•Prepare the cage. Line the cage with paper
towels or copy paper, a better choice than newspaper, and change them regularly.
Set up the cage with perches, water and food dishes and toys. Bring the bird home to quiet place and play soft music for a few days. Toys are needed to keep the bird entertained (boredom can cause screaming)
and healthy.
•Change the food and water daily. Keep
the water fresh and clean! Let the bird get used to you and the surroundings, doing
nothing but maintaining his food/water and cage, before trying to train the bird to perch on your finger.
•Convert your bird to a healthy pellet diet.
Seeds are a very common source of bacterial infection, and can easily lower the
health and lifespan of your bird. Bacteria can build up and overwhelm your bird over time. Some seed may be acceptable as a treat for birds that don't exhibit susceptibility.
Birds adapt to pellets at various rates, and initially may reject them,
perhaps vigorously. However, usually 90% of Parakeets will convert within two
weeks using the following plan:
–Leave pellets in a food dish in cage at all time.
–Give birds seed for only one hour in the morning and one hour at night.
–The rest of the time they have to snack on pellets.
–Generally, the 10% of parakeets which don't switch in two weeks will switch after a short
period of reverting to a seed diet.
•Add fresh food frequently. Feed fresh
vegetables such as broccoli, kale, beets, peas, carrots, parsley, cooked yams, sliced
apple, citrus, and the like. Food can be clipped to the bars of the cage or chopped small in a food processor and put in a bowl.
•Offer treats. Millet sprigs or "sprays"
are a favorite treat, but don't feed too much of it (about 1/2" per day), as it is fattening like junk food. Avoid sweets or excess oats, both of which are fattening.
•Try to interact with your birds daily for at least 30-90 minutes. Without regular and sufficient attention, they will lose interest
in human interaction. A pair will tend to bond with one another (regardless of sex) and ignore humans, but through interaction, you can be considered part of the flock. A way to interact with your bird is
to sing together, give it baths and if it seems to be rapidly dropping a mobile
toy, pick it up. There is a chance it is trying to play a game with you.
•Let your parakeet exercise. Think about
how your bird(s) can get exercise. Many people assume they can just leave the birds
in a small cage all day, where the birds, which in the wild fly and exercise a lot, otherwise get fatty and fat related illnesses. If trimmed, just have a decently big cage with good toys and give the bird some
play time out of a cage every day. Manual exercise can be achieved by a sensitive
toss or holding it in your hand and sensitive dragging down until looks tired,
shown by heavy breathing.
•Be conscientious. Parakeets are a lot
of work but you will find them an affectionate and funny companion. Most will talk and how much they learn is really up to you. Be prepared to do some daily care, maintenance and offering of attention
and time to talk and play with your birds, or consider getting another hobby.
