Does anyone own red rump parakeets?

I've been searching for grass parakeets for years and finally managed to find a pair of red rumps. I've been doing some reading and finding a lot of vague information that is often conflicting such as that they can be "aggressive" and are "delicate" and "don't make good pets, only aviary birds".

I also found cases where they were being kept in mixed flight cages with finches with no trouble, so I decided to try it out (they are in my living room and I work from home, so I can watch them pretty much 24/7). They are living in a 6 foot long, 2 feet tall flight cage in my living room with two bishop weavers, a pintail wydah, a gouldian finch and a canary. No problems at all with aggression between any of these birds, they get along fine except that the male red rump does not like the female to get too close to him. I feel kind of bad, I guess I must have ended up with the male of one pair and the female of another pair :c If I had known who was paired who who, I would have taken a bonded pair, but it's too late to do anything about that now.

In any case, I am trying to find out more information about these birds. What exactly does "delicate" mean? Why in the world would they be considered "not good pets", etc. I really really like these guys, though this particular pair came from an aviary and they are a bit wild for my living room. I have been thinking of breeding them (I'm experienced with breeding smaller parrots) so that I can keep the tame babies for myself and donate the parents to someone's aviary.

However, if I ended up selling any of the young, I want to know who they can realistically be sold to and have happy lives. I've seen them on youtube being kept in standard small parrot sized cages, but I keep reading that they need to be kept in huge flight cages, unlike other parrots of their size. Why is this? I've also read that you should not clip their wings because they can't climb like other parrots but mine climb like monkeys, so I'm really confused, ha ha.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Check out this thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets-cockatiels/42666-crazy-crazy-day-yesterday-babies.html

A fellow Canadian is currently raising a clutch of those.

Ah thanks. I wished they lived closer, the babies are darling

They certainly are beautiful birds! I would love to hear more about them as well

I want to make sure I am not doing anything wrong. They seem fine so far, just get rather freaked out at sudden movements, not used to being in someone's living room. I feed lots of greens, a bit of fruit and they get a variety of seed, I rotate through budgie/canary/finch seed plus some cockatiel mix thrown in, and every other day I feed soft food that is made of mashed whole egg, the bugs n berries dried insect mix, and a calcium/vit D supplement, and the "guardian angel" powder that's supposed to support immune system health. I add other things like ground flax, hemp seed and super green powder etc. in, usually something a bit different every time. They also have a light in the cage so that they have overhead light.

Due to the finches and canaries I have, I also do routine airsac mite treatment every 3 months, though I have not done a treatment since I brought the red rumps home.

Hi Onyx--welcome to the forum.
I got my pair last October so I haven't had them that long.

your right they are very flighty birds....when I first got mine they went hysterical when I neared the cage....after time they adjusted when I approached to feed them.
now I can stick my head in the cage without them freaking....although they don't like seeing the back of my head

I've just had a clutch of 4 that I am hand feeding. she had 6 babies in total, but tossed two ...I was surprised by this....seeing two dead babies on the bottom of the cage....I check regularly, at least every 24 hours....so they must have tossed it just after I checked on them.

yes they are classed as fragile birds, I guess when you compare them to conures, or a senegal they seem fragile.

in terms of 'not making good pets' most breeders do not take the time to tame them....they are not cuddly birds, tend to be quite flighty, and scared at most movement or noises. ...but I am trying to find out if that is a myth....they will be weaned in about 3 weeks or so....
right now they are just cute as a bug, so it will be interesting to see how they change.

I have mine in a 2x3x3 flight cage....if you want to call it that.....I would prefer them to be in a larger flight cage, but they seem quite happy in that size cage....it is true, never ever clip their wings...those birds do not adjust well with clipped wings....they tend to panic being grounded, and tend to get easily stressed.

btw, I have family on Vancouver Island

@crimson thanks for your info!

I have a feeling that the idea that they don't make good pets is a myth. People don't think that finches are anything but aviary birds either but I have hand-fed gouldian finches and they are every bit as friendly and tame as parrots. They just aren't commonly hand-fed!

I have a feeling that hand-fed red rumps would be much calmer - they just are probably not as "clingy" as say, a conure. But I have discovered that clingy birds just don't suit me. Despite being home all day, I'm working and don't have time to devote to birds that want one-on-one attention for several hours each day or they get upset! I had thought that with my birds being aviary raised (the conures) they would be fine with keeping each other company, but that's not the case, they still scream every time I leave the room even to go to the bathroom!

I am thinking that the grass parakeets may be perfect for someone who likes parrots but is looking for something a little less time-intensive. I look forward to seeing what kind of success you have with your babies! I think my pair would do better in someone's aviary and I would do better with keeping their hand-fed babies instead.

Perhaps some day you will come to visit your family here and bring me a lovely color mutation Mine are both the normal color, though they may be carrying mutations.

I don't think grass parakeets do much mutual preening either. Because of this lack of behavior, they may not enjoy physical interaction beyond just sitting on your hand.


Twelve years ago I was given 3 bourke parakeets and a turquoisine. The turq didn't live long (previously lost her mate, was a bit of a plucker, don't recall how old she was, either), but I did have the bourkes for at least four, plus, years. The original pair of bourkes are now gone (as well as two offspring they produced), but I still have their daughter that's 17-19 years old now.


In the time that I've had the bourkes, I've never seen any kind of mutual preening that other species do, such as cockatiels, conures, macaws and cockatoos. I think they can make great pets, but don't expect them to be cuddly and playful like a conure, or learn to talk. (it's not that they can't talk, just that as a whole, they aren't known for talking).

@MonicaMc I think you're right. There is always an assumption that "pet" means something that wants to be cuddled and held all day. That kind of pet is not for everyone, though. I find that it's a bit too much for me. For someone who wants a companion that is pretty to look at, not too noisy and tame but not overly needy, these guys seem perfect. It's just that most people can't fit a 6ft+ cage into their home, so I'm hoping to find out if hand-fed grass parakeets can live comfortably in a smaller cage. The longest commercial-type cages I can find readily for sale are actually for small animals and are about 30" long. Any longer ones I can find tend to have bar spacing that is too wide.

Right now, I have my bourke parakeet in a rather small flight cage. It's not this exact cage, but it's similar to the one in the link below.

Petco Designer White Finch Flight Cage - Finch Flight Bird Cage from petco.com

She was previously living with my cockatiels in an A&E double flight cage, and through the years she has lived in flight cages of various sizes. I would like to move her back into a larger cage again, however that'll all depend upon her health and how well she does.



Here's a photo I have back when I had to board all my birds while I was out of the country. She was with five cockatiels and a budgie. (she's also been in larger flight cages, too, although ones that had more height than width)





My bourke isn't tame or friendly, but I do find bourkes in general to be amazing little birds! Hand raised or parent raised! I actually find them more appealing than budgies. (although violet budgies are gorgeous!)

Onyx, have you let your conures and red rumps fly together? Has there been any aggression from either side?

I have three yellow side green cheek conures and a pair of red rumps (in two separate cages). So far I've been letting them out separately, covering the top of the cage of the guys who were still inside. Although I was wondering if I could let them fly together. Any advice?