This is Marie Antoinette an Umbrella Cockatoo, she was surrendered in to our rescue and had never seen a vet in her 6 years of life. After being fed a very unhealthy diet, and living in unsuitable conditions, I took her to the vet for a wellness exam.
Many unseen expenses occur with the birds in our rescue. First of all, she did not come with a cage appropriate for the size of bird that she is. She also needed to be transitioned to a new, healthier diet.
I had the vet do an Avian Mini Screen where they draw blood and check the white blood cell count. They also did a Fecal, where they look for bacteria in the feces. They found a little yeast in her feces, which the veterinarian said could have been caused by anything. It is easily treated by adding a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar to 1 quart of her drinking water. This will make her GI tract a little more acidic. They did a Gram Stain and a Nail Trim as well. Since, her nails were curled they were so long. I trimmed them down a little but I wanted the vet to handle that for obvious reasons. She also is in nearly perfect feather after all of her trauma.
The Expenses Of 1 Bird:
Veterinary Visit
Apple Cider Vinegar-$12.00
Examination-$59.54
Avian Screen & WBC-$99.45
Fecal/Saline-$15.82
Gram Stain-$20.24
Nail Trim-$15.12
Total: $202.67
Food
Brown's Tropical Carnival Gourmet Macaw Big Bites-$22.99
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3202508
ZuPreem AvianMaintenance FruitBlend Flavor Diet for Large Parrots-$14.99
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754170&keepsr=0&clickid=body_rv_txt
Roudybush Daily Maintenance Diet-$13.99
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3156820&keepsr=0&clickid=body_rv_txt
Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Safflower Blend Parrot Food-$17.99
http://www.petco.com/product/108602/Kaytee-Forti-Diet-Pro-Health-Safflower-Blend-Parrot-Food.aspx
I mix all of these parrot diets together for my large parrots.
Cage
Marie came without a cage so she lived in a cage similar to the one below. I just recently go her comfortable in the larger cage as she was very fearful of it. Now she is happy
in her much larger cage!!
http://www.cagestore.com/prod_images_blowup/Avian_Adventures_Bird_Cage_Ruby_Chiquita_Dometop-web96dpi1.jpg
Medium Cage Bought Used-$100.00
I bought Marie a larger cage than the one she was previously in. It is a double macaw cage and she is so happy in it! The cage she is in is now very similar to the one below. http://niamatsfarmint.com/products/catalog/images/7BB305.jpg
Large Cage Bought Used-$175.00
Toys
Marie loves to chew!!! She has a beak of mass destruction and her favorite to chew is wood. These are just a couple of her favorites. She has a TON of toys.
Large Chunk Bird Toy-$9.99
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752738
Large Wooden Toy-$11.99
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752741
Marie got a ton of goodies from the recent bird fair. I bought a bunch of wood toys for her and other things.
Money spent on supplies at bird fair-$80.00
The total cost of one Cockatoo in our rescue is: $649.61
Keep in mind that the longer they stay with us the more food we must buy, not to mention the endless supply of toys that she needs. That vet bill was very small compared to a sick bird that requires treatment.
Please keep these expenses in mind before getting any bird or pet for that matter.