Hello. Most assuredly they drink water. Just like all living creatures, they have to have water. It must be provided fresh, no less than once a day and in a bowl that has been washed and scalded no less than once a day. More often if they make any mess at all in it. Soiled water grows bacteria very fast and bacterial infections is one of the top bird killeres. All birds will shed some feathers all the time, off and on. But right now, it's spring time and that's usually when they have their most heavy molt. You are likely to see a higher than normal amount of shed feathers. You don't have to worry about it unless you see any bare or bald patches starting to appear as that would not be a normal molt. It will mean something is very wrong. Also, you should not ever see any bloody places from feathers being plucked out. As for biting on each other, that depends on exactly what you mean by biting. If they are actually biting because they are fighting, then it means you are going to have to separate them immediately and give each one a cage of his or her own. If it's fighting, there will be no way to mistake it. They will be screeching and grabbing at each other. But, mutual preening of each other's feathers is a normal activity. It might look like biting but it's just them taking turns, helping each other clean the sheaths off of newly emerging feathers. Again, quite common during a molt. The new pin feathers are very tender and touchy and once in a while one may accidentally hurt the other by trying to help with a feather that is still too tender but that will only be a momentay little screech and they will then go on about their business. Parakeets do not become pregnant. Just like all other birds, they lay eggs. There is no way you can know ahead of time whether it's going to happen or not. Because of that, and if you are positive you have at least one female, you must make sure she is on a perfect diet and that there is a never ending supply of cuttle bone in the cage at all times. If a female bird trys to lay eggs and if she does not have enough calcium in her diet, she will not be able to make firm shells for her eggs. They will be too soft and she will not be able to pass them. She will become egg bound and if you don't recognize it immediately, and get her to a proper avian vet immediately, she will die. If your birds are not getting anything but seeds to eat, then they are not even close to having a proper diet. Their diet should not be more than about 25% seeds. They need a good brand of pellet mixed with those seeds and they need fruits, vegetables, leafy greens and many more food items, every single day to stay healthy. I'm going to give you a lot of links to some real good information on basic care, good diet, and other safety issues that you must study if you want to keep healthy birds and hopefully stay out of the vets office other than for yearly checkups. I'm also going to give you some links to find the nearest proper vet for them. You need to find the vet right away and save the phone number. Don't wait until you have an emergency because there will not be time then, to be looking for one. Please go to each of these links, print out the information and save it for future reference. Put it all in one place, sort of like a bird owners manual. You will probably find yourself needing the information quite often. I hope this will help you out and will help you learn how to have the happiest, healthiest birds possible. If you need anything else, just let me know. Patricia
Click here: Hepatic Lipidosis
Click here: PetCareLibrary - Tumors in Parakeets (pvy.com)
Click here: Parakeet Medical and Safety Information
Click here: Parakeet Budgie and Keet FAQs and Info
Click here: Toxic and Safe Plants/Trees for Birds - Household Poisons
Click here: Nutrition
Obesity & Diets (budgies)
Click here: The Basics: Intro to Budgies / Parakeets
Click here: The Budgie and Parakeet Place - Care, Training, Pictures and More
Click here: BUDGIE CARE SHEET
Click here: Find your local Avian Veterinarian
Click here: Avian Veterinarians Recommended by Bird Breeders and Owners http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm
Click here: Avian Vet List
Click here: BirdsnWays - Avian Veterinarians - Vets - Vet Services for Pet Parrots & Exotic Birds
This one looks like an advertisement for Harrison pellets but they are only sold by vets so it's another good list to check. Click here: Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as he
Parrot C&onsultant
Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.