Abstract
Grey-cheeked Parakeets Brotogeris pyrrbopterus make wonderful pets for the apartment dweller or small home dweller. They don't require much space and any cage of appropriate size will do. They like toys and places to hide. (They are also known as pocket parrots') The handfed babies love to be with people and will ride around on your shoulder or in your pocket as long as you will allow them.A Grey-cheeked breeding routine for me begins with a healthy adult bird. A bird new to my facility will be isolated for a month or more. Once the prospective breeder is believed to be healthy, it is introduced to another one of the opposite sex from the flock. (All breeders are surgically sexed.) These two are caged together until breeding season is over. At that time, Grey-cheeked Parakeets Brotogeris pyrrbopterus make wonderful pets for the apartment dweller or small home dweller. They don't require much space and any cage of appropriate size will do. They like toys and places to hide. (They are also known as pocket parrots') The handfed babies love to be with people and will ride around on your shoulder or in your pocket as long as you will allow them.
A Grey-cheeked breeding routine for me begins with a healthy adult bird. A bird new to my facility will be isolated for a month or more. Once the prospective breeder is believed to be healthy, it is introduced to another one of the opposite sex from the flock. (All breeders are surgically sexed.) These two are caged together until breeding season is over. At that time,
one pair that laid three clutches one year. I discourage multiple clutches by removing the nest box. This is stressful on the breeding pair. I leave the pairs in the breeding cages until all pairs are through breeding and have had a rest for about two weeks. At this time all the parents are released into a colony in a walk-in flight.
The walk-in flights are indooroutdoor style, the outdoor area being four feet wide, nine feet long and nine feet high. The indoor area is eight feet wide, four feet deep and nine feet high. They are given bedrooms (a series of small, connected wooden boxes similar to a finch nest box) for sleeping or hiding. There are several perches of varying sizes appropriate for their feet made available indoors and out. The entire area is cement floor with a roof which is an extension of our building. The ousides are draped with clear plastic for protection from the weather during the winter months.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, our weather can get very cold and I have found the Grey-cheeked will acclimate quite nicely if protected from breezes and kept above freezing. If heat is needed, I provide a red heat lamp. Never use the white heat bulbs as they will blind the birds. No matter how cold, the birds will spend some time in the outdoor area every day. On sunny days the plastic drapes are rolled up and the birds have indirect sunlight.
Sunlight is very important to all living things. It is necessary for assimilating vitamins and minerals, calcium being a very important one. Cuttlebone is provided at all times. Just before going to nest, the Greycheekeds work the cuttlebones until what is not eaten is on the floor of the cage. A mineral block may be put in the cage but in my opinion, the Greycheeked does not care for them. They prefer the cuttlebone.
I use very small amounts of vitamins and minerals. If the diet is nutritious, they will get the needed vitamins and minerals naturally. To bring the birds into breeding condition I don't change the diet a great deal. Vitamin E and a good powdered vitamin is added to the vegetable dish once a week.