PARAKEETS

[N2HELLOKITTY]

HI IM NEW TO THE BIRD FAMILY AND COULD USE SOME HELP. I HAVE 2 PARAKEETS. THE OTHER DAY I WAS CHANGING FOOD AND WATER AND CLEANING THE CAGE AND FOUND A BROKEN EGG BURRIED IN THE FOOD DISH. I HAVE TOLD MY HUBBIE WE NEED TO GET A NEST OR SOMETHING. HOWEVER WHEN WE GOT THEM WE WERE TOLD THEY WERE BOTH MALES SO THIS CAME AS A SURPRISE. WE DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO TO HELP THEM HAVE THEIR OWN FAMILY? HELP? ALSO THEY TEND TO BE MEAN TO ONE ANOTHER ALWAYS PULLING ON THEIR FEATHERS AND BITING @ ONE ANOTHER IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP WITH THIS AS WELL? THANK YOU

[wildirish]

You can tell if you have males/females by the color of the nares. Females are beige/tan and males are purple-ish to dark purple. After you figure that part out, you could possibly have 2 females and one is just laying eggs, as the will do.

As to the breeding aspects if you do have a pair, I think I will let Joel or someone else answer that part.

[Monica]

What kind of parakeets????? Errr...... wait, do you mean a budgie, or budgerigar??? Like the one above second to left???

Clearly, IMO, I don't believe you are ready to even begin letting these two breed, if so you do have a pair, but to me it sounds as if you have two females, though of course, I could be wrong... Do you have any photos?

If you would like to breed the budgies, you must have a pair of the proper mature age (atleast a year old, the younger ones tend to have breeding difficulties, especially if kept indoors in small cages). They must be on a healthy diet with lots of fresh foods... Not seeds alone. Eating seeds is like us humans eating cheeseburgers and fries from BurgerKing or McDonalds every day. Budgies need a balanced diet that includes a lot of fruits, veggies, breads, pastas, anything that is healthy for you, they should be eating as well! Just stay away from foods high in sugar, fat, salt content, alcohol, caffiene, and oil. Keep away from avocados, too.

As far as breeding, budgies nest in nestboxes usually, made of wood. They do not actually build nests (most parrots are incapable of building nests such as the robins and finches do... instead most nest in tree cavities or holes in the ground). With a proper nestbox, one needs bedding for inside. No cedar shavings, no corn cobb, and no walnut shells. The bedding should be safe for birds, possibly try using pine shavings, fresh clean grass, palm fronds, etc.

It sounds to me as if you are trying to jump into letting them raise a family, and if so, it may be impossible if you have two females... This is also not advised as breeding birds is more complicated than it seems and can cost the birds' health or even lives. There is hardly any profit to be made in breeding birds as well, as it is a very costly and time consuming job. It should never be taken lightly.

As for now, I suggest for you to go buy another cage and separate them into their own cages, or buy a much larger cage that they will not fight in. They may be bickering and fighting because they either don't have enough room, or they are trying to take over the right of the cage or "territory". Budgies, though small, need long large cages. The longer the better as they fly horizontally, not vertically, and those tiny cute house shaped ones could NEVER do for any type of bird, or any that may be of similar size, especially if they spend MOST of their time INSIDE those tiny poorly built cages...

If you DO want to still get into the hobby of breeding birds, then by all means read EVERYTHING that you can get your hands on, and learn ALL of the pros and cons of breeding birds before you even start letting your birds make a home... And be sure that you have a proven pair of birds, that might do you some good as well...

Check out http://www.feistyfeathers.com for some wonderful information on feeding, breeding, and caring for these little creatures.

Also one of THE best sites to check out on the net relating to MANY different birds, topics, ideas, health, etc is http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/index.html It's a must to check out and explore the site!


Good luck!

[The Outlaw]

Hi:

I know it sounds like a lovely thing to do to allow you birds to have babies. However, it isn't and here's why:

If you allow them to start producing, then you'll have to seperate or sell you babies anyway. You can't have whole families of keets living together.

To make the babies hand tame,you must remove them from their parents and handfeed them. You obviously don't know how and its not for novices to even try. You will likely do far more harm than good.

If your babies have any medical problems, are you willing to spend the hundreds of dollars necessary to have them treated immediately by an avian certified vet? Probably not. After all, parakeets aren't expensive and many people foolishly think of them as disposable. It costs about the same amount of money to vet a parakeet as it does a macaw and walking through the door of an avian vet with a sick macaw will START at $300.

Your birds will be much more interactive with YOU if they are seperated. Allow their cages to be side by side, but keep them from breeding. Do you have an incubator and a brooder to raise these baby birds in? Again, that's very expensive.

I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to educate you. This is nothing like a litter of kittens or puppies. Its very complicated and more like zoology.

Please do a litte research around the internet about the care and breeding of birds and I think you may seriously want to take my advice.

I'm sure you love your little birds. I know I love all of my big guys. I also know that I am responsible for their safety. After all, it is I who brought them into my world and caged them. Please be a good pet owner and put their real needs first.

Respectfully,

THE OUTLAW