Hi my fellow bird lovers! I joined this forum to try to glean some perspective on the unfolding drama of my two little American parakeets. Both of them are males, the oldest being about 3 (no older) and the other is about a year old.
Get your hanky now...
I bought the older one from my neighbor. I was going to buy just the very large cage, but she ended up including the lone parakeet, to my delight. He was very cranky and cantankerous, and on the brink of being cage bound, but after a week, he started to crack and we enjoy him so much. He pinched us a lot, and was scared.
We later learned from my neighbors son that he was originally purchased with 3 other keets, and a grim situation happened where the family left town for a week and did not make provision, resulting in all the birds dying but him
We aquired another keet who was being rehomed, and that's when I noticed very bad behavior from our original keet, involving food aggression, water bottle aggression, standing on his tail, and beak kissing so aggressively it looked like it was damaging the edges of his beak. He just couldn't stand this other bird, but was also constantly trying to get into his little cage!? He would step on his tail, and trick him at any and every opportunity, and really didn't like that he couldn't fly. He came with clipped wings, unfortunately. Which ended up being a huge downfall and he sadly died accidently.
So, it was single bird life after that. Honestly, even though he was a bit pinchy, he's by far the funnest parakeet I've ever met. We just let him boss us around mostly, and he loves playing with balls and bells.
One day I read on the www that in Norway, they won't let you buy a single parakeet, and all about how they need another bird, so when we were relocating across the country and I was buying a travel cage, I also bought another parakeet
I thought it's now or never, with the "precious" cage disassembled, toys packed and the upcoming days of travel....
Fortunately, my plan worked, and we've been happily living for a year together ( I've had my oldest bird for two years now)
He tried to be nice to the baby bird at first ( I think he was hoping he was a hen
) but the day came he started singing and dancing, and there was a couple days of grumpiness, but they got through it. The oldest bird tried all the same mean-spirited tricks, but the baby just beat him at his own game everytime. The baby is so sweet and adorable and tamed up on his own because he saw my oldest bird was so friendly with us, but here we are a year later, and now the baby seems to be the boss bird!?
They have this wierd routine where they take turns sitting at the highest point of the room singing, and the baby always eats first. There are multiple food stations and water bottles in the cage, but of course they want the specific one. Anytime a treat is offered, the baby eats first and won't even let the oldest have a bite of chip! I know that the oldest bird tought the baby to do all of this, but I kind of feel bad. They refuse to be separated, with the oldest jail breaking the baby when we put him in time out one time, and they are always preening each other, doing synchronized flying and what not....I just noticed today that the oldest is sitting on lower perches to nap pretty regular and the baby is like the king of the cage now. The only time the oldest "gets it all" is when it's bath time. He doesn't fight over the bath.
Why would my control freak oldest give up his position to this charming baby?
I'm not complaining, I just don't understand it. I know birds are pretty militant. Any insights on this behavior? Is it just normal and boring stuff? I just wonder what the competition is and why it's illegal to treat them at the same time. The oldest taught him everything about how to food guard and tail stomp.
They squabble occasionally, but very gently I found when my hand was in the way. Also, my oldest bird is so incredibly happy. He's a different bird now! The baby seems very happy too, bossing him around and getting the better of him and stealing all the humans attentions and food.
These are by far the most affectionate and tricky parakeets I've ever personally met and me and the fam wholly enjoy them.
I had a dream last week that I was petting them with my finger, and I hope to actualize this one day. The oldest never pinches us or bites us anymore, and absolutely never runs out of food or water. He knows we love him. The youngest never had pinched or bitten and is super laid back and relaxed, just bosses around our little OG Boss
I left out their names because it's just too embarrassing and cheesy! Plus we constantly modify nick names and babytalk
. So embarrassing!
Get your hanky now...
I bought the older one from my neighbor. I was going to buy just the very large cage, but she ended up including the lone parakeet, to my delight. He was very cranky and cantankerous, and on the brink of being cage bound, but after a week, he started to crack and we enjoy him so much. He pinched us a lot, and was scared.
We later learned from my neighbors son that he was originally purchased with 3 other keets, and a grim situation happened where the family left town for a week and did not make provision, resulting in all the birds dying but him
We aquired another keet who was being rehomed, and that's when I noticed very bad behavior from our original keet, involving food aggression, water bottle aggression, standing on his tail, and beak kissing so aggressively it looked like it was damaging the edges of his beak. He just couldn't stand this other bird, but was also constantly trying to get into his little cage!? He would step on his tail, and trick him at any and every opportunity, and really didn't like that he couldn't fly. He came with clipped wings, unfortunately. Which ended up being a huge downfall and he sadly died accidently.
So, it was single bird life after that. Honestly, even though he was a bit pinchy, he's by far the funnest parakeet I've ever met. We just let him boss us around mostly, and he loves playing with balls and bells.
One day I read on the www that in Norway, they won't let you buy a single parakeet, and all about how they need another bird, so when we were relocating across the country and I was buying a travel cage, I also bought another parakeet
I thought it's now or never, with the "precious" cage disassembled, toys packed and the upcoming days of travel....Fortunately, my plan worked, and we've been happily living for a year together ( I've had my oldest bird for two years now)
He tried to be nice to the baby bird at first ( I think he was hoping he was a hen
) but the day came he started singing and dancing, and there was a couple days of grumpiness, but they got through it. The oldest bird tried all the same mean-spirited tricks, but the baby just beat him at his own game everytime. The baby is so sweet and adorable and tamed up on his own because he saw my oldest bird was so friendly with us, but here we are a year later, and now the baby seems to be the boss bird!?They have this wierd routine where they take turns sitting at the highest point of the room singing, and the baby always eats first. There are multiple food stations and water bottles in the cage, but of course they want the specific one. Anytime a treat is offered, the baby eats first and won't even let the oldest have a bite of chip! I know that the oldest bird tought the baby to do all of this, but I kind of feel bad. They refuse to be separated, with the oldest jail breaking the baby when we put him in time out one time, and they are always preening each other, doing synchronized flying and what not....I just noticed today that the oldest is sitting on lower perches to nap pretty regular and the baby is like the king of the cage now. The only time the oldest "gets it all" is when it's bath time. He doesn't fight over the bath.
Why would my control freak oldest give up his position to this charming baby?
I'm not complaining, I just don't understand it. I know birds are pretty militant. Any insights on this behavior? Is it just normal and boring stuff? I just wonder what the competition is and why it's illegal to treat them at the same time. The oldest taught him everything about how to food guard and tail stomp.
They squabble occasionally, but very gently I found when my hand was in the way. Also, my oldest bird is so incredibly happy. He's a different bird now! The baby seems very happy too, bossing him around and getting the better of him and stealing all the humans attentions and food.
These are by far the most affectionate and tricky parakeets I've ever personally met and me and the fam wholly enjoy them.
I had a dream last week that I was petting them with my finger, and I hope to actualize this one day. The oldest never pinches us or bites us anymore, and absolutely never runs out of food or water. He knows we love him. The youngest never had pinched or bitten and is super laid back and relaxed, just bosses around our little OG Boss
I left out their names because it's just too embarrassing and cheesy! Plus we constantly modify nick names and babytalk
. So embarrassing!
