General Parakeet Care?

Question

One more thing, she is very quiet at certain times, at others she won't stop talking and whistling away.

But she is quiet a lot more. Will she become more open once she becomes more used to me and her new environment?

Answer 1

Your budgie might fly to the top of your house, like where the curtain rods are. They feel safe when they are high up. She will come back to her cage. She will get hungry and thirsty so she will fly back to her cage and eat. She will also fly down to her cage because that's her home, she likes it there. If you were put onto the street, you would go back to your home because you feel safe. Same with your budgie. Just try and catch your budgie once, spread out  her wing and if it is short then it is clipped. Look at both wings. If your budgies wings are clipped it will become more reliant on you to move around for her.

Answer 2

You seem to be doing all the right things!

When you first bring her out she probably will fly around and go up to the highest point she can. She may not come down for a while but eventually she will want to go back to her cage to eat and drink. If she doesn't then try to dim the room (or wait till night time and turn of most of the lights) and catch her then as it will be easier then!

I'd advise against getting her wings clipped. It's better for the birds health and mental well being to not be clipped. None of my birds are clipped, some are tame (love to fly to me, sit and get scratched) and some are not (i watch them play and fly and just have fun!). This is just a little article about wing clipping not preventing escapes as most people think, http://www.featherforum.com/article/clip...  You might find it interesting.

My birds are free  to fly in my house all day and go back to their cage at night (sometimes I have to catch them or shoo them in). If you don't want to have to wait for your budgie to go back to her cage herself you can train her well enough to sit on your finger and be put back in the cage, but it will take patience and a lot of work. Otherwise letting her out late in the afternoon with a few hours to fly around before it gets dark is a good way to get her back in the cage after a certain amount of time.

Budgie poo...generally it's dry and easily cleaned. If you vacuum and clean regularly then it doesn't stain. I once let a lot of little poos build up in one spot behind the cage....then there was a stain... but if you do clean regularly then it should be fine!

Remember to be careful about doors, open toilets and other dangers and do a lot of research on bird care. Good luck and I hope your lovely budgie and you have a great relationship!

Answer 3

Training your bird at a young age is ideal when compared to re-training or correcting the bad habits of an older bird. Some pet owners can become sidetracked by the freshness of having a new bird and enjoying their cuteness while they’re still baby birds; however, you must remember that in order to set the stage for the future, it is important to socialize your bird, work on good communication, and establish trust at a young age.  Just as human babies need to learn to eat with a spoon and play well with others before they tackle long division, baby birds need to start with the basics. Spend time with your young bird developing trust and teaching the basics of good bird behavior. For example:

Body handling. If you help your baby bird become accustomed to being gently handled now, you will prevent many problems later. For example, gently playing with your bird’s feet and toes will help it tolerate toenail filing. Gently lift its wings, so a trip to the groomer doesn’t become a nightmare later on.

Toweling: Start using the towel as part of your play with your baby bird, gradually working into wrapping your bird up in the towel. When you or your vet need to wrap the bird in the towel for its own safety, the experience will be much less stressful.

Beaking: Baby birds use their beaks to explore, but now is the time to let your bird know that anything beyond gentle nibbles is unacceptable. Frown and tell your bird “No,” and leave it alone for a minute or two, so it associates biting with being put in “time-out.”

Harness: It can take some time before a bird accepts wearing a harness or flight suit, but things will go more smoothly if you start when the bird is young. Once you get your bird into the harness, take it outside, at least briefly, so it learns why the harness is worth the bother. It’s also a good time to try out the carrier. Take short car rides that don’t end at the vet each time, and your bird might look forward to them.

You will begin to notice better communication between you and your baby bird. Working with your bird frequently allows you to become familiar with the body language and preferences of the bird, making it easier to know what your pet wants and how to respond to its actions. By taking time to teach your bird new tricks, you are encouraging desired behavior. Your bird will begin to demonstrate the favorable behavior because it learns it receives your attention then, as opposed to misbehaving. The stimulation training provides your bird is also very important to cater to their intelligence and appease their curiosity

Answer 4

Here is a video of how my parakeets are on a regular basis (noise level);

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OPEHDgkIuuY

I find the sun makes them more vocal (make sure they can get out of it too though so they don't overheat) and when they are content and comfortable they become more vocal.

The stool from them won't stain (at least from my experience!) it's small and easy to pick up in one sweep of a napkin.

The cage is her safe spot so eventually she will want to be there because it's her food and water and housing. It might fly all around but you should try target training it first so that you can target it out of the cage and not worry about it hurting itself. Here is how to target train (scroll to the very bottom of the page);

http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/ca...