# $250 for a cockatiel?!



## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

My friend wants to get a companion for her cockatiel and found one she likes from a breeder I referred her to. The breeder used to price her birds at $150. All of a sudden they are $250? It's a dirty faced pied btw. This would be a bird meant as a pet, not breeding or showing. I told her it was too steep and personally feel that she's being taken advantage of. I believe she's going to pass though. Plus this breeder is about an hour and a half away. I just think that's way to high. I paid only $75 for Mimi and $50 for my normal grey. Plus my birds are wonderful and friendly.
:/


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## Nimra (Aug 4, 2014)

Oh god. This is not fine. Tiels cost 50$. And adults cost 120$. I don't know why they cost 250$. But maybe tell your friend to check online for pets. Maybe they won't cost a lot.


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

An aquaintance paid $250 for one tiel from this breeder a month or so ago, because she just LOVED her tiels. So I think the breeder is drastically raising the price to see if she can get much more than before. She used to charge $200 for visual pastels. The one she sold to this particular aquaintance was a visual pastel split to whiteface. I know the rarer mutations can go for more, but seriously. I think $250 is above and beyond.


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## Nimra (Aug 4, 2014)

Okay. This is a problem. I don't know why these people need money so much. As I said just tell your friend to buy online or else tell the shop keeper to reduce the price. It is not fair to buy a tiel for 250$. Hope I was helpful.


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## Tacotielca (Dec 3, 2013)

You guys are lucky. Where I live (Canada), tiels at pet stores are $239+tax. I have seen breeders sell for $150, but there aren't very many around here.


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## Nimra (Aug 4, 2014)

Oh really? Well I am not sure how much they really cost. But these are the prices that I know for cockatiels.


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## Tacotielca (Dec 3, 2013)

I hear they are are less money in the U.S.A. Everything is more expensive in Canada.


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

She is going to pass, she's feels like the breeder is taking advantage of her too. This is actually a private breeder, not a petshop. 
That's another reason why I thought it was ridiculous. Actually, the most I've seen tiels priced at petstores around here is about $140-$150. The $150 seemed kind of reasonable in the past but to go up an entire $100? No way. I told her to check out Craigslist, oodle.com, and the 2 bird specialty stores we have in our areal. The stores can be a little pricey but they specialize in only birds and at least they are $110 cheaper.


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## Pippitha (Mar 27, 2011)

The most I've spent on a cockatiel was $75 I think, and I still think that was way too much. Petstores overcharge for untamed birds as well. The breeders here usually sell for about $25 normal grey, and a bit more for mutations, but not $100.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

I paid $100. for my cinnamon pearl pied tiel. I bought her from a small family owned specialty bird store. I recently emailed the American Cockatiel Society about the info on her leg band and it turns out her breeder is a well respected breeder, exhibitor and judge of cockatiels. My bird is very large at 124 grams, in my email they told me this breeder has very nice birds and they were not surprised at her size.


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## estypest (Jul 31, 2014)

Whoa.. $250 for a cockatiel ! Though it was a revelation to me going into a pet store seeing a pet store cockatiel up at £75/$125 

Then again any price seems a surprise me after I got my cockatiel from a breeder back in 1998 for £9/$15 , a true bargain as he is a very pretty lacewing/hand reared and all and a super nice birdy (if I don't say so myself  )


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## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I feel bad for the birds that are so overpriced because the sellers are just plain greedy. They deprive those birds of loving homes because really, who is going to buy that expensive of a cockatiel?
There are two cockatiels in a pet store near me and they are priced at $125 each, something like that, which is too steep for the area where I live. Those birds have been there for months now, just sitting bored and lonely.
I paid around $80 to $100 for each of my two, and I thought the price was high but they were handfed, especially Candy, she was a doll from the start.
Later on, I found a bird store and their prices were like $35 and up, depending on the mutation.
Oh well...
I guess if I really wanted a cockatiel, and there was no other breeder and they were rare in the area, I would try to save up and pay that kind of money. However, just because the bird is priced high for their specific mutation, well, no thanks, I think normal greys are lovely too


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

I feel for the bird because he would have had a lovely home. Now he still sits in a smaller cage then he should have along with other birds. It's unfortunate.


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

That's very unfortunate


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## NotAfraidEver (Jun 26, 2014)

I agree with trying Craigslist. Muddy cost me a whole $25 and he was listed there. He is healthy and slowly coming around to people attention... Zirra and Suzy were free from a friend who had a breeding pair. There are far too many birds out there, that need good homes. Your friend could probably buy a breeding pair for less than $250!


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## Jaguar (Jul 11, 2014)

$250 is absurd! I paid $150 for my boy, which is still too high IMO, but that seems to be the going price around here (BC Canada). It is unfortunate that it prevents the bird from going to a good home... just because they have a lot of money to spend doesn't mean they've got the TIME to spend on the bird.


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

I think the breeder is kind of annoyed that the bird was turned down, but oh well. 
She has a dominant silver split to whiteface that she will be breeding in the Fall. This bird won best in show several months ago so I'm sure she will price the clutch between $250 and $300. This hen is gorgeous and very sweet, and obviously a good show bird, but I still think the babies would be too high in that price range.


