# Parakeet Questions?



## ratsaremylife (Nov 5, 2013)

I have a petstore parakeet I've had for a while. How exactly should I go about caring for him? I feed him seeds daily and change water every few days. For a few months I tried to feed him veggies, pellets, and fruits but he never ate them so I stopped... I would like him trained so he can come out. He is in the living room and whenever my brother is mad he passes and whacks his cxage sending seeds water and him flying. Please help me get him to trust me! Should I get him a handraised buddy and tame that one first and then put them together? And I've also realized people don't seem to like me to much on here... People get replies really fast and only one or two people respond to me... Did I say or do something? Thanks!


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

If he isn't socialized, I really recommend a friend. Especially because it doesn't sound like he is living a full and wonderful live -- could you imagine 15 years alone, with some brat banging on your house? Besides which, the whole argument for keeping a lone budgie is a lot of crock in my opinion. It's like keeping a lone rat.

The first step to even think about socialization is to get your brother to stop. No animal will ever achieve a semblance of trust in an environment that terrorizes them. Once you've that down, it is a slow process that you must be consistent about. I recommend while doing it to have his wings clipped. http://parakeetpalace.webs.com/tametalkteachtrain.htm

You could be quarantining the hand-fed buddy at this time.

As for veggies, budgies are very suspicious of new things. You have to persist. You may find he even gets upset at new toys.

I have three parakeets currently. Mine all "step up", but aren't necessarily my best friends -- they trust me not to eat them, to help them, and for treats, but they don't want me scratching them. It was my choice to do that. They are flighted with full run of the house almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week -- I ask them to sleep in their cage, but the door is always open. Make sure you are offering a good quality seed (I recommend, as per my vet, nutriberries). If not, make sure you get them to eat greens and such. Make sure you are rotating toys and keeping the environment interactive (especially while he is alone). You'll need to spend at least an hour a day with him, unless you plan on doing as I did and essentially letting him have a flock and be a bit wild.

As for responses, I think its a matter of who sees it and what they think is useful to say.


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