Has anyone here owned parakeets?
How long do they live, in your experience? I’m seeing a huge variation in answers on this from websites, from 5-20 years. :eek: 
Also, are they inexpensive pets to keep? Low maintenance? Anything else I should know about them?
Any and all input would be appreciated. :yes:
Well, I don’t know much, but here goes. I took a parakeet from a friend who was moving. I got it a friend. The new one killed the old one. Something about you can’t have two females together? You can sex them by the color of their beak at a certain maturity? The blue ones are hardiest because they are closest to the original budgies. They die if you leave them by a winter window. Even if you think it is warm, sunny and not drafty. Even if you cover them at night. Don’t keep them by cold windows. The ones that survive that then go on to develope what is apparently a very common tumor. Then that one dies of the tumor. It is not pretty to watch, especially when it was the friendliest and smartest of the three you had. They like lettuce, are fun to watch, easy to keep, nice to listen to, some are smart and friendly. Very cool little guys. The one that got the tumor was about five years old when it died. They will mimic sounds if you keep them in your office and whistle and cluck to them a lot as did stupid me…
They are incredibly messy and will throw seeds and poop all over creation. You will have to put a net seed/poop catcher around the bottom of the cage and still will have to vacuum daily.
Best place for all those answers.
Kept well and well fed and entertained, they can reach old age.
Naturally they are small, fragile and inexpensive.
I have 3, currently not being well cared for :(:o but I am working my way back up…
They are fun to watch and relatively cheap, but as always, the sky is the limit.
Actually wild budgies are green. But blue was one of the first mutations bred in captivity.
I had a darling parakeet—Emil—when I was a child. Emil had a succession of friends, all of whom died suddenly and by various means. He lived for years and years and years while his companions dropped all around him. He must have gone through five or eight roommates.
Emil was blue, his friends were not—does that explain anything?
They can be good talkers and we are considering getting one for our daughters if they can demonstrate responsibility this summer in helping with our other birds (chickens, ducks).
I had them as kids, then a coworker gave me a pair that he kids had lost interest in. The cage that came with them was huge, so I got 2 more. They seem quite happy - they sing and chatter all day long. They are messy, but if you get the cage guards, that helps contain the seeds. Also, if you put the feed cups low in the cage or on the floor (provided you can put them where they don’t get pooped in), the seeds don’t get flung around so much.
I give mine several dishes of a quality seed mix, plus millet sprays and frozen mixed veggies. And they love cherrios or other cereal, and sometimes grapes or a slice of apple. They also love plain steamed rice - I save some for them when I cook it for myself. I provide several feeding stations so that the more dominant birds can’t push the more timid ones off the food.
Once a week or so, I pull out any poopy perches and clean them with a 10% bleach solution, and clean the bottom of the cage. Keeping the bottom of the cage clean and clear of seed hulls helps keep the mess contained. I have an extra set of dishes that I run through the dishwasher as needed.
They are entertaining little birds - their noise and mess level are not too bad, as far as birds go. They are pretty easy to care for. Most live 5-10 years, but can live longer.
Be sure to buy a cage bigger than you think they need - and also make sure the bar spacing is 1/2’. The bigger bar spacing is for bigger birds. Also, you will want to provide perches of different materials and thicknesses. It’s healthier for their feet, and a concrete perch will help keep their nails trimmed.
I had Budgies for a few years. Started with one pretty yellow bird who was simply evil. She lived for a long time, 5+ (?) years. Then I bought a blue boy who was smart, friendly that lasted about 3 years. They managed to have 2 clutches and all babies had mama’s temperament. They were flighty, bitey and although they were very pretty, they didn’t live more than a few years.
I clicker trained them, ALL of them were easily trained…as long as I did not handle any except the blue male.
I was vastly relieved when the last one died as they were noisy, very messy and created a tremendous predatory interest in my dogs. I had to be VERY careful that the ACD was not out at the same time as the birds and that the easily frightened birds went high rather than fly to the wire crates.
What I discovered…
I am not good with continual mess
I am not good with constant noise
I do not want to live with movement activated predatory animals and flighty prey animals that are small enough to get INTO the places I have the predators and are so easily frightened that they go willy nilly into those places.
It was interesting, they are pretty, I won’t live with them again.
Oh…and if you get a male and female, they are the rabbits of the bird world.
Oh and one more thing.
Birds are delicate in regards to you must keep feed in front of them or feed them multiple times a day, as they will lose weight easily and quickly.
I fed my seed, fresh veggies, frozen thawed mixed veggies, fresh picked grass (they esp loved the mature grass that had seed heads on them), cooked white and/or brown rice, cooked pasta among anything else I could think of.
I have owned several on and off through my life, my parakeet Peanut was the first pet I was given to care for when I was 7. I’d say their average life span when healthy as a baby and then maintained properly is about 8-10 years.
