I have a male Princess Parakeet of Breeding age. I would like to get a female Parakeet but I need to know how old she must be before she can safely breed. Thanks so much.

Donna

The Princess of Wales (Polytelis alexandrae) is such a beautiful Parrot. They are known by a variety of given names, ie; Princess Parrot, Queen Alexandra Parrot, Queen Alexandra's Parakeet, Spinifex Parrot, Rose Throated Parrot, Yellow Princess Parrot, and there are no known subspecies that I have found. They are bred in some beautiful varieties such as the Lutino, Albino, and Blue mutations, which seem to be the most popular other than the Normal Green. There are other varieties of colors, one being the the Red Princess of Wales. The Princess Parrot is known as a relatively quiet and passive parrot compared to some of the larger parrots AND are NOT the least bit shy and CAN produce quite a bit of noise and are not always suitable for certain house-holds.

A medium sized parrot, they are certainly intelligent and some CAN learn to mimic words and whistles. They are sexually dimorphic with the male of the species having longer tail feathers than females and are most often brighter in coloration than females. The male has a bright blue head, and the female's head is a more muted Grey-blue color. The male also possesses a coral red beak, while the female's is more of a wine color. Another visual distinction between the sexes is with eye coloring. The male has an orange iris, while the female's is much more of a brown color.

The Princess of Wales Parakeet will enjoy spending time roaming on the ground/floor and when a single pet is bonded with it's owner has the tendency to follow the owner around the home and can become very attached to their owners.

Breeding
The female Princess Parrot seems to reach breeding age before the male. I have heard some breeders suggest that the female's breeding age is one year old with the male's being 16 - 18 months. This is not my preference for the female's nor the male's age. Responsible, concerned breeders should wait until the female is at least 18 months old whereas the male can reach breeding age as late as 24 months. Personally, I feel that 20 - 24 months is a safe age for both.

Breeding season for the Princess Parrots in captivity is the same as in the wild and begins approximately around September and ending around December. Breeding seasons may vary depending on the area in which one lives. The females will call to the males and can get aggressive towards the males at this time. The average clutch size ranges from 3 - 6 eggs, with incubation lasting 18-20 days (some even feel 21 days is normal). The fledgling period lasts for approximately 35 days and the young become independent at around 50 days.

Males do not participate in the brooding. Breeding seems to go quite well in an aviary type setting and especially well in a colony setting. Princess Parrots bred in aviaries outdoors can be susceptible to fungal infections, scaley face mite, eye infections, and worms and should be wormed regularly.

The Princess Parrot can have a wonderful personality to go along with it's beauty.

I wish you the best with the breeding results.

Until next week........

Sharon a.k.a. Feathers Logically