<p>I'm watching a pair of parakeets this week for a friend.</p>
<p>so far they chirp to each other on the order of hours per day, fly around my house like huge insects which freaks me out, land on my head..</p>
<p>why are these pets so popular? i read that they are. but you can't even cuddle with them (i tried). I get that they are intelligent and do clever things and can develop relationships with humans, but they belong in a flock (being part of a flock is very important to parakeets) and they belong outside. </p>
<p>secondly i have no screens or air conditioning, so letting them fly around and play in my house's tree and plants makes my house really hot, so i have to lock them up during the whole middle of the day, which i wish i didn't have to do. they are so loud so i can't forget about them. their shrill chirping keeps reminding me they're jailed. yeah..</p>
<p>==</p>
<p>thought i was in hsl :p. guess i'll repost there. i don't imagine college students would have pet birds.</p>
<p>Budgerigars are readily available, inexpensive, and have relatively low maintenance requirements. Furthermore, they are quite intelligent and can be tamed/trained to talk.</p>
<p>Parakeets are great pets and companions. They mimic sounds, or “talk” although not as … recognizably … as some of the larger parrots. They will bond to their owners, but will probably be shy with strangers. </p>
<p>They are the most inexpensive of the pet birds and relatively easy to care for. As a pet shop owner, we sell a lot of keets, but I would prefer a little more bird, such as a cockatiel or a conure, if I was going to have one for myself as a pet.</p>
<p>In the $1000 and up category, the Greys, Amazons, Caiques, and even Macaws are very rewarding pets and companions.</p>
<p>I used to have two budgies as pets. Initially their shyness (and noise-level and the dirt they spread when they flew inside of their cage) made them rather frustrating pets, but they grew on me when they allowed me to hold them and pet them and started to imitate my sounds.</p>