Okay Parakeet/Budgie People Educate Me!

[Fae88]

Right now I am focusing on taming and training Skittles. But in the future (preferably the next couple of months) I would like to get a parakeet or two.

When I was little my family had a pair or parakeets that were not tame. I was really little and don't have much memory of them other than we could not touch them.

My sister had a pair when she was a adult. But she took poor care of them and they died before their time, I am ashamed to say.

I personally have always loved Parakeets and wanted to own one or two one day. I just have a few questions.

Are males more likely to talk/mimic? I have NEVER heard a parakeet talk. It sounds awesome!

How do you tell males and females apart?

Do you HAVE to have a pair? I have lots of time to spend one on one with a lone bird. And I have cages with room to spare. I would personally like a single parakeet just because I want to hand tame and bond closely with the bird. If I can do that with two great! But if not I would prefer a single parakeet to spoil.

Okay other than those questions I would love for people to just lay out what I could do to give a parakeet a happy healthy long life.

 

[MikeyTN]

There's a male parakeet that talks really good! I'm not sure which one would be a better talker as I've never had a talking parakeet before. Yes your able to sex them but sometimes its not as easy to do depending on their coloration. You can keep just one if you intended on interaction with one on one. Perhaps someone would post a site that shows you on how to sex parakeets. I'm on my phone so I'm limited to what I can do.

 

[legal_eagle]

Generally, males are better talkers than females.

In mature birds, the male's cere (the fleshy part where the nostrils are above the bill) is blue, while it is brown in the female. It is more difficult to sex baby birds because they all tend to have pastel purple-ish ceres. Also, the cere color is different among the color mutations. Someone with a lot of experience may be able to help you tell the sex of a baby bird.

Budgies are super social because they live in huge flocks in the wild, so be sure to spend a lot of time with your bird if you get only one.

 

[Folkeye]

Budgies CAN be awesome talkers. The world record for words known and spoken by a bird is held by a budgie

This bird here (the Famous Youtube 'Disco') is not the norm, but if you want to hear a budgie talk...talk...talk...talk... check him out. He's awesome. Do watch the whole thing for just a taste of his vocabulary variety. He's a real treat, and per usual of us bird lovers, spoiled!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QPhJQddLn0&feature=c4-overview&list=UURkcS2wS92KMUrLMAVijwZw]Disco Was His Name-Oh! - YouTube[/ame]

My first budgie was a total chitter chatterbox. He had a limited vocabulary, but any bird that can say 'It's okay' and 'I love you' at that right moment to me is a special critter Miss my baby.

Even if they don't end up talking, they still make wonderful companion birds. Full of energy and life. They love to play.

 

[SpotsandSally]

Oh my gosh. Disco is like a schizophrenic person who only knows a few phrases - it's so funny and cute!!
Oh, I DO NOT need a budgie...I DO NOT need a budgie (repeat until feeling is gone)

 

[thekarens]

Disco actually knows a lot of phrases. He's pretty awesome!

 

[Kalidasa]

The only budgie I've had that picked up words was a female lol. And I've had budgies all my life, and always very tame, flighted, and unconfined. But I started with one, getting him/her very tame & friendly, then bringing in another, and getting him tame, which sort if just happened by being with the first budgie. I'm almost constantly cleaning.

 

[MonicaMc]

If you want a young male budgie, then choose one with a pink cere.

If you want a female, choose one with a white cere.

 

[ct92404]

You don't have to get two parakeets. As long as you can give enough attention every day, a parakeet can be perfectly fine as an only bird. In fact, if you want to tame him and really want to build a strong bond, then it's actually better to have just one.

Parakeets\Budgies can be VERY friendly and affectionate. You'd be amazed at how friendly they are. Once they've gotten close to you, they want to be with you all the time! My parakeet, Chipper, misses me and gets upset whenever I go somewhere. She starts chirping really loud and squawking as soon as I leave the room! I pick her up and pet her a lot, and she likes to sit on my shoulder and watches tv with me!

Parakeets are also very easy to tame. You have to be gentle and patient, but it's not hard to do at all. Once you show the bird that you are not a threat, the taming process actually progresses surprisingly fast. Of course, every bird is different and they each have their own personality. But with both parakeets I've had (Chipper is my second one), I was able to pet them by the first day. After just a few days, I was able to take them out of the cage and hold them. Since you are already getting some experience with your lovebird, you shouldn't have too much trouble. In fact, I'll bet it will be a lot easier to tame a parakeet. I've only ever had parakeets, but I was very surprised at how easy they are to tame.

I've also read that males are more talkative and are reportedly tend to be more friendly than females. But that does NOT mean that a female parakeet won't be a good pet. Chipper is a female, and she is absolutely amazing. She is very affectionate and friendly. True, she may never learn to talk, but she makes all kinds of other cute little noises. And besides, that is the least concern. You want a healthy, happy bird that is going to be a good companion. I think pretty much any parakeet you choose that is healthy will be a good friend if you show it love.

