New Parakeet Owner

[Ambermarie]

My parakeets name is Solemn. Husband named him. Solemn kinda picked me. I held my hand in the cage for quite a while and he kept coming up to me nipping at my fingers. I think Solemn is a boy because he was bonded to a bright blue girl(clearly a girl, had a brown nose). Solemn nose thing looks blue at times, pink at times, and even white at times. I've only had him for two days now. He runs a bit from me in the cage, but doesn't flip out. Mostly if I keep my hand near him he will reluctantly step up and I'll take him out of the cage. Then he will sit on my head for a while and we watch parakeet videos, he chirps along with the videos. After he gets bored he flies away(can't really fly much, I think his wings are clipped) and then climbs up the fan and perches on it.

I worry I asked the pet store if I should buy the bird he seemed attached to, they said not if I want him to bond with me. I do want him to bond with me but I'm worried about him getting depressed. In one of the videos(Which might not be reliable of course) I heard that parakeets only bond with one partner. I think Solemn is under 4 months because his eyes are solid black, but he has a slightly bald head which I wonder if that means he is older. The pet store said they had gotten all of their parakeets in about a month ago.

I don't want to leave him in his cage to long because at the bird shop they had a very large almost hamster kind of cage with some kind of shavings in the bottom, so a lot of floor room. When he is in his cage unless he is eating he tends to stay on the bottom perch. The house is in there mostly for decoration he hasn't went near it.

So a few questions I have;

What color do you think he is or mutation?
My camera didn't do him justice I think. He is white with patches of grey around his eyes, a few light grey spots on his wings that you can barely see. He has the stripes on his head I think the camera shows that. His eyes are solid black. His feet are orangeish pinkish. He has three very light blue spots on his lower tummy. His back between the wings is a pretty bright blue. He was the only one like him in the whole group, there was one other white one but it was solid white. There were like 30 parakeets in that pin, and they had them for a month at the point I purchased him.

Will he ever get along with another female? He seemed bonded to the girl he was separated from. They fed each other and everything. I am worried he is lonely, while he tolerates me he doesn't seem to like me yet which is normal after only two days but. My previous experience is with rats, and they get extremely depressed if they don't have a companion. So IDK.

Gender guess? His nose thing changes colors I think. Mostly appears pink, in some angles appears blue, and in really bright light almost looks white. So I've got no clue, I know the one he seemed bonded to looked like a girl and she was bigger then him, thats why I think its a boy. He doesn't talk much unless I'm watching videos with other parakeets and then he gets extremely vocal.

Also veggis I should feed him? I tried cooked carrots, left it in over night he didn't touch them. I tried out lettuce even put it in his bowl he just threw it out. I doubt the pet store gave him fresh veggis but I know its very important. I bought some millet on the stick, but have been hesitant to give it to him as I rather tempt him to eat veggis first.

When i put the mirror in his cage today he was thrilled at first, bobbed his head and everything but quickly loss interest. I think he thought it was another bird at first.

 

[Ambermarie]

More pictures..

Also age guess?

 

[ParrotLover2001]

He's a cobalt recessive pied. As for gender, might be a male, but I'm only going off of my past experience, I've had 2 male budgies and 4 females.

I can't offer anymore advise, I have always had more then 2 bird at a time, although, in the 11 months one of my past budgies were without a cage mate, she bonded with me and acted as though she still had another budgie with her.

Give him some time, he will bond with you. Like humans, they will move on with life.


Sent from my Galaxy s8

 

[Kozikinz]

The baldness is normal of young or recently fledged birds! It usually just means the last bit of the feathers have not had time to "sprout" and grow yet, and the head or sides of the beak are usually common places for the feathers to still be coming in. Although, in some lutino cockatiels it is not uncommon for them to be somewhat featherless at the top of their heads. In these situations, it is not anything you should worry about.

Birds can become lonely without enough interaction, but it's good to give the little guy some time to get used to his new environment. Everything is new and strange to him, and adjusting can be difficult. In time, if you spend quality time with him and invest in bonding with him, the likelihood of him becoming lonely will continually slim down.

DNA sexing is always a surefire way to know the sex of a bird, but knowing the gender isn't always something you need to worry about unless you're worried about egg-laying or picking a specific name.

It takes some good effort to get a bird to start eating things like fresh fruit and vegetables. It's highly recommended that a serving of either should only be with your bird for an hour or two, because the food can spoil quite shortly and can harm him. Most fruits and vegetables are very good for birds, but there are some to watch out for. Avocados, tomatoes, onions, and any seeds or pits should not be offered to your bird because they can be harmful and even fatal!! But things like bananas, apples, mangos, grapes, kale, and peppers are usually the easiest foods to convince a bird to eat because, let's face it, who can resist? I find the easiest way to get them to try a bite is eat the food myself while in front of them, that way they're convinced that the food must be good. You can also feed them cooked eggs (yolk, whites, and shells!) for protein or plain yogurt for vitamins. Sometimes people give birds a spray of millet per week, and just put it in a treat holder inside of their cage. I personally use millet as a "reward" treat, so I don't place it in the cage with my bird. It is however up to you!

Mirrors are not recommended by bird owners because they can actually do more harm than good for your bird. The pet store industry makes it seem very misleading, because half of their toys are covered in reflective material, but there are good reasons why mirrors aren't good for a bird. For all reasons, they don't quite understand the concept of a mirror like dogs and cats do. They wind up believing their reflection is another bird, and will either try to bond/mate with them, or attack them. Attacking the glass will have immediate consequences, but a bird whose communicative interactions aren't reciprocated will show many symptoms of distress, which can cause more health issues down the line.

You can always get a second bird in the future, but this time now is crucial for you and your new friend to become best friends. Don't worry about him feeling lonely, as long as you spend a lot of time caring for your bird, he will feel so and there won't be a need to get a second for his sake, only the option to get one if you feel like you'd like two for yourself!

Birds are some of the most complex, expressive animals in the pet trade, and budgerigar's are perfect examples of them! I hope you have a wonderful relationship with Solemn, as the act of a bird choosing you is very special!!

 

[LordTriggs]

wow a good bit of advise from a pet store.

A bird will often bond to one thing at a time but in nature let's be fair things happen and partners no longer exist. He sounds like he's starting to like you anyway (or at least your hair) plus you don't want budgie babies to care for so not having another bird is the easiest way to stop that business going on. The suspicion on clipping I follow, most pet stores clip.

As for the veggies, try having some on a plate and eat a couple yourself whilst he's out. He may end up trying them realizing they're food.