New Grasskeets

[dunker817]

Today at the bird mart I snatched up a pair of scarlet chested grasskeets. I want to read a book on them but can't find any for my Kindle. Are budgies and grasskeets closely enough related that I could download a book on budgies? There are plenty of budgie books.

[cindy]

They are a bit different, they are more of a ground bird. Their diet is basically the same...I breed these. I keep them in long 4 or 5 ft flights. They will fly the length, small cages, budgie cages are not good for them, they need the exercise and the room on the bottom to run. They do not interact with you as budgies will. Some tame them but they are more of an aviary bird. A long cage to fly in , a good balanced diet of a quality small hookbill or budgie seed, no sunflower, little safflower, pellets, egg food and veggies, sprouts (they love chitted seed)

Anne-Marie Harter is one of the leading authorities regarding grasskeets, she has written books and articles, some are available on line. She use to write for Bird Talk. I know her personally and find her information very helpful.

this is an article from the internet. http://www.birdproduct.com/?s=whydah&x=0&y=0

just a note on perches.. set the higher perches on either end of the long cage going from front to back...do not run the perches attached side to side, the length of the flight, this will not work for them.

[cindy]

Scarlet set ups Top picture... young in the top two flights and a pair on the bottom. Cage stacked on the bottom are 5 ft long, they house a pair. If you palan to breed you will want the room. As the scarlet mature they mellow and are not flighty. The young upon fledging are very flight and it is good to have the extra room.

[cindy]

the link above is incorrect.... sorry about that (was helping someone find birds, time lapsed and I could not edit it) this is the correct one.... Anne-Marie's article

http://www.proaviculture.com/neophemas.htm

Also scarlets are more sensitive than bourkes, they do not tolerate cold and damp well. In the winter I supply a heat lamp to one side for them to go to. They do not handle being chilled with, they also stress a bit more easily than bourkes.

[paul-inAZ]

I second Cindy's comments.
They want plenty of room to fly.
They don't do much climbing but will walk and feed on the ground so it is best if they don't walk on bare wires. I use paper on top of the cage wire for my grasskeets.
Scarlets are different enough from budgies in temperament and activity that a budgie book will be a waste of money.

Here is another site:
http://www.birdcare.com.au/scarlet_chested_parrot.htm

[Derk]

cindy
Hi Cindy. Are those 2 x 30" breeder cages side by side with the ends removed? I recognize the cage in the second picture. And I have to ask, do cages cover all your windows?

[dunker817]

Thank you all for the info. It's very much appreciated. Right now I have them in a flight cage. I was going to add them to my aviary of finches but was counseled against that idea. The aviary would be ideal but I don't want my finches being in harms way. Where do you find the long cages? Is the flight cage okay for them?

This is the cage they are in http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Hendryx-F0 ... light+cage

[cindy]

Thank you all for the info. It's very much appreciated. Right now I have them in a flight cage. I was going to add them to my aviary of finches but was counseled against that idea. The aviary would be ideal but I don't want my finches being in harms way. Where do you find the long cages? Is the flight cage okay for them?

This is the cage they are in http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Hendryx-F0 ... light+cage

Not sure who mentioned not to put them with finches but several species of finches are housed with Scarlets in large aviaries. What species of finches do you have? You are i Texas, unless the scarlets are use to being out in your climate I would not add them to an aviary at this time of the year. You need to acclimate them to outside when temps are 60 and above in the Spring... keep in mind they are very sensitive to cold and damp.

A flight cage like this is not a good fit for them

nor is the one you have them in. They are flighty easily startled and need to the long room to fly to avoid accidental collisions with the sides of the cage... theses are to confining.

They will be fine in two 30x18 cages joined together to form a 5 ft flight, before joining your cages together you can slip your trays in on top of the grates or you can do as Paul does and cover the grates...I use butcher paper. you can also use 2 24 x 16 but they will appreciate the extra room of the 5ft length especially if you plan to breed.