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## Tisena (Sep 28, 2013)

Well if she's a silver and won best in show it's more understandable o-o


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

I agree, she's got some good things behind her, I can understand that, but it's far too much for a normal cockatiel who will simply go to a loving home


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

Oh, this dirty faced pied is not from the silver hen that won best in show. I was referring to a totally different bird. The young tiel (dirty faced pied ) that my friend turned down was not bred from show birds. There are plenty of nice, hand fed cockatiels out there for far less.


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

No I understood what you meant. I just worded it poorly


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

No matter how "superior" this bird may be, $250 is simply asking too much and practically you'd have to be rich to be buying cockatiels at $250 a pop! Also, the breeder must be money hungry to sell their birds for such a price. That's what I think.


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

CharVicki said:


> No matter how "superior" this bird may be, $250 is simply asking too much and practically you'd have to be rich to be buying cockatiels at $250 a pop! Also, the breeder must be money hungry to sell their birds for such a price. That's what I think.


Money hungry is exactly right, and I think if she prices the future clutch at the same price from the silver it's still too much. I think that $175 for babies from the dominant silver might be a somewhat fair price, but maybe a bit of stretch still. I was just so appalled at the $250 that I had to post a thread. When you couple that with the overbreeding of parrots as well it really annoys me that she raised her prices that much. So this causes even more birds to not find homes, adding to the problem. 
I facebooked her (the breeder) last night and asked if she found the bird a home yet. She told me no, because if I or this particular friend of mine is not buying the bird then she is keeping it. And that's because she "does not want her birds genes going to other people that might breed the birds". She is very protective of where her birds go because she does not want her birds to be bred and start going to other breeders/individuals. I am one of the very few people she will sell a bird too, and she will sell to someone I know very well that keeps very good care of birds also. So I asked if the price was still $250. She said that was the price but would be willing to take $225. Well, that's still way overpriced as far as I'm concerned, so I left it at that. If she would have said $150 then I think it would have been a go. So...this beautiful and sweet bird sits in a cage with other birds, just like the rest of them, and does not get a nice big cage, a playtop, sunshine, and boat loads of attention. You know what the worst part is? This woman has a minimum of 75 cockatiels in her home. So this one is just another to add. My friend and I are quite disappointed by all of this, especially when she was only willing to lower the price a mere $25! 
However, I'm not surprised.


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## SoCalTiels (Oct 8, 2013)

If this is the same woman as before, it might be a hoarding issue too. Pricing the birds higher could mean that she's justifying to herself selling them but keeping them when no ones wants to pay that price. I don't want to assume of course, but you've mentioned this breeder before if I remember correctly.


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## karendh (Mar 25, 2013)

The actual cost of raising a young cockatiel is negligible and to charge $250 is pure greed, coming from show stock or not.


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## Eyezik (Aug 12, 2014)

I paid $130 for my cockatiel at a reputable pet store that sells various exotic birds. The lady that owns the store hand feed most all of the birds. They also have a board certified avian vet come to the store and check the birds regularly. Our bird had been tested for both bird diseases. At first I thought it was a little pricey, but after checking around and adding up vet visit costs it seemed reasonable. I visited the pet store and picked up the bird a couple times before I bought it. I was definitely convinced it was hand fed because of how it let me handle it, even at 8 wks old. So generally if you're going to purchase a hand fed cockatiel that has blood tests and checked out by an avian vet then you're going to pay between $100 to $150. Anything over $150 is a bit much for a cockatiel. (Unless you live in Canada)


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

SoCalTiels said:


> If this is the same woman as before, it might be a hoarding issue too. Pricing the birds higher could mean that she's justifying to herself selling them but keeping them when no ones wants to pay that price. I don't want to assume of course, but you've mentioned this breeder before if I remember correctly.


Yes, this is the same breeder, I think the main reason why it annoys me so much is because it's her. If you went in her house you would assume she hoards birds. The whole house is like an aviary! It makes me nuts.


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

karendh said:


> The actual cost of raising a young cockatiel is negligible and to charge $250 is pure greed, coming from show stock or not.


Totally!! I agree


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

Eyezik said:


> I paid $130 for my cockatiel at a reputable pet store that sells various exotic birds. The lady that owns the store hand feed most all of the birds. They also have a board certified avian vet come to the store and check the birds regularly. Our bird had been tested for both bird diseases. At first I thought it was a little pricey, but after checking around and adding up vet visit costs it seemed reasonable. I visited the pet store and picked up the bird a couple times before I bought it. I was definitely convinced it was hand fed because of how it let me handle it, even at 8 wks old. So generally if you're going to purchase a hand fed cockatiel that has blood tests and checked out by an avian vet then you're going to pay between $100 to $150. Anything over $150 is a bit much for a cockatiel. (Unless you live in Canada)


wow, that sounds like a good place you got your bird from. It's nice they do that. The breeder here does not do that testing or anything like it. The $250 is ONLY for the bird...nuts!


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