How to Choose a Parakeet

Choose a young parakeet. Older birds tend to be set in their ways, and therefore harder to train and bond with. A baby budgie's will have black stripes on their foreheads all the way down to their beak, while older birds will not. The eyes of young budgies will be entirely black, while older birds will have a white ring around their irises.

Understand that you might not be able to known the sex of a parakeet, as this can be very difficult when they are younger. Only when they get older do their ceres (the two "boobles" above their beak) change color. However, there can be a subtle difference: male baby budgies tend to have a bit of a pinkish translucent cere with a bluish or purplish tint. Female babies tend to have an opaque white covering most of the cere that has a light blue tint. Males also tend to be more vocal than females.

Ask if the parakeet has been hand-fed. This will mean that the little bird was raised with human contact and usually more easy to bond with. Find out how much time the breeder spend with the birds.

Know your two types of budgies: English budgies have fuller feathers, larger bodies and heads, and are popular at bird shows; while American budgies are smaller and tend to be the kind that are carried in pet stores. In terms of intelligence and personality, there is no difference.

Find your pet a cage with lots of space once you've chosen your budgie. You should also buy some toys to play with (a swing, bells and plastic rings are good choices). Clean the cage daily and you will have a happier bird. In addition to parakeet seed, supply them with millet, a cuttle bone (for calcium) and fresh water. You can feed them bits of produce like apple from time to time.