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Our Goal at Pet Corner
Our goal at Pet Corner is to
educate and inform. For example, most people are unaware that gravel is dangerous
to many birds, with the notable exception of doves and pigeons.
Also, insecticide disks readily sold
at most pet stores are dangerous to birds and do nothing to protect
them from flies, insects and mites. Domestic birds do not have
parasites and the
picking they do is the bird grooming itself. Gravel and insecticide
disks are just two of the
products that most pet shops will eagerly sell to the public. We, at Pet
Corner, do not sell anything we would not use ourselves. That goes for
everything from over-the-counter antibiotics to sandpaper perches.
We have been involved
with birds since 1985. My Husband and I realize that we love birds, and before
we knew it, we had a Lory, a Cockatiel and a Blue Crown Conure. A friend
of ours owned a Pet Shop that she wanted to sell. They basically sold only
iguanas, cockatiels, parakeets and occasionally lovebirds and finches. Dan
and I bought the shop from her and almost immediately added the larger birds to
our inventory. Business was slow at first while we were trying to convince people that the big birds
were just as sweet as the cockatiels and parakeets.
We now own our own aviary. We have several
pairs of greys, macaws, conures, amazons, Princess of Wales, red rumps,
senegals, and ring necks. Our aviary is relatively new, but every year we
see an increase in production. We feed our birds
pellets, vegetables, and nuts all year. In the winter we add a little seed to
their
diet so they will bulk up and be able to keep
themselves warm.
In addition, we have been very fortunate to have
our avian vet as our mentor. She is very generous with her knowledge and has
taught us so much over the years. For those of you in the Lake County area, her name is
Tina Merritt and her practice is located in Lady Lake. She keeps up with all the latest developments
and equipment in the avian world. This enables her to help birds
survive many of the afflictions that they would have died from in the
past.
This is a job we thoroughly
love. There is a lot of work involved with the caring and feeding of these
magnificent creatures, but these labors are more than repaid by the reward
of their company.
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