Hi. I just bought a keet (Jude) out of the bin four days ago. He seems to be in good heath, is eating as I speak, and chirps. He was not finger trained, but he hops on my finger (warily). I am unsure about how old he is, though. His cere is smooth. Most of his head is striped, but it fades nearer to his beak. Also, he seems to be picking out his favorite bits out of his food. Any advice?

If the stripes go all the wa down to the cere he is probably under 6 mo old. If the cere is blue or opurple he is a he, if tan a girl but often with young keets it is hard to tell. Read over Lisa's parakeet pages. Keets are notoriously fussy eaters but just keep giving a well rounded diet - try introducing finely chopped veggies like broccoli and carrots - put then in a separate dish. My keets love cooked corn on the cob. It sounds like you are doing good so far. Give him time to adjust to his new home. And we love pictures

Ditto to Cetan's advice and welcome!

Here are my pages on feeding a parakeet -

Parakeet Food

Offering a variety is definitely a good idea. That way over time your keet will learn to enjoy a selection of foods, and get all the nutrients they need.

Thank you! I will try to have pictures soon.

they are terribly particular eaters, i've been fighting for 5 yrs with 2 of mine to take something besides seed... and finally won! don't give up and keep at it, something will tickle their fancy eventually!!. glad to have you here at the forum, hope you enjoy.

I have 2 parakeets, who i know have never taken a bath, eaten greens or apples. and so far i can't get them to eat natural food or bathe. i always have to remove the food before it spoils and before they try it, (ive tried stringing pieces of fruit in hopes of getting them knawed at)it took them almost a month for them to actually begin to knaw on the cuttle bones. any tips or ideas?

Welcome Yvonne!

I had a parakeet when I was very young who never took a bath at all. With my current keets I have some who adore baths and others who will only rarely go in.

What I have found through trial and error is that you have to give them fresh water daily, always have a clean bath available, and put it somewhere high and fun. I.e. if the bathtub was in the bottom of the cage they'd rarely go there. If it was on the top of the cage, their "fun hangout", they'd give it a shot.

Make sure the water is lukewarm - not too hot, not too cold. Even humans would think twice about jumping into cold water!

Hi Yvonne and welcome to the forum. I have found that if I mist my keets with lukewarm water from a spray bottle, then put their bath in the cage with lukewarm water in it they will bath. If I just put the bath in the cage they will not have anything to do with it. I don't know if the mist just gets them in the mood, but it certainly does the trick.

If they still don't like the bath they you can just mist them every few days. You will find that very quickly they will come to look forward to being misted.

Hm. I found out a few days ago that "Jude" is a "June". I wanted a boy, but now i'm too attached to her to get one.