Parakeets make excellent pets and are the most popular pet bird species worldwide. Their ability to reproduce in colonies and in individual cages is unmatched. They reproduce quickly, easily, and in almost all conditions. They are relatively hardy birds and can adapt well to new conditions. Due to their adaptability, their population continues to grow in captivity.
Despite their good breeding skills, they sometimes show some behavioral problems. During the breeding season, they often show aggression towards other parakeets if kept in colonies. It often happens that this aggression leads to the death of the parakeet, and if not, the parakeet can suffer serious injuries.
You can minimize aggression in parakeets by doing four simple things.
1. Give them plenty of room to fly
In small cages, your budgies are more likely to fight. Due to the smaller cage size and smaller flight area, they are more prone to fighting with each other. Cages that allow more flight reduce parakeet aggression. If you put more breeding pairs in the cage than the space available, the chances of aggression will increase.
In larger cages where they have more flying, these budgies develop strong muscles and stamina to fight off other aggressive budgies. When the battle begins, the weaker one has more chances to escape and fly to another corner of the cage. In this case, the likelihood of physical injury is much less than in smaller cages where there is not enough space to escape.
2. Place more breeding boxes than the number of pairs
It is often good practice to provide them with more breeding boxes than the colony’s total number of breeding pairs. Two females often choose the same breeding box at the same time. This preference can lead to a fight between two females. When you give them more booths, the weaker one has plenty of options to choose another booth.
3. Place the breeding boxes at a certain distance
Do not fix breeding boxes very close together. If one female has chosen a booth and another comes to an adjacent booth, that female will not allow her to approach the booth to protect her territory. This can lead to a dangerous fight between two females. If you fix the nest boxes at a distance, there will be no territorial dispute between the two females.
4. Feed them soft food to reduce aggressive behavior
This excessive aggressive behavior is often caused by a lack of a properly balanced diet. In addition to their standard seed mix diet, feed them corn, wheat, green leafy vegetables, and cooked rice to reduce this aggressive behavior.
