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[GMV]

i would like an article about GCC mutations,and the harm they do to show the pet store owner and hopefully persuade him to buy into less of the mutated conures, and need help finding one.
preferably something with scientific evidence.
Thanks!

[Michael]

Sorry, don't have an article or stats on hand, but I can tell you that most older budgies/cockatiels I come across at rescue are the natural and not mutation ones! Both fancy mutation budgie and cockatiel I had died before 1 year. Health is the last thing on the mind of fancy mutation breeders... nor is temperament. The nicer looking the mutation, typically the less healthy and more annoying the personality! It's a horrible idea.

[Pajarita]

I have been looking, Gordon, but I can't find any scientific study about it. Everything you find is anecdotal or opinion, nothing based on fact. I once read that you need a minimum of 5 years to get a mutation established and healthy as well as a fairly large gene pool (12 pairs or more) because you need to keep on crossing back to the wild phenotype (normal coloration) in order to ensure that all genetic defects are either 'cleaned out' or diluted enough so, if you go by that, none of the mutations we have nowadays are healthy for the simple reason that we now have mutations that are the product of crossing two mutations and it hasn't been that long we've had these birds as pets. And then you have the fact that 5 years does not give you a clear idea of whether the bird is really healthy or not because there are many conditions that only manifest themselves as the organism starts to age and 5 year old parrots are from young (GCCs) to almost teenagers (macaws).

A couple of articles for you to read:

http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazin ... trend.aspx

http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-diet-an ... tions.aspx

http://www.yourparrotcage.com/parrot_ne ... tions.html

[GMV]

thank you very much!
i'm going to use the first one. ill keep you guys updated.