I went to a bird market. There were birds and stuff.

[Stinch]

Why are birds so EXPENSIVE, when I went to a bird market I saw a SOCIETY FINCH or ZEBRA FINCH for R$150 (That is just one bird). I am guessing 35 dollars or a little bit higher? But still, 150 for 1 tiny and COMMON bird?! But luckily I found some other people that had a more... Reasonable price, R$10 a finch. And the breeders I bought my birds from, sold me the society and gouldian pair for R$180 in total (I regret paying 80 for a pair of societies... But dang, they produce an exagerration of offspring! And the breeder I bought the gouldians had societies for R$3 each bird... ). And the other birds were super expensive! Such as the owl and cherry finches, they 400-500 EACH BIRD, the goulds were also 400, so were the shaft tails and cutthroats AND cordon bleus... At least I now a couple breeders that have these birds for a reasonable price, but I can only pick up the birds at only 2 or 3 of them, since the others are in other states (I hope they ship, and that shipping isn't expensive)... I really wish I could even buy a society finch! A SOCIETY FINCH PEOPLE! I really want to compare the prices of birds from other places, plus some of the birds were really sick or REALLY tiny with bad feathering and flat head, I wouldn't pay 400 for something that would maybe die after the first day. But some of the birds were really well cared for, which is a suprise seeing the other birds! There were some turacos and parrots, but they were so expensive, you would have to win the lottery just to buy one. Just kidding, but they were really expensive. To be specific, there were: Red-Rumped, Budgies (And English ones too), Moluccan Cockatoos, Parrotlets, Lineonated Parakeets, Eclectus Parrots, Buffon, Persa and Livingstone Turacos, MANY Tanagers and Grosbeaks, Canaries, Quakers/Monk Parakeets, Ringneck Parakeets, King Quail, Diamond and Ringneck Doves, pigeons, ducks, chickens, peafowls, pheasants, puppies and many estrilid finches like I mentioned above. Most of them ranged from 500-10.000 (Medium to large birds, and rosellas and other small parrots excluding budgies and cockatiels) and 1.50-500 (The rest of the birds and fish). Oh yeah did I mention there were fish? The fish were in average conditions and ok price (Except for the bettas... *Sigh* They treated so badly. Why do people keep bettas in cups? Why do people think they are invincible fish and can eat plant roots? I don't know...).

[Stinch]

About the society finch I bought... The male might actually just be a wild-type striated mannakin/white-rumped mannakin. The 80 was cage and everything. Everything in the cage was crappy (Except the birds, you can't call a bird crappy, you can call them sick or deformed because of disease or defect. But not crappy). There was even a young gecko in the nest box, along with many spiders and beetles. So I changed everything in their tiny "breeding cage", my dad and I are trying to fix up a cage for them. And I got the cage measurements, 1 meter tall, cm long and cm wide. Their old cage is 30 cm tall, 50 cm wide and about 60 cm long?

[Stinch]

Well I can afford a society finch, some of the phrases here were hyperboles . But seriously, would you buy a sick (Or something else wrong with them) bird for an expensive price, or an expensive or ok priced bird that has ok/great health? Did I mention there were gars and arowanas there for a cheap price? Problem is, they are young ones... Young fish of these species are fragile (Or any animal in general) and seem very attractive to buy since they are cheap and cute (Especially at that age), thankfully most of the people that bought the arowanas and gars knew they grow huge and have complicated needs (Not that complicated, but a fish that big is going to need a big aquarium). There were even saltwater fish! But... They are expensive... (Especially when it comes to care)

[Sally]

It is always buyer beware when getting birds at a market. I'm assuming from your description and the species you list that this is not in the U.S. Often these bird markets are not regulated, so vendors can have the birds in woefully inadequate cages and unclean conditions. Most marts in the U.S. are a bit better, though you still can see overcrowded/dirty cages, but those are usually the exception.

[Stinch]

I wish I had more variety with finch pellets, since there are only dyed sugary, but that have all vitamins and no preservatives . And one that has no dyes, but the only bad thing is that is has BHA. There is variety for parrot and tanager and grosbeak pellets too, ironically parrots are super expensive or impossible to find.

[lovezebs]

Magnificent BirdMan

Where in our small world are you located ? You mentioned "R" for money, are we talking Rands or Rials?

