Many people who discover parrotlets are so enchanted with their delightful personalities that they decide to breed them. Generally speaking, parrotlets are not easy to breed unless you are familiar with their unique breeding characteristics. Most parrotlet species only need to be a year old to breed, the exceptions are Mexicans, Blue Wings and Yellow Face which breed after two years of age. They do not need a large flight but you can only keep one pair in a cage. This is true even if in a large flight; parrotlets are very aggressive and territorial and will kill other birds, including other parrotlets if housed together. Mexican parrotlets are the exception and the only parrotlets that can be safely colony bred. Breeding parrotlets also have certain dietary requirements including a diet much higher and fat and protein than other parrots. Finally, parrotlets breed better when there are more than one pair and when they can hear but not see each other.

Most pairs usually are careful parents although on a first clutch it is not unusual for them to have problems. However, even if the first clutch dies, they will usually do a wonderful job with the second. Green Rumps can be a bit more difficult to breed than Pacifics but if they have an undisturbed area and are well-fed, they will usually produce healthy babies. Blue Wing parrotlets can take up to a year before settling in and breeding but are usually good parents and, like the others, will produce multiple clutches through out the year.

Mexican parrotlets are as different from the other species as night and day. Unlike the others, they have a specific breeding season which is late summer. They can also be kept in colonies. Unlike other parrotlets, they produce only one clutch a year, sometimes every other year. Their babies even take longer to hatch than the others. They are very gentle and sweet but very difficult to breed. They are also spectacularly beautiful especially when in a planted aviary.

Housing Breeding Pairs

Most species breed well in a minimum cage of 18 inches tall, 24 inches long and 24 inches deep. They can also be bred successfully in three to six foot long flights. Both Mexicans and Yellow Face breed much better in flights than in cages. Not surprisingly, many breeders feel their birds are in much better condition and have higher productivity with large flights. Perches must be sturdily attached to the cage as infertility can sometimes be traced to wobbly or unstable perches. Natural wood perches should be used instead of dowels to exercise the bird’s feet. Cages should have pull out trays with grates to keep the birds off the bottom. Food and water should be placed so they are not soiled by droppings. Use open food dishes as parrotlets often will not stick their heads into a dish with a hood and can starve. Water may be provided in a glass tube fountain or rodent style waterer in order to keep the parrotlets from bathing in their water bowl.. This should be done using a both the tube waterer and water bowl. Once the parrotlets are drinking out of the tube waterer, the bowl can be removed.  .

Breeding pairs should have nest boxes that are six inches wide by ten inches tall and seven inches deep, which should be hung on the outside of the cage and filled with untreated pine shavings to within two inches of the nest box hole. Boxes should be placed on the front of the cages so when the birds look out, they only see the inside of their cage. Some birds, particularly Green Rumps, are fond of throwing the nest material out of the box so be sure to keep it replaced. Babies can develop crippling orthopedic problems if left on the bare floor. Conversely, sometimes birds will bury their eggs and lose them in the shavings. Mexican parrotlets seem particularly prone to this habit. If this is the case, remove the shavings a little at a time until the problems ceases or try using heavier shavings. In any case, by checking nest boxes daily, you will be able to monitor the pairs and deal with any problems as they arise. Also, following a routine will teach the birds to tolerate you.

As previously mentioned, parrotlets breed best when there are more than one pair in the aviary and they can hear but not see each other. Pairs can be separated by wood barriers, foliage, burlap or even cardboard between the cages. Hand-fed birds generally make the best parents as they are not as sensitive to stress and are used to people. Be careful, however, hand-fed birds have no fear of people and, females especially, will inflict a painful bite if given a chance. Parrotlets also have a much deserved reputation for not letting go once they latch on. When removing babies, a piece of cardboard can be used to hold the hen back as she will not usually leave the box the way males do. Females have been known to attack babies as they were being pulled so the utmost caution must be used.

Nutrition for Breeding Parrotlets

Pairs feeding babies will often consume three or more times the normal amount of food. In fact, clutch size is directly tied to the amount of food available to the parents. A good-quality small hookbill or cockatiel seed mix should be fed. They can also be fed a commercial pelleted diet, however, they also require some seed in the diet when breeding. Fortunately, parrotlets will usually eat both seeds and pellets unlike most other parrots. They still require fresh fruits, vegetables and greens daily. Breeding pairs also need sprouted seed, egg food, whole grain breads, cooked (dried) beans, whole-grain breads, potatoes, rice and pasta which should also be fed daily. Fresh clean water must be available at all times. Powdered vitamins should be sprinkled on the soft foods several times a week. Wheat grass and Spirulina can be added to the egg food, if desired. A small amount of bee pollen several times a week can also improve their health and is part of their natural diet.

The importance of calcium to breeding hens cannot be stressed enough. Cuttlebone and mineral block should always be available and calcium powder should also be sprinkled on the soft foods in addition to vitamins. Most hens will devour massive amounts of cuttlebone immediately before they lay eggs. It is common for a hen to eat a six-inch cuttlebone once a week for several weeks prior to laying. If the hens do not receive enough calcium they will certainly become egg-bound.

Breeding Behavior

Parrotlets, particularly hens, should be at least a year old before they attempt to breed or they can become egg bound and die. Males who are too young often do not provide enough food for the hen and the babies which are then abandoned or destroyed. Young pairs can be kept with one another until they go through their first molt, then they should be separated until they are at least eleven months old. It is not uncommon to have hand-fed birds begin laying as young as seven months - which can be disastrous.

