identification, and reducing bickering, fighting and the undesirable death of young chicks. It enables hobbyists to enjoy parakeets in their home, and can educate interested individuals, about the raising and care of small birds. For some, the idea of cage breeding in the house can become an allconsuming passion that can fill every space, whether it is an empty room, a basement, or the entire house. Introducing new birds into an existing flock situation, without thinking of the consequences, can and usually does lead to a number of deaths in the pen. Cages come in all sorts of shapes, and sizes. Parakeets are intelligent and active birds, and they should never be kept in tiny cages. Buy The ideal cage size to house your parakeet… Parakeet Behavior Success in a colony situation requires mature lovebirds to be paired, with no extra hens or cocks in the pen. If extra birds are present, fights will break out and the harmony of the flock will be disturbed. When introducing the bird to a pen, all of them should be placed, into the new pen, at the same time. the biggest cage that you can afford, with the absolute minimum permissible dimensions of 45cm long by 20cm wide and 30cm high, for one or two birds. Most cages come equipped with two food and water dishes, a removable floor for cleaning, and two or three perches or swings. Your pet should have enough places to climb and fly freely; rectangular cages with horizontal bars are better than round cages. The perches should preferably be natural, non-poisonous sticks or twigs, which vary in thickness to provide variety and exercise for your birds' feet and beak. Plastic and metal perches are totally unsuitable. If your bird is to be housed alone without a friend, it is a very good idea to stock up, on a selection of toys. For a single parakeet a 21" by 14" by 19", is a perfectly good sized cage. A pair will obviously need a larger cage. It is important that the bird gets enough exercise inside the cage and that is possible only when there is ample space available. It is cruel to keep them in cages where they cannot stretch or exercise. The bars of the cage should not be more than 12mm apart Your parakeet's toys and perches Parakeet Behavior or your pet will escape. It is not advisable to leave gratings on the bottom of the cage since it doesn't allow them to search for food on the ground, like they do in the wild. The cage should be kept in a lively area in your home. To help you get to know your parakeet better, look for these signs: Well, then it could be excited. It could mean that it was waiting for you to return home, and spend some time with it. Your pet could be so full of energy, and just feeling so active, that it is hitting and banging its toys. It could mean that it is happy, pleased, contented and calm. Its head could look as if it is puffed. Then it could perform a wing twitch. This is much better noticed when you hold your bird. The bird first lifts its wings away from the 17 tips to know your parakeet better = = = = Is your pet pacing back and forth on his perch? Banging on its toys, is it? If it is opening the feathers on its face and neck If your parakeet is extremely happy Parakeet Behavior body so as to allow some air between the body and its wings. Then the wings lift and then they snap back to where they originally were, i.e. their usual position. The bird could lean forwards towards you as if it were ready to bite. This could happen often. Then it could give you one of his not-so-painful bites. It does so, to say that it is neither happy nor upset. And the more it gets upset, the more likely are the chances of your getting a real bite. So, watch out. This is to say that it is busy, and not to be bothered. Your pet may give you its attention, after a few seconds. Well, it does this to get your attention, to tell you that it wants to, maybe, come out of his cage and let you hold it. |