It really is so amazing when I think about it...parakeets are such small little birds, but it's just incredible how God/Nature designed them and how they have so much personality packed into something so small. So don't let their small size fool you! They are very intelligent, friendly birds.

The only caution I would have is that if you do get a parakeet, do NOT try to put him or her in the same cage with Skittles! I've read that lovebirds can be very territorial and aggressive. Also, you might not want to even have them both out of their cages at the same time. At least not until you know that they can get along.

So yeah, if you think you are ready to take care of another bird, a parakeet could be a good choice.

 

[strudel]

My budgies talk, but the only language they know is budgie, not english It's fine with me, they have lovely voices. I've heard/read that if you want to get the bird speaking english and have it bond with you, that it's easier with just one bird and if/when you get 2, they will interact with each other more than with you.

 

[Mike17]

My budgies talk, but the only language they know is budgie, not english It's fine with me, they have lovely voices. I've heard/read that if you want to get the bird speaking english and have it bond with you, that it's easier with just one bird and if/when you get 2, they will interact with each other more than with you.

We got a semi-tame and timid budgie a few months ago. He settled down quickly, and also learned a few words very quickly while still kept in his cage. We tamed him a bit although he's still hesitant to come to a finger (but happy on shoulder) but he's copied all the other birds' calls remarkably well (we have a chattery Plumhead, and the princess has also learned its calls) and hasn't learned any new words. He does say the ones he knows over and over though!

 

[Folkeye]

You don't have to get two parakeets. As long as you can give enough attention every day, a parakeet can be perfectly fine as an only bird. In fact, if you want to tame him and really want to build a strong bond, then it's actually better to have just one.

Parakeets\Budgies can be VERY friendly and affectionate. You'd be amazed at how friendly they are. Once they've gotten close to you, they want to be with you all the time! My parakeet, Chipper, misses me and gets upset whenever I go somewhere. She starts chirping really loud and squawking as soon as I leave the room! I pick her up and pet her a lot, and she likes to sit on my shoulder and watches tv with me!

Parakeets are also very easy to tame. You have to be gentle and patient, but it's not hard to do at all. Once you show the bird that you are not a threat, the taming process actually progresses surprisingly fast. Of course, every bird is different and they each have their own personality. But with both parakeets I've had (Chipper is my second one), I was able to pet them by the first day. After just a few days, I was able to take them out of the cage and hold them. Since you are already getting some experience with your lovebird, you shouldn't have too much trouble. In fact, I'll bet it will be a lot easier to tame a parakeet. I've only ever had parakeets, but I was very surprised at how easy they are to tame.

I've also read that males are more talkative and are reportedly tend to be more friendly than females. But that does NOT mean that a female parakeet won't be a good pet. Chipper is a female, and she is absolutely amazing. She is very affectionate and friendly. True, she may never learn to talk, but she makes all kinds of other cute little noises. And besides, that is the least concern. You want a healthy, happy bird that is going to be a good companion. I think pretty much any parakeet you choose that is healthy will be a good friend if you show it love.

It really is so amazing when I think about it...parakeets are such small little birds, but it's just incredible how God/Nature designed them and how they have so much personality packed into something so small. So don't let their small size fool you! They are very intelligent, friendly birds.

The only caution I would have is that if you do get a parakeet, do NOT try to put him or her in the same cage with Skittles! I've read that lovebirds can be very territorial and aggressive. Also, you might not want to even have them both out of their cages at the same time. At least not until you know that they can get along.

So yeah, if you think you are ready to take care of another bird, a parakeet could be a good choice.

LOL, Chipper watches TV with you? That is one thing that scares my English Lady. She's still not sure if being 10 feet from her cage is a good thing or not, but if she is nice and mellow I'll try to have her sit with me to watch TV. The changing images seem to spook her! She's good with noise, but those pictures, what's happening??!! This is the same bird that will crawl onto my laptop keyboard given half the chance and chase the mouse cursor.

 

[ct92404]

Yup, Chipper does indeed watch tv with me! We usually watch National Geographic Wild.

And she gets so excited whenever there's a program on about birds. Seriously. She starts chirping and sometimes even bobs her head. I remember one time there was a program about wild parrots, and she went bonkers!

 

[strudel]

My pets react to things on the tv. My other dog used to bark every time a doorbell rang. There's an annoying tv ad that has a cat yowl in it and my dog barks at it pretty much every time it's on. I think one of my weiros learnt the sound of me drilling holes in my galah's cage. It took ages drilling into the metal frame and he was outside at the time so got an earful. Sometimes he starts up with it. Is it a rule that the more annoying a behaviour the easier it is to learn?