How do you make parakeets more social?
My brother and his girlfriend have two and they hate them because their noisy and messy. But I work at a pet shop and many people are very happy with their parakeets. They want to give them away but if i could give them some proper help/pointers, maybe they will keep them and work with them.
Give them some tequila
Handle them alot more, and give hem treats like raisins and dried cranberries.
By nature parakeets are very social making them noisy, and are very messy. There’s nothing you can really do to stop them from being that way. I would just have them find someone who loves parakeets and appreciates the way they are.
You should let them know that parakeets/budgies are birds and, well, if you didn’t want a noisy, messy animal, a bird is one of the worst animals you could bring home. (Though to be fair, mess is associated with basically any pet.)
People who don’t invest the proper time into their pet will wind up with pets that are poorly socialized, fearful, maybe aggressive, and won’t respond to owners. Do these birds ever get out of their cages?
One-on-one socialization with birds is easiest, which is why many may suggest you split up a bonded pair of birds. This, however, may lead to anxiety due to being separated. This may also work in reverse, because if one bird is braver than the other to experiment and accept treats from your brother and his girlfriend, maybe be the first to step up, and things like that, the other will follow. When they walk by the cage, do the birds freak out or seem fearful? This may be as apparent as flapping around like crazy and squawking like something is trying to kill them, or it may be as subtle as freezing totally still, feathers flat against their bodies in silence. If they do freak out, they should sit by their cage on a regular basis or have it moved to an area very centralized with people walking through it, hanging out in it everyday for long periods of time. They should encourage the birds to socialize with them, like responding to chirps. The noise can be controlled better when birds establish a higher bond with their people, because most screaming and squawking originates in a call for attention, which should be ignored; silence should be praised, but this is a few steps ahead of where your brother and his girlfriend are right now. If they’re spending time near them, the birds learn that people won’t hurt them. Sometimes people may also put their hands inside the birds’ cages, not close enough to look threatening, but far enough to feel that even though there is a “foreign” object inside their cage, it’s not hurting them. This should be done slowly and with a LOT of patience for the birds. If they get bitten, DON’T pull away or make any sudden movements. Let the bird let go on its own (or if it doesn’t, maybe blow lightly on the bird to discomfort it enough to release), and slowly withdraw the hand. A big part of owning birds is knowing that yes, you will get bitten no matter what. The more they work with the birds, the lower the chances they will be bitten again.
They can try taking them into a small, bird proof room like a bedroom with no fans, no high shelves/surfaces, no exposed wires or outlets, no open waters, nothing they could accidentally ingest, or a bathroom with lids, curtains, and doors closed and everything put away into cupboards or somewhere the birds can’t access. To tempt them out of the cage, they can use treats like millet. Most birds can’t resist it. They can try stick training and using the verbal command “step up” to teach them to step up onto the stick. This should be associated with a reward, which means praise and most often a treat. This may feel like the longest process, but in the end, is worth it. From stick training, I moved them to perching on my arm where there was less skin for the birds to grab onto if they did bite me. Some transitioning gave them comfort to coming to my hand.
However, there are people who do not want companion birds but enjoy caring for them and watching them. In this case, they should invest in a large aviary flight cage for the birds to properly exercise, and a large variety of perches and toys to keep their feet and mental stability in good shape.
There are some helpful links on general parrot (because parakeets/budgies are parrots) ownership and care here, if they want to give it a peek: http://www.rationalparrot.com
Well ofcourse they are noisy and messy they are after all a bird. The only way to make them more soical is to spend more time with them. Talking with them, holding them
I think so many people purchase birds and then are so overwhelmed regarding how messy or loud they are they just want to get rid of them. Is there any way you can take them from your brother and his gf? Maybe its best they be rehomed many ppl will accept birds if you advertise them in the local paper or on craigs list.
I would try to give them pointers. Some people are just not bird people though.
The birds are going to be messy and loud, that’s just the way birds are. They will be vacuuming up seeds during the whole lifetime of the birds
Are you interested in them? You could take them and take good care of them.
Honestly, if they are not willing to take care of them properly, finding a new home for them is the best solution. If they are not willing to take your pointers, maybe you could find a suitable home for them. I have found that people who don’t really care about the animals, also don’t care about who they give them to.
The things you need to ask people who want them is : what do you feed them? Do you have an avian vet? How long would the birds spend out of their cage? Have you had birds before?
Questions of that order. Also make sure you have a rehoming fee. It weeds out a lot of people who aren’t interested. The questionnaire does to. Been there, done that!
wellif they are making a mess and tossing things out od the cage tel them to get a cage cover, they sell them in clear so the birds can still see out of their cage but it traps all their little messes at the bottom. as for being more social they need ALOT of human contact. I have a 4 month old sun conure got her 3 weeks ago and already she follows me EVERY WHERE around the house jums off her perch and greets me at the door as soon as i get home and falls asleep with me almost every afternoon on the couch for a nap… good luck and hope they can keep them birds really are the best pets!!!