how much cost your parrot a month?

hacatta

New member
Dec 22, 2013
610
0
Parrots
i got 1 green cheek cinnamon,a rose crowned,a yellow sided and a hybride from the first 2

Kiva
Fury
Pixel
Hope
I often get this question,but i find myself not being able to answer,simply because i know i spent too much.
It almost comes up in every conversation i have with someone when they discover that i have birds.
So how much do you spent on your parrot(s)?
now i know you don't need to spend much,since they end up ignoring at least half off the stuff.:p
 

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
Well, I typically purchase Kiwi's parrot food and some pre-made toys/parts once every 3 months. Typically I spend around $150.00, so I guess that boils down to about $50.00 a month.

I don't really buy any special produce for him, as we eat plenty of different types of produce ourselves, so he just has some of whatever we do. I don't necessarily count that in his "cost" because the (comparatively) small bird-sized portions of our regular weekly produce he eats is negligible in cost.
 

Jayyj

New member
Apr 28, 2013
735
2
UK
Parrots
Alice - Galah cockatoo
I have health insurance for Alice that runs to £18 a month, a £10 bag of Harrisons every three months, most of her other food expenses are things I eat myself so I don't really count them in the budget. Toys and treats I probably spend £20 -£30 a month. So a bit over £40 ($60) is probably the total.
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
14,233
190
College Station, Texas
Parrots
Red Bellied Parrot /
Ruppell's Parrot /
Bronze Winged Pionus /
English Budgie
I've never actually added it up :). I suppose it varies from month to month. What is the REAL killer is vet bills.

I need to stop procrastinating and take Raven to the vet to get his periodic "nose picking" done. Long story short - left over dry crud in sinus cavity and nares from an old sinus infection caused by an accidental injury (from a sibling toenail) at the breeder's a year ago! He will keep needing this for a LONG while I suspect, as only a tiny bit can be extracted at one time, until more comes down into the nares from the huge sinus cavity. Each time is $200-300. So far Raven's sinus issues has cost me THOUSANDS. Even though the infection is gone now, this ongoing treatment is pretty pricey. Then Robin will have ongoing treatment and monitoring until the lead levels in his blood (long story if you don't already know) are gone. Several THOUSANDS when all is said and done. Then there was little Pix, who despite spending almost $1000 died due to genetic issues. To get Griffin and Twigs in for a routine blood panel which I'd like to do, is out of the question right now.

SORRY, I only went a little OT so people reading will realize ANY of these "odd" random things can happen to any bird no matter how good of a parront and owner you are, and to point out the reality of how expensive things CAN get! I'm so up to my eyeballs in credit card charges right now that it's scary.

Are parrots expensive??! I don't even want to talk about it :mad: lol. Again, sorry for the rant.
 
OP
hacatta

hacatta

New member
Dec 22, 2013
610
0
Parrots
i got 1 green cheek cinnamon,a rose crowned,a yellow sided and a hybride from the first 2

Kiva
Fury
Pixel
Hope
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
I've never actually added it up :). I suppose it varies from month to month. What is the REAL killer is vet bills.

I need to stop procrastinating and take Raven to the vet to get his periodic "nose picking" done. Long story short - left over dry crud in sinus cavity and nares from an old sinus infection caused by an accidental injury (from a sibling toenail) at the breeder's a year ago! He will keep needing this for a LONG while I suspect, as only a tiny bit can be extracted at one time, until more comes down into the nares from the huge sinus cavity. Each time is $200-300. So far Raven's sinus issues has cost me THOUSANDS. Even though the infection is gone now, this ongoing treatment is pretty pricey. Then Robin will have ongoing treatment and monitoring until the lead levels in his blood (long story if you don't already know) are gone. Several THOUSANDS when all is said and done. Then there was little Pix, who despite spending almost $1000 died due to genetic issues. To get Griffin and Twigs in for a routine blood panel which I'd like to do, is out of the question right now.

