Читать книгу Birds For Dummies - Gina Spadafori - Страница 80

A good pet store should be clean and bright (see Figure 3-1) and odor-free. But before you find any operation guilty of unsanitary surroundings, consider the difficulty of maintaining a single bird, much less a shop full of them. So, cut the staff some slack if a bird has made poop soup in her water dish or if her food-scattering antics have made the floor a little cluttered. Temporary untidiness is to be expected, especially if you come in several hours after the store opens. What’s not acceptable, however, is evidence of long-term sanitation problems — a 3-inch pile of feces underneath perches, for example.

Photograph by Kim Campbell Thornton

FIGURE 3-1: A clean and well-lit bird store is a wonderful place to familiarize yourself with birds before you buy.

Pay attention to how well the store attends to its animals. Make sure that birds are kept in a controlled situation, where staff can oversee any interaction between them and the customers. Note whether the birds are placed near other stress-provoking pets.

Look, too, for a variety of appropriate cages, toys, and perches. A selection of good reference books and magazines is another plus. You should see pelleted (formulated) diets on the shelves and in the food dishes. Seeds, nuts, and other foodstuffs are fine, as long as the store clearly recommends a balanced basic diet. A good pet store avoids unproven or dangerous products such as over-the-counter antibiotics or mite treatment products. (And make sure the staff doesn’t use these questionable remedies on the birds in the store!)

A store that operates safely and sensibly keeps grooming and boarding services in a completely separate part of the establishment, to protect its birds from exposure to disease.

As you develop an overall impression of a pet store, look carefully at the birds themselves. Consider how healthy and well cared for they appear to be. Pay attention to telltale details such as appropriate cages, as well as toys and perches to keep them happy. Available birds should be interested in people and want to be held (some species more than others, of course — not all birds are born to be love sponges). If the store is hand-feeding babies, you may be able to see them through a window, but beware of any store that invites you in to handle these young birds, at least not without requesting that you wash your hands and put on some protective clothing.

You can glean the most from visiting a pet store by being friendly and open. Being opinionated is one thing, but you won’t get very far being judgmental. Watch, listen, and learn.

More than anything else, you’re looking for evidence of current knowledge, progressive thinking, and a willingness to share information. A cage label that clearly identifies a bird’s age and indicates that the bird has been started off right with a high-quality food is one example of that kind of evidence. Proper care, including proper diets, is the sign of a store owned, managed, and staffed by people who are in the business because they love birds.