Parakeets and a Canary

User Question
Peace and love to you! What a wonderful site! Thanks for sharing your insight and love with everyone.

I have a few quick questions for you. I love all animals, but with 3 dogs 5 kids and a limited budget, I had not planned on adding birds, other than the wild ones that visit at my many bird feeders. One day the kids called me to look at the white keet that was feeding at the feeder. I think he had recently left home because he was so clean and neat looking. He let us bring him indoors and we got a cage went online to see what care was involved, eventually got him a bigger cage and a mate and we have had them both for over a year now.

Other than fresh greens they never eat the fruit and veggies I cut up for them. I was wondering why. They throw it on the bottom of the cage soon after I put it in their dishes.

Also can parakeets and canaries reside in the same cage?

Thanks if you find the time to respond, and Blessings to you either way!

Lisa's Answer
Hey there, good for you for adopting the lost little keet!

Parakeets all have individual tastes and it can take them a while to get used to a new food. My green parakeet, Nazo, will eat pretty much anything we put into the cage. But our other two parakeets are usually afraid of new foods and will only go after a food that Nazo seems to really enjoy. It's really funny to watch. There are still foods that Nazo will eat that the others won't. Maybe they don't like the flavor of them. Maybe they are afraid of them still. You can only do your best, offering a variety of foods and seeing what they enjoy. I do have a Parakeet Food List of things for you to try.

Also make sure the food is easy for them to eat. It might be they're trying to eat it and while they are nibbling at it it falls out of the cup. I actually attach celery and lettuce and stuff to the side of the cage with clips. That way they can nibble at it without it getting into the dirty cage bottom.

I really wouldn't put a parakeet in with canaries. Canaries shouldn't leave the cage, while parakeets should be coming out daily to play. Usually when you take the parakeets out to play you leave the cage open so they can fly home when they're done. How would you keep the canaries from flying out when you did this?

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