Parakeet age?

[animalpro24]

In your experience how old have your parakeets lived. Our parakeet was two when he died. My friends parakeet was also two when it died. Does it matter where you keep you birds We both kept our parakeets in the kitchen area, does it matter?

 

[Kitty135]

Hello! Glad you've taken an interest in parakeets! They're lovely little birds. My little blue parakeet lived a long and happy life. He died recently at 11 years old. He was my little boy and would sing and could even mimic knocking on a door and whistling. I recommend not teaching your parakeet to mimic knocking though, because I've had to actually check to see if someone was knocking at the door. Lol. He died of old age, and I suspect he lived to 11 years old because I gave him a healthy diet of almonds, oats, seeds, fruits and veggies every day and payed a lot of attention to him. I hope you have as good of an experience with parakeets as I have had! Good luck!
P.S- I also have a healthy young cockatiel 5 years old, and he's just as nice as my parakeet. He rides my shoulder all over the house and loves to cuddle!
Edited to add- Oh and do NOT keep a bird in the kitchen! Cooking fumes could kill your feathered friends!

 

[Pretty Birdie]

Quote:
Just to be a little more clear, (no offense meant, Kitty135,) the fumes that could kill your birds come from non-stick cooking ware. When heated up, the non-stick coating releases those dangerous fumes. Just thought you might like to know. I'm sorry about your budgies. On average, budgies live anywhere from 5-10 years, but with good care and a bit of good luck, they have been known to live up to 20.

 

[Kitty135]

Quote:
Just to be a little more clear, (no offense meant, Kitty135,) the fumes that could kill your birds come from non-stick cooking ware. When heated up, the non-stick coating releases those dangerous fumes. Just thought you might like to know. I'm sorry about your budgies. On average, budgies live anywhere from 5-10 years, but with good care and a bit of good luck, they have been known to live up to 20.

Oh haha I knew that it was from nonstick cookware but I just assume that most people use it. Lol! Also, cleaning chemicals can prove fatal to your feathered friends so I would just recommend not placing your bird in the kitchen as there are many risks.
Oh, and a bit off topic, but do you have any experience with African grays? I've been looking into getting one.

 

[a(TM)?HoneyBeea(TM)?]

I'm sorry if everything I am going to cover has already been covered, I'm not able to stay on

the internet long, but wanted to answer your question

2 years old is extremely young for a parakeet. Do you use non-stick cooking pans?

Since you said they are being housed in the kitchen, I'd suspect your baby was a victim

to teflon, which is in non-stick cooking pans. It kills in seconds. If you get another parakeet,

I would put the little guy/girl in a different room Another thing could be poor diet. But usually

even with that they live 5-6 years, which is also very young for a parakeet. If your birds are

on a well diet, good place with clean air, & well cared for, parakeets should live 15-20 years.

Theres many things that could have happened to your little bird, but I'd suspect teflon.

-HB

 

[Pretty Birdie]

Kitty135
I don't have any personal experience with African greys, but I have heard a lot about them. They are really smart, as are most psittacines (those in the parrot family) but they can be a bit louder than some other species. The good news is once they learn to talk, that noise is geared towards words. They can be very one person birds, so be prepared for the fact that you may not be that one person. I have heard several stories in which the one who takes care of the bird ends up playing second fiddle to another, in some cases not even being able to go near the bird's cage. If you will be content with simply having the bird in the house should that happen, then yay for you. There are several sites you can go to to research greys in more depth.www.africancongogrey.com is one such website. Hope this helps

 

[Nambroth]

There are a lot of different factors that come into play with age.
Budgies, ideally, should live in the 15-20 year range. Sadly most budgies don't these days!
This is due to:

