GCC Mutations

[Wolf]

It is not a type of information that is generally shared with the public and the stores and the breeders are relying on the fact that most people don't even know what the original colors were for the species, they are after the ( Wow, what a pretty bird ) response that most of us initially have upon seeing them. I know that it is my first response, and I know how it came to be as well as the results of it.

[GMV]

some pet stores are good at sharing that kind of information, (rare to find a store that is though)
the store i got delight and bliss from sugarcoat everything. i have heard of a well off person, that just decided they wanted a macaw, with no research, no experience, nothing. the store tried to get him to buy it by any means they could. luckily, he decided to not get it.
anyway, i know one store that is pretty up-front about things. tells me everything, good and bad.

[Wolf]

If so you are lucky and I would keep doing business with them. Most of us are not so blessed.

[GMV]

If so you are lucky and I would keep doing business with them. Most of us are not so blessed.

we were going to get a grey from them, but found lily. they have great prices on everything.

[Pajarita]

delights pineapple. i did not look for a mutated one, that's just what the store had.
had no idea color mutations did that.

A pineapple is the offspring of a cinnamon and a yellow sided which also are, in turn, mutations themselves. And, yes, in GCC's, you can hardly find a wild phenotype in a store nowadays, they are all mutations.

[GMV]

delights pineapple. i did not look for a mutated one, that's just what the store had.
had no idea color mutations did that.

A pineapple is the offspring of a cinnamon and a yellow sided which also are, in turn, mutations themselves. And, yes, in GCC's, you can hardly find a wild phenotype in a store nowadays, they are all mutations.

really? they sell normal, non mutated ones for less. i guess its a good thing, so more people get the stronger, healthier conures.

[Pajarita]

I guess it depends on the area. In the Greater New York area, they are mostly mutations because that's what sells the most (the more colors the bird has, the more people will want it). Personally, I like the 'normal' birds more than the mutations. Mind you, not that I don't find the mutations beautiful because, of course, I do! But I like the wild phenotype because I like to figure out why nature put one color here and another there... was it for camouflage? and then I look at pictures of the natural habitat and try to 'see' them as a predator would. Is it to make them attractive to the other gender? and then I look at the hens (which are always less 'pretty' than the males) and compare them to the males. I also read all the studies I can find on plumage and the reasons why and how and when (did you know that blue feathers are blue because of a special structure that makes them reflect only blue light and not because of a pigment?).

I come from one of the countries where Quakers originated from and I must have seen thousands and thousands of them and they were all green - now you have all these different colors and they are gorgeous but, for some reason, I can't quite wrap my head around them, they look weird to me -like a pink chicken or something like that -LOL

[GMV]

well, i do think mutations are cuter, but i guess now i like "the normal" ones better. (in terms of which pet people should get).
here in NC there are more mutated ones, but the non mutates are still cheaper.
do you think delights mutation could affect his lifespan?

[Wolf]

That is the very reason why we got off topic a little bit, that and because their immune system is also weaker and can't ward off illness as well as it should. The end result is a bird that you have to be more careful with what you feed it and the cleanliness of their environment as well as a better control of the stresses that they experience, just to try to keep them healthy as if that isn't difficult enough already.
The only thing that has come out of all of the breeding programs of all the various different animals that could be considered good is in learning about human genetics from the atrocious things that we did to other animals. Not a very good track record.

[GMV]

That is the very reason why we got off topic a little bit, that and because their immune system is also weaker and can't ward off illness as well as it should. The end result is a bird that you have to be more careful with what you feed it and the cleanliness of their environment as well as a better control of the stresses that they experience, just to try to keep them healthy as if that isn't difficult enough already.
The only thing that has come out of all of the breeding programs of all the various different animals that could be considered good is in learning about human genetics from the atrocious things that we did to other animals. Not a very good track record.

delights cage is always pretty clean. i know a pet store worker who's mutated GCC died at 9 years old.
i don't think that all the breeding is worth it, i doubt anyone does.