Black Spots and a Lonely Keet

User Question
First, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Your website(s) have been terrific help.

My husband works for an elementary school, and he brought one of the class parakeets home because there would be no one to care for him during the summer. What I know is that he used to have another parakeet in his cage, but she passed away. We got him about 2 weeks later.

We've bought him a cuttlebone, a swing (which he adores) a couple of wooden toys, and a mirror. He seemed really depressed before, so we bought him the mirror. I think he's about 2 years old, and he's currently molting.

A few questions: Do you think I should buy him a friend? I'm inclined to think so because he spent all his life with another one, but I'm not sure.

Two: These black specs have appeared on top of his head, and when I was cleaning up around the cage I noticed that lots of them were on the floor. Are these mites? Should I take him to the vet??

And three: I'm not sure if he's adjusting very well. I've tried doing everything on your website for new and older budgies, but I still can't get him not to snap at me when I put my hand in the cage.

Thanks for your help. You are a godsend!!!!

Lisa's Answer
I definitely would get him a friend, he does sound lonely. The specs do sound like mites, I'd take him to a vet to make sure and then probably do a thorough cleaning of the cage and such. The training will take longer, he probably was ... "wildly treated" by the kids at the school. A few weeks of patience should get him to be more mellow. I have lots of training tips on the site to help with that.

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