Is a year old too old?

[diinin]

We have found both RCCB's and GB's within easy driving distance from us, but the CB's are a year old, which I know is nice for breeding age, but we do not plan to breed. For an animal that only lives 5 or 6 years, that's kind of taking away a lot of time.

We found some RCCB's locally, even two that we really like. They look younger, not very full tails, and the boy isn't colored up completely yet. They're paired off and seem to be buddies. BUT, they are incredibly expensive! Like, $200 for the pair, compared to $120/pr for the other ones (the GB's are $80/pr). Is it worth it to get younger ones and pay that much more?

Wish I could get some kind of a discount on the RCCB's here, because they're really cute.

[ac12]

You have not hit EXPENSIVE yet.
I ran into a blue parrot finch that the dealer wanted $500 for the pair. And this was at a bird mart, where the prices are less than at a bird store. But then many rare birds don't even make it to the bird stores.

And there are likely others even more expensive.

But to your question...
A year is OK with me.
On the other hand, if it was 3 years old, then that would be a problem, unless you got it specifically to breed. I figure, if you take GOOD care of it, it will live to the long end of the range.

[L in Ontario]

I agree with Gary on all aspects and would get the 1 year old pair and splurge the rest of the money - $80 on a real nice dinner or outing.

[Sally]

Where are you located? If you put your location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer questions.

$200 for two RCCBs is RIDICULOUS!! Of course, price always depends on supply and demand, but there is not an RCCB in the U.S. that should cost $100 right now. Someday, when imports stop, but we aren't there yet. And if they are just starting to color up, does the male have his red cheek patches yet? Another thing to question, if this is a young male/female pair that are juveniles, are they brother/sister? You may not be interested in breeding now, but what if you change your mind a year down the road--then you would have a $200 pair of siblings, and would have to spend even more money on new mates for them.

And don't put too much emphasis on life span--there are too many variables anyway to say just how long your birds might live. I have a male Strawberry finch that is at least 10 years old (and I admit he does look it), but he keeps hanging in there.

I'd go with the $120/pair. And $80 for a pair of GBs is a bit on the high side, they have come way down in price, because many people are breeding them. Are these birds from a pet shop? A breeder?

[diinin]

Where are you located?

Sorry--I thought I'd put it in my profile. I'm in Indianapolis, and willing to drive anywhere I can get to and back in a day. The million dollar RCCB's are about 3 miles from me at a bird shop, and the 1-yr-old ones are from a private breeder in Fort Wayne.

As common as they are supposed to be, there seems to be no one around here that has GB's. I just figured I'd have to have those shipped, so that would be another $40 (most I've found are about $65/pr) for a total of $105.

The young RCCB does have red cheeks, and his girlfriend is REALLY cute, with fluffy little feathers on top of her head. They're both adorable. We just seem to fall in love with all the expensive ones. We watch them for long periods of time to get to know their personalities, which is a bad idea, because we end up falling for them. Oh--another bad idea--me breeding anything. That's how I ended up with so many dragons. I just can't part with them.

I think I'll go look at the ones in Fort Wayne, and maybe try and talk the pet shop down on the RCCB's before we go.

[KoacNation]

stephan.hopman@bp.com

(try not to let the company he works for sway you)

this guy's name is Steve, he lives in the south suburbs of Chicago, maybe 90 minutes away from you on a Sunday with no traffic on 80/94

He sold me a pair of goldbreasts for $70 a pair at the big Midwest birdmart at the end of May. He also has a bunch of cordon bleus. I think they were for $100 a pair.

I got a pair of cordon bleus at a bimonthly bird fair (every other one is in Joliet, a bit further than Steve, but I got em for $80 a pair, they are blue breasted, so not the most glamorous of cordons, butI like em. The guy had a definite Australian accent, I dont remember his name though. he sold me two fires a few weeks later at the big bird expo as well. That pair was only $70 as well. My point being is he probably is at the Joliet fair frequently as well.

let me know if you would like some more info on any of this, I hope you find what you are looking for.

Michael

[diinin]

Well.......

We did go to Fort Wayne today. This girl had a lot to pick from! I saw things I'd never seen, including twinspots, saffrons, firefinches and some really nice stars with great coloring. She had several of each kind, too.

We came home with pairs of RCCB's and GB's.

I am IN LOVE!! My new tiny little GB boy is ADORABLE! We all just sat there looking at him tonight and laughing, because he is so cute. We've named him Cooper. The GB girl is beautiful, even with little color. She's just so soft around the eyes. She's my second favorite. I knew I'd love the GB's, but they are way better than I even expected.

The boy RCCB is a beautiful deep blue, probably the nicest I've seen. The girl is a soft sky blue and her gray is soft too. They are all just going to look great together and they'll match perfectly the flowers I have in the cage--blue and yellow.

Right now we have the new ones upstairs in the holding cage. They're all buddies already. They've been thru too much though, shipped from Florida to Indiana yesterday, and now moved to our house. I didn't even take any pictures tonight, because they'd had a big enough day. Blue boy is really a talker! He's a little loud...lol. It was bedtime and everybody else was about passed out, and he was still flying around and cheeping.

[lovemyfinch]

Congrats on your new fids I am looking forward to those pics

[L in Ontario]

Sounds like you got some nice new birds. Congratulations!

[franny]

Congratulations! I love my little GB, too. They are so tiny, I find them just the most beautiful and fascinating finch to watch. My little Jane, is missing her mate, even though she has Cricket the society for company. I now hear her trying to sing, and she never did before. She sounds so soft and sweet, a lot like the little juvenile male GB when he was first starting to sing.