Kakariki are constantly full of energy and are quite mischievous in their behavior, they love flying and their ariel acrobatics are fantastic to watch. They are not a bird that will sit still on your hand or shoulder for long periods of time, their more likely to be digging in your hair or pulling at you watch, shirt, rings and earrings or trying to pinch the food from your plate. Then their off flying again often with a laughing sound as they go. As a pet, or an aviary bird they will behave in this manner. They require a large flight or cage, and if it's being kept as a pet in a cage it should have as much time as humanly possible out the cage.

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Do I buy a cock or hen as a pet?

Both sexes have their good and bad points: If you chose to go ahead with the purchase of a Kakariki you need to bare the following in mind.

Hens: Hens tend to be more mischievous than cocks they will often get into any nook or cranny and under furniture. Hens can and often do from 4 months of lay eggs with or without a cock's presences. It is vitally important that you consider egg laying when purchasing a hen, as they will require extra calcium in their diet, cuttle bone is often not enough as Kakariki don't seem to bother much with them, so it is advisable to add calcium liquid to their water. Also the Hen may become egg bound and without the proper care and attention, and sometimes the help of an avian vet to remove the egg, the hen can become very ill and die from this.

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Cocks: Cocks talk better and are generally more vocal than hens, however cocks have a couple of big draw backs for the novice bird keeper. Again at around four to six months of age they become sexually mature, with this comes hormones, and with them come aggression, and territory problems. I should say its most! not all, that will do this, but you cannot tell which will or won't do this at purchase. Both can be overcome and lived with, however the novice bird keeper could find themselves scared of their bird and many males are re-homed due to this behaviour, so please do think carefully before purchase that you will be able to cope should your male do either of these or both. (Please see section about Male hormones and aggression) Both pet birds and aviary birds show these traits but they are often more noticeable in a pet bird.

Unfortunately, there will always be people out there that are not only willing to sell young birds, but ill birds too.

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A guide to buying your Kakariki:

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1. Research that a Kakariki is the bird for you, what it eats, what size cage you should be buying, what you need to put in the bottom of the cage, ensure you know the good and bad about both males and females.

2. Try to always buy from reputable breeders, a good breeder will always know the history of their birds, will be keen to show you their establishment even if you have not asked to view, they should offer a complete satisfaction/ health guarantee with money back or exchange of the bird. They should Never! sell you a bird un-weaned. Neither should you ever buy a bird un-weaned.

3. When buying a bird do your research on the breeder, ask for recommendations from people. (Not from the breeder) Ensure they know all about the species in which you propose to buy, you need to know the good, the bad and the ugly side.

4. When you arrive to view/buy the bird take note of the surroundings, does the aviary or cage look clean? are there clean water and food dishes around? don't buy from a dirty unclean establishment, or were the birds look lethargic or in poor condition.

5. Ask lots questions about the bird your buying, look at the parents, ask the age, and the sex of the bird your buying. Don't buy any bird under 8 weeks old. If you look at the cap of the red or red band in the yellow capped it should be fully coloured to its nostrils, if it's not then its more than likely under 8 weeks old, and it should not be taken. When selling birds breeders should offer you freely all the above, you should not have to drag information out of them, lack of knowledge, unwillingness to show you around and spend time with you, and selling a bird under 8 weeks of age, are all big signs of something is being hidden and you should walk away. We hear to many times that it was so cute that I could not leave it there, it’s best for the bird and best for you that you do walk away, as this unscrupulous practise will continue until they can't sell underage birds, because they won't be bought or are reported for their practises.

6. Some breeders use security, or the species they are breeding will be disturbed by your presence, and occasionally infection control as reasons why not to show you round. Some birds may be upset from nesting etc. by your presence, but in my opinion not Kakariki. As for security the moment one gives out the address security is already breached, so I don't see this as a reason for one not to be shown round the establishment.

7. As a breeder precaution for security can be taken as easily as the breeder taking your phone number and ringing you back, only supplying the house number and road on the day of viewing or pick up. When you arrive the breeder may secure your car licence number, and they may have security cameras around the property or aviary. Don't be offended by this behaviour it's not just for their benefit, you can also be assured that if these measure are being taken you’re at a good establishment that takes what he/she does very seriously.

8. In general, don't buy birds from pet shops as most don't have the first clue what they're selling, and the full needs of the bird, never mind any history behind the bird. You will pay inflated prices for a bird that may have sat in too small a cage for a number of weeks or months and as a result may be depressed and aggressive before you even start.

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Do I buy Hand reared/Hand tame or Parent reared? Because Kakariki are fiercely independent but inquisitive birds the issue of hand reared, hand tame, or parent reared birds does not have much bearing on choosing a pet.

 

Hand reared: Means your bird has been fed by humans from a certain age, and has had human interaction, this will demand a higher price for purchase. This may make bonding with your bird a little quicker because they are already used to human contact. However, this does not necessarily mean that your bird will come to you on command or stay with you for a period of time for the reasons I've stated about their independence and nature, a lot of further training may still be needed.

Through our Facebook page (Kakariki Breeders & Pets UK) I've heard it said many times from new keepers of Kakariki that they have purchased what they were told was hand reared, but they feel they have been lied to because the bird does not sit still or come to them on command. So it's important to realise that hand reared in this case does not mean the same as normal hand reared, and may only mean the bird has some human interaction during the feeding regime, and this may help when it comes to further training.

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Hand Tame: Means your pet has been parent reared but has had lots of time spent with it by the breeder during the rearing period, again the results of this will be much the same and a hand tamed bird, but should be a little cheaper to purchase.

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Parent reared: Means as it says that the parents have reared the bird and has had little to no human contact, taming a parent reared will take a little longer but can be done with time and patience. Unless stated otherwise this is most likely the type of bird you will purchase from a pet shop. From a breeder this will be the cheapest form of purchase 

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