| Getting a second parakeet - questions - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| Jamie |
Last April, my wife and I bought a parakeet from a pet store with
clipped wings. We bought a starter cage, which it seemed to grow to
love. We tamed her and let her wings grow in, and now she'll fly
around the house, come to our hands, fly onto our heads, nibble our
faces, etc.
We live in a 2 floor condo, so there's not a lot of space to fly, just
around the first floor. We keep her in the living room against the
wall between the two couches that my wife and I usually sit on, so
she's always around us, hearing us talk to her and each other, and
usually gets to hear the TV when we're watching (she's very responsive
to anything with crowd noise).
We decided that we wanted to get a second parakeet to keep her
company. As much as she seems to love us, we work all day and don't
want her to get lonely.
Last night we bought a bigger cage in preparation. The layout is
obviously different to her first cage, but we put all of her old toys
in there, but the mirror she grew to think of as her "partner" is in a
difficult position for her to see. Will this be a problem?
When we first introduced her to the new cage, she explored and climbed
all over, but then most of last night and this morning, she sits in
one corner on the perch, playing with her little bell toy or preening.
She doesn't seem all that energetic to play and climb all over. We're
hoping it's because she's still getting used to the new living space.
Is this common? Or is she unhappy there without her "partner" (the
mirror)?
Now, my other questions pertain to the new parakeet. We're hoping to
get one in a few days (again, clipped wings, probably from Petco or
somwehere similar). We're going to get the new parakeet used to us
and tame it in the old cage. My questions are as follows:
How long should we wait to introduce the new parakeet to our current
one? And how soon should we move it into the larger cage to live with
our current one?
Will they still be tame and responsive to us (fly to us, etc.) if they
have each other to keep company?
Is it a good idea to have 2 in the first place? I know they're social
birds, but we don't want to lose the relationship we have with our
current bird.
Any help/advice/whatever would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!
Jamie
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| Alex Clayton |
"Jamie" <jamie@silverscreendesign.com> wrote in message
news:c3d06e18.0401211039.723d5ec4@posting.google.com...
> Last April, my wife and I bought a parakeet from a pet store with
> clipped wings. We bought a starter cage, which it seemed to grow to
> love. We tamed her and let her wings grow in, and now she'll fly
> around the house, come to our hands, fly onto our heads, nibble our
> faces, etc.
>
> We live in a 2 floor condo, so there's not a lot of space to fly, just
> around the first floor. We keep her in the living room against the
> wall between the two couches that my wife and I usually sit on, so
> she's always around us, hearing us talk to her and each other, and
> usually gets to hear the TV when we're watching (she's very responsive
> to anything with crowd noise).
>
> We decided that we wanted to get a second parakeet to keep her
> company. As much as she seems to love us, we work all day and don't
> want her to get lonely.
>
> Last night we bought a bigger cage in preparation. The layout is
> obviously different to her first cage, but we put all of her old toys
> in there, but the mirror she grew to think of as her "partner" is in a
> difficult position for her to see. Will this be a problem?
>
> When we first introduced her to the new cage, she explored and climbed
> all over, but then most of last night and this morning, she sits in
> one corner on the perch, playing with her little bell toy or preening.
> She doesn't seem all that energetic to play and climb all over. We're
> hoping it's because she's still getting used to the new living space.
> Is this common? Or is she unhappy there without her "partner" (the
> mirror)?
>
> Now, my other questions pertain to the new parakeet. We're hoping to
> get one in a few days (again, clipped wings, probably from Petco or
> somwehere similar). We're going to get the new parakeet used to us
> and tame it in the old cage. My questions are as follows:
>
> How long should we wait to introduce the new parakeet to our current
> one? And how soon should we move it into the larger cage to live with
> our current one?
>
> Will they still be tame and responsive to us (fly to us, etc.) if they
> have each other to keep company?
>
> Is it a good idea to have 2 in the first place? I know they're social
> birds, but we don't want to lose the relationship we have with our
> current bird.
>
> Any help/advice/whatever would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!
>
> Jamie
When you have tame birds that are completely comfortable with humans
normally you can have as many as you have time for. They will not suddenly
revert to being wild and fear you. Now if you start with a bird that is not
really tame, and introduce another of the same the birds will of course be
more comfortable with each other, so you should have no problem here.
As to the cage this is normal. When you buy a hand fed tame bird that will
climb all over you in a store, it's normal for them to act just like your
bird is now when they are taken to a new home, nothing to worry about there.
Now the one big problem with what you are getting ready to do is disease.
