More on pet store prices..

[AmyMyBlueFront]

...out doing some Christmas shopping I stopped at the local Alpets to get some millet for Beebs and look at toys for both. Of course I had to check to see if any new fid's came in.
They have the usual slew of budgies and teils,conures and finches.
In a separate room and out of their cages,they have a DYH 'zon and a CAG. I asked if I could go into the room and interact with them and they said sure,just beware of the CAG.
They are suppose to be six or seven months old. The DYH still has dark eyes,but the CAG's have started to lighten up.
The 'zon was being totally goofy! He/she was doing the "stevie wonder"dance and making 'zon noises and climbing everywhere and everything.
The CAG was more reserved.

He was standing on the edge of his house door and listening very intently as I talked. I put my hand out and asked if he'd like to step up,fully prepared to be bitten. I wasn't disappointed :19: It was a rather hard chomp,but he immediately let go and looked at me as if to say"gonna try that again?" and I said YEP! and extended my hand once again,only to get chomped on again lol .
This time he fluttered off and landed on the floor. I asked him if he'd like to step up now and he stepped right up onto my fingers I talked to him for about five minutes,he scratched himself and listened as I talked. I attempted to skritch his head but he turned it and gave me a look,this time I respected his space and brought him back to his house.


As I left the room they were in I looked at the price.. $4,400.00 for "non members" $3,800.00 for members. The DYH was $3,600.00/$2,800.00

I walked out shaking my head..:52:


Jim

 

[SailBoat]

As there are fewer breeders, pricing follows the supply and demand basics. Also, older babies draw higher prices. Starting to see pricing near that of just after the close of importing Parrots.

How much to be a member?

 

[wrench13]

WOW Jim, Them's NYC prices. Not even NYC, thems Manhattan prices! Thats the pet shop you and I visited a few times, right? Hey, good on you for trying to interact with the CAG, you are fearless !

 

[noodles123]

$3000-$4000 = cheapest I found for baby TAGs in Midwest....no joke...Checked many places...

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

As there are fewer breeders, pricing follows the supply and demand basics. Also, older babies draw higher prices. Starting to see pricing near that of just after the close of importing Parrots.

How much to be a member?

Steven a "membership" is $50 a year. It's also good for getting merchandise breaks.


Al...yes it's the same place we visited with the fids.



Jim

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

$3000-$4000 = cheapest I found for baby TAGs in Midwest....no joke...Checked many places...

Is that at a pet store Noodles or from a breeder?

After Smokey passed away I was looking for a baby TAG and found a breeder in upper state NY. She wanted $1500 for a baby (after he/she got weaned). After I told her my story about Smokey I could have gotten one for $900 but Jonesy came along before that happened.



Jim

 

[ChristaNL]

Those prices really, really shock me.

Maybe it is good parrots are no easy 'impusle buy" item, on the other hand they turn into "look at me and my money"-display-items.
(It happens with macaws here a lot, certain groups who should not own any animal use them for only that purpose, not because they want a pet.)

A very well socialized and harnesstrained, housebroken, already speaking but young CAG might sell for about 1000 euroos, but a bitey baby?


Well done on the not backing down -> you taught that grey that biting is not (always) the answer and that people will respect the other non-verbal cues as well.

 

[Kiwibird]

Well, I feel nice and smug at the great deal I got on Kiwi only paying $350 then! He, of course, needed "some work" There was a hand reared baby GCA at the bird hut that was either 1200 or 1500 (only glanced at price). I thought it rather pricey for a small amazon, but where else would one get a baby small amazon? You pay for the rarity, I guess. By comparison, they had a sale pending on a 10-ish y/o DYH for $800.

That's pretty outrageous pricing, but I suppose as more people turn to the internet before buying a big bird and learn they aren't for everyone, with smaller demands, there are less breeders/less babies and higher prices for anyone who does want a hand reared large parrot. If zons and CAGs are thousands of dollars, I'd hate to see what a baby Big Mac or big cockatoo would be!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Well, I feel nice and smug at the great deal I got on Kiwi only paying $350 then! He, of course, needed "some work" There was a hand reared baby GCA at the bird hut that was either 1200 or 1500 (only glanced at price). I thought it rather pricey for a small amazon, but where else would one get a baby small amazon? You pay for the rarity, I guess. By comparison, they had a sale pending on a 10-ish y/o DYH for $800.

That's pretty outrageous pricing, but I suppose as more people turn to the internet before buying a big bird and learn they aren't for everyone, with smaller demands, there are less breeders/less babies and higher prices for anyone who does want a hand reared large parrot. If zons and CAGs are thousands of dollars, I'd hate to see what a baby Big Mac or big cockatoo would be!

When Amy came home with me in 1990 he was $400 and four months old..


Jim

 

[LordTriggs]

I do quite like that birds like these are no longer able to be an impulse buy. But at the same time it makes them so much more shiny in the eyes of a thief and is bringing back the 'status symbol' mentality of people buying them as a display piece

thankfully prices over this way seem to have leveled out

 

[EllenD]

Well, again, it's because of where you're located in the US...The further south you drive, the cheaper the prices in both bird shops and especially from private breeders get. That's why I drove 9 hours to get Kane, I would have paid around $1,000 for him (Senegal) in PA or NJ, but in NC I paid $400...Kane's breeder told me it's because of the massive number of parrot breeders in the area, he told me Georgia and Florida are the least expensive states to buy a parrot from a breeder because there are just so many breeders and shops...And he was right. I've checked out some shops in FL and some private breeders in Georgia and Florida, and their prices are less than half of what they would be in PA, OH, NJ, NY, etc. And if you even look on the Craigslist pages, the further south you go the crazier the "re-homing" fees on parrots get...There are so many Green Cheek Conures being sold and re-homed down south that you can buy a hand-raised baby for the same price as a Cockatiel up north...

 

[Morty]

Dang, I thought our PetCo thinking they could charge $800 for a blue Quaker was outrageous lol. I saw they recently lowered them to $500 and one did sell, but the other is still sitting there. It's just crazy to me considering you can go across town or to the next major city over and buy them direct from the breeders for a fraction of that price, not FL imports. I know PetCo is largely marked up (I specialize in reptiles and the prices they try and get for really sub-par animals is hilarious) but their markup on birds is next level.

 

[Anita1250]

Sam was 11 weeks old in 1983 and cost $500. I thought that was a lot then. Wow, how the prices have gone up. At my age, if I wanted another bird, I would get an older rescue. I couldn't imagine getting a baby bird now!