Our cleaning lady has a number of parakeets… who, being healthy young birds, have produced MORE parakeets.
She wants to give us one.
I kinda want one.
She asked us to suggest a name, so she can get it used to it. I suggested Morty - not knowing the sex yet (I didn’t ask), I figured it could be from Rick And Morty, or short for Morticia if he’s a she.
Lots of questions though.
I imagine he’ll be relatively hand-tame as he’s been raised by a human. So I assume I just need to get him used to my hand.
How big an issue would allergies be, with one small bird? Some of us are slightly feather-allergic (though the one who notices it the most also sits in a down-filled easy chair regularly).
He’d mostly live in the family room - which has a cathedral ceiling and might be a bit drafty. The only less-drafty places would either be very much in the way, or very much out of the way (i.e. no socialization).
Will a bird be OK in its cage, solo, for 48ish hours if we need to go out of town for short jaunts?
I’d like the bird to have cage-free time - but also don’t want it at risk - do people clip wing feathers? If so, how??? (or should I take it to a vet for that?). Can they glide a bit if their feathers are trimmed? A friend had a hysterically horrible anecdote involving a a pitcher of margaritas and a free-flying bird who managed to simultaneously drown and embalm itself :eek::eek::eek::eek: (and no, you sickos, they did NOT drink the margaritas… I think…)
The cage would be 15-20 feet away from the stove. Do we ban our one Teflon frying pan permanently? We have some nonstick ceramic pans - are they okay?
Any hints on “potty training” a parakeet? I know they can’t be “trained” as well as larger birds, but it’d be nice if we could reduce the splats somewhat when having out-of-cage time.
If Morty is actually Morticia, do females learn to speak at all? I know males generally do better. Maybe we could record a few phrases on the laptop and have it on a repeat loop overnight to help with teaching phrases. What slightly twisted but not actually obscene phrases should we teach it? “Please sir, what did the parrot do?” seems an obvious one.
I have a parakeet that I rescued a few years ago (in Nottoway Park on the other side of Vienna). He was an adult and he has never gotten acclimated to handling, so I suspect his prior owners just put him in a cage in the corner and left him alone. I gave up after months of trying to get him to perch on my finger. He is a nice presence in the house, though.
Nor has he learned to say any human words. Maybe you have to start when they’re young. I think parrots are better at it. He does seem to have calls that mimic other birds, though.
Two days of alone time should not be a problem. Longer than that, we get someone to come in and freshen the food and water.
I cover his cage at night with a blanket, which helps avoid drafts and also seems to calm him.
I see no reason to clip wing feathers; I don’t know if that’s common. We tried letting ours of the cage a few times but it seemed to freak him out–he would fly around wildly until he was exhausted then I would pick him up and put him back.
Teflon isn’t an issue unless it overheats, in which case it isn’t good for you either.
Last time I had birds, we had two parakeets. They were a nice presence in the house and weren’t any harder to take care of than one. They were always singing, filling the house with a very nice energy. They could also keep each other company.
I wasn’t a fan of trimming wings. I wanted them to be able to actually fly, especially if they got outside. There are good arguments both ways, though, so whatever you do is up to you.
They can be messy. Seed hulls and feathers abound.
If the budgie was removed from his/her parents very young and hand fed by a human willing to devote the time to doing this then you’ll have a hand-tame bird presented to you.
If the bird was raised by his/her biological parents you might not have a hand tame bird, or a bird that is tame at all. You can still tame the bird at that point but it’s a lot more work.
Imprinting during the initial few weeks is vital to the bird identifying what is and is not a flock member. “Hand taming” requires a LOT of human contact in that time frame. Bird vary considerably in their own temperaments as well - some seem more drawn to humans despite similar upbringing to less friendly birds.
In any case, if you want a friend to sit on your finger or shoulder even with a true hand-tame bird you will need to put in considerable one-on-one time with the bird when you initially bring him/her home.
He’d do better in the family room, drafty or no. Budgies have a decent tolerance for the temperatures humans find comfortable indoors. I provide my birds with a cardboard box in the cage (I use the empty “fridge packs” you get cans of soda in). That way, the bird has a place to retreat to if he’s feeling chilly. Likewise, in summer especially be careful about putting the cage too much in direct sunlight as birds can also overheat (I shade one corner of their cage with an old towel so they can move from sun to shade on their own). At night cover the cage.
