Are birds expensive pets to keep?

Question

And if you hold them will they fly off? Do they litter if you have them out?

Answer 1

they r expensive to keep but that doesnt mean that the birds alone r expensive if ur looking for how much a bird costs than u can get one for about 20 dollors(a parakeet) ut to take care of it u an spend about 30-50 dolllars each month excluding vet costs.DONT get a bird if u only want it to be in a cage and not be taken care of.if u get a bird u will have to feed it prepare its food clean the cage weekly and change the food also change the water daily.they do need cleaning.they will litter or p**p where ever  they r.they wont fly of if the wings r clipped but if they dont like u then they will likely bite if they cant fly away.

Answer 2

as everyone else has said, it completely depends on what type of bird you are on about,

a budgie / cockateil, they are cheap to maintain once you have purchased them and their set ups, and if they are hand reared will sit with you happily.

however if you look at bigger birds, parrots, greys, amazons, macaws, etc, then they are generally more expensive to keep.

it completely depends on what you are reffering to, a little more detail in your question would help you get the correct answers you are looking for.

Answer 3

You have asked all the wrong questions.

A hand raised, tame parrot will not fly off if you hold it.  A canary will.

The bird, the proper cage, toys, proper perches and food cost the most.  Once the bird is secure and happy all you supply is your time and care and food and fresh water daily.  No matter what kind, they are 'messy'.

Ask a more specific question and you will get more specific answers.

Answer 4

Macaws and cockatoo are to expensive to keep.

Answer 5

Birds are expensive to keep. Depending on the size of the bird, cages can be around $50 - $1000. My current cage cost me $400. I have bought about 8 diffenrt cages until I found the one that I have now. It is big, has no harmful coatings that can chip, it is rust proof, and easy to clean. I have a quaker and a sun conure. Birds need constant attention otherwise you will have a lonely bird in a cage who can be agressive and scared of humans....not a good life for a bird. Toys are expensive. A single two stand leather or rope toy can be $4. Mulitple that to a years worth of toys. Birds break toys easily. Seed can be expensive. Again this all depends on the type of bird you are wanting to buy. But please note the dedication to owning a health long lived lifetime bird is to feed fresh fruit, vegetables, and grain. ..not only seed. I would suggest to go to the book store and read up on the bird you want to buy. Found out their history and how to care for them. This is helpful as well because these books will tell you what foods birds cannot have....very important, as well as health issues and what to look for as far as stress signs for sickness etc.

Answer 6

As long as they stay healthy, they aren't very expensive.  As with mostly any other pet, vet bills can get expensive if there are health problems.  If they are raised hand fed and are tame they won't necessarily fly off when you hold them.  They will most likely sit on your finger until you let them hop down onto something.  They will p**p out of their cage, but you can teach them to fly back to the cage when they need to I think... I haven't tried it personally though.  They go about every 15 minutes (cockatiels at least) so you can try to time it.  As the other answerers said, your question is very general, so it is kind of hard to answer it correctly.  I have had parakeets and a cockatiel.  Cockatiels are more friendly and fun, but need more attention.  They need and love plenty of attention.  Starting out is going to bring the most expenses, which are mainly the cage and the actual bird.  Don't skimp on the cage, it should be large enough for the bird to stetch out its wings.  They are a little messy, like seeds knocked out around the cage...but that's not a big deal.  Birds can be very sweet and rewarding animals to have.

Answer 7

depends on the bird! if you never had a bird before you must not get a large, expensive one because you will not tame/train it correctly and it will bite, scream, and pullout it's own feathers.

the right bird for a begninner is parakeet or cockatiel. if you wanna take a chance, love bird or senegal or similar type bird is ok too.

small birds are not as smart, which means they are not as complicated to care for, and also if they bite you, you don't need stitches so you can practice taming and be-freinding your bird without getting hurt. un-tame birds end up living in cages and they are poor sad, even abused birds.

yes, they are messy, but it comes off with just water. small birds "go" more often but large birds make larger messes.

but the big question about birds is not their mess, which is easy and you get used to cleaning fast so you don't notice it. the big question is: do you get bothered by noise?

some birds are louder than others, and the large cockatoo and mcCaw scream like ladies being tortured in a horror moovie. but ALL birds are loud. cockatiels make "fee! Fee! fee!" non-stop anytime they want something. mine does this to be let out of her cage, when she doesn't see me and wants me to come back, anything. fee! fee! fee!

so yes, you will get annoyed at bird noise even if you love 'em like me, but you gotta be easy-going about it and just smile to yourself and laugh and go "there goes that annoying bird again!". if you get angry at bird-noise a bird is NOT for you.

there are ways to make birds quieter and not scream at the wrong times. but there is NO way to make a happy, healthy bird "quiet".

some birds are born quiet tho, and that's ok, but 95% of them aren't and there is no way to know which kind you are getting.

so mess is not a problem, but you gotta be easy-going aobut noise.

my cockatiel cost about 100$. a budgie costs 20$.

a vet visit for ANY bird costs 100$ to 150$ and just because the vet is more expensive than a budgie does not meen you shouldn't take a budgie to a vet!

an african grey (NOT a good bird to start with, way too smart and big) costs 1000$.

and some McCaw cost 10,000$!

when buying a bird, you need to get one that is "hand-fed". this means it thinks humans are "mommy" and not scary monsters. they are much easier to tame/train if they already like humans.

also when buying a bird, besides the things you know about like a cage and perches and food, you gotta buy one more thing: a BOOK. a book that tells you how to care for them, tame them and train them.

i'd say birds are not HARD to care for, but they are COMPLICATED to care for. kinda like driving a car. once you learn to dive a car, you don't have to think about what you are doing, you just do it. but just as driving a car, you at first have a lot of learning to do. that's why you need to get a book.

i'm talking of course about parrots and other smarter birds that become your "companion"

if you want fish-like things that stay in their cage their whole life, that's ok too. that's what canaries and finches are for. they too, tho, make noise and don't shut up and should come with books as well as cages.

but budgies and cockatiels are much more rewarding then sti-in-cage-canaries because they become your friend, sit on your shoulder, let you pet them, and if they are males, even learn to talk!

Answer 8

It depends on what size band what kind of bird you have. If you properly care for them, I consider to them to be expensive. If you have a bird that likes to shred/chew on things, then you will constantly be replacing the toys, which adds up. They need fresh fruit and veggies daily. The need perches, perches will eventually hae to be replaced. They need the biggest cage you can afford. They need fresh water and pellets, seed, or nectar everday. If you have their wings clipped they won't be able to fly off somewhere, but they wil still be able to fly off of your hand. They will p**p when you have them out, but once you get to know your bird you can get a feel for when they are going to go and put them in their cage or over some newspaper for them to go on. They can also be potty trained!