[cindy]

the 30x18 cages you can find on Amazon or try Countryfeathers.com

Length is much more important than height

[cindy]

cindy
Hi Cindy. Are those 2 x 30" breeder cages side by side with the ends removed? I recognize the cage in the second picture. And I have to ask, do cages cover all your windows?

The sides of the cages are still on the cages just folded over the top and secures... and no not all my windows are covered by cages, just two sets, the triple slider over looks the pool. The sliding doors are pulled all the way back to let sun in on cooler mornings, the scarlets love it, the bask sitting low on the perch, wings out. Summer here in Florida it is to hot to leave our window open.

[cindy]

I second Cindy's comments.
They want plenty of room to fly.
They don't do much climbing but will walk and feed on the ground so it is best if they don't walk on bare wires. I use paper on top of the cage wire for my grasskeets.
Scarlets are different enough from budgies in temperament and activity that a budgie book will be a waste of money.

Here is another site:
http://www.birdcare.com.au/scarlet_chested_parrot.htm

I agree Paul.. many think that the keets are all the same. the budgies are so different from bourkes, splendids, turqs. They do not climb like you said...their biggest delight is to fly and back and forth and run the bottoms of the cages. I put the trays on top of the grates for the 2 connected 30x18 cages. My 24x16 cages joined for young, the trays do not fit in the interior on top of the grates so I line the grates with butcher paper.

I received sort of a rescue scarlet from a friend. He got the bird from a man that kept the male in a 24x16 cage loaded with ladders, perches that were crossed and way to many toys...they do not use toys. I place him a long cage, the poor thing absolutely could not fly, his muscles were so weak from being confined in the man's cramped set up. I took the cage from prevue and divided it in half to make a top and bottom cage. I set him up with 3 perches going from front to back on both sides and one in the middle close enough for him to jump to, added a ladder to the top he could climb. I had perches lower from side to side.

Eventually and it took months he made slow progress in flying side to side... he can't go long distances but he is happier, he has given me many young and he is a good dad.

[dunker817]

I call my set up an aviary but it's actually bedroom I converted into a living area for my finches. The room is 10'x11' and 8' tall. A total of 880 cubic feet of flight space. It currently houses four gouldians, two cordon blues, and two parrot finches. All of them get along very well. No problems. I have a pair of canaries in quarantine which will be added to the bird room when quarantine is over. From observing my grasskeets I would say they are the biggest lobblollies you can imagine. They are very quiet, still, peaceful, and calm. I just love them to pieces.

So, I can house them with my finches and not have to worry about the grasskeets biting the finches and taking part of a foot off? If not, I will order some cages and or add a another flight cage next to the one they are in and make a six foot wide cage.

Thanks!

[cindy]

Need to ask you about windows, are the covered with some sort of barrier to keep the birds from flying into them? what is on your floor?

Scarlets are most active in the morning and evening, very sleeping or resting, less active late morning early evening. Young scarlets are more active than adults. Mature adults are often calm.

Scarlets can startle easy and frantically fly about often colliding with walls, glass doors windows. (one reason a small cage is not a good idea, injury is a concern in a too small of a cage.). They are somewhat fragile in that regard, they do stress easy, easily injured.

[cindy]

Some house scarlets with javas or gouldians...waxbills are a bit smaller, I would watch them with the smaller birds... your scarlets need to settle into your routine, food, water and schedule and to recover from the stress of the show and coming into a new home before introducing them to yet another new place within a short period of time. If they are still and you just got them they are still adjusting...or your cage is to small and they are not use to that... if raised outdoors or in a big aviary they need to adjust to being confined to a smaller cage, different sounds, food, schedule... it takes them longer to settle in. In a proper enclosure they run the bottom of the cage, fly back and forth.

What will you do with them during the night, do they stay in that room or go into cages... if you plan to catch them every night to put them in cages I do not suggest that...they stress easy.

[Derk]

cindy
I hope you did not mind the teasing about the cages. It just so happens I have been thinking I 'should' be moving more cages in front of my large picture window in the living room, but parts of cages are already in front of so many already. I want to provide the best, but I also want to live a little 'normally' as well.