Lisa Shea Forums Parakeets General Parakeet Chat Too Early For Bird Number 2?

Around 3 or 4 weeks ago I got my first bird! Yay! He's a blue Rare Parakeet and I've been working on the hand-training bit from this site. It's doing good, we're on step 4 right now. He'll pretty much always step up on my finger (not necessarily by the word 'up'. He just does it naturally). Anyways, I know that he is lonely. Anytime he hears birds in songs, or outside the window he goes bonkers. He chirps super loudly, runs about his cage to try and find them. It is heartbreaking!

Since I am a first time bird owner, I wanted to test the waters by just getting one. But now I feel so bad isolating him like this! I want to get a second, but I am not sure if our 'relationship' is ready for that? As I stated, we're only on step 4 of hand training and he has not properly been out of the cage yet. (Tried once and it was a disaster).

Also I MUST Note: He has not played with any of his toys. At all. Period. Ropes, bells, mirrors... he wants NONE of that. He does not even nibble on them curiously. Just ignores their existence.

Soooooo.... what should I do?

Welcome Boxsy and glad you have joined the forum. Your bird sounds like it is making progress at adjusting and it is much too early to get another bird. I think you would lose all the progress you have made and may even go backwards if you get another bird right now.

I know it is hard to believe but your bird is just fine being alone with you. It is only natural for your bird to respond to the sound of other birds. It is sorta like a dog that hears another dog barking and runs to the window to see if he can find out what is going on. But....you do not have to buy another dog to have a successful relationship or to give them a companion.

You have a long way to go in training your bird and it becomes very hard to do if not impossible if all they care about is the other bird.

I got Tom many months after I got Bob and Bob was totally trained in and out of his cage before I even considered another bird. Don't get me wrong, I really love Tom, but looking back I wish I would have just kept Bob a single guy. I also think Bob misses having me all to himself and now he has to share me with Tom.

Do not worry so much about the toy thing. He has only been with you 3 weeks and will adjust on his own time. But remove any mirrors or he will bond with the image of himself and not you.

Good luck and keep us posted

i COMPLETELY AGREE with all the above that tess said...thats spot on advice and id take it...also dont keep moving the toys around he will eventually go to them he is still just getting use to his new place and surrounding and the activities thats goes on around him...

IF when the time comes you do get another bird but again i TOTALLY AGREE with the above you dont need another bird..but IF you get one be sure to have another cage to put it in and not with the bird you have now...it will need to be quarantined for NINETY DAYS too many cut this time short as they are way to anxious to get the birds together and then when they do ...they have just undone all the time they did put into quarantine...also

you dont want to put two birds together till you KNOW THEIR SEXES...as you wont want a female and male to bond or you will then have real issues ahead...

click on the forum list tab above then go to general keet chat and the health and medical sections and read all you can with all the different threads in there for any questions you may have...there is a wealth of information to cover anything on your mind in those

also ...welcome to the forum...

Thanks so much both of you! I will definitely wait for the second one. I suppose I just panicked, what with him not playing with his toys. But I will definitely just pick two things and leave them there. What's a good length of time to leave a toy in a cage? How long should I wait if he's not interested before trying another type?

just leave them dont remove...its all about in keets time...not ours..just dont have mirrors or the types of bell or chain toys where little toenails can get caught..the round cat balls with bells they all love and that just goes on the floor however ...hint...most dont know what toys are for or how to use them till WE PLAY ALOT WITH THEM and show them what they are all about so you may want to try that...anything that screws onto the bars like the spining types of toys with bells in them are good ones too..they like to make noise so its those toys they like best so they can BOP the heck out of them or spin them so they hear the noise.

Illusive is right...I would have never thought that I would have to show my bird how to play with the toys but I tried it and it worked!

Haha, good to know I'll have to teach him. That's kind of cute! I removed the mirror thingy I had in there, and just put in some wood/shreddy thing for him. So hopefully in the next couple weeks he'll start to play with one of the toys in there.

its good you removed the mirror this way he will also pay more attention to you when you are trying to finger.. i prefer hand training over finger myself but...and he will tend to bond with you instead of that other bird in the mirror.

not too much for shreddie toys tho as if he is a she ...they use shreddie toys to stimulate themselves to go to nest and you dont want this ...there are MANY MANY toys out there that are safe and not shreddie types which is better...

also be sure beside cuttlebone you have mineral block which is more important in the cage again...food and water and mineral blocks UNFLAVORED WHITE ONES should be at the end of perches for the birds...and dont keep moving things about inside a cage except to place or try to place things where the bird wont poop on other things and the poops go to the floor not on things..