The male will usually investigate the box first and when he deems it safe, will try and entice the female into it. Once mating has taken place, the hen will lay from four to eight eggs although Pacific hens have been known to produce ten fertile eggs. She will hardly leave the nest box from several days prior to laying until the last baby is gone, which can be as long as nine or ten weeks! Females lay one egg every other day. In most species, the babies take 21 days to hatch. Mexican and Yellow Face parrotlets take 24. In all species of parrotlets, the females incubate the eggs and the males provide food and protection. Sometimes the hen will allow the male into the box and even incubate the eggs but this seems to be an individual preference in each pair.

Hand-Feeding and Socializing

As with all baby parrots, parrotlets are blind, deaf and almost naked when they hatch. Even so, they have loud cries for their tiny size as Green Rumps, Blue Wings and Spectacles can often be heard begging for food when only a few hours old. They are extremely tiny when they hatch - no larger than a bumble bee. Unlike many species of parrot, parrotlet hens begin incubating almost immediately after laying the first egg, therefore the babies hatch in the order the eggs were laid. This leaves a great deal of age difference between the oldest and youngest babies, especially in large clutches. Most breeders who hand feed, leave the babies with their parents until they are 10 to 14 days old. Babies should be placed in a brooder which is set at 89° F and checked often to make sure they are comfortable. Birds that are younger than eight days, particularly Green Rumps and Spectacles, need a temperature of 91° or higher. They are fed every four hours, although not during the night. Younger chicks are fed more frequently and given a 2:00 a.m. feeding. Parrotlets can be fed with a spoon or syringe. Ten-day old babies generally take between one and two cc’s per feeding, gradually working up to a maximum of six by the age of three weeks.

Babies also need to be cuddled and socialized in order to become the best possible pets. Babies that are simply fed and put back in the brooder with little or no interaction are not as sweet and do not bond as well to their new owners. Also, they should be exposed to as many things as possible to keep them from becoming nervous or easily frightened.

The sex of parrotlet babies can be determined when they are about three weeks old. By the time their pin feathers are growing in, you can see the blue feathers of the males. Mexicans, Spectacles and Blue Wings sometimes take as long as their first molt to produce the blue feathering on the rump, but it is evident on the wings as soon as they begin to feather out. Color enhancement after the first molt can also occur in various species such as the hens of the Pacific subspecies.

Weaning

Babies show an interest in solid foods when they are approximately four to five weeks old. They should be given millet spray, finely chopped fruits, vegetables and greens, whole grain bread, small seeds such as finch and cockatiel, pellets, cooked rice and pasta. Dry foods are scattered over the bottom of the brooder; cooked foods are placed in flat dishes. The temperature in the brooder is gradually lowered to room temperature as the babies feather out. At about five weeks, they are placed in a large weaning cage with low perches and food is fed on paper plates or small flat dishes placed on the bottom of the cage. By the time the birds are six weeks of age, they are usually completely weaned. However, birds are individuals, if one is weaning more slowly than the others, he should continue to be fed.. It is better to continue feeding a few more days than have a tragedy. Some species, such as Blue Wings and Spectacles take longer to wean, usually eight weeks rather than six. Also be sure to provide plenty of toys for the babies so they will learn how to play and grow up healthy and well-adjusted.

Parent-Raised Babies

Parent-raised babies usually do not make good pets but there are exceptions. Sometimes it is possible to allow the parents to feed the babies and remove them several times a day to be handled. Green Rumps seem to be very tolerant of this routine; Pacifics would be more difficult. If you do allow parents to raise their babies, be sure and remove the father when the babies fledge or he will kill his sons. The mother can continue to feed them until they wean and then the babies can be moved to their own cage.

Breeding Color Mutations

So far, almost all the parrotlet mutations have been created in the Pacific parrotlets. There are a few mutations in the other species such as pied Spectacles, cinnamon and possibly dilute Green Rumps and blue Blue Wings but mainly it is the Pacifics that have the most diversity of colors. Also, all but one are recessive, non-sex linked mutations. Currently, there are blue, American yellow, fallow, cinnamon, lutino, pastel, gray green, American white, silver, gray, recessive pied, dominant pied, albino and combinations such as fallow-blue, pastel-blue and cinnamon blue. Understanding recessive single mutations, using blue, is as follows:

In order to produce comination mutations such as dilute-blue (formerly "American white"), albino and fallow-blue, pastel-blue and cinnamon-blue, it takes at least two generations. In order to produce dilute-blue, you need a dilute and blue pairing the first generation. The second, must be an dilute/blue split pair, paired with unrelated dilute/blue splits. This would produce the following percentage of mutations:

Record Keeping

As with any good breeding program, accurate records are a must. Each baby should be closed-banded and all information as to parent identification, date egg was laid, date of hatch, date baby was pulled and medical or veterinary information should be recorded. In addition, babies should be weighed each morning prior to their first feeding so as to monitor gains and losses.

Parrotlets are too small to be micro-chipped so closed-banding is the only way to identify the bird. More and more states are banning wild-caught birds and mandating that captive-bred birds be closed-banded. This is completely safe when the proper size band is used. I recommend either American or English budgie bands only. Never use lovebird which not only is easly caught on items but can be put on the leg of a full-grown parrotlet. The only exception is Yellow Face parrotlets which need lovebird bands as the others are too small.

Disinfection and Hygene

As with all bird breeding operations, cleanliness and sterilization is an absolute must. While common chlorine bleach is okay for disinfecting most equipment such as feeding dishes, cages, baskets, tubs and scales, a virucide/pseudomonacide should be used for soaking syringes, feeding spoons, brooders and anything that has been in contact with either babies or a sick bird. Also, use common sense such as never bringing strange babies into the nursery and always quarantining new birds for at least 60 days.  

Whether breeding parrotlets for pets, producing new color mutations or saving rare species for conservation, these diminutive parrots have a lot to offer. They are beautiful, intelligent, quiet and hardy.  So, if you are looking for a parrot with plenty of personality but cannot eat the dining room table, consider a parrotlet.