Releasing Parakeets into the Wild

User Question
Thanks for the information about parakeets. They are helpful indeed!

I have inherited 2 parakeets, not by choice. I know they have been caged for about 3 years now, and they are not hand-trained. I would like to release them so they can be free. Would I be hurting them if I do release them? Or would you recommend I try to find another home for them?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lisa's Answer
Pets should NEVER be released into the wild! It's hard enough for wild animals to survive in the wild, and they were trained from birth by their parents in all the specific skills they would need. Pet animals that are raised on pet food, in safe cages, with even temperatures never learn any of those skills. If you released your parakeets into the wild, they would either starve to death (which is a long, slow, painful death) or they would be visciously killed by a hawk or other predator.

It really doesn't take that long to hand train a parakeet if that is your only issue. It just takes time and patience. Three years is still very young in a parakeet's life, it still easily has another 10 years to go. If you really and truly just don't want to own a parakeet, then talk to your local pet shop and animal rescue shelter. Undoubtedly there's somewhere in your area that you can turn the parakeets over until a new person can take care of them. If you want to tell me where you are I can post a note on the board here and maybe a visitor will decide to adopt them.

But whatever you do, do NOT just send them out your door. That's pretty much as bad as locking them in a closet and letting them die in a very painful manner.

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