Should I take my parakeet's mirror away? ?

Question

I have a parakeet, pretty sure he is a male. He is 9 months old. I know for sure since his parents are my friend's birds. When I got him he was adorable. He would sit on my finger and fall asleep, sit on my shoulder, kiss me and chirp lovely little tunes. Then, I got him a mirror because I am at work during the day. But, I do go home for lunch. Now, he squacks alot and always bites me. He is an active bird and loves his bells and strangely enough he loves shredding paper towels. So, I put some environmentally safe ones in there that have no dyes, so he can shread away. He gets veggies daily like carrots and parsley and eats organic pellets that are quite expensive. It seems he should be happy. But, I think it is because he is ultra attached to his mirror. I only have one in there now. Before I had like three. He has a huge flight cage so it is more wide than tall. So, I want to take the mirror out but I tried one day and he sat there and looked sad. Should I take it out regardless so that he will be nice and loving again? By the way, he still sits on my shoulder and such and sits on my finger but if I try to touch him he usually tries to bite me now when before he would want me to rub his head.

Answer 1

No, Dont take it away, your parakeet will feel lonely even though he has you, when he looks in the mirror feels he has a friend.

hope i helped,

abi

Answer 2

I would take it away and just put some toys in his cage for him to play with,because he has bonded with the bird in the mirror more than with you.

Answer 3

The mirror is company for him that he is used to.  To remove it would be like taking away his mate.  Yes, it could be why he has started biting, but if you take all the mirrors away, he could start feather picking or self mutilation.  When he bites you, tell him NO and put him in the cage for about 10 minutes, then get him back out.  Do this each time he bites, or tries to bite.  You must be consistent.  Organic pellets are actually no better than regular pellets, they just cost more.  We have done extensive research here on pellets.  A good one to feed is Higgins, or even Zupreem.  Please read my profile.

Answer 4

Yes, you should definitely take the mirror away. It is not good for a bird to have a "mate" that doesn't really interact with them. He might look happy when he's talking to his mirror but after some time this behavior can cause serious problems. A lot of birds get sad and lonely and for example start plucking their own feathers. Instead of the mirror, you should consider getting a second parakeet. Keep in mind that in nature, parakeets live in huge swarms so being lonely is really hard on them and no matter how much time you spend with your bird, he will always be alone for some hours. Some people say that if you have two birds they do not bond to you as much as if you only have on, but that is not true. I have had four parakeets for several years now and they were all very attached to me. So it would be the best to get your bird a friend. If it really is a male parakeet it doesn't matter if you get a male or a female, they will get along fine. Only females sometimes don't get along that well. And don't worry, as long as they don't have a birdhouse in their cave they won't bread :).

So please, get a second bird. Parakeets really shouldn't be kept alone.

Hope I could help you.

Answer 5

Dont take it away in fact ad more.

Answer 6

It seems like your parakeet has now bonded more to the mirror than you! Try to remove the mirror from his cage in little steps; one day, take out his mirror for an hour or two, and gradually increase the time the next day until you remove it completely. Make sure he is fully bonded to you before reintroducing his mirror, and in your case, try not to leave it in his cage for more than a day.

If he seems lonely when he does not have the mirror, try to counteract that by interacting with him yourself.

It's just a toy, so don't feel bad for taking it away if you replace it with new toys =)

Hope that helped, good luck!

Answer 7

His age and current behaviors indicate he is becoming becoming sexually mature and those behaviors are normal, but don't reinforce biting and negative behaviors or it will continue long after his hormones have settled down.

Keep the mirror in his cage for him, especially when you're not around but when he displays negative behaviors with you simply don't offer attention to him or try to distract him and reward positive behaviors.