Any time you bring a new bird into a home where you already have birds you
run the risk of infecting your first bird. Pet stores are a real danger in
this. The safe way to do this is to quarantine the new bird until you can
get it vet checked. Now many people do not want to spend a couple hundred
dollars on a $20 bird. If this is the case the next best thing would be to
keep the new bird in a separate room, and be careful about treating it as if
it may have a communicable disease for about 4 weeks, and make sure there
are no signs of trouble.
As to introducing them it should be easy. They will of course need to be
watched closely for a while but I doubt they will have much trouble with
each other as long as they have plenty of room.
Good luck!!
--
"A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain"
[Lazarus Long]
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| jwallace |
My only addition to Alex's comments is that when you are ready to introduce
them you may want to just bring the other cage, with the new bird inside,
into the same living area. And give them a chance to view each other for a
short while. I would also not force them into the same cage. The older
bird may resent someone new in "his" cage. Let them decide on their own.
We have three budgies (parakeets) and each has it's own cage. During the
day they and most of our other birds roam from cage to cage to perch to us
to where ever, but at night they all return to their own space. One of ours
has always been kind of a runt and will return to her cage during the day
for rest or to avoid the others if she tires. The others do not bother her
if she returns to her cage, i.e. they seem to respect her territory.
"Alex Clayton" <alexx1400@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1074717718.385336@yasure...
> "Jamie" <jamie@silverscreendesign.com> wrote in message
> news:c3d06e18.0401211039.723d5ec4@posting.google.com...
> > Last April, my wife and I bought a parakeet from a pet store with
> > clipped wings. We bought a starter cage, which it seemed to grow to
> > love. We tamed her and let her wings grow in, and now she'll fly
> > around the house, come to our hands, fly onto our heads, nibble our
> > faces, etc.
> >
> > We live in a 2 floor condo, so there's not a lot of space to fly, just
> > around the first floor. We keep her in the living room against the
> > wall between the two couches that my wife and I usually sit on, so
> > she's always around us, hearing us talk to her and each other, and
> > usually gets to hear the TV when we're watching (she's very responsive
> > to anything with crowd noise).
> >
> > We decided that we wanted to get a second parakeet to keep her
> > company. As much as she seems to love us, we work all day and don't
> > want her to get lonely.
> >
> > Last night we bought a bigger cage in preparation. The layout is
> > obviously different to her first cage, but we put all of her old toys
> > in there, but the mirror she grew to think of as her "partner" is in a
> > difficult position for her to see. Will this be a problem?
> >
> > When we first introduced her to the new cage, she explored and climbed
> > all over, but then most of last night and this morning, she sits in
> > one corner on the perch, playing with her little bell toy or preening.
> > She doesn't seem all that energetic to play and climb all over. We're
> > hoping it's because she's still getting used to the new living space.
> > Is this common? Or is she unhappy there without her "partner" (the
> > mirror)?
> >
> > Now, my other questions pertain to the new parakeet. We're hoping to
> > get one in a few days (again, clipped wings, probably from Petco or
> > somwehere similar). We're going to get the new parakeet used to us
> > and tame it in the old cage. My questions are as follows:
> >
> > How long should we wait to introduce the new parakeet to our current
> > one? And how soon should we move it into the larger cage to live with
> > our current one?
> >
> > Will they still be tame and responsive to us (fly to us, etc.) if they
> > have each other to keep company?
> >
> > Is it a good idea to have 2 in the first place? I know they're social
> > birds, but we don't want to lose the relationship we have with our
> > current bird.
> >
> > Any help/advice/whatever would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!
> >
> > Jamie
>
> When you have tame birds that are completely comfortable with humans
> normally you can have as many as you have time for. They will not suddenly
> revert to being wild and fear you. Now if you start with a bird that is
not
> really tame, and introduce another of the same the birds will of course be
> more comfortable with each other, so you should have no problem here.
> As to the cage this is normal. When you buy a hand fed tame bird that
will
> climb all over you in a store, it's normal for them to act just like your
> bird is now when they are taken to a new home, nothing to worry about
there.
> Now the one big problem with what you are getting ready to do is
disease.
> Any time you bring a new bird into a home where you already have birds you
> run the risk of infecting your first bird. Pet stores are a real danger in
> this. The safe way to do this is to quarantine the new bird until you can
> get it vet checked. Now many people do not want to spend a couple hundred
> dollars on a $20 bird. If this is the case the next best thing would be to
> keep the new bird in a separate room, and be careful about treating it as
if
> it may have a communicable disease for about 4 weeks, and make sure there
> are no signs of trouble.
> As to introducing them it should be easy. They will of course need to be
> watched closely for a while but I doubt they will have much trouble with
> each other as long as they have plenty of room.
> Good luck!!
