How Can I Encourage My Keets to Mate?

Parakeets, or budgies, are small, gregarious birds and are popular pets. Breeding parakeets takes time and attention. Mother parakeets can become egg-bound and need monitoring throughout the breeding process, and tiny baby parakeets can need special care. You should have experience with the birds before attempting to breed them and be available to monitor the situation throughout the process. With proper housing and environment, parakeets are relatively easy to breed. There are steps you can take to encourage a pair of keets to mate.

Things You'll Need

  • Large cage
  • Nest box
  • Full-spectrum lighting
  • Another parakeet pair
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Instructions

    • 1

      Be sure your birds are old enough to mate. Birds should be at least 1 year old before breeding.

    • 2

      Provide a large cage. A breeding pair will need a cage large enough for them to be active and fly around --- at least 24-by-18-by-18-inches. The cage needs to be large enough to accommodate up to five chicks at the end of the breeding process. The larger the cage, the better when breeding birds.

    • 3

      Attach a nest box, available in many styles at most pet stores, to the cage. Adding a nest box to the cage in breeding season encourages budgies to mate. Successful breeding without one is virtually impossible.

    • 4

      Provide full-spectrum light to induce breeding. Gradually increase the length of time per day the birds are exposed to light over a period of weeks. Parakeets require at least 13 hours of light a day to trigger them to breed.

    • 5

      Watch for signs that the birds are in breeding condition. The birds will become extremely active; they will begin tearing up newspaper at the bottom of the cage, feeding each other or tapping their beaks on the perches. Both the male and female parakeet must be in breeding condition for mating to take place.

    • 6

      Get another pair of birds. If you are having difficulty getting a pair to breed, get another pair. Parakeets are flock birds and often a single pair won't mate. Hearing other birds nearby will encourage them to mate.

    • 7

      Set up a separate cage for the new pair. Parakeets prefer separate breeding cages.