How to Train Your Parakeet to Do Tricks

Parakeets are popular first-time pets, and are social, curious creatures that are easy to keep happy. They don't need to be kept in a cage all the time, either, and teaching your parakeet to do some simple tricks can be a good way to bond with the bird and create a happy, eager-to-please companion. As members of the parrot family, parakeets can learn many of the same tricks a parrot can -- even including how to speak.

Things You'll Need

  • Treats
  • Parakeet toys
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Instructions

    • 1

      Tame your parakeet. Before any tricks can be taught, there has to be a bond of trust between you and your parakeet. In the early stages, this can be begun by talking to the bird and getting him used to your voice. Reaching into the cage, then reaching in while holding a treat for him to take, and allowing him to sit on your hand are all crucial parts of training and earning trust.

    • 2

      Teach him to step up. This can be both an amusing trick and a useful thing for the parakeet to know. When he is sitting on your finger, take another finger from your other hand and press it against his belly. The natural response will be for him to step onto the offered finger, so reward with a treat. Repeat until the bird automatically steps up onto the offered finger -- this will not only make taking him out of his cage easy, but can be turned into a stair-climber sort of trick.

    • 3

      Teach him to come when called. Once he is completely comfortable being outside of the cage, let him hang out on a perch or the top of his cage. Take a step or two away, but not too far that he'll lose interest in you. Have a treat in one hand, and extend the hand as though you were next to him asking him to step up. Repeating his name, reward him when he takes the leap onto your finger. To begin with, the distance should be small and can be slowly increased as he begins to get the hang of it.

    • 4

      Teach the parakeet to talk. While some parrots have the capability to learn many words, a parakeet's vocabulary is more limited. They have a natural talent for mimicking sounds that they hear repeatedly, whether it is words or the sounds of other animals. Select a few words for the parakeet to learn, and simply repeat them over and over around him. A tape recorder can also be a useful tool; leave the recorder running while there is no one in the house, repeating the same words. This will not only encourage him to repeat what he hears, but will help keep him occupied.

    • 5

      Teach him to run an obstacle course. There is no shortage of items that can be used as toys for a parakeet, from ladders designed to be used in cages to strings of bells and swings. Setting up some toys on a tabletop and teaching the bird to run through it can not only be amusing for anyone watching but fun and interesting for the bird, too. To start with, take all the elements as one. For example, set up a ladder leaning against a stack of books. Hold the food at the top of the ladder to encourage him to climb it, and reward. Once the parakeet knows what to do with each of the toys, set them up into a course and use the food reward to guide him through it.