<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 chirruping keeps reminding me they're jailed. yeah..</p>
<p>maybe i was too hard on them. i would like some if i could solve the heating problem. the noise i could get used to i think.</p>
<p>I’m confused about the air conditioning part. You have a tree in your house?</p>
<p>yep i have a small tree in my house :). when the birds come out it gets hot because the windows have to be shut. I wish i had air conditioning to counteract that.</p>
<p>Oooh ok I understand now. Do you have blinds on your windows? Because then you could open the windows and then crack the blinds so air could still pass through but the birds wouldn’t get out.</p>
<p>Please, explain to me how your house stays birdpoop-free with two parakeets free-flying around.</p>
<p>I have a parakeet. He comes out of his cage for maybe 2 hours a day and stays in there for the rest. He seems pretty happy, he talks and sings a lot. I can tune him out if he’s loud, but it was a pain at first. </p>
<p>He definitely likes to cuddle, but I had him for a few months before he liked me that much. </p>
<p>Sent from my Incredible using CC</p>
<p>In Pre-Vet I did a report on this. The truth is that you can cuddle with birds, but you have to train them. Usually when you first get birds, you leave them alone for 1-2 days so they can get familiar with its surroundings. It’s hard to create a connection with a pet that’s not yours, but I’m assuming that the owner is treating the birds with great respect. They’re popular because their birds lol. They come in wonderful colors and fun to play with. I held many birds and other poultry and it takes patience on your part. Also, fo you have any plug-in fans? Those work fine.</p>
<p>yeah, no blinds. </p>
<p>good idea about plug-in fans, i’m sure i have some somewhere :).</p>
<p>Chirobird - I’m not sure it would :p. so far my mom hasn’t noticed anything. I would imagine they could be litter-trained, given less intelligent animals can. perhaps it’s not in parakeets nature to be litter-trained though.</p>
<p>lupy - aww :). i’m glad your parakeet has a friendly companion like you. the parakeets i’m watching naturally don’t bit humans or anything because they were hand-fed as pups (?) so i think they are amenable to cuddling, just hasn’t worked yet.</p>
<p>I’m amazed at how interested they are in humans. compared to me, they take 0 interest in my rabbit.</p>
<p>All of this is making me want a parakeet!</p>
<p>Me too, I’ve always wanted one, the vet hospital I’m interning at, has ton, I can’t wait!</p>
<p>I really want an Eclectus Parrot.</p>
<p>Aww, so cute! The kid I babysits owns a parrot, and I like to have it perch on my shoulder so I can pretend I’m a pirate.</p>