Two Parakeets and a Cockatiel

[danzmau]

Hey all, I'm Dana from Manila, Philippines. I've loved birds ever since I was little. We've had parakeets, African parakeets, doves, pidgeons and even chickens in the family before, but never the sort that were petted, trained nor let out of the cage. Once though we did rescue a dove whose leg or wing was broken and it took to us and learned to climb up onto our shoulders all in one afternoon - but that didn't go anywhere after. Hopefully this time I can find a man's best friend in a bird than the usual pup.

First off, I'm thankful to have found this forum from reading Michael's blog after viewing a lot of parakeet videos on YouTube and luckily chancing upon Michael's Kili showing off a handful of neat tricks for the camera. I've a renewed hope for and eagerness to train my little family of feathered friends with the pool of information I look forward to gleaning from this site.

I got Bonnie and Clyde the Parakeet Pair about three weeks ago, right before I learned that training more than one at the same time in the same cage is not advisable. I wanted a bird to tame and train, and for a first timer, I admittedly chickened out on this extra challenge - even after successfully having them feed from my hand the same night I took them home. I couldn't find the heart to separate the two lovebirds either, as we picked an obvious and mutually affectionate pair when we bought them. So days after, Al Capone the Cockatiel joined our family with his own cage. He responds best so far to sunflower seeds, and will (after much luring) manage to perch on my finger (poking inside with my closed hand still outside the cage) in order to reach and obtain his treat. (I've a habit of feeding him multiple seeds after that single act though - is that over-rewarding and bad for his recall?) Putting my hand in his cage sometime after elicits occassional panic, but otherwise he tolerates human presence very well. As of this point, I've yet to confirm my pace and see what the next step is. I very much am excited about bringing him out of the cage already, but I'm afraid that if it's done too soon he may fly away. I've yet to see if millet sprays are available at the store, but for now his seeds seem effective enough as rewards.

I decided to not rush Bonnie and Clyde in their training and to let them soak up the environment while I attend to Al. The pair seems to have redeveloped (or still have) their uneasiness around human presence, but I hope to reconnect with them more later on when I have more time. I've made a makeshift birdhouse out of a sturdy cardboard box for them to indulge in, though I haven't installed it yet as I am not sure if it would be a bad move and will only allow for hiding spaces which are detrimental to their taming and eventual training.

That's about it for my bird stories. If anyone would like to share their opinions on my handling and status so far, or advice on what I should do (or stop doing!) from hereon, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks and I look forward to learning from and sharing with this community!

[Eileen]

Hi Dana,
Welcome to the forum. You sound very excited about your two new family members. I just wanted to say welcome and keep reading up on the information here in the forum. There is great information here.

Best wishes to you