Three Year Old Parakeet Needs Training

User Question
i have a parakeet who was played with the first week but then he was left in the cage with a mirror and some other toys for like 3 years. is it possible to start training him from the start and gain his trust again?

also we used to change the water once a week. can he be sick now?

and last thing we got a new parakeet about 12 weeks old. even though my first one is 3 years older will they still get along and play with each other? b/c right now, the first few days, theyre avoiding each other, occasionaly nipping each other and sometimes squaking at each other. now we treat them,him, much better after realization so dont worry. can they mate and have children?

Lisa's Answer
Wow, that's a lot of questions! My site has most of the answers that you're looking for. I'm very glad you are taking better care of the keet! First on training, sure you can start training him. It's never too late to earn the trust of your parakeet.

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/articles/bird_hand.html

On the water, if your parakeet was sick, you'd notice it in his behavior. Just feed him fresh water from now on and he'll be even healthier.

On the new parakeet, it's never a good idea to just dump a new parakeet into an existing parakeet's cage. The existing parakeet had this cage as his home, his castle. All of a sudden a new bird is jumping around in there, making trouble! Think of it as your bedroom. What if you had your own bedroom for 10 years and then all of a sudden without ANY warning you had a 3 year old toddler leaping around it in, screaming and yelling, using all your stuff without permission. Wouldn't it bother you?

It's really best to start out with each keet in his own cage, even if it's a small one for the newcomer. Let them get used to each other gradually. Leave their cages open when they're hand trained and let them willingly explore each other's cages. When they are used to each other, then they can share one cage as long as it has 2 food dishes and such so each has his or her own spot.

I have a whole page on breeding here -

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/articles/bird_breeding.html

It's not something just to jump into. Make sure you read through that and then really study the issue assuming you have a male and female who even show interest in it.

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