SORRY, I only went a little OT so people reading will realize ANY of these "odd" random things can happen to any bird no matter how good of a parront and owner you are, and to point out the reality of how expensive things CAN get! I'm so up to my eyeballs in credit card charges right now that it's scary.

Are parrots expensive??! I don't even want to talk about it :mad: lol. Again, sorry for the rant.

while i haven't had any real vet costs apart from regular check ups i do realize the cost,right now i save 100 euro into their back account right now i have 1400,when i will live on my own the amount will be smaller but i will still put every month aside what i can.

The fact that you still keep raven shows how deep your love is,i now i wouldn't be able to keep him if i want a roof above my head.
Right now i spend about 20 euros a month for seeds and pellets,their greens i get for cheap at the zwarte markt here,just yesterday i got about 3 kg strawberry's for 5 euro,i am dehydrating them right now,then i will crush them and put it into their birdie bread and such,or as a treat.
it's the toys that cost a lot here,the normal toys i make myself but the play-gyms and such i buy,just this month about 200 euros and that every so what months,there is somebody i know that makes the greatest hanging play-gyms and i keep buying them lol.
Doesn't help that i am saving to get them custom made aluminium cages for when i am on my own,at least i know they will last a while.
 

veimar

New member
Feb 5, 2014
1,150
4
Chicago, IL
Parrots
gcc Parry; lovebird Coco; 3 budgies (Tesla, Franky and Cesar); cockatiel Murzik, red rump parakeet girl Onyx
Wow, that's a lot of money you guys spend... I spend about $20 every other month on seed/pellet mixes and I buy toys occasionally, but my hubby is very handy and makes toys himself a lot. Our dining room is slowly becoming a bird jungle with all these ropes with toys and branches hanging under the ceiling from one end to another. :D I don't count fruit and veggies because we eat them too. :)
Vet visit is a killer indeed (haven't needed one yet), even a regular check up. Just to clip the nails here is $20! Imagine if you have 5 birds... Oh yes, and Poop Off is expensive - I just got a gallon on sale for $34! Plus TONS of paper towels! :D It adds up, but it's much less than dogs or cats would cost. If you are smart enough to use sales, coupons and free shipping offers it's all not that bad. We are low income now, but my birds are still rotten spoiled. :) I'd say it's around $20-30 a month for all my birds right now...
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
14,233
190
College Station, Texas
Parrots
Red Bellied Parrot /
Ruppell's Parrot /
Bronze Winged Pionus /
English Budgie
The fact that you still keep raven shows how deep your love is,i now i wouldn't be able to keep him if i want a roof above my head.
Right now i spend about 20 euros a month for seeds and pellets,their greens i get for cheap at the zwarte markt here,just yesterday i got about 3 kg strawberry's for 5 euro,i am dehydrating them right now,then i will crush them and put it into their birdie bread and such,or as a treat.
it's the toys that cost a lot here,the normal toys i make myself but the play-gyms and such i buy,just this month about 200 euros and that every so what months,there is somebody i know that makes the greatest hanging play-gyms and i keep buying them lol.
Doesn't help that i am saving to get them custom made aluminium cages for when i am on my own,at least i know they will last a while.

That's great that you put a little away each month for an emergency fund. I can't stress it enough how important that is! Keep it up, and it will really add up over time, then you will feel relieved that you have it if you ever have to use it.

Don and I do love Raven. The only way I can afford it now is that we don't pay rent/mortgage right now. Don't be jealous, it's an awful situation as we decide what has to be done with my dad within a year hopefully(!) regarding placing him in a good retirement home or what.

