Advice on Parakeets or Budgies

I have a canary winged parakeet and have had a conure and several parakeets. Parakeets are sweet and easy birds. The primary mess is their molting feathers, you have to vacuum almost everyday. I think your pair will get used to each other in a few days. They are so cute and make sweet little noises. Some of them can talk, occasionally they’ll have large vocabularies. You can take them out and they’ll fly around, but be careful of windows! There are lots of bird groups to follow on IG, like parrots of Instagram.

Oh, and I don’t think they’ll be disturbed by foot traffic in the office. They like being around people.

Thank you R1/R2! I'm very grateful for your input.

You sound like a very kind person, OP.

I think if one is pecking the other, you should separate them for a while, but keep them in the same room near each other. You could put the one the tenants left behind in its original cage for a while until they become used to each other. Thank you for rescuing the bird. People are assholes for abandoning pets.

If they’re alone during the day, leave on music and they’ll sing along.

You rock, OP. May your life be filled with blessings.

There're online forums for every kind of pet, OP, where you can probably ask any/all questions you have.

I know asking on DL can be more fun and personal but check out other specialized forums also. Reddit even has Budgie SubReddits if you're already familiar with Reddit and I'm sure there's facebook groups as well.

Just type "budgie forums" into Google and you'll get many to choose from (I tried linking my results-page here but it was a no go so I'll link the first result).

Don't those little mirrors things with perches on them give them something else to peck at, or calm them down or something? We had a parakeet when I was little that seemed really nice but I just vaguely remember the mirror thing and may be totally wrong. Good luck, OP, you have a kind heart. (We have seven rescue cats and a dog).

"OP finds abandoned pet bird..goes out and spends $150."

Is it too soon to ask.....what did you name the wee birds???

The birds are doing great! Right now we have them in my office at my clinic. We've ordered a fancier, larger cage for them and once it comes we're going to move them to the patient waiting area. My research convinced me that the birds really do enjoy being around people and I'm not in my office that much during the day, so I don't want them to get lonesome. R11, you're kind to ask about their names. My partner, a US Marshal, named them Bonnie and Clyde, which I think is apropos and awesome.

You are so sweet for helping these abandoned animals :)

Nice, OP!! I've owned birds for years. I'm going to bed now so I'll post more tomorrow, but one quick thing - do not use teflon around them, especially at high heat. No candles, no wax melts, no air fresheners and so on.

That's interesting, R14, and is an even stronger argument for the birds staying in my clinic. I happen to enjoy a good Jo Malone or Diptyque candle and burn them frequently in our house. That said, I wanted to share some news about the birds. They're no longer "arguing"; in fact, they grooming or "preening" each other. It's awesome to watch.

OP, did you ever think about why all these tenants are abandoning their animals to you? Two cats, two dogs, a rooster, and now a parakeet? You're probably telling every one how much you love animals and they're taking advantage of you.

omg, this made me cry. The little abandoned one is likely very stressed right now. Can you put a divider in the larger cage to let them acclimate to the situation? Are there sufficient perches? (although, I am guessing there are, you seem to be a tender hearted over achiever wrt animals).

Do you have branches in the cages so they have various places to perch?

R17, read OP's post at R15. They're getting along fine now.

thank you r19! I clearly didn't read the thread well, I was upset and missed that! What a relief

OP, you must post a pic of your menagerie.

OP, you're a good person! About 12 years ago, I caught an escaped (abandoned budgie). After no one responded to my ads about him, I decided to keep him. I worried that he was lonely, so I adopted a male buddy for him, since I read that two males usually get along.

You have to introduce a second bird slowly (like introducing two cats). They're very social flock animals, so one of the parakeets will likely be thrilled to see the other one, but there can be disputes if they're introduced to each other too quickly.

I introduced my second male to the first slowly, but they never really meshed. The second bird was mean. However, since they were flock animals, they both always wanted to be near each other. But after awhile, they would fall into the old pattern of the newer bird viciously bullying the first bird. I bought a second cage and placed them side by side. Then, they could still interact with each other, without the violent fights.

After Bird #1 passed away, I was afraid Bird #2 would get lonely, so I adopted Bird #3. A female. Bird #2 (who had bullied Bird #1) loved Bird #3, however Bird #3 was annoyed by Bird #2. (I think Bird #2 was difficult because he was initially raised in a household that wasn't educated about budgies.) After Bird #2 died, I was left with Bird #3. Instead of repeating the cycle of adding another bird, I decided to bond with Bird #3 myself. I spent lots of time talking and singing to her and playing with her little toys with her. Eventually she came to love me. I had for her 8 years.

