Bird Egg Scam?

[Booda's Butt]

Hi everyone,

i recently was browsing through Hoobly.com in the Illinois birds classified section and came across someone's ad that said he was selling fertile bird eggs. So I emailed the guy and ask if he had any Caique eggs, and how much, details, etc.

He emails me back, he's got one that he will sell for under $100, shipping from Cameroon to Chicago is 7.7 hrs at $95 (airport to airport I believe). And I ask him for pictures of the parents, and he sends me two pictures - both of which I recognized from the White Bellied Caiques, the Perfect Pet website Photo Gallery.

Does this sound super fishy or what? I'm very tempted to do this, I have wanted a Caique for a while and I do have hand feeding experience, and I do have incubators and a brooder.

I guess I'm looking for someone to point out the obvious cons to this deal if there are any major ones that I am majorly looking over because of my excitement of possibly getting a Caique...I'm still in the processing of asking a bajillion and one questions and trying to figure out exactly what the details are...

Does this sound like a scam? How do scams like these usually work?

[jknezek]

Not to damp your enthusiasm, but these are almost always scams. You send money, they send nothing, you have no recourse. Ask how he wants to be paid. My guess would be Western Union. Always a no-no. My gut feeling about all these offers from africa is that it is scam city. Be very careful.

[butterfly1061]

Well, first of all, Yes! I would be VERY skeptical. A fertile egg? How do you know the egg is really fertile? You said he will ship it to you? Bird eggs, if fertile, should not be moved around like merchandise in shipping. If I didn't see the actual chick, then I would walk away. No, I'd run. Now, I know breeders who sell eggs between themselves, but if you are not a breeder then be careful in your decision. I want a Caique some day too, but not that bad.

[linda040899]

This is definitely a scam! All international shipments have to go through customs and you would need special paperwork for this transaction to take place.

I've actually purchased fertile eggs from a breeder who lives about 2 hrs away from me, brought them home, let them hatch and handfed the chicks. The only stipulation was that the eggs had to be in the pipping stage. While I never lost any of the babies, now that I look back, it was a very stupid/risky thing for me to do and it's not something I would ever do again.

[Elle]

So many things can happen. The egg may be fertile but not viable among otehr things. As for the shipping, how will the egg remain warm? How about the humidity control? Since it comes from outside the US, I would be concerned about custom issues. I wouldn't go for it. It's a lot of money for absolutely no garantie.

Regards,

[Janie]

Well, I've got to tell you, I'm sitting here, jaw dropped! I have never heard of anyone selling eggs other than in a grocery store! I have definitely learned something new!

As far as this being a scam.....oh yeah, I'd bet just about anything on that!

[Booda's Butt]

I'm still emailing back and forth with this guy, he's given me references, so I think i may give them a call just to settle my curiosity. He says he would ship them in an incubator, to be returned after the egg hatches in about 26-30 days.

He does not mention specifically how he wants the payment, but does seem very eager to get the ball rolling on this...a lot of "if this sounds good, give me your full contact info so i can set up the delivery," etc.

and I quote:
"These eggs are very guaranteed in fertility. Besides,before a breeder is allowed to ship internationally,health guarantee papers of the product in question must be readily available niorder to aquire a shipping permit."

I went into this with a lot of skepticism, but I think I'm more interested in knowing what's actually going on here, than purchasing the egg. I do want a Caique badly, but I can wait a couple more years when I've saved up enough to buy a fully weaned or maybe almost-weaned baby. Btw - anyone know any good breeders around Chicago?

[linda040899]

Karin,
I wouldn't walk away from this person; I would run! He's feeding you a line of B.S. The seller needs an export permit. The purchaser needs an import permit.

From the return time frame that he's giving you, he's saying that the egg will be fertile but I'm guessing it will not have begun to develop. If it's begun to develop, an egg should not be shipped, as it can cause damage to the developing embryo.

My own personal opinion is that this sounds like a very easy way to lose money. I'd spend the extra money and purchase from within the US borders rather than take a chance like this.

[Booda's Butt]

Thanks everyone, I completely realize and agree now that this is truly a scam. I'm still curious, however, as to how it all works. I'm still planning on calling the reference numbers. No plans on buying any eggs from this guy or any other for that matter..

[MaraJade]

Just to add my two cents in, this guy sounds JUST like the person who posts on Craig's List. He offers African Grey eggs to be shipped from cameroon. The obvious downside to this is mostly for the poor unhatched bird that has to travel on a plane for that long. Insanity!

He also tried to sell me lovebirds last year. SCAM. The guy was going to go outside and catch some wild ones.

It sounds like you have decided to wait for a more reliable breeder. That's a good decision. This guy is bad news and whenver I see his posts on CL I flag them for deletion.