Species: Peach faced lovebirds
* Born March 28 and 29
* Adopted Monday, May 9.
* Manu died Friday, May 13 at 6:30 pm.
* Kala started showing symptoms of illness Saturday, May 14 at 9:30 am.
* On May 14 she was 1.3 ounces and on May 15 she was 1.2 ounces.
* Her condition is getting worse
Symptoms
* Manu died within four days of adopting and five hours of symptoms
* Poop on foot
* Weird poop (polyuria) - small, black, watery (black poop means not eating)
* Sleeping all day
* Fluffed up
* Hunched over
* Unresponsive
* Sitting on bottom of cage
* Unbalanced
* Shakey
* Seizure
* Couldn't move legs
* Could barely hold up head
* Same early symptoms found in Kala
I put Kala in a hospital cage with a low perch, food, water, and paper towel liner. She also has a heater near her cage. She is pretty unresponsive, barely opens her eyes or moves, and isn't attempting to eat or drink from what I can tell.
I've purchased four lovebirds over the course of a year from this breeder. She breeds mostly small parrots, including: sun conures, cockateils, budgies, lovebirds, parrotlets, and recently African Grays. They also seem to rescue larger parrots. Their store is called Paws Beaks & Claws, their website is linked here: https://www.facebook.com/pbcavian/photos
This is what the woman who owns the store did:
* Clipped their wings when asked not to and apparently forgot about because she said they flew into a wall and broke their neck
* Forgot to remove the tag on Manu's leg
* Lost papers on all three of the birds I've adopted
* Her health guarantee is only for 10 days after adoption, and even then she tries to find any way out of refunding our money
* Changed her mind: On the phone she said Manu had a respiratory issue and that she would refund our money via check (because they don't have enough money). Then when we went to give her Manu's body she said she thought it was a broken neck and that she would get Manu's body tested for the cause of death and pay us only if it was an illness.
* There's no way they could have ran into wall or mirror: I was watching them the entire time, they aren't skilled enough and they don't have the wings to build enough speed to break their neck, if they had it wouldn't have been a slow health decline, two birds wouldn't have the same symptoms unless they both had a contagious illness, and MANU IS LIFTING HER "BROKEN" NECK UP IN THE VIDEO THAT I SHOWED HER.
* Not taking the blame: Kept accusing me of things and picking at everything I said. When I said I put Kala in the heat and she started to get better, she accused me of having their room too cold. How would the cold affect them breaking their neck? How would the cold cause a seizure?
* And she offered to take Kala back so we wouldn't have to pay for the vet bill, but never said she would take Kala to the vet herself.
* She admitted that she doesn't quarantine new birds for thirty days and allows illnesses to be spread to her flock
* Ignored their symptoms of illness for her benefit. She didn't believe anything I said and insisted that their poop was normal. She said that them sitting on the bottom of the cage was normal because they were babies, but at the store they were always on a perch. This was just to cover up the fact that it was an illness and not a broken neck.
* She showed no sympathy for the death of my bird and blamed it on me
* Out of the four baby lovebirds I've gotten from her, three have been sick and two have died from sickness
* She lied: She was so sure that Manu broke her neck, so why was she so interested in what Kala's vet would say if she didn't think they we're sick.
* She said that Kala was probably just depressed from seeing her friend die, even though they weren't bonded and Kala had the same symptoms of being sick as Manu (not symptoms of depression)
This isn't even mentioning the poor conditions her birds are forced to live in and the forceful way she handles them
* Her larger bird species are in very small cages and she may be breeding them despite their health issues and poor cage maintenance
* She had a disabled bird that didn't form it's top beak and it disappeared within a few months
* Told us that the large birds were rescued and not for sale. But she's breeding and selling them. She bred the African grays and had three hatchlings. Her cockatoo disappeared. Her macaw disappeared and was replaced by an Amazon and female eclectus after she went to a bird show.
* She compromises their safety for her convenience. She has sun conures with zebra finches in an aviary. Clips their wings because it's too hard for her to get them in and out of the aviary. She clips their wings before they can be properly fledged.
So, Kala will be going to vet on Monday if we can get an appointment. I need to know how I can help her until then.
I also want to know what to do about this store. Should I report them? How?
EDIT: Needless to say, I'm not going to be supporting this business anymore. Selling me sick birds was one thing, but the way she treated me afterwards is ridiculous. Please, please make sure to buy birds from a reputable breeder or rescue!! If you're ever unsure or have a baby feeling about something, just don't. Better safe than sorry....
