Question:

My parakeet keeps flitting [flipping] all the food out of two of the dishes whenever I refill.  I saw her laying in the dish at one time, but only briefly and her activity level has not diminished.  what is going on?

Thanks
Glenna

Answer:

There are several things that could be going on here. I’ll start with the most extreme:

Your Parakeet may be wanting to lay an egg

If she is in fact a female she may be trying to make a nest (you can tell if she’s a girl if she has a brown cere).

If she has a mate then they may have mated and she needs to make a nest. If you think your bird may have mated, get her a nest box and read up on parakeet breeding. You are probably going to have babies.

If she does not have a mate but she has another bird in her cage (male or female), if she thinks you are her mate, or if she has a mirror in her cage then she may think she has mated with the other bird, you, or her reflection in the mirror and now she wants to make a nest.

If you are sure she has not mated, don’t encourage nesting behavior. Parakeets can lay eggs even without a mate if stimulated but egg laying is always hard on their bodies. Make sure she’s getting plenty of calcium in case she does lay an egg.

To discourage her from making and laying eggs, get a smaller food bowl or maybe even a plate that she can’t sit inside of, get rid of any mirrors in the cage, and when you handle her, never touch her vent, under her wings, or her lower back (she may think you are mating if you touch her in these places).

Some people say that shortening her days by covering her cage and putting her to bed earlier will help stop nesting/breeding behavior. This works on other parrots but I have not seen this work with budgie parakeets. You’re welcome to give it a try though.

If you think your parakeet might be egg-bound (she needs to lay an egg but it’s stuck), see a vet right away. You can tell if a bird is egg-bound because she will have a bulge near her vent (butt), and she will be lazy, fluffed up, and usually off balance.

Your Parakeet may just hate her food

She might hate all of her food. This happens all the time when people are switching there birds from seeds to pellets or from one brand of seed to another. Parakeets will flick the food out of the bowl in search of the food they once loved that they used to find in the bowl.

She may like some of the food but not all of it. Parakeets usually pick a favorite food in their food mixture and eat it first. Maybe they like millet or flaxseed the most. They will pick through the seeds or pellets and eat these first. Once they are gone, they will get frustrated and toss everything else out hoping to find at least one more piece of millet.

To fix this, let her get hungry between meals. In the wild, parakeets eat in the morning, sleep in the afternoon, then wake again in the evening to find food again. It is hunger that stimulates them to wake up and get food. You can simulate this but taking food away from the bird at night, giving it back in the morning for a few hours. Taking it out again, giving it back in the afternoon, and taking it out again before bed. A hungry bird is less picky.

Make sure she has access to food for at least 4 to 6 hours a day. You don’t want to starve your bird.

Maybe she’s board and has found a new hobby!

Lucky you, your bird is doing it just for fun. Not only is food entertaining to play with, but it also gets  your attention. As soon she empties her dish, you come and refill it. Could anything be more fun!

If you think this is the case, do what I said above by limiting her access to food to only several hours a day. You should see the behavior start to stop within a few days.

Also, make sure she gets plenty of play time with toys, you, or other birds.

Good Luck!

Pet Parakeets are small, colorful, and bite sized for most other animals. If you own other pets I recommend you keep them well away from your parakeet.

Dogs and Parakeets

Most well trained dogs can interact with your parakeet under close supervision. They will enjoy watching the bird and of course smelling it. Don’t let you dog lick your parrot because bacteria in dog saliva (and your saliva) can get your parakeet sick.

Never leave your dog alone with your bird, even if you think your dog is tame enough. Dogs are hunters by instinct and you wouldn’t and “accident” to occur.

Cats and Parakeets

Cats should never be allowed near your parakeet even under close supervision. Wild cats eat birds as an important part of their diet. The instinct to kill is extremely powerful. Even caged birds can get clawed by a cat so do your best to keep the animals in separate rooms.

If your pet parakeet gets scratched by a cat, disinfect the wound as soon as possible. The bacteria on cat claws can kill your bird.

Other dangerous pets

Anything that eats meat should never be left alone with your bird. Ferrets, rats, and snakes are all a threat to birds. Never keep them close together with each other.

Pets that are safe with Parakeets

Other pets like bunnies, mice, hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs can be trusted with your pet parakeet but make sure all the animals are clean and that your bird is not exposed to urine or droppings from the other animals.

When parakeets are young, both the males and the females look almost exactly the same. As the become sexually mature, the skin around the nostrils (also called the cere) will begin to change color. Young parakeets have a flesh colored cere. Adult males have blue and adult female ceres will either stay fleshy pink or turn brown. Some female ceres will also wrinkle while the males cere is topically smooth.

Behavioral differenced between male and female parakeets

Male parakeets are said to be more talkative than females but tend to have less energy when they get older. Females are said to be less talkative but remain extremely playful and active their entire lives. Females definitely chew a lot more than males do. This may be because in the wild they are in charge of finding a good nesting hole (the lay eggs in natural tree cavities).  Once they find a good hole to nest in they usually chew the inside to make it more accommodating for them and their young.