> --
> "A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain"
> [Lazarus Long]
>
>
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| Toucanldy |
>From: "jwallace" jwallace71@comcast.net
>My only addition to Alex's comments is that when you are ready to introduce
>them you may want to just bring the other cage, with the new bird inside,
>into the same living area. And give them a chance to view each other for a
>short while. I would also not force them into the same cage. The older
>bird may resent someone new in "his" cage. Let them decide on their own.
I have another suggestion. Leave your present bird in his old cage, and get
another small cage, for the new bird. Then, after the quarantine period, put
the two "howdy cages" together, to let them get acquainted. If all goes well,
try putting them both together in the new, larger cage, at the same time, so
that no one becomes territorial. This is all done under your supervision, of
course.
Regards
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| Alex Clayton |
"jwallace" <jwallace71@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:7a6dnW46p6atZJPdRVn-sw@comcast.com...
> My only addition to Alex's comments is that when you are ready to
introduce
> them you may want to just bring the other cage, with the new bird inside,
> into the same living area. And give them a chance to view each other for
a
> short while. I would also not force them into the same cage. The older
> bird may resent someone new in "his" cage. Let them decide on their own.
>
> We have three budgies (parakeets) and each has it's own cage. During the
> day they and most of our other birds roam from cage to cage to perch to us
> to where ever, but at night they all return to their own space. One of
ours
> has always been kind of a runt and will return to her cage during the day
> for rest or to avoid the others if she tires. The others do not bother
her
> if she returns to her cage, i.e. they seem to respect her territory.
>
>
Very very true! Our Conure does not like it when I clean or do anything to
his "living area", but I'm bigger than he is so he complains but leaves me
alone. The Macaw on the other hand, who is much more friendly, will also be
a much bigger pain when I try to do anything to his cage. It's a huge cage
so to hang up new toys and to replace boda perches I have to lean inside the
cage. Charlie will try to get to a place where he can pinch and pinch hard
trying to get me out of "his" cage LOL. Some times when I clean it I have to
finally give up and set up his travel cage for him to get him to let me do
the work. I always tell him "if you would clean up your own mess I would not
have to do this", but he does not seem to care, just wants me out of his
cage. <G>
--
"A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain"
[Lazarus Long]
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| High Flight |
Jamie <jamie@silverscreendesign.com> says...
> Last April, my wife and I bought a parakeet from a pet store with
> clipped wings. We bought a starter cage, which it seemed to grow to
> love. We tamed her and let her wings grow in, and now she'll fly
> around the house, come to our hands, fly onto our heads, nibble our
> faces, etc.
>
> We live in a 2 floor condo, so there's not a lot of space to fly, just
> around the first floor. We keep her in the living room against the
> wall between the two couches that my wife and I usually sit on, so
> she's always around us, hearing us talk to her and each other, and
> usually gets to hear the TV when we're watching (she's very responsive
> to anything with crowd noise).
>
> We decided that we wanted to get a second parakeet to keep her
> company. As much as she seems to love us, we work all day and don't
> want her to get lonely.
>
> Last night we bought a bigger cage in preparation. The layout is
> obviously different to her first cage, but we put all of her old toys
> in there, but the mirror she grew to think of as her "partner" is in a
> difficult position for her to see. Will this be a problem?
>
> When we first introduced her to the new cage, she explored and climbed
> all over, but then most of last night and this morning, she sits in
> one corner on the perch, playing with her little bell toy or preening.
> She doesn't seem all that energetic to play and climb all over. We're
> hoping it's because she's still getting used to the new living space.
> Is this common? Or is she unhappy there without her "partner" (the
> mirror)?
I think you have it backwards. Put the new budgie in the new cage.
Introduce them gradually. See how they react to each other, etc.
> Will they still be tame and responsive to us (fly to us, etc.) if they
> have each other to keep company?
>
> Is it a good idea to have 2 in the first place? I know they're social
> birds, but we don't want to lose the relationship we have with our
> current bird.
Generally, they'll prefer each other's company. But the tame one's
tendencies may favorably influence the new one.
Check out this stuff:
Website: http://www.budgies.org
Books:
1 - "Parakeets: how to take care of them and understand them" by Annette
Wolter, published by Barron's, ISBN 0-8120-4437-1
2 - "The New Parakeet Handbook" by Immanuel Birmelin and Annette Wolter,
published by Barron's, ISBN 0-8120-2985-2
3 - "The Budgie: an owner's guide to a happy, healthy pet" by Julie Rach,
published by Howell Book House, ISBN 0-87605-500-5
Jack
--
*Top-posters are generally ignored*
aka Keet Visit my webpage at http://junior.apk.net/~jac/
"Always proofread to see if you any words."
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