Question #1:
A few months ago, my boyfriend's mother bought her five year old grandson a pair of parakeets. She had them in her tiny room where she smokes and often forgot to change their water and food. Or clean the cage. When I noticed this bad habit, I started caring for the birds on a daily basis.
Since then, the female of the pair has pulled out her flight feathers on one of her wings. I think so anyway, because I found a long feather with a dried blood looking substance on the end of it. And because she has no flight feathers on her right wing.
I then took the birds from her room and put them in my boyfriend's room where it is nice and calm. No bratty, evil child running around to be a menace and constant annoyance of trying to touch them or grab them.
This was a few weeks ago, and she is now growing back her flight feathers.
The birds now basically live in my boyfriend's room. They have a routine and get fresh water and food whenever it's necessary. However, they are so skittish because of the demon child, that trying to teach them to step onto my hand has become such a hard task. Thus, letting them fly in an already bird-proofed room isn't wise, I don't think.
But I think that the cage is way too small for them. They can spread their wings, but they can't fly. It's a little longer than a foot wide and about a foot and a half high. She bought no toys for them either.
Also, the pair always kiss, but sometimes the female gets agitated and yells at her buddy and he runs away. It's cute. But he'll kiss her and start bouncing up and down, running up and down his perch. He'll preen her feathers sometimes too. Is this happy behavior?
I've only had single birds, and never parakeets (Mitred Conure and a lovebird). I'm trying to learn everything I can, since my boyfriend and I are the ones taking care of them.
Last thing. She never bought the birds a cuttle bone, because the man at the pet store said they didn't need one? I've never heard of this. Should I buy them a cuttle bone? And since they don't bathe themselves, how often should I mist their feathers with a spray bottle?
Please tell me what I can do to make life for these birds much better.
Question #2:
I have either Mitred Parakeets or Red-Masked Parakeets around my house, they have been eating plums out of my plum tree. I want to keep them around, is there something I can build to feed them and ensure that they do?
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