Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 3/2/2008

Question
Hi, I'm a teen, thinking about getting some parakeets. I need lots of info.

First of all, i wake up in the morning at about 6 or 7, then go to school at 8. I come back home at 3:00 in the afternoon. In these circumstances, should I get two or one budgies? Male of female?

I'll tell you about my house. I live in a two story house, quite average for my city in Southern Calfornia. The "rooms" are the kitchen downstairs, the living room downstairs, a room downstairs, a study upstairs, my room upstairs, a bathroom downstairs, a bathroom upstairs, the master bedroom upstairs, the garage, the "fireplace" room downstairs, and the sunroom/patio downstairs.

I spend my night- in short, my entire "sleeping" time, in my room. My room contains only my bed, and my wardrobe. Nothing else. I have no reason to go in my room, other than sleeping.

My mom is almost 24/7: meaning about 6 hours a day: in the kitchen. I only go in to drink water. Same with my dad. THe kitchen is my mom's domain.

THe fireplace room is rarely used. I pass through it a lot, but rarely do anyone sit down in there and enjoy it. Once in a while, like about twice or three times a month, I watch the TV down there. Other than that, almost no use for it either, except in the winter when we feel like burning some firewood.

The living room includes the dining room. I spend a good deal of my time there. I eat there, and I practice the piano about three hours a day there.

The study is used often too. Other than practicing the piano, I spend all my time there. My computer is there, so I play computer games, and i do my homework there, and my mom writes bills there, and I read books there. In short, one can say that I use the study a lot.

I don't think I need to explain abou the bathrooms.

The master bedroom is used by all of our family. We prefer watching the Tv in the master bedroom. My mom usually watches tv in there about two hours a day, my dad about two hours a day, and me about an hour or two a day, if I'm lucky. Other than that, my parents just sleep there. You know that parents don't do much: work work work, sleep, work.

Garage... I don't think I need to explain that either.

The room downstairs... it's "abandoned":no one uses it. Think of it as a closet, where we put our blankets/seasonal items in.

Okay, there is all my information. If I didn't say it clearly above, I PRACTICE THE PIANO A LOT IN MY LIVING ROOM, AND SOMETIMES IT GETS QUITE LOUD.

the reason I told you all of this, is because of a sensible question: where should I place my parakeet? I want it to have interaction, but I don't want it to be bothered. Remember that there are stairs in my house: I could place the budgie(s) on a stand right at the top "base"  of the stairs.

Okay, another question: what should I buy at the petstore for my budgie? Please list essentials including cage, foodbowl, etc. Also, I heard that parakeets like bathtubs... whatever you call them. birdbaths? anyways, how do i provide a birdbath? If I buy a commercial "birdbath" and put it inside its cage, won't the budgie use it as a waterbowl? What do I do with a birdbath? Does it require warm water?

Can budgies be handled?

Is it true that if owning two budgies, they will be fond of EACH OTHER ONLY, and not care about the owner? Or, is it that they won't be glad to see me, etc? Will they not treat me as kindly as they would if there was one budgie? You know what i mean.

What types of music do budgies like? seriously, i might feel like turning on music for them.

is it MANDATORY that I cover the top of their cage with a blanket at night, when they sleep?

That's all for now, thank you very much in advance.  

Answer
Hi, Raymond,

It is GREAT that you are asking all these questions and trying to educate yourself BEFORE you make your purchase.  Birds are a huge responsibility.  A lot of what you are asking depends on the individual bird you purchase....each bird has its own personality and likes/dislikes.

Since you go to school all day, then practice piano for 3 hrs per day, and I'm sure you have homework nearly each day, and probably chores around the house, when are you going to have time to devote to a pet bird?  If you want a tame pet parakeet, you'll need to spend time every day with the bird.  Since birds prefer other birds to humans, I recommend you only purchase 1 bird if you want a companion pet bird.  Otherwise, 2 birds will most likely pair-bond with each other and leave you out (you'd be a third wheel so to speak).  If you have a male and female, chances are they would eventually mate and produce offspring.  Your decision on the number of birds depends on what you want out of a pet bird.  

Purchase a just weaned, handfed, baby keet from a reputable parrot breeder.  This will ensure you have a tame pet bird.  Pet shops usually sell untame birds, although occasionally, you may be able to find a tame one.  Taming a bird isn't easy and takes much time, patience, and knowledge on your part about bird behavior.  Taming/imprinting to humans begins when a bird is very young and still in the nest with its parents.  Some pet shops will try to tell you taming starts after you take a bird home...not true.  If you wait too long to start the taming process, sometimes a bird never becomes tame.  Therefore, purchase from a parrot breeder if at all possible.  If you do this, yes, you will be able to handle your bird.  However, if you don't interact with your bird daily, it will not remain tame.  

You should locate your bird's cage where most family activity occurs so a bird will get used to being around people, so a bird can be part of your family, etc.  You can have more than 1 cage for your bird, perhaps one in a central location and another in your bedroom for when the bird and you go to sleep.  

Birds aren't usually affected by loud music...in other words, it usually doesn't bother them.  However, sometimes a bird will think it's OK for them to be loud if they are around loud music, people who are loud, etc., so be careful about this if you don't want your bird to be loud/produce lots of noise.  Birds like all types of music, but I try not to expose mine to music that is just a bunch of noise.  In other words, I like to play music that has a beat, that I can understand the words to, has a definite sound to it, i.e, music, not just noise!

My website has most of the information you need:  www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html.  Another good website is:  www.birdchannel.com.  

Most birds love to bathe.  You can provide a bird bath specially made for this purpose or just provide 2 food dishes and fill one with water so your bird can bathe in it.  If you teach your bird to use a water bottle, you won't have the problem of the bird fouling it's drinking water.  If you use a food dish as a bird bath, just remove the dish of water after the bird bathes in it.  Some birds don't like to bathe and prefer being misted by their owners using a spray mist bottle.  When you ue a spray mister, you can fill it with hot water because by the time the hot water actually reaches the bird's body, it will only be warm.  I prefer using warm water in the bird's baths because too cold of water may keep them away from bathing...birds need to bathe in order to keep their feathers in tip-top shape.  Be careful with misting, as a bird can be frightened at first of the spray bottle.  Introduce a spray mister gradually to your bird.  Always remember that just about everything will be strange to a new bird and they can be frightened of things we take for granted....think like a bird!

Some birds like to be covered a night and others don't.  Covering them helps to keep any light out of their cage, as well as providing some security for a bird.  Birds needs 12 hours dark sleep each night (I always leave a nightlight on in case a bird becomes frightened during the night....the nightlight helps them from thrashing around in their cages at night when/if they become frightened of something.....called "night frights").

Start out with the above and the info on my website.  Come back if/when you need to.

Chrys