New Parakeet

Question
Hi, I have a new parakeet that I  believe is approximately 4-6 months old. I have had him for 2 weeks and he has chirped only twice.  He never plays, and very rarely moves except to jump down and eat from his dish.  Is this normal behavior -  he is very skittish.  I have 1/2 his cage covered for protection. He wont play with anything or make a peep.  Is there a problem ?  He does not bite, and will let me softly stroke his chest for a minute.  The silence and not playing at all in his cage is troubling to me.  Please any advise would be welcome.

Answer
Dear Leslie,
thank you for your question.
Your parakeet is lonely. They are extremely social and used to living in groups. He's been separated from his family/group and is all on his own now and even if you spend a lot of time with him, you won't be able to replace a partner of his own species.
Two parakeets can be tamed just as well as one, especially at such a young age. Clikcer training is a very good method for bird training, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click has more, very detailed info on that. They are a lot of fun to watch and you don't have to worry about them being bored if you have to leave them alone or cannot play with them for a day or two. Two males get along well and a pair won't breed unless you offer a besting box.

If you get another bird, keep them separated for two weeks or so and let an avian vet check a fecal sample and a crop smear for any disease or parasites to make sure the new bird is healthy. Then you can put the two cages next to each other and after a day or so let them out together, usually they make friends in no time.
I hope I was of somed help to you
Jenifer