Price for a plucked macaw?

[murphyzoo]

I found a macaw on CL to be rehomed. I inquired about the bird and was told that it was 20 years old and plucked everywhere but its wings and feet(?). They wanted $400 for the bird and the cage. Is that too much for this bird?

[shellbeme]

I wouldn't think so but keep in mind, years ago when chico started plucking I spent about 1500 on vet bills trying to find the problem. :)

[MissV]

Shell's got a good point about the vet bills.
It's iffy though.

What type of macaw? With the exception of a hyacinth, the larger macaws may run you anywhere from 800 (supah low end) to 1500-1600 (pretty high end) in America. 400 is the price of like...my teense dusky-headed conure. ^^ (though admittedly petco totally rips people off).

But generally, 400 is for a much much smaller bird...so I'd say it's a good deal for an older plucked bird. I just hope you can help him!

[murphyzoo]

Yeah, the cage itself is probably worth $100 or $200. It's a blue and gold. I want to help the bird but I know that a bird of that age isn't just going to jump into my arms and take to me right away. Who knows where or what that bird has been through. I have an eclectus that I got about 7 years ago that still says other peoples names and has strange phobias.

[MissV]

Like I said - it's iffy.

But with a lot of love and care you may be able to bring it around. Why don't you at least go visit him and see how it goes? I think there was someone on this board recently that adopted an 18 year old and they're doing really welll....

It's hard to tell with macaws, but they can be amazing birds if treated right. There's every chance in the world that it will go well.

ESPECIALLY with a B & G....but I'm totally biased ^^

Again, I say go at least see him. You may regret it if you just let him go and never find out! Also, is the cage big enough?? Should at least be 40 x 40, though honestly if he's gonna be in there a lot, I'd go more like 46 or bigger. I upgrade Etienne's cage since he's stuck in there while I'm at work all day : /

[LovelySydney]

Im with MissV on this one and say go look at him and see how he reacts to you - thats a big teller regarding if birds can see you as a trusted person, even in the first few minutes of meeting! I think its a good price, poor baby, plucked all over. Did they have a picture to show you?? I think a bigger expense would be on a large cage, as all birds should have. Keep us posted, I hope you get to go meet the little guy.

[murphyzoo]

There was no picture and they couldn't post one. Basically the lady said that they had had the bird for 7 years and it was a family pet that liked women better than men. She said that because of the economy the family had to move into a single wide trailer. Can you imagine! The bird sounded like a happy, talkative bird. It came with a "large" cage, which who knows what that means. She did tell me that they would take $300 but that was as low as she could go. Sounded more like a need money situation than anything. I might go and check the bird out, as it's only about 45 min away. I'm affraid that if I see it, I'll feel so bad, even if it's not friendly to me, and take it anyway. I don't know......

[MissV]

Hey, if you never check it out you never WILL know.

No one can tell you what's right for you, but I know that when things like this pass me by I usually can't help but go back and wonder..and that drives me nuts. ^^

[chinniechantel]

There are baby blue and golds around here for $500 occasionally, but if you have the patience and time I would totally re-home one.

[shellbeme]

If I were able to have a macaw I would go for it. My other half says I get no more birds after our ekkie though :( even though the vet expenses might be kinda high, might still be worth it!