Aww you are sweet OP. My neighbor has two bonded rescue keets named Tony and Carmella. The female runs roughshod over him, but that's life in the birdcage -- if you watch birds on a wire they do the same thing, push each other off and constantly jockey to be on top.

You are a gem OP. The world in general and DL in particular - are lucky to have you.

Be sure to feed them lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. They need more than seed in their diet, I had budgies for years and they loved munching on spinach, romaine, carrots and sliced apple.

Good plan to keep them in your clinic. Fumes, even ones we can't smell are deadly to them. Ever since I found out how bad teflon and other non-stick cookware is for birds I banned it from my home. If it can kill them, surely it's not good for us either.

also, egg shells are good for them.

fans, cooking, screens, various plants, fly strips, basically anything sprayable and caffeine are deadly. if you keep them, get some styptic powder as birds bleed out quickly. Cutting their nails, pulled pin feathers, fights etc can be deadly if you can stop even slight bleeding quickly.

millet strips are like crack to birds- they love it!

Uh, you're putting parakeets in the waiting room of a medical office? That sounds unhygienic and inconsiderate of people with asthma or bird allergies. Seriously?

I've seen budgies in doctors offices and nursing homes. It's perfect because they're colorful and have such huge personalities. And the happy males make a "contented warble" sound when they're happy. (If the sun's out, they're usually happy.) The contented warble sounds like a woman laughing. It's such a happy noise, that it never bothered me, even when it started at 6 a.m. and ended at sunset.

Please make sure you feed them fruits and vegetables, people think they only need bird seed, that will starve them, birds love fresh chili peppers too, like jalapenos, even the hottest ones since they can't taste the capsicum and they go crazy for peppers. Greens like spinach and kale.

This thread reminded me of a video about a man who raised a parakeet from an egg. It’s an amazing video with a very happy ending.

Thank you - thank you R30. That was awesome! What a beautiful man. I was crying (dust from the mints).

Thank you, R30. That was so sweet.

I hand raised a lovebird. They're the sweetest little birds. I have had a multitude of cockateils, a mollucan cockatoo and was half custodian of a quaker parrot.

When I first started fostering dogs, my first foster was a major biter. the rescue woman asked why I thought I was qualified for a biter, I told her because I had experience with parrots.

we kept that dog, he fell in love with my son and never successfully bit anyone in his 8 years here

Even my shriveled blackened heart swelled a little at that video R30 . I totally fell in love witht he man .How wonderful a person must he be ,how gentle and kind.

I love you, OP, for rescuing those animals. We need more people like you.

OP a girl who had a crush on my brother dropped off a parakeet as a gift to him. My mom put the parakeet’s cage and he eventually learned to talk and even cough like my father (also a physician but a very smoker). He was really social. He loved in when you held him perched on your finger next to a mirror. He start tapping his reflection with his beak and talking to it.

You guys sound like a great couple.

Should be: put the cage in the kitchen! ^

Love you too, R9!

I want to adopt a bird, but I can’t adopt one who lives for over five years. I was looking at quail and finches. Both are available to adopt every now and then.

I’d never buy. I’d pay ten times to a rescue in adoption fees than I would a pet store.

Adopt a bird *or more than one

It occurs to me that doctor OP and his US marshall partner and their menagerie of rescued pets would make great characters in a tv family comedy.

R41 I’d watch that.

Dr OP, please keep us informed as to their progress!

I love birds, but there's something creepy to me about the video @ R30. It feels like stealth anti-abortion propaganda-- No egg should be thrown away! See, look at the heart beat! Just because mom flew the coop, doesn't mean dad shouldn't have it!...etc., etc.

Random thing: make sure that you don’t cook near them or spray air freshener etc. near them. Both are very dangerous as their lungs are delicate.

I know they’re at your office. I’d just feel too guilty if I didn’t note this.

R43, I look at it as “A Parakeet Has Two Fathers.”

OP, did you name them?

Just when you think the world can't get any worse and then you read a post from someone like OP who is obviously a genuinely good and caring person (and his partner) and it warms your heart and you realize that there are actually some good people left in the world.

You rock OP. Good luck with the birds and the rest of your little rescued zoo. I think you and your partner are wonderful people.

Bless.

Bonnie and Clyde, R46. Do keep up.