Um… you might want to put an extra food bowl in the cage. Birds go through a LOT of food for their size. I’ve left mine overnight on their own but I’m not really happy with that, birds imprinted on humans need the social contact as well as basics like food and water and particularly for a single bird being alone like that can be very stressful. Although if it becomes a regular event (say, once a month) the bird will become accustomed to the routine. If you anticipate that occurring anything more rarely that is a reason to get two birds, so they have social contact while the humans are gone.
I have a local vet that will board birds as well as cats and dogs. I used the service once when I had lost all utilities and had no heat. I think the birds had a better night than I did. If I had to be go out of town more than 48 hours I would definitely use that option because my birds would be safe, cared for, and get social contact.
“Bird-proofing” a home is definitely a thing.
My birds get free-flight time every day. This is supervised, and I’m careful to make sure things like the stove are turned off, the toilet lids are down, windows and mirrors covered at least partially (birds don’t really comprehend windows or mirrors) etc. The “freaking out” is usually from birds that either don’t get this, so they really are afraid and don’t know how to handle the situation, or the environment is new and the birds are unfamiliar with it. When I moved to my new apartment the first week free flight time was solely in one room of the apartment. It’s now nearly two months later and they’re still having issues with negotiating the hallways, finding landing spots, scared of the vertical blinds in the front room, and so forth.
If you want a bird that can enjoy free-flight it’s best to start young and in a small space. If the bird is older you can still teach them to enjoy it but, again, you want to start with a small space, pay close attention as the bird learns the space, and be prepared to rescue the little darling from under beds, behind bookshelves, and so forth.
I have had wing clipped birds, it’s not hard but if you’re hesitant then you might want to have a vet show you how it’s done first. There are also now videos on YouTube. You’ll want to use a very sharp, heavy-duty scissors for clean cuts on the feathers (you only cut the feathers, not the bird).
Currently, two of my birds have “full flight”, that is, unclipped flight feathers. One of them is kept wing-clipped because otherwise he gets unmanageable. There are circumstances where I’d consider clipping the other two (such as extensive travel) but they’re well-trained and well-behaved enough I don’t feel a need. Obviously, this various with the bird.
You can not have hot Teflon and birds in the same household. If you have birds don’t use Teflon cookware. Period. You won’t know when the Teflon starts giving off fumes, and by the time you realize your birds are poisoned it will be to late - it’s not something fixable.
(Some people take that risk and get away with it for a long time - as long as you can keep the Teflon from reaching a critical temperature it’s safe but I personally view it as an unacceptable risk)
I have no idea if your “ceramic nonstick pans” are OK - it all depends on what makes them non-stick.
I’ve had some luck potty training some parrots - others just seem to have no clue what I’m asking. There are videos on YouTube on the subject. Even with my best-trained birds, though, you still get accidents.
Wipe up accidents immediately (another reason for supervision during out of cage time). I find ammonia-based window/multi-surface cleaners do a good job.
Birds will tend to find a favorite perch spot. That’s where you should concentrate your poop-training efforts (I should note that sometimes they decide on a spot YOU don’t find convenient - then you get to find out how stubborn birds can be).
Females can learn to speak, but need more encouragement and training than the males do.
The key to getting a bird in the parrot family (and budgies are included in the parrot group) is to talk to the bird. Also, being around humans talking and interacting. The more the bird hears the spoken the word the more likely the bird is to pick up on it, and one-on-one interaction is more effective than a tape. Sure, a tape recording is helpful, but remember that parrots are social animals, they’re wired to interact with others, and engage in give-and-take communications.
(One of my current birds will speak a word or phrase and expect me to repeat it back. He’s thrilled he’s taught a human to speak on command. Sometimes he indulges me by repeating what I say.)
Don’t disturb the poor bird’s sleep like that - put the computer recording on a loop when you aren’t at home, but during the day. Then use the phrase when you speak to the bird, which you should be doing every day.
Consider that for mental health parrots (and, again, budgies are small parrots) require social interaction. If you aren’t willing to put some time in every day you might want to reconsider getting a bird.
If you get two birds they can keep themselves company. But then you risk having two birds that interact with each other and largely ignore you. That’s not certain - my spouse and I had a multiple bird household for about 25 years and most of our birds still craved human interaction as well as bird interaction, to the point that sometimes the bird attention drove the humans crazy.. But that’s because we made a point of socializing with the flock every day for a significant period of time. If you don’t put the time in the birds will be more interested in interacting with each other than with you.
One big problem if you don’t clip the wings is they will fly into windows and hurt/kill themselves. Or, if they get out, they don’t come back, no matter how much you think they love you.