Regarding Raven, it was a real fiasco when I first got him... my vet, his breeder's vet, his breeder, and I, talked about what needed to be done to knock out the bacteria caused by a sibling's toenail puncture to his nare giving him a tenacious fecal bacteria sinus infection. MY vet urged me to return him to his breeder for a refund. This was early on before I was super attached to him. I admit I flipped the thought around, but it was hard cause I did love him and would have felt guilty. Don (Raven's favorite person, even though he's MY bird) said no, Raven is family :)
I discussed the matter with his breeder, and I do think she was fair, considering what she had to pay for Raven's hand feeding and weaning costs, AND the fact that she DID disclose it to me when the "toenail puncture accident" happened. When she shipped him to me, I can see that it "seemed" like the infection was over, but within the week I did detect subtle symptoms. I do believe in good faith the breeder sent him thinking he was completely better. After some discussion, she ended up sending me money to reimburse half his purchase price. It was only a drop in the bucket compared to all the money spent, but she said if she gave the bird for free (full purchase price refunded) I might as well send him back. I understand that. It was decent of her to send any money to me, as I don't think EVERY breeder would have.

Sorry again for OT, just thought I'd elaborate on your comment of Raven ;)
 
OP
hacatta

hacatta

New member
Dec 22, 2013
610
0
Parrots
i got 1 green cheek cinnamon,a rose crowned,a yellow sided and a hybride from the first 2

Kiva
Fury
Pixel
Hope
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
10580219_1483627861879709_1921953189716916770_n_zpsbdb20c72.jpg

Said anything about a jungle?and yes i live under there:p
And that is without the new playgyms and only one side of the room.

And ravensgryf,no worry sounded like you needed to get if off your chest,but i still think she should have refunded you completely,they know how much it's gonna cost.She shouldn't even have shipped him to you unless she was 100%completely sure he was alright.

Veimar i have 4 birds and they have never needed to trim their nails ,they do it themselves,they go for check ups to the vet and every time she says it is not needed,also i invested in a steam cleaner,does the jobs perfectly and you just need water.
 

Featheredsamurai

New member
Aug 24, 2011
4,172
19
California
Parrots
African Greg
2 cockatiels
Haha, vet bills are indeed a killer. And you never know when a sudden vet emergency will pop up x.x

Pellets are pricy, and Kenji has the habit of throwing his in the floor Lol. Also fresh veggies can add up, I tend to cut up fresh mixes then freeze them. I try to make toys but also buy some. A expensive month I can spend several hundred dollars on my birdies. A cheap month I can spend nothing in them because I've stock piled toys and have enough food and frozen veggies lol. I LOVE my parrots so much, wish I had more money to spoil them with goodies a the time :D

For Shaymus I try to be as cheap as possible LOL. Most of his food people just give to me, it's amazing. I have loads of frozen day old pheasant, some frozen mice from a friend who left the reptile hobby, and various frozen stuff people hand to me. The only thing I buy are domestic quail that are $1 each.
 

thekarens

New member
Sep 29, 2013
4,022
3
I don't think it's the "monthly" costs that you generally have to worry about. It's the overall cost and then you can divide per month. This month we have spent more than 1k in vet bills, 200 in toys and 200 in food. Earlier this year we spent 600 on a cage and probably 500 on accessories, so you need to be prepared for those expensive months. You'd feel terrible if something happened to one of your pets and didn't have the money to take them to the vet. You can't count on "nothing" ever happening.
 
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JerseyWendy

New member
Jul 20, 2012
20,995
24
Food alone is $200+ a month for all 4 of my fids, and that includes all the nuts and produce (lots of which ends up on the cage floor/surrounding areas). :54: I make the majority of the toys myself and save loads of money that way, especially because both my big macs seem to be only first generation macaws and were both beavers in their previous existence. :52:

Vet bills? What are those? :32: We put aside another $200 a month for the fids AND the (2) dogs in case of emergencies only, meaning that doesn't include the regular check-ups. :53:
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
14,233
190
College Station, Texas
Parrots
Red Bellied Parrot /
Ruppell's Parrot /
Bronze Winged Pionus /
English Budgie
She shouldn't even have shipped him to you unless she was 100%completely sure he was alright.

I do believe she thought he was all better and ready to ship. He did seem fine to me also, until later in the week when I observed very subtle symptoms. This breeder is fairly well known (for her other species) has a good reputation to uphold.

Your bird room looks great :D
 

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