Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 5/19/2007

Question
Hi I was looking around online about baby parakeets ad I found this.

my mom and I had parakeets and cockatiel for years and about a month and a half ago she bought a breeding pair from a pet store specializing in birds of all kinds. We have the nesting box with a liftable lid latched outside of the caged so we can check on the progress of eggs and chicks.

The female layed 6 eggs and two have so far hatched the first one two days ago and the second one last night and there's a third one that is hatching as I type. We bought the egg food as instructed from the bird people we got the breeding pair from. (I know I'm rambling I just want to give this info out so you have an idea of the situation...and yea..)

anyway me and mom are not really interacting too much with them right now as we don't want to scare the parents into not raising the babies. they both go in the box and sit on the babies and the eggs so far.

But I'm worried about when is the proper time to handfeed/hand raise them ourselves because we want to hand raise them into loving pets for others to have. Also when it does come time when they are feathered, what size of a cage should we get so we can separate them from their parents. Because I have a feeling they will try to breed again. And that cage is going to get crowded...

Also the other thing that worries me is we have a cat. and we do put her in a separate room so the parents can eat (we feed them a variety of fruits veggies and seed. So it worries me if the cat will bug the chicks when they're older and in their own cage when we're not looking.

I just want to take precautions so we can have a success at raising our first batch of baby parakeets.

Answer
Hi, Courtney.

Congratulations!  Visit my website which has much information about parrots and handfeeding, etc.  Come back with any questions.

www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Cats and birds do not mix.  Cats are natural enemies of birds, therefore, yes, the cat will bug the chicks, as well as the parents!  You must keep them separated from each other, particularly when the birds are out of their cages.

Chrys