1. Environmental factors (such as air quality, cage space and activity, etc)
2. Diet
3. Breeding (genetic heritage)

1. Environmental factors is usually the easiest to fix. Generally, the idea is to provide a large spacious cage (most cages marketed for parakeets/budgies are way, way too small). The budgie should at least have room to fly, climb around, play, stretch, etc. The cage can be smaller if you intend to provide at least 3 hours of 'out' time each day, otherwise buy the largest cage you can afford (but be careful that the bars are spaced close together-- you don't want the budgie to be able to get its head between the bars). Your budgie needs to stay active and not be a perch-potato. Just like us, if we just sit around most of the day we become unhealthy. Birds have a very fast metabolism and budgies in the wild are flying and foraging for food ALL day long! Provide with stimulation; toys, foraging treats, etc. Air quality is a big one; anything scented that you use in your home (perfumes, air 'fresheners', cleaning products, candles etc) can cause respiratory problems in birds, especially long-term. Any cooking item that contains a non-stick product can and will produce a toxic, odorless and invisible off-gassing at high heats (possibly as low as 300° however most are only super dangerous above 475°) that can kill birds very quickly. Also if the bird is in the same air-space as the kitchen, any burning food can cause distress too. Most modern ovens have a self-cleaning cycle where the oven heats up very hot and the fumes from this have killed many parrots in the past!

2. Diet is a little more tricky, because budgies are so stubborn! But a seed-alone diet bought from the store is not enough and will almost always lead to malnourishment and nutrition problems such as deficiencies, liver problems, etc. Parrot diets can be complex and the subject of much debate (hah, just like feeding chickens!). The best thing you can do is research and decide what is best. Here are a few links to start you off: http://www.thebudgiecage.com/budgie_health/budgie_diet.php http://www.birds-online.de/nahrung/nahrung_en.htm http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?s=fb6c010ccac8947086a5d84bda447ba0&t=19669

3. Breeding, sadly, is an unfortunate tale here in the USA. When budgies started to become popular, and everyone realized how 'easy' it was to breed them, many many breeders were out to make as many budgies as possible for profit. This has started to change, but think even 5, 10 years ago when you went into a pet store (even the big chains like Petco, Petsmart)... did they just have a few budgies, or did they have a LOT of them? Breeding = money and little care was taken to selectively breed for longevity or to breed traits out of the budgies that over-breeding produced. Just like what happened to fancy rats-- today's average budgie is MORE prone to health problems (especially tumors) than they used to be. Even on a healthy diet many budgies die before they reach their prime. But combined with a poor diet it really wipes a lot of budgies out.

 

[animalpro24]

Thanks guys for all the answers!

 

[packmomma]

My very first bird was a parakeet. Her name was Misty..turns out she was a boy but I didnt know that till she was like 5 lol..I mean he..hm.... Anyway Misty lived to be 10. I fed her just the normal run of the mill walmart seed, millet, cuttlebone, and the occasional honey based stick treats. I got her when I was 16 for my birthday. We picked each other. The lady tried to catch her in a cage with about 10 other birds and grabbed one and asked if that was it..I was like no she's right there! I kept her in my room and played with her all the time. She learned to fly to the window on command and to come back. She also could talk. She said Misty, pretty bird, come here, and did a wolf whistle. She earned me a nice fat trophy in 4H. I loved her very much and miss her everyday. I have one picture of her and my 2nd parakeet David. They should at least live to 8 I would think. My neighbor has a 16 year old cockatiel.

About the african grey...well my neighbor has one. It only like her, hates her husband. He is a very good talker and does a lot of mimic sounds but the one drawback she says and I've heard is he likes the alarm clock and it will "sound" all day for hours. I can hear it across the street at my house. You also have to be very careful what you say because they pick up things very fast. Her bird tells her husband go to work, calls all her dogs by their names and also says the f word..which is what her husband says to it all the time. I personally wouldnt have one or recommend one..I decided on an Eclectus. They are generally friendly with everyone, dont pick up the mimics as quick, and are still great talkers. Mine is 4-5 years old, male, solomon island, and named Tiki. He can say about 50 phrases including Mom, hot, cold ( I taught him that so he knew what the food was and wouldnt burn his little mouth), I wanna shower, I wanna eat, I'm sexy wanna kiss, pretty bird, tickle tickle tickle, here kitty kitty, meows, barks, there are others but those are his choices right now. Whatever kind you get just make sure you have time for it and will continue to have time for it. Your talking 30-50 years for average parrots..the bigger the longer the life.

 

[animalpro24]

Also, where do all of you get your Parakeets? Petstore or breeder?