OK, i'm new here. we've had 2 parakeets visiting our crab apple tree for about a week now, escaped from someone's home probably, eating the bird seed i leave outside, and flocking around with the local sparrows. As of today, only 1 seems to around anymore (a white one). not sure what happened to the blue one.

Now what??? i have it in a cat carrier (yes, we have a fully declawed and lazy feline) with some bird seed and water. Should i let it go? Keep it (that would be cool!)? Bring it to a pet store?

Is it trainable? Will it make a good pet? I'm willing to spend the time and money on it, but I've never had a parakeet before.

Would love to hear some thoughts about this "wild bird"!!!

Thanks, Laura

firt your most likey right, it probably came from some ones home.. every parakeets is trainable to a point..it bepends on the parakeet. but even if they never get trained the way you think it should be they still make great pets...i would go look arouund for a cage for him/her...not one of the realy small ones you may see but a good size one.. you can look under "home made tree" on this form to see my cage..thats as small of one i would get, if i was you, since they spend most of there time in there cages, its nice that they have room to move and fly around there cage.. please do not let it go out side,, since parakeets are not built to be outside birds and can die out side, which may have what happend to the blue one .... just go to any pet store and look at all the things they have for parakkets..they love toys so try and get some for your bird.. the bird well be scared at first and well not make much noise or move around the cage all that much..he/she well in time...also we love pics. if you take a pic of it we can try and tell you if its a boy or girl or if its young or older then 1yrs..also look around for a vet that does birds..and cliping the wings is a very good idea for training and to keep the bird safe in his new hope, pluse you dont have to worrie about him/she flying away from you...there is sooo much more info ,and people here well give you some really good info so keep a eye out....parakeets are great pets that become a family member really fast so injoy and good luck.

id take it to a pet store first to see if someone lost it or if it can be trained

Call the local radio stations and notify them but do not say what color, ect as anyone could say they lost one. Possibly put some flyers up, call the local animal shelters. If no one answers than keep it.
Right now get a small cage, enough for it to move around and get some parakeet seed at walmart. Keep it away from open windows or busy areas as it might be a bit stressed from the big change. Keep the cage covered at night so it can sleep in peace. Then come back and let us know in a few days what happened.
THEN go buy a HUGE cage and all the fancy toys and stuff like we all do here for our keets if you decide to keep the keet(LOL).
Be patient and then in time your new keet will be like a new family member like ours!

Congrats on saving this bird!! Parakeets have been bred for so many years, that they do not adapt well to the wild. Pretty much a parakeet in the wild has a death sentence. So you have rescued him.

The first thing you will need to do is get him a cage. I agree that the larger the cage the better. Also, the wider the cage, the better. Birds need room to stretch and they fly more side to side than they do up. Make sure the spacing in between the bars of the cage is 1/2" or less.

I have had several parakeets and I adopt them from bird rescue groups and animal shelters so I know that a wild bird can be trained. I even had a parakeet that was 7 years old when I got him and I was able to train him even though he had never had human interaction before. You have to be very patient and the good thing is that you only have 1 parakeet. Two can be more difficult to train. Of course, if you do see the other parakeet, I recommend that you try and catch him too.

Read the Lisa Shea website on parakeets because that will give you the best advice and knowledge on caring for parakeets. Also, I think it is much easier to train a bird that has his wings clipped so if you have a pet store that clips wings or a vet that can do it, call them. At least for the first time, let someone show you how to do it. Later on you can do it yourself.

Parakeets make great pets and are a ton of fun to watch. In the beginning don't be surprised if you don't see him eating or drinking or even making a sound. They are timid until they get used to their environment. I would give him a few days or so before you try to train him.

Thank you, and everyone else who replied, for all the advice on our new parakeet! i've been reading LisaShea.com off and on all afternoon, so i've learned a lot already on how to care for a keet. the poor thing is still in a cat carrier, but we found a couple suitable twigs/branches and slid them thru the caged parts so she (just a guess there! we have no idea what the gender is) has a couple of perches. we're off to the pet store to buy the largest cage we can afford, so she should be happier pretty soon!

I'll post again in a few days, if anyone's interested in her progress. still no sign of the other (blue) parakeet. i have a feeling "he" was hawk food.

just make sure that you never leave your cat near the bird. declawed or not the cat could still use its paws to like swat it or can jump on it, or scare it.
and also cats saliva is toxic to keets.

at least the one you have now is safe from dying outside and ect.

Wild birds can have disease and mites. Mites can jump off the bird and go to the cage and other places in the house and be a real problem getting rid of. Some diseases can be transmitted to humans also. I don't want to rain on your happiness but I would take it to a vet for a check up and a swab for disease. Be prepared that it will cost more because it is the first visit. However, if you are bringing mites or disease into your home, it will be much more costly in the long run. Try to pick a good avian vet not just a regular vet. Lisa shea's forums also has some very good information on plants and foods toxic to birds as well as training information. Good luck

we've had "Mac" (short for MacGyver!) for about a week now. what a sweetie! after i captured him from our crab tree outside, i had him in a cat carrier for a few hours until my daughter and i could go to the pet store together. we bought him a cage, food, toys, and got more info on how to care for keets. the next day i brought Mac to a vet and had his wings clipped. they told me he was a budgie (not a keet... i still have to look up the difference?!), in good health and, congratualtions!, it's a boy! we're working on training him, tho he does (somewhat relunctantly...) come "up" to a finger perch. he's definately a keeper!

no further sightings on the blue keet Mac was flying around with outside. hawk food for sure. oh well.

that's our little story. thanks for listening. if you have any more suggestions or can set my expectations appropriately for what i may expect out of our new little pet, please reply. thanks!