If you want an interesting pet that will make you smile, then a pet parakeet must be for you. A parakeet is a comical bird, you can teach it tricks, and it can easily learn all kinds of tricks from you. A parakeet has tons of personality, and for many bird owners, it is the perfect pet. Here are more reasons why you must consider a parakeet pet for you and your family soon.
A parakeet is a perfect pet for a homebody
A parakeet is a pet that doesn’t need much to live. As long as it has good food and a loving owner, it will live happy and healthy. If you want to stay home, watch TV or check out stuff on the web, a parakeet will be a good companion. It won’t demand extra attention and won’t ask to be taken out like a dog. But it can also be a good companion for an active person as you can teach this bird many tricks.
Parakeets can talk!
Some parakeets can talk or mimic human speech. These birds, especially male parakeet species, are capable of retaining hundreds of words. Simple words like its name, fetch, get, come, and many more can be understood. However, females of the species can only retain a dozen words. But this does not mean that female parakeets are dumb. They can still expand their vocabulary as long as they interact with their owners regularly.
How do parakeets talk, by the way? Somehow, the vocal cords of parakeets are more designed for mimicking sounds like a unique human voice. Some pet owners even report that their pets can even mimic how high or how their voices were, and what’s interesting is that they sound very much the same!
If you have a parakeet, you can teach it new sounds and new words. You can teach it to sing simple tunes or to mimic sounds. It can mimic the sound of an alarm clock, a bell, the telephone, or your doorbell. A parakeet can be taught to respond to simple questions and to ask questions as well. All you need is patience and a lot of time to teach your pet new sounds and music.
Parakeets can mimic sounds and human speech. It has a wide vocabulary and can even mimic speech to the right pitch and pace. Some pet owners place radios or their TVs near their pet’s cage to help encourage their pets to talk. However, these can be an overload of sounds and thus may be too much for your pet to handle! The best way to teach your pet to talk and to speak only words that you want it to say is to talk to it.
To start this exercise, you must place the cage in a safe, secure, and quiet area in your home. Start by saying a simple two-syllable word a few times. Two syllable words are easier to say and won’t be too complicated for your pet. Every day, interact with your pet and say the word. It will soon mimic your speech to the T and the words crystal clear. As your pet expands its vocabulary with constant interactions, you may add sounds as well. This bird can mimic sounds like a doorbell, a telephone, and even the sounds of other animals.
Sometimes birds like the parakeet learn new words and sounds by accident. A catchy sound or a word or phrase that interests them might make them very interested enough to copy it. Sadly, when a parakeet learns inappropriate words or sounds, you will not be able to erase it from its memory. Pets can’t unlearn sounds and behaviors like swearing, catcalling, and other unwanted sounds and words. This is why you must be responsible when you’re training your pet how to talk and mimic sounds.
Parakeets offer non-stop entertainment
Because parakeets can be taught all kinds of tricks, this little pet offers a ton of entertainment. As long as your pet is well-trained, you can make it do tricks and perform for your family. You can play fetch, hide, and go seek or climbing games. Your audience will surely be very entertained!
You will also have a lot of fun watching your pet parakeet have fun with its toys. You can place all kinds of toys in its cages like a toy rope, hoops, balls, mirrors, bells, and many more. You can also give your pet more challenging toys when it’s out of its cage and interacting with you. Give it basketball, skateboards, building blocks, and so many more. Even the simplest things can become a fun toy for this bird!
Parakeets will interact with their owners
One of the most exciting parts of having a pet parakeet is that it’s unlike other pet birds because it can interact with its owners well. Some birds will just stare at you, but the parakeet will go beyond that and will talk, make all kinds of sounds and will also mimic you.
Some pet owners say that their pet parakeet is very responsive and can even feel their owners’ affection. When trained well, these birds can come to you and ask for affection; they will move towards you and touch your head or peck at your hair. Some may also fly towards you and stay on your shoulders or arms, an indication that it wants to interact.
But just like all other tricks in the book, you must establish trust first before this can happen. Your bird will first learn that it can trust you with its life before it will follow your commands.
Parakeets will encourage you to eat healthily
Parakeets are like other parrot species that eat mostly fruits and vegetables. Although some birds may eat small insects, lizards, and rats, their diets are mostly fruits found near their habitats.
