Which one should I do..? [Kakariki- To handraise or not?]

[Kinny]

I have a male Kakariki whom I hand-raised and is 4 and a half months old and is now sexually mature. I'd like to get a female Kakariki for him to breed with in future months... But I'm unsure as to which of the following I should do:

(1) Get a young female and hand-raise her so that she's tame and friendly, and to have lots of time to bond with my boy.

(2) Get a female the same age as my male, and work harder to tame her.

If i went with the hand-raising... when they become able to breed, he would be 4 - 5 months older than her... is that a bad thing to have that age gap?

What would you do?

[Eurycerus]

I believe that most parrots can be tamed at any age, granted they are not completely feral or have severe trust issues. Getting an older or rescue parrot would not pose any issues regarding taming.

I'm a little confused as to why you think that you will solve the issue with getting female to breed your male with. Breeding can be very difficult if you are going to do it right. I have also read that breeding parrots don't necessarily make the best companion parrots, and vice versa. There are a lot of nutritional demands as well that if not met can result in severe problems with the female parrot. In addition, breeding parrots continue to be hormonal and aggressive during breeding season so just because they are actually making babies doesn't mean that they are going to respond better to you. I believe that there are plenty of parrots who need homes and adding to the population is unnecessary.

It is a much better idea to practice hormone management techniques.

Put your parrot to bed early to allow 10 to 12 hours of uninterrupted nighttime. Be sure to provide your parrot good daytime sunlight. Reduce sugary and protein filled foods. Make sure their diet is balanced with yummy veggies and pellets. Do not pet in areas such as the back, belly, or wings as that is stimulating. Stick to the head.

[marie83]

Sorry to say but I don't think you are going to get many positive responses to this thread. Most of us believe that there are way too many birds in the world with not enough good homes.

The bigger parrots are sold on or placed in shelters whereas the smaller ones are sold or confined to their cages like ornaments which is why you probably wont ever see kaks in a shelter.

Also you cannot just shove two birds together and hope for the best, you need a deep deep understanding of genetics otherwise the chances are your adding to the mutated gene pool where health problems and deformaties are becoming more and more common.

Theres a million other reasons besides why not to breed but I think those are the biggest reasons. If you want to get your bird a companion then I see no problems with that but please don't breed from them.

[Grey_Moon]

All right, well...

I was trying to keep my mouth shut. But you shouldn't be breeding.

These are wild animals who should've stayed wild. And there are enough homeless small birds who are considered disposable starters birds who are treated more like objects without you breeding more.

Every day that more baby birds are bred more are locked in closets, abandoned in back rooms or kept permanently covered and fed sunflower seeds with no toys or love or even adequate cage space.

My girl was a victim of the breeding industry. She was a cute baby parrot bought as a gift and then left to rot in a cage with nothing for five years in a smoke-filled basement and fed steak and coffee. At 13 her heart is damaged and she's *STILL* stained brown-grey from nicotine and from chronic malnutrition. She's always going to pluck.

It took me 8 years to get her to wear a harness, enjoy the outdoors, snuggle, be curious and explore and to be as free as I can let her be. She shouldn't be in a cage---she should be free! She should be in the wild with her flock flying hundreds of miles.

With all the love and care and money in the world I will still never be able to give her what she is designed to need and be. Simply because these birds don't belong in captivity.
IF you want to get your kakariki a flockmate, do so. But please adopt and do NOT breed or buy a handfed.