Parakeet Care

Getting a Parakeet Used to its Surroundings

Keep loud noises down. Talk normally, so the bird isn't afraid of the silence. Birds get VERY paranoid when it's completely silent, because this normally means (in the wild) that some sort of predator is around. So play soft music, talk quietly amongst yourselves and keep an eye on the bird. Eventually he'll realize that he's not going to be eaten. He'll start examining his cage, maybe taking a bite of food or a sip of water. He'll explore his new little world and see that really, it's not that bad. It's actually kind of nice.

• So start your training simply with your hand. Your hand goes into the cage every single day to change the food and water. Do this very slowly and calmly, talking to your parakeet in a soft voice. Put on soothing music when it is time for you to put your hand in the cage. Parakeets fluff up when they are content

•You need to train your parakeet to think of your hand as a nice thing that brings fresh food, not a scary thing. Sometimes, put millet into the cage with this "Friendly Hand". Parakeets love millet!

•Yes, your parakeet will fly away the first few days! But if you keep this up with gentle words and quiet movements, after a week or so the parakeet should be stationary while you change the food, even if stationary means hiding at the far corner of the cage. Your aim here is for your parakeet to be watching your hand, not to be flapping around like an insane creature.

Bathing Parakeets

Find a bathtub that is large enough to hold your bird, but shallow enough that its head is still above water when it stands in it. At least once a week, fill the bath with tepid (NOT hot or cold) water, and put the bath somewhere that the bird feels safe getting into.

Teaching a Parakeet to Talk

Human Speech
You can Teach your Parakeet to Talk if you're patient and your parakeet is interested in learning. Male parakeets are easier to teach than females, and young parakeets that were hand raised are the easiest to teach. Don't worry if your parakeet doesn't learn to talk, not all do. Your parakeet will still be able to communicate to you in its own warbles and fweeps.

Birds learn best in the morning, when their mind is fresh and ready for new information. If you use a towel or cover over your bird's cage, talk to them for 1/2 hr before you remove it each morning. Repeat the same phrases loudly, slowly and clearly. Parakeets do best with hard letters like K and T, so the traditional "hello" is actually sort of hard for a Parakeet. "Cutie" would be much better! Parakeets tend to mumble and to talk quickly, so the more slowly you talk, the more normal it will sound when the bird starts to repeat it.