And because of parakeets’ love for fruits and vegetables, you’ll surely find yourself in the produce section of the supermarket shopping for its food more often than shopping for meat or fish. As a result, you might become interested in a better and healthy food alternative and thus begin to eat healthier too.
Your parakeet may eat commercially-prepared food, but you may improve its diet by adding fresh fruits and vegetables. Aside from these, you can also add pasta, nuts, cereals, bread, and more. And despite this additional food, you’re still eating healthy.
You can travel with your parakeet
Parakeets are compact, handy, and easy to take anywhere. Compared to a dog that you need to leash up, place inside a cage or a carrier, parakeets just need a small cage, bird food, and freshwater. You won’t have to worry about making stops to potty or worry that it’s getting bored like a pet cat.
And if you must travel with a parakeet, you must learn about the specific requirements about taking a pet bird this size in a plane, train or bus. Most of the time, parakeets are treated as hand-carry in trains, buses, and taxis, but traveling by plane is a different thing. You may also need to present some papers to prove your pet is in good health before you can take it on a plane.
But don’t let this deter you from traveling with your pet. You just need to find the most practical way to travel.
Parakeets enjoy the world in full color
Unlike dogs and cats, parakeets enjoy the world in all its lovely colors. Parakeets can distinguish all the color hues and maybe even more. Experts say that the bird uses this amazing capability to look for food and to find good places to nest in. Also, since parakeets come in all sorts of colors, it would surely be proper to have their vision colorful, right?
So how can you enjoy this fantastic ability as well? You can get your pet all kinds of colorful items to play with. Parakeets love to play, and giving them colorful toys like balls, strings, vines, perches, and hoops will surely make them happy. You can also find a colorful companion for your pet as well. You can have yellow, purple, blue and green parakeets.
Parakeets can learn tricks fast
Parakeets are very intelligent and, in fact, are one of the smartest bird species. Over many years of living near humans, these birds have developed amazing intelligence and talents beyond the capability of other birds.
Think of a parakeet as a child who can be trained and taught to do all kinds of things. With just the right training and, of course, some treats, your pet can perform tricks. Simple tricks like sitting on your hand, getting on your shoulders, and turning around can be taught in just hours. More complicated tricks like fetching things, playing dead, or riding a minibike may sound outrageous but you can teach your parakeet these in a day. We’ll discuss some very easy tricks that you can teach your parakeet in this guide as well.
It’s very common for pet owners to use treats to train their pet birds. Treats motivate pets and will make them anticipate training, especially when you have your pet’s favorite treat. But take extra care when using treats because giving too much can lead to obesity.
You can substitute treats with praises and different affectionate behavior like pats on the head, stroking its back, and by kissing your pet on the head. If your pet is completely motivated with food, then you might tweak it a bit. You can use healthy treats like beans, cereal, dried fruit, small bits of vegetables, and popcorn.
Parakeets are easy to manage
Unlike other pets, a parakeet won’t be too hard to manage. Yes, you need regular interactions with your pet, but most of the time, it’s inside its cage and socializing with other birds. It won’t be in the way, spreading fur all over your furniture and making a lot of mess.
Parakeets also follow routines, and they know when it’s time to wake up, eat, and play. Follow a daily routine, and you’ll surely find parakeets very easy to handle and won’t be a pet that will keep you from your daily activities as well.
Parakeets are easy to feed
Parakeets are the easiest to feed because these will eat anything that you serve it for as long as it is a food that he naturally eats. You can serve it fruits and vegetables because of these staple foods in its natural habitat. You can also add a medley of other food items like seeds, sprouts, and beans. And for variety, you can also serve other foods like popcorn, bread, and pasta. This bird can eat food whole or cooked; it has a strong beak that it can use to crush seeds and hard fruits. Its bill is also handy in scoring fruits, picking on small food, and for nibbling on large ones.
Parakeets won’t mind if you give it the same food daily because it is not picky. But don’t give your pet food that can hurt its stomachs like human food, chocolates, dog or cat food, and fruits or veggies are grown with pesticides or chemicals.
Conclusion
One of the perks of owning a pet parakeet is that you can train it to do all kinds of tricks, and you can also teach it to talk and make all kinds of sounds. The very first thing you need to train your pet when you first get it is to trust you. Trust is important in all pet animals, so they will be more comfortable with your company and will be more receptive to further training. Trust is developed through continuous training and patience. Your pet will come home with no idea who you are or where it’s at. You must establish trust so your pet won’t become stressed and fearful of you.
