Hi everyone. I hope this is allowed here- I would like to very publicly praise a certain pet store in Canberra in hopes that others will find it useful. If I am not allowed to name them specifically please let me know and I will delete it!
Firstly, I would like to mention that I bought my budgie from a pet store as a last resort. I spent a long time trying to find a breeder in Canberra (KAZ may remember this!) and all potential contact details I had led to nothing.
So I went to a pet store called Belconnen Discount Pet Centre, having been there years ago. This store is a family owned business and not part of any of those horrible chain stores we are all familiar with. My first impression of the store was that I was very impressed, because they kept all of their budgies/tiels/canaries in large, aviary size cages! Instead of having ten poor little guys fighting over their placement on a single perch, the birds there had lots of space to fly around and there were even natural perches and some toys in there. I also learned that their budgies are sourced from a local, Canberra breeder (Aha! There must be at least one then! ) and not thrown on a horrible, long truck journey from Sydney.
Not only are the birds there very well looked after, I also want to praise the store for the level of aftercare they have given me. My second budgie that I took home from there recently was a biter, and I had several sores on my fingers where the little devil had bitten me until I bled. I was exhausted from trying to hand tame him and didn't know what to do, so I called the pet store. The owner was so lovely and understanding, he invited me to return with the budgie so that he could give me some advice. He spent a lot of time talking to me and showed me a better way to handle the bird, as well as giving me advice on taming. He did not ask for payment for his time, did not just say "oh well, give him back and choose another budgie" or dismiss me when I asked for help. This was all done for the benefit of the budgie.
I really appreciate this pet store I have nothing but praise for them, and genuinely recommend that any other Canberra people looking to buy a budgie (or any pet!) should go there. It is so important that we support family businesses these days, and especially pet stores who champion the needs of the animals over being handed a fistful of cash. Belconnen Discount Pet Centre is really a lovely store that deserves our business