NationStates Jolt Archive

I've got a zoological question here...

A friend of mine has two parakeets. One, the female one, he has had for a while now, but a few weeks back, he decided to get a male one, as well.

They couldn't stand each other. The female one was obviously used to be on her own, and reacted very aggressively towards the new fellow, biting him and chasing him around. He seems to be a rather meek bird, and didn't fight back much. It got slightly better, she seemed to conted with him being around.
Now my friend has decided to put them in one cage together. The good news is, they haven't killed each other yet. ;)

Does anybody have any experiences with parakeet behaviour? Is it possible for the two to get used to each other, or will they continue to pick and bite?

I'm guessing that its partly because the female is showing her dominace over him, and once all of that is settled, it should be ok...

I'm guessing that its partly because the female is showing her dominace over him, and once all of that is settled, it should be ok...

I feel SO tempted right now to compare that to my friend... but I will resist. ;)

From what I recall of a friend's parakeets they are vicious buggers. He had to wear gloves because they kept on trying to take chunks out of his hands.

From what I recall of a friend's parakeets they are vicious buggers. He had to wear gloves because they kept on trying to take chunks out of his hands.

No, both of them are fairly tame, I think. She definitely is, he's still a bit shy but getting used to humans, too.

No, both of them are fairly tame, I think. She definitely is, he's still a bit shy but getting used to humans, too.

He could try getting another parakeet so that the other two will band together against the new one. Not sure if it works with parakeets though. I worked with our cats.

(NB: We didn't get a third cat just so the other two would band together against the new one. It just kinda happened untill they all got used to each other.)

No no, this is the parakeet mating ritual.

You see the female parakeet is the dominate gender in this specices, so she asserts her authority over the male until he succumbs to her will. Eventually they will mate and afterwards she will devour the sire of her children.

Actually I have no idea how parakeets reproduce, and im pretty sure i dont want to.

Anyway good luck with all that ...

we had a pair of lovebirds when I was a kid...one of them died, and within a week, the other one couldn't chirp anymore and soon later died.