Otherwise, go for it. They are fun little pets. Kinda noisy and messy, but fun to have around.
I never had an issue with allergies, and he sat right next to the couch.
Thanks, all! Broomstick especially, thanks for the detailed reply.
The reason for having the bird in the family room is that it’s where humans are most likely to be during the day - well, my son will be holed up in his room, and I do NOT want a bird in bedrooms. Took risky from an allergy standpoint - easier to keep the bedrooms dander free. I might get out one of our HEPA filters to keep nearby. I don’t expect major problems - not like if we had a cat (as I’m DEFINITELY allergic to cats, that’s a no-go anyway :(), but a little prevention is a good thing.
And I work from home - in the family room - so Morty would have plenty of company on weekdays. So he (?) should be fairly used to me, and I should have plenty of time for quick “see this hand? it brings GOODIES” visits.
I don’t know if he’s hand-raised per se, or just used to having one of those big flightless birds nearby. The fact that our cleaning lady asked me to provide a name for him suggests she’s putting in a bit of time with him; I’ll talk with her more when she comes next.
Two birds: Yeah, I’ve heard they’re good at giving each other company and then ignoring people (and not speaking as much as a result). I’d prefer just one for now, as a) the point of having a pet is having one that wants to interact with me, b) the risk of a potential allergen - for example, one cat was fine, the second one nearly did me in, and c) if the two are misidentified, I might wind up with my own flock! At least if allergies DO turn out to be an issue, the cleaning lady would be willing to take him back.
I do keep mentioning allergies. I don’t think I have a significant feather allergy (I was tested as somewhat allergic 50 years ago but have had basically no exposure since then, and I have used down-filled pillows with no issue). But if we do adopt Morty, I’ll make sure that he can return to his former home if there are issues.
When it comes to dander/allergies the biggest problem comes from cockatiels and cockatoos, not budgies. Sure, they generate some dander and fluff (your home’s dust bunnies will start to acquire the same colors as the bird, at least in the room the bird is in) but not enormous amounts.
Still, it’s good to have a backup plan in case the allergies turn out to be a problem.
Having a budgie friend can be great but, unless you spend time with him every day, he won’t necessarily be hand-tame. Even after hand-raising my babies, I still have to spend time playing with my budgies every day. If I miss even one day, they are a bit hesitant to go on my finger.
If you don’t think you’ll have time every day to work with him, you might want to get two. Two budgies interacting and playing/exploring is a lot of fun.
With the babies and when I’ve gotten a new budgie, I always clip their wings one time (just the flight feathers). That way they can get the lay of the land without smashing into walls and injuring themselves. They can fly 10 feet or so and then they just softly land on the floor. Then you scoop them up and put them back on their cage. By the time all the feathers grow back, they know their little world and don’t fly into things.
I would leave them overnight if I was going away but more than that I get a pet sitter to come in.
All of my budgies are free and out of their cages all day even if I’m not home. I know that’s not recommended but that’s what I do. They have a large area that has their cages, toys, baths, perches and each other and they just don’t go getting into stuff. They do often choose to be in their cages, though. After all, in their cages are toys, treats, food, water and it’s their safe spot.
Budgies as pets can be highly rewarding. But you do get what you put into them.
Oh, try to get males. That way you won’t have to deal with egg laying and all the “joy” that comes with it.
The last male we had exhibited severely inappropriate behavior towards my wife. If he had hands, I’m sure he would have ‘Trumped’ her. He did everything else, the nasty little bastard!
Two of my three lovebirds discovered the joys of masturbation. Not sure if it was disturbing or hilarious that they used the back of the couch for self-stimulation. Oh, and there was the time one of them attempt to use my spouse’s head for that purpose, but for some reason the human objected. :eek: No further attempts were made, but perhaps there is a reason male birds are called “cocks” or that “cocks” were named after male birds.
They’re cute, they’re feathery, and they have sexual urges.
We have a budgie, bought as a baby about 5 months ago. It has an intellectual disability this budgie. We call him our Special Needs Bird.
I’ve had heaps of budgies over the years, and every single one of them I’ve managed to tame and allowed them to fly around the house, only to come to return. Our current budgie won’t have a bar of it. Stupid bird likes to chew his bell and move his seed-box around the cage, and freak out like a psycho when I change his water.
I have an adult male, at least five years old but I’m not the original owner so I’m not sure of his age. I thought about getting him a companion. At his age would that be a welcome companion or more of a stressor? Is he going to tell, “Get off my lawn!”
