Oh, totally, Caroline! I didn't mean to suggest at all inventing "free range parakeets".

I'm sure you're right and they would become "no parakeets" or "wild parakeets" on the first day of the trial.

RickCorey said:Oh, totally, Caroline! I didn't mean to suggest at all inventing "free range parakeets".

I'm sure you're right and they would become "no parakeets" or "wild parakeets" on the first day of the trial.

I'm defiantly NOT putting them outside. I meant their walk-in cage that I'm going to build.

I learned that the hard way. Mika's mate used to be Mixie, but during a stressful moving time I opened the cage to feed them and she flew away . I've never wanted to even put Mika's cage outside after that, but I know he'll be happiest being able to see many plants and have some fresh air. Besides, all of this "bird dust" is probably pretty bad for my lungs.

When we were in Sydney, we were walking through Sydney Botanical Garden towards the Opera house just before sunset...suddenly the sky was full of Sulphur crested cockatoos heading to the trees to roost for the night. You could tell who the tourists were...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...



You might like this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Moonhowl said:When we were in Sydney, we were walking through Sydney Botanical Garden towards the Opera house just before sunset...suddenly the sky was full of Sulphur crested cockatoos heading to the trees to roost for the night. You could tell who the tourists were...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...



You might like this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Amazing video! The black swans were beautiful.

It is like walking through a zoo with all the exotic birds. Truly an experience.

Moonhowl said:It is like walking through a zoo with all the exotic birds. Truly an experience.

The budgie show part kind of made me sad. I'm a person who gives my parakeets a good sized cage, so seeing those tiny cages made me a little upset. they're heads are huge, too! And I thought Mika's forehead was pretty large!

Agreed, but watching flocks of Budgies flitting around in the wild is just neat.

Moonhowl said:Agreed, but watching flocks of Budgies flitting around in the wild is just neat.

Yes, very. Makes me wish I was a billionaire, so I could buy tons of parakeets and make them a GIANT covered aviary, complete with trees and other plants, along with exotic fruit. Gosh, they'd be spoiled, but spoiled is great if it's an animal.

Re. moving... I wonder if you could make your enclosure out of panels (maybe even use "cattle panels" -- fencing sections -- that are sold in stores here like Tractor Supply or Southern States, with an added layer of smaller mesh). You'd still need to put in supports, maybe sunk into the ground on concrete footings (depending on the size of your structure), but you could disassemble the panels if/when you move and put new posts in at your new place.

I'm just curious... how big an enclosure and how many birds are you talking about? Could you make something like a chicken coop or a rabbit hutch (enclosed enough that it can be heated if need be) for them to use in cold weather? Parakeets seem brighter than other birds their size, and most birds are not "too dumb to come in out of the rain." (Except domestic turkeys, but I digress)

critterologist said:Re. moving... I wonder if you could make your enclosure out of panels (maybe even use "cattle panels" -- fencing sections -- that are sold in stores here like Tractor Supply or Southern States, with an added layer of smaller mesh). You'd still need to put in supports, maybe sunk into the ground on concrete footings (depending on the size of your structure), but you could disassemble the panels if/when you move and put new posts in at your new place.

I'm just curious... how big an enclosure and how many birds are you talking about? Could you make something like a chicken coop or a rabbit hutch (enclosed enough that it can be heated if need be) for them to use in cold weather? Parakeets seem brighter than other birds their size, and most birds are not "too dumb to come in out of the rain." (Except domestic turkeys, but I digress)

I already figured out what I'll use. It won't be collapsible, just small enough to put into a moving truck.
I have two parakeets, and the enclosure will be rather big. 6 feet tall and long at the most.

that's a lot of space for two... I wonder if there are more parakeets or possibly a parrolet or cockatiel in your future LOL

btw, Hyde Park in Chicago has several large colonies of parrots. They're a little smaller than pigeons and apparently come from a mountain region (of Peru, I think?). They make it through the winter because people feed them and because they build these large leafy communal nests.

I read that the San Diego Zoo acquired some animal that was so rare (perhaps none in captivity before that) that no one knew their temperature requirements.

So they gave the pool a "temperature gradient" where one part was warmer, and another part cooler, than the rest.

They watched where the animal (a rhino?) preferred to hang out and adjusted the temperature to match what it liked.

If you gave your enclosure one heated corner, or a heated box with a small entryway, the birds would use it whenever they felt cold.