How much did your bird cost?

[dmj64]

My original pair of lovies were a suprise gift. One morning at work, one of the guys set a little cardboard box in front of me and said "here you go, they're yours!" Peeking up from the little box were my Blue Girl and my first Pink Face. My life has been changed from that moment. I couldn't even think about what I've spent on them. Countless vet visits at at least $50 apiece, plus hundreds for my poor little lovies who didn't make it (ILM)

[Jessica]

Celeste was $80 but we left the store paying at least a $125 for all the other needed things. We already had a cage that had cost us $80 for her. The same cage is now at least $100 so I'm really glad we had it. The biggest cost was the vet. $600. in the first months. Celeste's cultures came back with two illnesses and we just didn't have the heart to return her. Thankfully she never displayed any signs of the illnesses and they were treatable. The well baby check up doing all tests possible probably saved her life even if it was really expensive.

[Janie]

The biggest cost was the vet. $600. in the first months. Celeste's cultures came back with two illnesses and we just didn't have the heart to return her. Thankfully she never displayed any signs of the illnesses and they were treatable. The well baby check up doing all tests possible probably saved her life even if it was really expensive.

Jessica, you've brought up a very valid point, seeing a vet immediately after buying a bird. Not even because you might want to return it if it's ill but so that you can probably save it by having taken it in immediately. Same here, I would not have parted with my two even if an illness had been found on that first check up and would have done what I could to get proper treatment but "assuming" a bird is OK, is a huge mistake. I would not buy a bird (or take one for free) from anyone w/o an immediate vet check.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's something every bird owner needs to be aware of...how important vet care is for all birds from the very beginning. It can save the life of the new bird as well as any others that someone already has in their home.

[Anjamau79]

I paid 120 for my pair of Blue Masked Lovebirds, 330 for the cage, spent a good amount of money for toys and supplies and well about 550 for first well bird examen, medications and unfortunately they had to take a little piece of Diva's toe of, because their was an infection going on, that destroyed the bone. She had that infection already as I bought her but my vet wasn't able to get it under control and after a few med treatments (antibiotics and 2 other) we decided to take the damaged part of, to prevent the infection from spreading. Never in a million years would I have brought her back to the store, even with the knowledge, that I bought her like that and still had the 14 day garantee.

With all the cost... not one penny is wasted... I love them to death and enjoy every second they keep me companie and bring so much

[Cathy]

Anja, did you try to get the pet store to pay for any of your vet bill? I would at least try to get them to reimburse you for some of it. And I agree, once we have bonded with our fids, there is no return policy that will work for us. Although, I often thought about returning my teenage sons!

[Anjamau79]

Anja, did you try to get the pet store to pay for any of your vet bill? I would at least try to get them to reimburse you for some of it. And I agree, once we have bonded with our fids, there is no return policy that will work for us. Although, I often thought about returning my teenage sons!

Cathy, my husband suggested that we try to get some money back from the store, but if you read the contract... there is/was no chance for us. It sais in one part...

"As we believe that routine veterinary check ups are an important part of responsible pet car, we encourage our customers to have their new pets examined by a veterinarian experienced in treating these pets. Any veterinary fees are the responsibility of the pet owner. If the veterinary examination finds any illness during the gurarantee period, please return the pet to the store where it was purchased for a refund or relacement, and we will treat the pet following appropriate veterinary recommendations. You can request to be notifierd when the pet has recovered, if you wish to repurchase it. We do not pay or reimburse customer vetenarian bills."

I didn't want to put Diva to more stessfull situations, first the new caregiver (me) and a new home and than the vet visits. If I had returned her, they would have kept her for the treatment and I didn't want that. It was a lot of money, but it was worth the little birds wellbeeing : And in comparison to the vetbill for my one cat Cecil, it was a litte piece of cake

[Angelwing]

Etna and Laharl both came from the same breeder. Although I did get them at the same time, they are from different parents. They were $50 apiece.

Kali and Trixie were 'rescued' from a petstore. They were bred in the store and had been living there for just about two years. They were $89.99 + tax, I believe.

My very first bird, a budgie, was $7 from a breeder. My two current budgies (from petstores) were $20 each. And Cedric (Green Cheek Conure) was $250, from a breeder. Plus the cost of shipping. I can't even imagine the amount of money I spend on all of them, but they are totally worth it.

[eeyoresdad]

Wow, I had to buy mine for $95. Its nice hearing all of your stories.