Neil - Owner, Paradise Pets Swindon 
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold birds and small animals at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching how people buy pets, and what goes wrong when the decision gets made at a screen rather than in person. This is his honest warning about buying … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold budgies at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching the Budgerigar Society’s show world run parallel to the world of ordinary pet budgie keeping, mostly without the two worlds ever meeting. The 2026 show season is underway. Most UK … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold cage and aviary birds at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching UK bird identification play out at every level, from experienced UK ornithologists debating rarity records to UK families arriving at the shop counter genuinely uncertain about what … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has run Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching what happens to pet birds during the school summer holidays. England’s summer break begins around 20 July 2026. Scotland’s started in late June. There are approximately three million pet birds in UK homes. A significant … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold cage and aviary birds at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years watching the world of birds from every angle. The story of the Javan green magpie is, in my view, one of the most urgent and most instructive conservation stories … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold cage and aviary birds at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching the relationship between captive bird keeping and wild bird conservation, and understanding why the two are not as separate as they might appear. The emergency fight to … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold cage and aviary birds at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching UK bird welfare across both wild and pet contexts. The RSPB has just published newly peer-reviewed research revealing that UK Common Swifts show extraordinary site fidelity — … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold cage and aviary birds at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of watching what happens at the intersection of garden bird feeding and indoor pet bird keeping. Most people treat these as entirely separate activities. They are not, and this … Read more
From the counter at Paradise Pets Neil has kept, bred, and sold cage and aviary birds at Paradise Pets Swindon since 1988 — over 35 years of first-hand experience across UK bird welfare in both homes and gardens. The RSPB has just released substantially updated summer feeding rules for UK garden bird feeders — a … Read more
Updated 24 September 2026: Separated documented trichomonosis evidence from unmeasured household risk and updated garden-feeding context. Trichomonosis is a bird disease associated with serious declines in British greenfinches. It is also relevant to captive-bird care, but a wild-bird population decline does not establish the probability that an individual indoor budgie, canary or finch will become … Read more