Birds, can be expensive, depending on species, where your location is, how readily available they are in your area, and how difficult they are to breed and raise.

I'll give you some examples: This is in Canadian dollars.

Pet Shop Birds.
Gouldians, range from : $ 140.00 -$180.00 and up.
Zebras, range from : $ 23.00 and up.
Societies, range from : $ 25.00 and up.
Pair of Owl Finches: $ 180.00 and up.
Budgies: $22.00 and up.

Prices differ from store to store.

However if you buy from breeders, or just people who want to sell a few birds that they no longer want, then prices can be considerably lower.

Gouldians: $70.00-$85.00 for normals (higher for rare mutations)
Zebras: $ free-$20.00
Societies: $10.00-$20.00
Budgies: $ free-and up

When you get Into the larger parrots, you are looking at hundreds- thousands of dollars.


Fish range in prices so much that it would be difficult to list, with salt water fish being considerable more expensive than fresh water fish. BTW. I would not recommend an Arowana, to anybody .

I would not buy a sick bird. However, I have been known to buy birds in very poor feather condition, and have enjoyed the challange of getting them into good condition .

Good luck

[Stinch]

We're talking about Brazillian Real lovezebs Which now, is about $4, it constantly changes, so right now it might be higher or lower At least it isn't the lowest valued currency. The only birds I get for free are hybrids that they don't want (Rarely happens, some even sell, because they want to make some bucks off them). Those birds (Except the gouldian, zebra, society and budgie) are cheap compared to what I see at breeders and stores Here are some exact prices I have seen:

Bird Market

Budgie R$20-R$120 Each

Every single finch (Gouldian, Zebra, Cherry, Society, Cordon Bleu, Cut-throat, Owl, Shaft Tail, Masked... And mutation might affect price) R300-R$900 Each

Cockatiels (Tame) R$150-R$400 (Untame) R$70-R$300

Parrotlets and other small parrots R$150-R$400

The rest of the Parrots and Softbills R$200-R$15.000

Zebras and Societies from other vendors R$5-R$10 Each

Quail and doves R$10-R$20

*All prices are each bird you BUY.

Bird Store

Budgie R$7

Society Finch R$10 (Rare)

Gouldian R$50-R$120 (Super Rare)

Canary R$35-R$120

Breeders

*Mutation does not affect price, like "pet stores"

Gouldian R$35

Shaft Tail and Owl R$35-R$200

Cut-Throat and Cordon Bleu R$35-R$400

Zebras and Society R$1.50-R$15

Budgie R$2.50-R$120 (If it's tame and/or english changes price)

See the difference? Pretty big difference right? Parrots (Or any native bird really, even exotic birds can be illegal if you don't have a super hard to obtain permit. Actually any exotic/native animal really. Except fish and domestic animals, cockatiels, budgies, canaries, finches, hamsters and guinea pigs and maybe rats and mice AND maybe some other animals.) native to South America are illegal to keep without permit, so no parrotlets, macaws, conures (And tanagers, grosbeaks, etc...) for me... Unless I get the permit and somehow get the money to buy the bird.

[Stinch]

I forgot about the parrot finches

Breeder

R$35-R$250

Store/Market

R$250-R$500

[Stinch]

Some of the owl finches and gouldians were flat-headed, had crooked tails and they still wanted 400 on them. (I'm pretty some of them had air-sac mite, they were tail bobbing and sneezing)

[lovezebs]

Magnificent BirdMan

Ok, Brazilian Real, now that makes more sense ( 3 Brazilian Real = $ 1.05 Canadian)

So let's just go with Gouldian Finches to compare.

In Reals over here,
A normal green Gouldian, would go for approximately R214.53 from a breeder.

A normal green Gouldian (and some mutations) would go for approximately R400.46 (and up) in the Pet Shop.

A Blue Back Gouldian, would go for approximately R514.88 in the Pet Shop and up. Somewhat cheaper from a breeder.

[Stinch]

Well I was talking about american dollars, but lets see.... Didn't know that 1,05 canadian dollars is 3 reals, and those gouldians sound expensive >-> I found a blue black black head gouldian for R$35, and it's in good condition!

[lovezebs]

Magnificent BirdMan

That is an excellent price, lucky you
Would love to see a picture.

[Stinch]

He sold the bird already.... Dang it!