Elegant Grass Parakeet: Priced, Advice, Breeding, Mutations
Elegant Grass Parakeet – Neophema elegans
The Elegant Grass Parakeet, also known as the Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans), is a small and colorful bird native to Australia. They are known for their beautiful plumage and gentle nature, making them a popular choice for bird enthusiasts. Here’s some information on pricing, care, and tips for keeping Elegant Grass Parakeets as well as breeding and mutations.
Pricing
- Price Range: Elegant Grass Parakeets typically range from $150 to $300, depending on factors such as age, mutation, and breeder reputation.
- Breeders: Purchasing from a reputable breeder can ensure you receive a healthy and well-socialized bird. This may sometimes come at a higher cost compared to pet stores.
- Additional Costs: Consider additional expenses such as a suitable cage, toys, food, and veterinary care when budgeting for a parakeet.
Care of Elegant Grass Parakeet
- Housing: Provide a spacious cage with dimensions of at least 24 x 18 x 18 inches. Ensure the cage has horizontal bars for climbing and perches of varying sizes to promote foot health.
- Diet: Offer a balanced diet that includes high-quality seed mixes, pellets, fresh fruits, and vegetables. A varied diet is essential for their health and well-being.
- Exercise: Allow daily out-of-cage time in a safe environment to exercise and explore. These birds are active and need space to fly.
- Social Interaction: Spend time interacting with your parakeet every day. They enjoy social interaction and may become bonded with their owners.
- Grooming: Regularly trim their nails and provide opportunities for bathing or misting to keep their feathers in good condition.
- Health Monitoring: Regularly observe your parakeet for any signs of illness, such as changes in appetite, droppings, or behavior. Routine check-ups with an avian vet are recommended.
Tips for Elegant Grass Parakeet
- Toys and Enrichment: Provide a variety of toys to keep your parakeet entertained. Toys that encourage foraging and mental stimulation are particularly beneficial.
- Training: Elegant Grass Parakeets are intelligent and can learn simple tricks. Use positive reinforcement techniques for training sessions.
- Safety: Ensure your home is bird-proofed by removing hazards such as toxic plants, open water sources, and unsecured windows.
- Behavior: Understand that these parakeets are generally calm and quiet, but they may become more vocal during breeding seasons.
- Companionship: Consider keeping them in pairs or groups, as they are social birds and enjoy the company of their own kind.
Conclusion
Elegant Grass Parakeets are delightful pets for those who appreciate their beauty and gentle nature. By providing proper care, a balanced diet, and a stimulating environment, you can enjoy a happy and healthy relationship with your parakeet. If you have any more specific questions or need further advice, feel free to ask!
Breeding and Mutations By David Dennison
These beautiful Australian Grass Parakeets are endemic to South-western and South-eastern Australia, as well as Kangaroo Island, where they prefer the open country.
The Elegant Grass Parakeet is a member of the genus Neophema, also commonly referred to as Grass Parrots. These include the Blue-winged parrot, Rock parrot, Scarlet-chested parrot, Turquoise parrot and the Orange belied parrot. The Elegant Grass Parakeet makes a great aviary subject, does well in captivity, and is easy to care for, making them popular amongst beginner birdkeepers.
These parakeets average 22 cm in length and weigh between 40 to 51g. The male bird’s plumage is mostly olive-yellow. There is a deep blue frontal band, bordered above by a thin paler blue line going above and behind the eye. They have a yellow face and throat: an olive-yellow breast: yellow lower underparts and underside of tail, sometimes washed with orange on the centre of the abdomen. The outer median wing-coverts are light blue. The inner lesser and median wing-coverts are yellow-olive. The bill is grey-black and the eyes dark brown.
Females are generally duller than the male and the orange usually absent on the abdomen. Young birds look like adults, but the frontal band is minimal or absent. They have pale olive outer wing coverts, faintly margined with pale blue. In some females the pale coloured underwing band is obvious, but generally minimal in both sexes. The bill is yellow-brown. The adult plumage is attained when they are 6 to 6 months old. Young birds reach maturity at about 8 to 12 months. They will start breeding in the second year.
