Is it okay to get a Sun Conure from a pet store?

I know I'd never get a dog from one, as they come from puppy mills...But what about a parrot?Where is the best place to get one?

Birds always come from breeders. Its perfectly fine. Just make sure you dont need a liscence before you buy! Best of luck!

Buying a bird from a store is fine as long as it is healthy when you get it. Look up a check-list for this on the web. Basically, make sure its eyes are clean and shiny and wide open, make sure its nose (the two holes on it's beak) are free from discharge, Look at its feet and make sure it has all its toes and the skin looks healthy, and have a look at its feathers - do they look healthy? Is the bird alert and lively and does its droppings in the cage look a healthy dark green and white mix? This is about as much as you can do, but once you have the bird you should probably take it to a bird vet just to check it out. If he says it is ill you can go back to the store and complain.However, I bought my birds from a store and I think they were extremely grateful to be out of the shop and in a loving home. They really cheered up with me, and I think it is like adopting a child - the bird will hate being in the shop because they tend to be stressed out there, so you are doing them a favor as well as getting a pet. Any parrot will respond well to love and a good environment, so I wouldn't worry too much about the fact they come from a shop. They are very bright birds.

Generally, no. Most pet stores, if they sell birds, get their birds from the cheapest local source. Sometimes that's an illegal importer, and obviously you don't want to support that -- about 75% of illegally imported birds die in transit, and the rest are often too traumatized to ever be really tame. More frequently, it's the cheapest local breeder, and cheap breeders are cheap because they cut corners -- feeding their birds nutritionally inadequate diets, failing to keep track of family relationships among their birds (so birds wind up being bred to their close relatives), failing to socialize their birds properly in order to breed more birds at once, failing to give their birds enough space (which can result in the weaker members of the flock being ostracized and eventually killed because the other birds think there won't be enough food to sustain the whole flock), keeping their birds in the dark to trick their brains into breeding more often... the list goes on.Your best bet is a local, responsible breeder. If there are none in your area, plenty of responsible breeders will ship birds to you -- I know that sounds scary, but it's actually very safe. If you can't find any you're satisfied with, look for a local independent bird shop -- NOT a general pet supply store.