Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 8/26/2008

Question
I've just gotten a male&female pair.I would like to know the best care,diet&how to train them.I'never had this type of bird but am allready falling in love with them!!I was hopeing someone could give me advice to make them very happy and healthy so we may spend along long life together.I am someone that absolutely loves all animals.I really want to make this work between them my pug and me work on a fixed income. PLEASE HELP!!!! If you care as much about these little guys as I do.I would like to thank you in advance for anything you may be able to help me with.THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! hope to here soon. Curtis Lueck,Fridley,Mn.

Answer
Sorry....my website address is:  www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html.  

Chrys
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Hi, Curtis,

I don't mention how old your parrots are and whether they are tame or not.  Training and taming are 2 different things.  Taming is building trust with a bird so you can handle them.  Training is more like teaching them to do tricks, play with items, etc.

First, you must realize when you have 2 birds together, they may prefer each other to you.  This is because birds prefer other birds to humans.  Usually, the best pet bird is a single bird in the home.  Some say a bird needs a bird friend, but in the case of a single bird in the home, the bird's human is the bird's friend/companion.  

Second, in general, get your birds used to eating a variety of healthy, nutritious human foods if they aren't used to a variety already.  Keep pelleted food in their cage at all times, as well as clean fresh water.  Seed should be held to an absolute minimum, as seed is high in fat and low in nutritional value.

Taming is another story.  Whether your pair can be tamed to enjoy your company as well as each other's company depends on the individual birds involved.  You may need to work with each bird separately.  Visit my website for more information about taming:  www/angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html.  Birdchannel.com is also a good website.  There are many websites available that have specific information pertaining to moustache keets.  Google "moustache parakeets" for more information.  If/when these birds become a bonded pair, they may not want your company.  Again, building trust with your birds should be your goal.  When a bird trusts its human, the human can do just about anything with the bird.  Always reward your birds for positive behavior, but never reward them for negative behavior.  Watch how you react to your bird's behavior, as you can actually teach them bad behavior by the way your react to what they do.  For example, the birds are screaming for your attention.  You provide the attention.  You've just taught your birds that if they scream, you'll react to them.  In such a case, it's best to completely ignore the birds if you don't want them to scream (realizing that most parrots hollar several times as a normal part of being a bird).

The dog might also be another story.  Dogs and birds often times do not mix, depends on the individual animals.  Sometimes a dog will be "nice" to a parrot when you are in the room, when the bird is sitting still, etc., but as soon as a bird starts flapping it's wings or flying around the house, a dog can turn into a predator.  Therefore, whether you allow your pug and the birds to mix depends on the individual personalities of the animals involved.  However, do not leave your birds and the dog in the same room unsupervised when the birds are outside their cage(s).  In addition, if the birds are not used to dogs, they might be/get stressed out over the dog's presence.  This is something you'll need to judge yourself.

Chrys