NICrosis wrote:nataliestegall wrote:Well Nicrosis I don't think I will ever try to talk people out of what they want. I think it is important to explain the hardship sometimes experienced with these birds, but you should also understand that there are more people capable of dealing with the hardship then just you. I just think that instead of shutting the new people down with comments like this is not the bird for you etc you could be nicer still warn them of the hardship but be like "these birds can be difficult and time consuming and if you decide these birds are for you then welcome and let us help you." You shut people out who have decided these birds are for them and are going to get them no matter what you say (they don't know you after all) and if they have troubles or questions later with their bird they will not come here because of the jaded attitudes and in the long run this hurts the birds and yes that bird might go to a rescue or whatever. This message board is a good resource for new bird owners to use and jaded people will send them away and they will still get the bird or have the bird already and wont use this nice resource for help when its needed. How many people come to this forum new and then get told nope this is not the bird for you and then never come back. How many of those people do you think got the bird anyways? Im willing to bet most of them did, and yes some of them might not be ready for the responsibility, but I dont think we should be here to judge that. We as a group should except the fact we are not going to change their mind and help them with the choice they made so that the best can come out of it for the bird.
Here's the thing. I knew this place was full of cynics beforehand, and I knew how they'd act. Sooooo, to save myself the headache, I bought the bird first, asked questions later. You can't fix people who think they know everything. But, you can manipulate them. Even though I'm a scrub bird owner, I came in with authority and said "look, I have this bird, I don't want to sit on it by accident. What should I do to keep it alive?" This harbored tons of wonderful responses.
So then why be so cynical your self? Clearly I wasnt scared off by the jadedness, as I said my bird will be at my house tomorrow night. But we should welcome those people whether they have the bird in hand yet or not. It will probably happen regardless of what we say so why can't we all just then help them learn how to care for their bird. It sounds like from your post above that you were once very much new yourself and didnt ask questions first which most would think would be the smart thing to do. It clearly worked for you so far so not dogging your choice just saying we shouldnt dog on those who choose to ask questions first.
