How long do parakeets live? Parakeets, or budgies, can live anywhere from 5 to 29 years, depending on factors like care, living conditions, and genetics. When well cared for in captivity, they often exceed their average lifespan.
Breeders like Charlie are known for ensuring quality and maintaining high standards in parakeet breeding. How long do parakeets live? In the wild, these birds face challenges like predators, limiting their lifespan to around 10 years.
How long do parakeets live? However, parakeets can thrive and live happily for up to 29 years in captivity with proper care. Pet stores and suppliers also play a role in connecting these charming birds with caring owners. Understanding the differences between wild and captive parakeet life is critical to giving them the best care. Parakeets, with their vibrant personalities, continue to be beloved pets for people of all ages.
Lifespan of a budgie
Budgies, also known as parakeets, encompass a variety of parrot species, with the budgerigar being the most common and popular as a pet. These small parakeets hail from Australia and have the potential for a surprisingly long lifespan.
Unfortunately, many budgies experience premature deaths, often due to being perceived as inexpensive and easily replaceable pets. Common misconceptions about their care, including maintaining them as contributing considerations, include housing animals in cramped cages and feeding them a diet based on seeds of low quality and their shorter lifespan.
Typically, budgies tend to pass away before age 5 under less-than-ideal conditions. However, they can live up to 20 years with proper care and luck. There are even recorded instances of budgies reaching nearly 30 years of age. It highlights the importance of dispelling myths and ensuring these charming birds receive the care they need for a longer and healthier life.
Lifespan of a Parakeet: How long do Parakeets live?
The budgerigar is the most common species of parakeet kept as a pet. However, there are many more kinds of parakeets, and they come in a wide range of sizes. Parakeets come in around 115 different species.
The longevity of a parakeet is remarkable, as it is for all parrots. Many things indeed have a role, such as luck and heredity. Parakeets typically live for ten years or more if they are well-cared after and fed a balanced diet. Read Also: Rusty spotted Cat lifespan
The potential ages of some of the most popular parakeets kept as pets are listed in the table below. It’s essential to keep in mind that some of these species are technically parakeets despite not commonly being referred to as such.
| Budgie (Melopsittacus undulatus) | 15-20 years |
| Rosy Bourke’s parakeet (Neopsephotus burkini) | 10-15 years |
| Scarlet-chested parakeet (Neophema splendida) | 10-15 years |
| Eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) | 20-25 years |
| Sun conure (Aratinga solstitialis) | 20-25 years |
Factors affecting the lifespan of a parakeet
Now that we know the average lifespan of certain species of common parakeets, let’s look at what you can do to increase the likelihood that your parakeet will live to a ripe old age and reach the higher ranges of the ranges we just discussed.
Concerning the maintenance of parakeets, as with many other types of pets, there is still a great deal of widely held misconceptions. The following provides an overview of a number of the errors that are frequently committed, many of which, sadly, can shorten the amount of time that your parakeet spends with you by many years.
- Adequate cage size
Even the smallest budgie requires ample space for flying, except during sleep. Confinement in a small cage increases the risk of obesity and muscle atrophy.
- Regular time outside the cage
Allowing your parakeet at least a few hours of each day must be spent freeing oneself from the cage’s confines. Not only does this prevent obesity, but it also fosters social interaction with the owner, alleviating boredom-related stress.
- Socialization
Parakeets are inherently social beings that thrive on interaction with their owners and fellow parakeets. Lack of attention and social interaction can lead to a decline in their well-being.
- Mental stimulation
Due to their intelligence, parakeets need mental exercises to avoid boredom and stress. Free time away from confinement, puzzle toys, and novel stimuli improves their mental well-being.
- Balanced diet
While wild parakeets predominantly consume seeds, their domesticated equivalents cannot sustain themselves on a diet solely of grains because it is too fatty. Providing a balanced and nutritious diet is essential for their overall health.
- Air quality
Birds, including parakeets, have sensitive lungs. Avoid exposing them to harmful substances such as cigarette smoke, perfume, non-stick pans, air fresheners, candles, and bug spray.
- Ensuring safety
Parakeets’ curiosity can lead them into dangerous situations. Create a hazard-free environment by eliminating potential risks such as open windows, scorching stoves, and other hazards.
- Regular Veterinary Medicine
A few owners may hesitate to seek veterinary care for their parakeets due to cost considerations. However, routine check-ups with an avian vet are crucial for early detection and prevention of potential health issues.
Determining the age of your parakeet
Understanding the age of your parakeet is valuable information for gauging its potential lifespan and tailoring appropriate care. If you acquired your parakeet, you’re in luck if you get them directly from a breeder because they typically provide hatch dates for their clutches, and your parakeet might even have a ring indicating its birthdates.
On the other hand, if you got your parakeet from a pet shop or a rescue organization, you are exempt from this rule; discerning its age can be challenging for most species. Very young birds are identifiable by their clumsiness and underdeveloped feathers, as seen in the pictured budgie, which is a baby. Some species exhibit age-related indicators:
Budgies: Most colour varieties will display head stripes before their first moult at around four months. Afterwards, a spot without lines develops.
Eye Color: Budgies under eight months old have entirely black eyes, whereas those of older birds tend to have grey or brown irises.
Ring-necked and Alexandrine parakeets of India: Around one and a half years old, adult males will grow a dark collar around the base of their neck.
Sun Conures: Compared to their adult counterparts, birds less than a year and a half old have a more significant proportion of green feathers in their plumage.
Although some claim to be able to tell how old a bird is by looking at its feet and beak, this is only sometimes the case that shows signs of wear with age, and this method is limited. It can generally distinguish juveniles from older birds but doesn’t offer a clear visual distinction between a child of 5 and a bird of 35.
