Socializing Your Parakeet

Socializing a parakeet is important if you expect these creatures to successfully adapt to our surroundings.  These birds need to be properly socialized because they have not been domesticated or they have not learned to adapt or survive in our human surroundings.  Unlike dogs and cats that have had the luxury to coexist with humans for thousands of years, budgies have only been kept for a few hundred years.  This is not enough time to be classified as domesticated.   In turn, your parakeet needs to be properly socialized to better accept change and understand our environment.

Socializing a parakeet takes work and the best time to start the process is while the parakeet is young.  It should be noted that socializing is a process that never ends.  Your parakeet will constantly need to adjust to new surroundings, new objects, and new people.  How you start the process will make all the difference to how the bird will react and accept things later on as an adult and life.

When parakeets are babies, they are very impressionable.  In fact, their minds are starting the imprinting process.  During this process the brain is making all kinds of connections as to what is going on in its environment.  And through talking with many pet owners and studying pet budgies, I believe the most impressionable time is during the first year.  It is during this year that most parakeets talk, become mature, and learn about their environments.  Because the parakeets are learning so much during this crucial developmental window, it is important you expose your budgie to anything you can.   

The first and most important thing is to socialize your budgie to different foods.  We always hear how budgies refuse to eat fruits, vegetables, or pellets.  This is because most of the parakeets were not properly socialized or exposed to new foods.  To avoid this problem, start offering your budgie all kinds of foods daily.  Keep things interesting and keep rotating between pellets, vegetables and fruits.  The sooner the parakeet learns to enjoy foods, the healthier and longer your bird will live.

The next important thing to do is teach your parakeet to accept change.   This can be done by changing the environment regularly, changing the toys around in the cage, moving the cage in many different places, or moving the play stand in different rooms.  Change is important because parakeets that do not accept or understand change can develop physiological problems.  Keep things random and although a schedule is important, it is also just as important to change things around a bit.

Teaching your parakeet to be independent is also important.  People tend to make the mistake of unintentionally teaching the bird to only thrive when their owners are around.   Though this may seem like a good idea, it really does more harm than good.  Budgies that have not leaned to be independent can pluck their feathers or mutilate themselves. In the wild all parents force their fledglings to become independent.  Only after they have learned this skill do they start to find a mate and move on to nesting.  This means that you must teach the parakeet to entertain itself while you are out through toys and other stimulants.   It is highly recommended you expose your parakeet to toys and obstacles while you are out.  Place a radio or leave the television on to help entertain the bird.  You can even place the cage by a window (away from direct sun light) so the bird can look out while you are gone.  The process needs to be continued and you need the parakeet to play on its stand without your assistance.

Being independent does not mean it is okay to let the parakeet be alone, it only means the bird must be able to cope with your absence.   A parakeet is a social animal and will suffer if it does not receive interaction from you or another budgie.

Again, remember that socializing your parrot is an ongoing task that will never end.  Budgies have the ability to learn throughout their lives and it is up to you to stimulate their curiosity and keep them active.  They are confined to a cage daily and because of this, they need to be shown there is life beyond the cage bars.  If you properly socialize your bird you will have a better rounded and less phobic creature that will bring countless hours of joy into your life.