How much for that birdie in the window?

[Irish]

I paid....

$1300 for Bob from a pet store (BG)
$1700 for Arthur from the same place (GW)
$900 for Ceilidh from the breeder (Scarlet) at 6-7 weeks old. I handfed him to weaning. They seem to run about $1500, weaned, here.
$300 for Petey McSweet from the pet store (Sun Conure). He was an adult bird. The rest were babies.
If someone hadn't beaten me to it, we would have paid $13,000 for Baby Blue at the pet store (Hyacinth).

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by Irish

I paid....

$1300 for Bob from a pet store (BG)
$1700 for Arthur from the same place (GW)
$900 for Ceilidh from the breeder (Scarlet) at 6-7 weeks old. I handfed him to weaning. They seem to run about $1500, weaned, here.
If someone hadn't beaten me to it, we would have paid $13,000 for Baby Blue at the pet store (Hyacinth).

Wow, Irish, you guys must be loaded to be able to shell out all of that money in one year on birds... plus cages, toys, vetting, etc.

I need whatever job your husband has.

[Irish]

Z is a computer geek, Senior-Level, for a living. I do nothing but take care of the beasties :-). The particular kind of computer geek that he is generally does ok, salary-wise, but it's nothing like being a manager--or a CTO/CIO. Not even close, really. But it does have the advantage of being more stable than those positions.

That doesn't mean we're rolling in dough. What it does mean is that I was able to purchase Bob and supplies with our tax returns. It means that I sold my spare house in eastern Oregon in the spring, and was able to purchase Arthur and supplies with some of that. It means that we saved for a month or so to be able to buy baby Ceilidh. We were able to save for a few more weeks for his cage, as he didn't need the big one immediately. It means that Z put Petey on "hold" for a month so he could get him for me for my birthday last year (it's comin' around again purdy soon, if y'all wanna start sending prezzies... LOL!). It means that we have established a small line of credit to put down a deposit on Blue, if he hadn't been sold to someone else, first, and that we would have taken out a home equity loan to purchase him and his supplies.

So it's not like we have loads of cash just sitting around. Far from it, in fact. These guys and the dogs and my children are expensive to maintain, and after they're taken care of, utilities and mortgage are paid, and we pay for gas and food, there is little to nothing left at the end of each pay period. I should go back to work, probably, but we've found that what really happens is that I don't make enough money to make up for the extra taxes we end up paying if I work. Don't ask me why.... *sigh*

So don't feel bad. I suspect there are many, many people on here that make a whole lot more than Z does! LOL!

[CALVINS MOM]

Originally Posted by Irish

I paid....

If someone hadn't beaten me to it, we would have paid $13,000 for Baby Blue at the pet store (Hyacinth).

Too bad you're not closer! We have a baby Hyacinth - and he's less than $13,000!

[Ginich]

Both Monica and Laura are correct with pricing. I go to a lot of shows as a BIRDIEBREAD vendor and always like to be located near the "Big" Birds, lol. I would really like a Hy or Scarlett Macaw, but with grandchildren who are babies and the three furry predators I live with, I'm hesitant to go there yet. However, I like to play with everybody else's birds. There is a Hy baby that is now about 9 months old and, keeps showing up at the Fairs in a rusty hardware cloth homemade cage, is my buddy 'cause I give him all the cones he can handle whenever I see him. His breeder wants $10K for him but I bet she would take less. Then, there was this Goffin that kept flirting with me and trying to touch me through the cage the whole day I sat next to him. It's a good thing he went home with a young couple before the end of the day.......Most of the showbirds are priced about 1/3 less than the pet store prices posted, at least in FL. Unweaned babies go for less but not everyone is qualified or experienced to handle them so I find it disturbing when they are sold at Fairs.
Of course, in our FWCAS Rescue Room ,we have some special needs birds like Max the Pionus who was seriously neglected medically. Lynjupiter can tell you some real horror stories coming in and happy endings for birds and folks who take the time and interest to regain the trust and care of a rehomed fid. Those birds are very reasonable to acquire because of the investment in time , effort, cage, toys, etc. needed to rehome.

[Tiki]

Yeah, but we can get Galahs for $100, Major Mitchells for $400 and Gang Gangs for $800!

[Doyle'sMommy]

I paid $270 for Doyle, best $270 I've ever spent! There is a pet store round here that sells Greys for $1500, but they come with a cage. I will probably go to a breeder for our next bird.

[Ainon]

I paid

Red-lored amazon for 7000kr (=973 USD)
Budgie for free

[Ginich]

Funny story-The morning of my mother's funeral (not the funny part), my brother and I were waiting outside on the driveway for the limo to pick us up. There was a Brazilian pepper tree on the side of the house and I noticed a Nanday sticking it head out looking at us. So thinking it was an escaped bird, I started talking to it and pointed it out to my brother. He said-"look! There's another one in the tree, too." So we walked toward the tree saying "Pretty bird and whistling, etc" and I picked up a branch to use as a perch, thinking maybe I could get it to step up and carry it into the porch. The birds were cocking their heads and watching us. When we got close to the tree, all of a sudden about 20 Nanday heads came out of the bush/tree. Of course, then we realized that this was a wild flock. I had never noticed them in the neighborhood before but have seen them many times since. We have flocks of wild quakers here also.

[birdyland]

I think Tiki (just weaned) was $900 something from a breeder - 10 years ago... they were running about $1200 in the stores at the time. I'm surprised to see they have gone up so much in 10 years.

Red, well.... I didn't pay for him, but I think at the store they run about $1800 as babies in southern CA.. I *think* scarlets are about the same now, and BGs are running about $1200. Greys... about 1k.