mineral blocks and also cuttle bones that are WHITE UNFLAVORED like this one

http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Bird-treat...CFYNo4Aod6Gpq4g

also a couple of these OYSTER SHELL perches like what shows in the first row are SUPER EXCELLENT for keeping beak and toe nails trimmed setting up one of the perches on a fairly good up hill angle as they love to lean into them to get a good filing action to their beaks going...see picture of cappy on his...I have long since replaced that thick wood perch you see in this pic with a natural tree branch you can see in the other pics...again if you do this REFER TO THE SAVE NON TOXIC LIST..and be sure to STRIP the bark off a branch as eggs to little critters are under the bark and a lot of time MOLD which is forming that you otherwise cant see.


http://www.birdguys.com/bird-conditioning-perch.html




perches of different thicknesses are good for feet to prevent whats called bumble foot too...ill see if i can find a picture of caps cage to show the layout of it with toys and perches...i even have a platform perch with a cover that goes over it ...maybe you can see it in one of these pictures...its green..and that cover you buy separate with a platform and it easily slips on and off for cleaning...and unlike some platform perches as you can tell this one is large enough to support a play area...and it also took him...for the record...about two months to even ***try out that platform which now he LOVES... so always PATIENCE.



and in this next one you can see a couple toys i have up top on his cage which are secured so he cant toss them by putting one end thru the bars...and that soft nice flexable budha rope perch which he loves...along with his boing perch which is the same idea only longer and coils and bounces a bit with him ...all the birds love them too...



and this is a short video of him getting errrrm well frisky with a toy on top of his cage...just click on it and it will start the video...as you can see ...your really dont need a additional bird ...just some of the right toys and they will be like my nutcase a happy CAPPY giggle There are other videos from this you can also watch of his out play time with different toys on floor and table almost anything like you will see a popsicle stick in a video he also likes but almost anything can serve as a toy just bearing in mind to keep them safe toys...one video shows his lady duck friend who comes to visit as i live on a lake. if the videos stop for a bit its just buffering and will start again in a few seconds or so...one of the videos called little chatterbox has him talking up a storm and i put under the video the different things he is saying which i really didnt have to as most are very clear.


hope these pictures help you some

OH my goodness! Thanks fo much for all the information, and pictures to boot!

I loved that video, he seemed so happy and playful! Hopefully my bird Millennium will become as brave and outgoing!

I do have a cuttlebone that he's used a couple times, but I will have to get a mineral block too. I also have an edible/grind branch, it's a bit different than the one that you posted.

http://www.petco.com/product/107909/8-in...upplies_Perches

Is that the same as the perch you suggested? Or should I get yours too?




Here Millennium is in his brand new cage. I know it looks a bit boring, but I didn't want to overwhelm him with toys, and I need to test out which ones he'll like first. Right? I plan to replace all the wooden dowels with better perches next week. (Strapped for cash this week). So if you have suggestions on what new perchest to get exactly it will definitely help!

Not in the picture is a branch on the outside of the main door of the cage for him to use when coming out.

hey you ...hi there birdie you have some cool new digs dontcha...

ok...i give up..what the heck is all that on the bottom of the cage

big hint on this one...go to walmart kitchen dept and pick up the white plastic flexable counter cutting boards that come in different sizes at a very modest cost...trim to fit and viola...use over n over if you get a spare set simply take out rinse with hot water ..wipe with a antiseptic hand towel and replace...it last n last...WAYYYYYYY cheaper than what ever the heck that is now your using...

i always strongly advise AGAINST any perch which does not extend all the way across a cage diagonally or otherwise...leaving ends of a perch open ended can mean in a nite fright internal injuries.

make sure your cuttlebone and mineral blocks are white and NON flavored.

perches ...for sure you dont want what you see sometimes advertised as PUMICE thats very fine "ground glass" believe it or not...so never get those.

i STRONGLY recommend the perches to the link i posted above and as shown in the picture of cappy where its on a angle and he is leaning into it an grooming his beak.

here is a VERY reasonable price wise BOING rope which gawd these guys love...however, for your cage which looks a bit on the small side this one maybe to long ..it says 18" but its much longer actually.
bidding has ended on this in ebay but type the same words into the search engine to find more...

these they also love this one is a double ball in ball but they have the smaller single cat balls just like this also. I use this larger one when he comes out of his cage and place it on a table or the floor and play with it with him rolling it about...it shows in one of the videos.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-BIRD-PARROT-FO...=item336ed3a52f

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROPE-COIL-PERCH-...=item2ebc6a1a05

and this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FREE-SHIPPING-RO...=item5892f68ba4

see thread "some neat new toys and items...for more ideas.

i had one of those multicolored block ladders and Cappy never used it or liked it after leaving it in cage for weeks so i gave mine away to someone in the forum...

the rope perches also like you see on top of his cage and inside it down the bottom are great also...



any food or food sources including water should be ideally placed at the ends of perches and not just out there in the middle of nothing lol..they feel more secure if they can feed and drink being just a step from the perches...place them in different spots / heights. I like your glass water fountain its what i also use...keeps water nice and clean but when you change out the water its a good idea to have a small bottle brush to really get inside them to scrub it out.