Female parakeets can be a bit trickier to keep healthy because egg laying is stressful on their bodies. They can lay eggs even without mating but the eggs will not be fertile and will not hatch. Make sure that females get plenty of calcium in their diet. Especially if they are laying eggs.

If you are housing multiple birds together I recommend getting either all males or all females unless you want babies being born. If you want to mix boys and girls, make sure there are not more females then males. The women will fight over the men if the numbers aren’t even. Oddly enough, male parakeets don’t ever seem fight over women.

Most parakeet cages come with dowels for your parakeet to stand on. Dowels are great but you need to get other perches for your bird as well. Parakeet feet are designed for perching in branches. They have two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward which gives them an amazingly strong grip. Parakeets have no trouble hanging on to a branch that is bouncing in the wind and they even sleep while perched. Because of all this, perches are an extremely important part of your parakeet cage.

Variety is essential

The padding, skin, claws and muscles on your birds feet have been designed by nature to handle a wide variety of perch textures and widths. If all your parakeets perches are made of the same material and are the same size, your birds feet will get painful bleeding soars, and can even become deformed.

We recommend having at least one rope perch, one natural branch (cut it from a tree your self. See our list of non-toxic trees) and one stone or calcium perch. Each perch should be a different width so his little feet can stretch grow properly.

Make sure to replace your rope perches when they get too frayed. You don’t want your bird getting his claws stuck.

Sand Paper Perches

Many pet stores sell sand paper covers for perches. These are supposed to keep your parakeets nails from getting too long. I don’t like these because my parakeet seems to scrape his feet raw on them. I use a stone perch instead.

If you have one parakeet then you should have at least three dishes. One for water, one for dry food (pellets and seeds) and one for fresh fruits and veggies. If you have more than one bird then you should have more food dishes to prevent the birds from fighting over food.

Types of Parakeet Cage Dishes

Dishes typically come in either plastic or stainless steal. I find that stainless still is easier to keep clean because the plastic will scratch easily and bacteria will be able to grow in the scratches.

Cleaning food and water Dishes

Water dishes should be rinsed and refilled every day. Dry food dishes can be simply refilled every day (unless you find drippings in the food) and the fresh fruit and veggie dish should be rinsed every day.

A deep cleaning of all the dishes should be done at least once a week with warm soapy water. Rinse the soap off thoroughly before putting the dishes back in the cage.

We recommend having at least two sets of dishes for your parakeet cage.

Food and water Bowl Placement

Make sure that your food and water dishes can be easily accessed by putting a perch in front (but not above) of them. Some bowls come with a built in perch. Never put a food dish directly below a perch because your bird is likely to poop right into the dish.

Dishes to Avoid

There are many types of dishes available and for the most part you can use what ever type suites your fancy. Some dishes have coverings that are intended to stop your bird from flicking food out of the dish or from pooping into his food bowl. Many parakeets are frightened of these bowls. They don’t like putting their head into a hole because they can’t see what’s going around them. In the wild this would leave them vulnerable to predators. We recommend not using such bowls as they are stressful for parakeets to use and some will simply refuse to eat from them.

The above photo was taken by Anna Saccheri (originally posted to Flickr as Budgie Playpen!)

Budgerigars are active little critters that need plenty of things to explore and play with. In the wild they spend part of the day napping but the rest of their time is spent foraging for food, looking out for danger, and playfully interacting with flock. Your job as a bird keeper is to see that there are plenty of fun things to do in your parakeets cage. We recommend having at least two toys in your cage at all times and switching out (or rotating them) with new toys each week to keep things interesting.

Types of Parakeet Toys

There are three basic kinds of parakeet toys and each one serves a different purpose. Make sure that your pet gets regular access to toys of each type: Action toys, foraging toys, and shredding toys.

Action Toys for Parakeets

Action toys are any strange objects for your parakeet to climb, swing, or bounce on. These include things like ladders, swinging perches, bouncy ropes, dangling ropes, and hoops.

Warning: Makes sure that ropes are not shredded or stringy. Your bird can get his feet stuck in a  rope thats too warn. See that any hoop toys are large enough for your bird to easily fit through without getting stuck. Don’t put any string in your cage longer than 6 inches or your bird may get tangled.

We recommend using leather strips instead of string. The thicker leather is hard to get tangled in but is still small enough tie things together in your parakeets cage.

Foraging Toys for Parakeets

Foraging is the act of searching for food. Foraging toys are any toys where you can hide seeds and treats for your parakeet to find. Some people think it’s mean to hide food from their pets but it’s actually a wonderful form of parrot enrichment for your bird to search for his food like his cousins in the wild do instead of simply eating it all from a bowl (though you should give your bird food in his bowl as well). Foraging toys stimulate the body and mind of the parakeet. It’s fun to play with your food.

Forage ideas:

You can buy foraging toys or make them your self in a number of different ways.