I have loved them…2 of my parakeets (males) learned to talk and were very entertaining. But my alltime favorite parakeet was a blue female I had as an adult. She was an assertive family member, very affectionate and would climb all over me, garble to me for hours and try to ‘groom’ me. She wanted out of her cage as soon as I’d come home and she had a few spots in the house she liked to fly to and hang out at, but she would fly to me when she was called. She’d ride around on me all day if I’d let her. She had a little mini stuffed bird that she loved to wrestle with. (Keychain sized.) She was an incredible little soul. She lived to the old age of 9, and actually went blind before she passed from old age but would still chirp for me to take her out of her cage and let her sit with me. I was brokenhearted for a long time when she passed away.
They can be wonderful pets. I will admit, though, that of the 8 I’ve had, I did have one ‘dud’ that was mean and never wanted to take to any sort of training and interaction. But 1 of 8 isn’t a bad track record in my book.
Ah parakeets. When I first moved out of my parents’ home, the only pet I could have in my apartment were birds or fish. Enter Spike and Fang, two parakeets. Fang did not last long so enter Fang II. They lived with me for around 4 years, and terrorized the cockteil that we inherited from my DH’s grandmother. Messy messy messy creatures. I gave them away and frankly didn’t miss them, although I have to say when I lived alone, they were something to keep me company.
I had two as a kid, and they were nice, much more pleasant than the gerbils and far less messy. I hesitate to buy birds now, although I’d like to, for 3 reasons:
I have some nonstick cookware and the coating, as it wears away, will kill birds, so I’d have to get rid of it. And I’m cheap.
Birds notoriously dislike drafts, and mine is a drafty house.
I don’t have the space. When I researched getting birds, I quickly discovered that just as dog ownership is now more demanding than it used to be, so is bird ownership. And apparently, keeping parakeets in a typical bird store cage is the avian equivalent of having an intact dog running loose and unprotected from heartworm infestation. The cages are just too small. And the larger cages, which allow the birds to actually fly around a bit, are both more expensive and take up more space.
I had them for years but when the last one died about a year and a half ago I decided that I didn’t want to deal with it any more.
My oldest one lived to 6ish I think? But I’m not sure how old she was when I got her.
My pro’s- The are adorable and when handled consistently, are quite friendly and out going.
My con’s- the mess- OMG the vacuuming was incessant and the noise- mine screamed all. day. long and since my DH works nights, he definitely didn’t appreciate that!
They weren’t terribly expensive to upkeep but I did buy them a really nice cage that was fairly pricey.
I don’t think I will get them again as I don’t like having to keep them cooped up so much (we have 7 cats) and I don’t think I’m able to devote as much times as it takes to keep them handled consistently
re: noise
my birds didn’t scream much but they chattered all.the.time. If they had screamed much, I’d have given them away.
You can get a cage that is taller rather than wider - this is what I have, it doesn’t take up that much room. They like to climb as well as fly.
My 4 keets are not tame, but they will whistle to me. I like the chattering, they are happy birds.
Considering I also have a very large bunny, a hand-raised lovebird, and 2 shelties living in my house, I’m used to vacuuming a lot. So the keet mess doesn’t bother me too much LOL.
How serious is the draft issue? I had birds when I was a child but I’ve never looked after one as an adult, excepting chickens. We were thinking of adding a budgie or parrotlet next year but our house is old and drafty! We heat with wood and the temperature drops pretty low when the fire goes out overnight. Should we reconsider?
budgies can do very well in cold environments. The bird people on Talk Budgie often suggest to keep the bird room very cool - but for the life of me, I can’t get my house to stay at 60 degrees 
Draft is not good, but I think cages can be set up in a way where they don’t experience the worst of it.
They can’t take it below freezing, that’s for sure. My house goes down to 60 at night in the winter, and my keets are okay with that.
As far as drafts, if you keep them away from a drafty window and/or exterior doors, you should be okay. That’s pretty much any bird, not just keets.
Any bird is sensitive to air quality - so if your wood stove is smokey, they’ll have an issue with that.
Well, of course when it’s cold they need more food…
(I heard about wild colonies in places like Cologne, Germany, descending from escaped birds. naturally city climate is a bit milder than country climate…)
but generally speaking, yes, in a cage, below freezing is bad for the bird.
(leads to some interesting emergency strategies, though.)
[QUOTE=didgery;6185771]
How serious is the draft issue? I had birds when I was a child but I’ve never looked after one as an adult, excepting chickens. We were thinking of adding a budgie or parrotlet next year but our house is old and drafty! We heat with wood and the temperature drops pretty low when the fire goes out overnight. Should we reconsider?[/QUOTE]
As a long-time pet bird owner (& breeder), drafts are a DEFINITE no-no. As will be drastic changes in temperature (like your woodstove petering out overnight). So is poor air quality due to wood smoke or even cooking smoke/fumes.
This means a cage that’s not situated anywhere near a door or window or floor register (noticeably drafty or not), or in or near the kitchen. And your home temperature should be relatively stable. But that said, a pet bird shouldn’t be banished to a little-used bedroom or spare room. Hookbill birds are sociable, & will suffer mentally if not exposed to your daily life.
Frankly, I don’t think your situation is ideal for any pet bird. Sorry.
Also DO NOT clean your oven using the built in cleaning feature. If you do, move your birds OUT OF THE HOUSE while you are doing it. We learned this lesson the hard way. 
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
