How much per month?

[Pomlover2586]

What would you say you spend on your birds in an average month? For new toys, seed, fruits and veggies etc? Obviously medical cannot be calculated accurately because illness or injury is always a possibility. I simply mean for your standard day to day needs?

Please note how many birds you have, as well as species because I am sure size and numbers will affect amounts.

[Michael]

I worked out a basic formula that generally demonstrates that the cost of owning[url][/url] most (appropriately priced) parrots is a factor of the price of the parrot per year. Thus on a $300 parrot you can expect to spend $300 per year. $1000 parrot takes $1000 worth of stuff per year, etc. Generally the bigger parrots cost more, eat more, destroy more, etc so it works out in proportion. For a monthly breakdown simply divide by 12. Budgerigars and Palm Cockatoos are the main exception because their prices aren't proportionate to anything but supply and demand.

[marie83]

For SOME birds I think the only ongoing cost minus the vets fees is food. This is certainly the case for mine as they don't destroy toys etc which need replacing and even the food doesn't work out so bad, I buy it in bigger bags and freeze it, the fresh food they have is whatever we have bought in for us anyway. The initial start up costs were quite bad though for the cages, perches, toys, additional bowls etc. They have three small drawfuls of toys though, the majority bought when I first started keeping birds so I mainly rotate through these as there is so many. Now I only buy a few toys per year as and when I get a bit of spare money. In regards to a cage it is better if you save for the best cage you can get for your bird as it will save the costs of upgrading later on (I started with pathetic cages so spent way more in the long run than I needed to having bought bigger and better cages from my previous birds as I went along)

Not all parrots are like this though, some will easily destroy toys in a matter of hours which would prove very costly even if you made them yourself, believe me they will need replacing, a bird will not be happy with 1 toy a week if it gets through it in a day or 2. Of course there are optional added expenses like insurance, but if you are not going the insurance route then I think its best to have some savings in place before getting your parrot and putting money into a seperate bank account each week/month for emergancies.

[Grey_Moon]

Jacko (a timneh grey) runs me about $100 a month to replace perches, toys and get her food. This is not including if she gets sick or needs a nail trim or a new carrier etc. Its just maintenance.

Marie---I will disagree with you on the toy subject. Even if the bird does not completely destroy their toys in the interest of their psychological health a new toy or two every month is a necessity. I mean, would you like to play the same game etc all the time? Even if you rotate them out---at a certain point even if you do scrabble mon-wed and then checkers wed-fri and then chess fri-sun...at a certain point you get bored with it. So I think, once or twice a month to be able to play video games or etc is a necessary thing.

[cml]

They are very expensive.

Monthly costs for our two...hmm 20$ in pellets, add as much with fruit costs, at least one new toy 10-20$ etc.
Thats about 50$ a month in basic stuff, but who stops there? I think you can add at least 20$ more.

The cage we just got was 650$, then we had a vet visit for another 170$ (thats with medical insurance I might add).

So far this year, 450$ in standard day to day needs, about 1000$ in cages, and 200$ vet costs which totals at 1650$ in stuff.
Im not including the cost of buying the parrots in that.

Actually, even if its a rather cheap boat I own, they have costed me more than my 24ft sail boat, including the outboard engine, seen below. It should give you an idea.

[marie83]

Marie---I will disagree with you on the toy subject. Even if the bird does not completely destroy their toys in the interest of their psychological health a new toy or two every month is a necessity. I mean, would you like to play the same game etc all the time? Even if you rotate them out---at a certain point even if you do scrabble mon-wed and then checkers wed-fri and then chess fri-sun...at a certain point you get bored with it. So I think, once or twice a month to be able to play video games or etc is a necessary thing.

Wait a sec, they DO get new ones, just a few times a year opposed to 1 a week etc. Do they get bored? no I don't think they do because I have so many toys they dont get used frequently although I think you have a fair comment if you leave them in weeks at a time and only have a few to rotate. At the moment there are 5 toys on the playstand, 8 in Ollies cage (massive cage), 5 In harlies cage (slightly smaller cage and I need to leave her room to fly between perches) and then I have a further 3 decent sized drawfuls, not going to count the contents of all 3 drawers but there are 25 larger toys in the top drawer alone. The bottom two drawers have smaller toys in and that is full so there will be way more than 25 in that and the other drawer has foot toys and various toy making parts to add onto existing toys or make random ones out of. For the ones I make I reuse the parts to make different ones occasionally. I also modify some toys that cant be changed by stuffing with shredded paper, treats, cardboard etc which all make for a good variety. I think I can safely say they have at least 80 toys so far.

So my point is as long as you have a good variety of toys in the first place (initial costs)I don't see a need for buying a new toy per week or even per month except in the case of destructive parrots. Ollie get a full toy change once a week/fortnight where I change everything and then I change the odd toy round within that period. Harlie doesn't get that because she fears most things. Her favoured toys get swapped every couple of days or so and I'm slowly introducing her to new things.

[macbrush]

I have one 3 years old CAG, basic costs are just a few things; food, toy parts, accessaries such as kitchen towels, and maybe fuel for getting out in weekends.

Harrison pellets: $50 package can last about 4 months, so its about $12.5 a month.
Sprouts and other veggies: $10 a month
Toy parts: $200 can last around 2 - 3 months, so that's $66 a month, but can make it much cheaper if you want.
Accessories: Probably less than $ 10 a month
Fuel for getting out: Around $15 each time, 2 - 3 times a months depends on weather. So say $40 a month.

Total is around $140 a month.

[MeanDonnaJean]

Actually, even if its a rather cheap boat I own, they have costed me more than my 24ft sail boat, including the outboard engine, seen below. It should give you an idea.

Oh my, that's one mighty nice "toy" ya got there. That'd work for ME!

Wow, birds 'n boats. Who could ask for MORE outta life?

[Michael]

I have one 3 years old CAG, basic costs are just a few things; food, toy parts, accessaries such as kitchen towels, and maybe fuel for getting out in weekends.

Harrison pellets: $50 package can last about 4 months, so its about $12.5 a month.
Sprouts and other veggies: $10 a month
Toy parts: $200 can last around 2 - 3 months, so that's $66 a month, but can make it much cheaper if you want.
Accessories: Probably less than $ 10 a month
Fuel for getting out: Around $15 each time, 2 - 3 times a months depends on weather. So say $40 a month.

Total is around $140 a month.

Comes out around the price of parrot (give or take a little) just as I said!

Greys typically sell for $1000-1500