• You can fill a small paper bag with crumpled paper towels and seeds.
• You can place some treats inside a used toilette paper roll and then stuff the ends with wads of clean unscented  toilette paper for your bird to pull out and get to the food.
• You can put a bowl or plate full of sand mixed with seeds into your parakeets cage. Your parakeet will sift through the sand for hours in search of food just like his wild cousins sift through dust in search of fallen seeds. Make sure not to put this below your parakeets favorite perch. You don’t wanting him pooping in the sand where he’ll be foraging.
• Use a leather strap to tie millet or fruit to the top of the cage so that it dangles and sways. It will be hard for your parakeet to get to but he’ll have a blast swinging around while eating.

Shredding Toys

All parakeets love to tear things apart but females seem to be in constant need something to shred! Parrot beaks grow constantly just our fingernails do so parakeets need to chew in order to keep their beaks sharp and trim. Buy toys made with wicker or soft wood parts or give your parakeet the following:

• Popsicle sticks
• cotton roaps
• leather strips
• wicker balls (unscented)
• cardboard of all types
• paper
• old phone books
• plastic straws

Some parakeets will be frightened of toys at first and may not want to play. Be patient, with time they will warm up to their toys and begin to explore. Once your bird knows that toys are fun, he’ll love getting something new play with each week and you’ll love to watch him play.

The above photo was taken by Chris Saccheri

People often think of parakeets as good starter pets for children. They’re small, cute, colorful, and compared to other pets they don’t make too much noise. Keeping pets is fun and of course it’s always a great learning opportunity but before you go out and buy your kid a parakeet, there are a few things you should consider.

Parakeets are Breakable

A parakeet is a lot tougher than he looks but when you’re only 7 inches tall there is a limit to how much abuse you can take. Many small kids (especially 5 years old and under) like to grab animals, pet hard, and play rough. If this is the case with your child then a parakeet is not a good match. What was supposed to be a wonderful experience of owning a pet is likely to end in tears.

Parakeets Need Daily Care

Food and water needs to be added every day for your pet parakeet. Even a child with the best intentions can easily forget the routine. If you get a parakeet for your child, it’s your responsibility to check on the bird at least once a day to see that he’s been properly taken care of.

Parakeets Need Attention

When parakeets are housed alone (no cage mates) they need direct attention from people everyday in order to be mentally and emotionally happy. 1 to 4 hours of daily supervised play time out side the cage is ideal. If your child has a busy schedule with school, sports, and summer camps, you are the one that’s going to have to give your bird that attention. Are you up for it?

Parakeets Bite

Parakeets can get feisty if they have not been properly tamed, are frightened, feel mistreated, or simply don’t want to be played with at the moment. Parakeet bites don’t usually do any harm to adult fingers but little kid fingers can easily bleed. Can your kid handle the occasional bloody finger? It’s bound to happen at least once, even with the nicest of birds.

Parakeet Cages Need Cleaning

Birds don’t generally stink if you keep them clean but they can sure be messy. The papers in your parakeet cage should be changed every day and once a week a deep cleaning should be done of the entire cage. This is a great opportunity for a child to learn some responsibility but keep in mind that you’ll be doing a lot of the work too.

If you and your kid feel you can take on all the tasks of keeping a parakeet alive and healthy then I suggest you go for it! It will be a blast. I wish you luck. Remember, if you have any questions about pet parakeets, just visit us here at MyPetParakeet.com

Just a little note about the future of this site, I eventually want to have a place where you can buy and sell parakeets right here at MyPetParakeet.com. I’m currently looking into how to best do this. I’ll keep you all posted.

If you go to a pet store you will find a wide variety of products being sold for you to line the bottom of your parakeets cage. Don’t bother buying any of it. Why buy overpriced paper or wood shavings when you can reuse, reduce, and recycle!

Line your Parakeet Cage with Old Newspaper

If you or a neighbor still gets the local or Sunday paper then you have the perfect cage liner being delivered to your door every week! I like to layer the cage tray with 7 sheets. Each morning I pull the dirty one off the top. When I run out I know that its been a week since I last refilled. I’ll do a deep cleaning of the entire cage (I scrub down all the cage bars) and when it’s dry I put in 7 fresh layers of paper.

Black and white newpaper is best to use. Black newspaper ink is soy based and non-toxic. Color printed papers may have chemicals that can hurt your bird if swallowed. If you only have color printed papers, make sure that your bird can’t reach through the grate on the bottom of his cage to chew on them.

Phone Book Pages

If you don’t get the paper then you can always use last years phone book. Just cut out the page with a some scissors or a razor and line your cage with those.

Scrap Paper of Any Kind

Next time you go to toss out a piece of paper, stop and save it to line your parakeet’s cage. You’ll be surprised how much you’ve been throwing away.

Recycled Paper Towels

If you don’t get the newspaper, you don’t want to sacrifice your phone book, and you don’t have enough scrap paper to use then you can always buy recycled paper towels.  They are the brown ones that usually come in large rolls for cheep. They’re typically used in public restrooms to dry off your hands after washing. They’re a great eco-friendly last resort for lining your parakeet cage.