My vet told me a story about someone who came to her w/a baby amazon. When asked if she could feed the bird eggs---she was told "yes occasionally"...(unknown to my veterinarian) seems this person took this to mean every single day she fed the bird a whole soft cooked egg---the bird lived two years before it dropped dead.

The autopsy showed more "plaques than she'd ever seen before in one animal!"

WoW! I wouldn't even eat eggs every day!!! That's teribble. I only feed mine egg when my tiel was laying eggs..she needed it.. Otherwise I find that it not only promotes high cholesterol but soft foods (like egg) induce more egg laying in females...

What a shame, I can't imagine feeding an whole egg a day that seems so excessive.

You don't even feed that to a child! What a weird story...

I guess I don't understand how a person misunderstands occasionally and frequent.
Birds aren't for everyone, they demand knowledge and special attention, this story supports this fact.
What iratates me the most is folks that have never owned a bird, no nothing about birds, then run to the pet shop to buy a Cockatoo.
Then the petshops wonder why the "Bird World" comes down on them so hard, well helloooo...anybody home
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to fix this world that would make to much sense.

Arty

You are so right, as a matter of fact someone is trying to sell a sulphur crested on our corporate classified section web site. They don't even know enough to call it a sulphur and it took me a while to figure out what they were talking about! He's selling for $500 w/cage etc. (if you know anyone living in NJ that is looking for a too just let me know).

Well unfortunately any resolution to this problem, I see no end to in the near future. Until it's illegal or some laws change, we have to do our best to educate the public. That is why forums like this are so important.
I was one of those people who walked in and bought a cockatoo. I had run into a forum like this a couple of years ago who had taught me a lot. That's not saying I don't understand your frustration, I do completely. The public as a whole is so completely uneducated about companion parrots, their healthcare, the responsibility, and their behavior.

Working in a bird store, I have folks come in regularly that get overcome by the beautiful birds and want one. I make sure I explain as much as I can about what living with a bird means. I cover all aspects of mess, noise, and the need for socialization. I have the support of the store owner and manager to not sell a bird for the sake of a sale. Which is good because I have a tendancy to tell folks that don't have a clue to come back when they've done some research and better understand bird's needs. I give them a piece of paper with a few of the bird chat sites, such as Parrot Chatter, and tell them to ask questions.

I second that!