🦜Kakariki: gear and buying guides

The kakariki is a hyperactive, curious and fairly quiet New Zealand parakeet, famous for scratching the ground with both feet like a little hen. Always on the move, it explores every corner and needs far more flying space than its size suggests. Not a cuddler but hugely entertaining, it is a bird for watching and playful interaction.

Profile : 25 to 28 cm including a long tail, 10 to 15 year lifespan, low noise level.

Kakariki gear, family by family

• 🍖 Food

  A large-parakeet seed mix or suitable pellets, with a generous share of vegetables, greens and sprouted seeds. Its fast metabolism means frequent small meals.

• 🧴 Care & grooming

  A keen bather, it happily dives into a water dish every day. Its nails wear down naturally if it has varied surfaces to scratch.

• 🎾 Toys & enrichment

  Set up a ground foraging tray with seeds hidden in clean substrate; it will scratch through it for hours. Ropes, ladders and moving toys complete its exploration circuit.

• 🏠 Bedding & habitat

  A cage or aviary at least one metre wide, with horizontal space trumping everything, from 150 euros. Note: the kakariki is among the species whose keeping may require identification or formalities depending on regulations, so check before buying.

• 🧳 Travel & safety

  A securely closed carrier, as it slips through surprisingly small gaps. During free time, secure plants, bins and floor-level nooks, its favourite exploration grounds.

• 🧰 Accessories

  Multiple perches, a floor scratching tray and stable feeders, as it readily tips over lightweight bowls. An indoor aviary beats a handsome but narrow cage.

Guides to read

• Budgie starter kit: the full budget to get off to a good startAccessories

  Cage, perches, bowls, toys, food: the complete budgie starter kit broken down item by item, with a realistic budget of 180 to 400 €.

• Switching from seeds to pellets: the gentle method that worksFood

  Why and how to switch a budgie, cockatiel or parrot from seeds to pellets: a gradual 4-to-8-week transition, with brands and prices.

• Egg food for birds: when to feed it and which one to choose?Food

  Breeding, moulting, winter: when to give egg food to a canary or budgie, which recipe to choose in 2026 and at what price (4 to 12 €).

• Cuttlebone and mineral blocks: which one does your bird need?Food

  Calcium, iodine, beak wear: what cuttlebone and mineral blocks are for, how to attach them in the cage and which to favour for each species.

• Fruits and vegetables safe for birds: the complete listFood

  Which fruits and vegetables can a budgie, cockatiel or parrot eat safely? The list of safe foods, the toxic ones and the right amounts.

• Play gyms and perch stands: setting up the out-of-cage spaceToys & enrichment

  Perch stand, tabletop play gym, hanging playground: how to set up a safe, stimulating out-of-cage space for a budgie or parrot, from 25 to 250 €.

• Foraging toys for birds: shop-bought or DIY, which to choose?Toys & enrichment

  Foraging toys keep a bird busy for hours by making it work for its food: commercial models (5 to 35 €), DIY ideas and how to build up difficulty.

• Swings, ladders and rings: which gym gear for your bird?Toys & enrichment

  Swings, ladders and rings build balance and keep budgies and parrots busy: safe materials, sizes by species and prices from 4 to 25 €.