Red Bellied Parrot

[Natacha]

could a pair of red bellies be kept together or do they need seperate cages?

If you buy them as a pair and they are used to being kept together, then yes.

If you buy two separate birds, I would get two separate cages. For one, if they don't come from the same place you will want to keep them somewhat separate until you are sure that both are healthy. Having a second cage will also be quite helpful if it turns out both birds don't like each other, at least you will be able to separate them fast.

I have two Red-bellies, they aren't a pair, in fact they are siblings that come from the same parents but different clutches and didn't know about each other until they both got here. They both have their own cages (as do all my birds, even then ones that get along because there is the occasional tiff between even them).

[lzver]

As soon as I saw the topic, I knew pchela and Natacha would have responded

I have a 5 year old female Red Bellied and she is a great little bird. She's only about 9 inches in height and at her last vet checkup she weighed around 135 grams. I've heard that the males are better talker than the females, but Lucy has quite an extensive vocabulary and can put quite a few things into context as well. I love the red bellies on the males, but what Lucy lacks in color on the outside, she more than makes up for with her colorful personality. She's a sweet little bird that could hang out and talk to me all day long. She's not much of a cuddler ... but will accept scratches all day if you were willing to give them.

As far as food is concerned, I would suggest a base diet consisting of a good quality pellet food (Harrison's, Roudybush, etc). I leave the pellet food in my birds cages when we are not there during the day. Then I provide fresh vegetables, fruits, sprouted beans on a daily basis. I present in a few different ways ... chopped into smaller pieces and fed in their food bowl or presented as larger pieces on a kabob (they love this by the way because it makes dinner seem more like a toy).

[pchela]

I will add to what Natacha said about keeping them in one cage. If you do that, it will most likely be more difficult for you to maintain a relationship with them. They could bond with each other and want nothing to do with you. There have been people who have been able to keep pairs tame with a lot of work, but I personally wouldn't risk it.

As for diet, lzver got it right. I feed Harrisons pellets (Roudybush is also good), some quality seed mix with no sunflowers, sprouted grains, seeds and beans, glop and fruit and veggies. They also get some people food when we are eating.

[Athena&beepbeep'smom]

I will be very jealous if you get one! There is a one year old rehomed red bellied parrot at a petstore here. He's in a not so ethical store in a way too small cage so i expected him to be nippy, but he was so sweet! He was hard for the lady to get out of the cage because he was cage territorial (can't imagine why, tiny cage!) but when he was out he came right to me and let me snuggle and pet him and just kept whispering to me. He would whisper his name "Remme" over and over and then say "kisses" and make a kissy noise.

I have been torn every since because he had kinda runny poos and not such great feathers and is in that tiny cage. Such a sweet bird may not have such a great future at a crammed chain petstore. But I have two birds, one of which is new and still being socialized and very attention hungry. Not to mention I do not have the asking price of $559. I hate how those chain stores mark everything up.

so anyway definitely get one, and drive up here, and buy Remme at the Petco in Murfreesboro. He really needs you to. And I would feel way better!

[Sevenswords]

Zephyr is dead
It happened this mourning, somehow his cage got knocked over and he was just lying there..
I appreciate your help but I dont think i will get a new bird anytime soon.....

[Nathaniel]

Thats terrible.

[Athena&beepbeep'smom]

I'm so sorry to hear that! I know from experience how hard it can be to lose one, especially so unexpectedly. My thoughts are with you. Do you know how it happened? Do you have other pets who could knock it over?

[pchela]

I'm very sorry to hear that. So sad.