Scarlet Chested Grass Parakeet (Neophema Splendida)

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Mon May 04, 2015 8:02 pm

This is an excellent website, this article was written by a friend of mine, Anne-Marie Harter. She has written books, articles on grasskeets. http://www.proaviculture.com/neophemas.htm

vienneparis · Post by **vienneparis** » Tue May 05, 2015 2:47 am

cindy
The colorful scarlets have been on my wish list for some time. I've hesitated about getting a pair because my family don't like having loud birds (like cockatiels and lovebirds) indoors. How's the noise level with your scarlets? What kind of noises do they make?

Thanks

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Tue May 05, 2015 7:41 am

they are relatively quiet, Their call is nothing like budgies ( I raised show budgies, had 31 here at one time). My flights are in an extended part of my great room.... by the time the young are colored out they are very use to people, dogs walking by. They have a soft song or chirp. Their alarm sound (only one does this... the one described below) is a little loud but not upsetting.

My suggestion is to give them ample room, length to fly.... this is why.... the breeder I had received most my young unrelated pairs from sold a pair to a man that housed them improperly. He kept them in a 24x 16 cage, loaded down with toys, ladders perches... the birds could not fly, barely move around. he put them to nest and lost the hen to egg binding... birds were young just over a yr old. Scarlet are not like budgies, some hear "keets" and thinks they are like parakeets and think they sound like and can be housed like keets when in fact they require space to fly... it is crucial the hen, it develops that later helps her in egg laying it also helps to keep fit.

The remaining male from that pair was rehomed to me, put in a long flight... he could not fly, just hop....this was as a result of being house improperly. I gave him a 30 by 18 cage, perches moved to either side, across the depth of the cage so he could practice flying back and forth. It was sad to watch him not be able to fly, instead until he got stronger he would flutter to the bottom (cover to cushion him if he fell) climb the bars to get to the other side. He has been with me for over a yr now, he is in a longer cage but not a 5 ft, he can only fly short distances. He is a great father and a beautiful bird.

Do not clutter the cage, keep it simple.

Scarlets are a bit more delicate than bourkes, especially when getting into the fancier mutations.

finchandlovebird · Post by **finchandlovebird** » Tue May 05, 2015 10:28 am

Cindy; thanks so very much for all your invaluable info; I am taking it all to heart. Thanks also for the web page; I'll check it out.

Birds are well fed, eating great, open water dish & bottle water; Romaine, hard boiled egg w/shells, herbs. No more eggs laid but hen spends a lot of time inside the nestbox. They are just super birds

finchandlovebird · Post by **finchandlovebird** » Tue May 05, 2015 10:53 am

This is an excellent website, this article was written by a friend of mine, Anne-Marie Harter. She has written books, articles on grasskeets. http://www.proaviculture.com/neophemas.htm

Cindy......this is one of the best websites on bird care I've ever seen. I think EVERYONE should read it

P.S. The male took his first bath this morning. The open water dish is 4"x7" so he had plenty of room to get all wet & soggy

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Tue May 05, 2015 2:42 pm

I strongly recommend a powdered calcium and vitamin supplement to add to their eggfood.. the boiled egg and shell are not enough.... especially if you are not feeding a pelleted diet.

I use AvitTech products (you can get them from glamorousgouldians.com)

The AviVita Gold vitamins, minerals and amino acids..contains D3 calcium

I also feed Roudybush Nibbles pellets....

Extra calcium would be AviTech Cacium plus... Scarlet hens are VERY prone to egg binding.... they go down fast. Best to try to prevent this by supplementing... the powdered vitamins and calcium go right into the soft foods. Adding supplements to water is unreliable for grass keets since they tend to drink less than other species.

vienneparis · Post by **vienneparis** » Tue May 05, 2015 8:25 pm

In her article, Anne-Marie Harter stated that scarlet-chesteds get along well with Cockatiels, finches and doves. Does anyone have experience keeping scarlet chested with finches in a mixed aviary?

Colt · Post by **Colt** » Tue May 05, 2015 8:41 pm

I believe Su Yin does. I can never remember her name on the forum but you can Google "Happy Bird Place" and shoot her a message through email.

vienneparis · Post by **vienneparis** » Tue May 05, 2015 10:45 pm

Colt
Thanks for the info. I found Su Yin's website, shot her an email, and she replied pretty quickly. According to Su Yin, scarlet chested keets can be housed with finches and canaries. Now I'm tempted to get one

Colt · Post by **Colt** » Tue May 05, 2015 10:56 pm

You're welcome. She's a really great lady. She may even have some for sale and I know she ships.

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Tue May 05, 2015 11:27 pm

They can be housed with finches but I advise you not breed them in with finches. Finches are to nosey and may be intrusive. Some scarlets can get territorial regarding their nest and if a finch enters the box it may get injured or worse.

Make sure your enclosure is big enough. I housed bourkes in with owls, many house scarlets with bigger finches like javas. I tried putting javas in with a few pairs of scarlets, the scarlets would not have any of it. Depends on the birds, your enclosure... what works for one may not work for others. I keep the scarlets separate.

vienneparis I did receive your pm regard scarlets for sale...

I do have young from two different bloodlines, the parents for one of the bloodlines are back on eggs and I have a third pair working the nestbox. I do ship.

finchandlovebird · Post by **finchandlovebird** » Wed May 06, 2015 10:21 am

Cindy

I have the grates in my Scarlett's cage covered. Should I just leave them with bare grates, since they spend much time on the floor. Is that ok for their feet to walk on the grates

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Wed May 06, 2015 2:32 pm

I put my trays inside on to of the grates, they run the bottom a lot.... they run the entire length of the 5 ft.... if you use two 30x18 to make a long cage slide the trays in on top of the grate before connecting the two cages together. This is my personal preference.

I still strongly recommend a longer cage set up for your scarlets.

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Scarlet Chested Grass Parakeet (Neophema Splendida)

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