u/Sara_Mida

My husband (39) and I (37) went to a hobby expo last weekend to get out of the house and to get some items for our hobby (a tabletop roleplaying game). We have a bird who lives in the house with us (not in an avery) so we have to be very careful with the paint and glue we use because of the birds' sensitive respiratory system. Some fumes will result in an insta kill so naturally we only buy safe materials, which are quite difficult to find.

We met up with fellow hobbyists who know of our predicament and they told me to look at a specific stall for the safe paints I needed, so I went there. I could only find fabric paint of that brand so I asked one of the clerks if they had normal acrylic paint in the same brand of paints I know are 100% safe.

He didn't even let me finish my sentence before trying to sell me a different product (same brand) that children use for slime and school projects. I tried to explain that I don't need that, I just need the acrylic paint but he kept cutting me off, explaining that "your kids will go crazy for this stuff. I'm sure thier art projects take a lot of time." I got so annoyed I just said thanks and left. He kept going on about how acrylics won't work well for big projects because of the size of those tubes and "I'd just be wasting my money."

Just to clarify, nothing about me apart from my age (and a few grey hairs) gave off the impression that I have children (because we don't, by choice) or that I had any children with me. I know he was just trying to sell me something, but I didn't want what he was selling and he didn't give me the opportunity to explain what I actually needed.

Ok rant over. Thanks for reading.

Hello everybody,

My husband and I have a five year old CAG who is like our child. He is spoiled rotten and he knows he is the Feathered Overlord of our house.

We have (or had) a fantastic vet, as in this avian vet puts all other vets to shame. She's attententive, understanding, knows what she's doing, treats our little guy well, and generally just a nice person. I'm giving this context so you have the full picture of what she's like.

This brings me to our issue. Our grey has had two feather cysts on his left wing in the past, they have both needed to be lanced which is understandable, but the last time we went to the vet, she mentioned, very nonchalantly, that "To avoid him turning into a plucker, I think its best if we remove his wing." As in, his entire wing. After that, she followed up with "But insurance doesn't cover that so it will have to be out of pocket."

My immediate thought was "What the f%%%?" so I said yeah, I'll have to speak to my husband about the money. I wasn't considering it, of course, but now I'm wondering if I should 1. Choose another vet entirely because of this major proceduere she suggested so casually, and 2. Inform someone (in the Avian vet association of my country) that she is comfortable suggesting this procedure on a whim, and putting other greys (whose owners may not be as clued up as us to know that this is major, life altering and life threatening procedure) at risk.

Thanks in advance.