Feeding Elegant Grass Parakeet
In their natural habitat, these parakeets eat grass seeds and herbaceous plants, as well as seasonally available fruits, blossoms, fruit and flower buds, and various plant and vegetable matter, insects (and their larvae) may also from part of their diet.
Captive Elegant Grass Parakeet should be fed a quality “small parrot mix” or “budgie seed mix.” A varied diet should be offered that includes grass seeds, leafy green vegetables such as spinach, as well as fruits such as apples, pears, and oranges. Sprouted or soaked seed can be offered.
Some birds will consume insects such as mealworms, especially if they have young in the nest. The mealworm larvae, pupa and beetle can be offered. The insects provide a good source of easily digested protein. Neophemas housed with finches, softbills or other insect eating birds will often copy the other birds in the aviary and eat insects.
Aviary care
They do best in planted aviaries. They should have plenty of room to fly and be protected from rats, mice, snakes, and other critters which might get to them or their eggs. You also have to provide them with adequate shelter and protection from wind, rain, and cold weather. They are not as hardy as most of the other parrot species.
They will accept just about any nest bot that you may provide. Parakeet-sized boxes placed high up in the aviary are usually favourites. They will also accept cockatiel / lovebird sized nest boxes. It’s best to provide more nesting boxes than there are pairs in order to allow them to choose their favourite box and to reduce any fighting over particular sites.
A soil floor may not be a good choice. Predators can dig themselves through that. And grass parakeets are known to spend a good part of the day on the floor of the aviary. Grass parakeets are often afflicted with parasites for this reason alone.
It is best to keep one pair per aviary. They should not be housed with other Grass parakeets as they will hybridize. However, these peaceful birds can be housed with Bourke’s Parakeets, finches, canaries, doves, and quails. I even kept cockatiels in the same aviary without any problems – as long as the inhabitants are non-aggressive.
The Elegant Grass Parakeet is a suitable bird for those with smaller aviaries and are generally not destructive to the timber of aviary frames. They will chew on plants within the aviary.
Recommended aviary dimensions:
Length: 2 meters
Width: 900 mm
Height: 2 meters for conventional aviaries and 1 m for suspended aviaries.
Birds housed in a cage or suspended cage during the breeding season should be allowed access to an aviary during the non-breeding season for adequate exercise and to regain a good level of fitness.
Non-toxic leafy branches can be placed in the aviary for the birds to chew up. This will entertain the birds, help minimize boredom and give the birds some beak exercise. Natural branches of various diameters, and placed at various angles, can be used for perches. These natural perches may be chewed by the birds and may need to be replace regularly. The birds may chew any flowers and fruiting bodies on the branches.
A hen produces 2 to 3 clutches a year with 4 to 5 eggs in each clutch. Both parents share the incubation of the eggs, which takes about 18 days. The young fledge 3 to 4 weeks later.
Mutations
Among others, the yellow pied, the pastel green, the cinnamon, and the lutino mutations occur. The yellow pied is dominant in character, so that pied young can arise from a pairing with a normal bird. There are no “split” birds. It is an uncommon mutation. The pastel green and the cinnamon are also rare, and the genetic makeups are respectively autosomal recessive and sex-linked recessive. The lutino has been known for much longer than the other mutations; it is silver-yellow with red eyes and white feathers where they are blue in the normal. Contrary to most lutinos, this form of the elegant is not sex-linked but autosomal recessive in character. Both sexes can thus be split for lutino.
Conclusion
Overall, the Elegant Grass Parakeet is a great species to have, especially in a mixed aviary. Its undemanding care and calm personality can make it the perfect parrot for the novice bird owner or the busy apartment dweller. They also tend to be a hassle-free addition to the planted or mixed species aviary. However, their great personality is often overlooked, because some of their close relatives offer the same features in a more coloured package. Hopefully after this article more bird keepers will look at keeping and breeding this species!
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