messages about their animals and their service------you can write them an email and complain------I did it before. You may not recieve a response, but they take care of it if they think an animal is not being well taken care of in their stores.

There's recently been a complaint somewhere else about cockatiel care in a petsmart... you should try getting a hold of the manager of the store, and if that doesn't work, see if they have an instore vet, or e-mail the company about the store (it helps to include the store number if you can find it on the website). If none of that works, you could try getting a hold of some animal control places or even the media.

If they have a backroom, it's possible that they had her there for a while.

I'm not an expert on birdies so I wasn't sure if it was just me or if it really did look unhealthy. But with you guys saying that if the eyes were half closed that it probably was sick I might call them.. I felt so bad for her.

rosiesmom, just ask for the manager-----they are usually very nice and maybe they don't realize the bird may be sick. Just call the store and ask them to please at least watch the bird and look at him, at his eyes. Chances rare the manager will be as concerned as you are. Not only will they lose money if that bird is sick because they won't sell him, but their reputation is at stake.

ask to speach with a manager and tell them the bird is sick--she sounds like it, really. I have done it before. One of the birds at a local pet store had eyes that were red and irritated and didn't look as lively as a healthy tiel. It is sometimes difficult to tell when tiels are sick, they hide it well, but eye irritation is a dead give away. I talked to the manager, and he said the bird would be taken care of. I don't know for sure, but it wouldn't be very moral to sell a bird that is sick when they know it is sick. I like to think the best... a week later, the bird was out of the store (at least off of display).

I was in my local Petland 2 days ago, I picked up a tiel and it had a discharge coming out of its nares YUK!! very gooey and I hatd to say it snot like ANyway, I borught it to an associate and they took it to the back - respiratory infection, and they thanked me

Yeah, I think for the most part, people do care if an animal is sick. Sometimes things get overlooked though and maybe they don't spend alot of time with the birds, enough to notice the bird may be sick. I think in most cases where a bird is sick in a pet store, that it is because they just don't get enough attention----the people there probably clean their cages, and feed them and that's it. I really don't think that there are alot of people who would pass by a sick animal and not care, so bringing it to the attention of a manager is really important because chances are, they just don't realize it.