Should I Add A Friend Or Not?

[meeka 0]

Hello all,

Haven't posted in a long long time, but still a budgie lover!

 

Sorry in advance for the long story!

 

I've had Ollie for a year and 3 months and I'll be honest, she's tame but not loving at all. No kisses, won't let me scratch her head ect. She just likes to sit on me and chill.

Not long after I brought her, I decided to get her a friend, but her friend turned out to be female and they fought like crazy. Ollie at first was the dominate one, but the new bird quickly grew bigger and became the dominate one. Started pulling out her feathers, biting her feet and hogging the food, so sadly I had to find her a new home.

Over summer, Ollie started, how can I say this politely .... Bonking her favourite toy, which happened to be a chain with vine balls and bells attached. We could all hear what was happening all over he house, and quickly her toy was named Wilson haha!

She then became obsessed with her toy and "loving" it dozens of times a day and wore out her bottom feathers. I took her to the vet, who said this behavior was normal and quite seasonal. I took her there as I was worried about her poops as they were large and runny. He checked her all out and gave her the okay, he said it was just hormones.

A couple of weeks after the vet trip she started laying eggs which thankfully stopped a couple of weeks ago. She ended up laying 11 in total.

She hasn't been "bonking" her toy anymore, but has moved on to a different toy. She talks and preens it and won't leave the cage without it.

She seems sad as she's not getting a reaction from her toy and I was wondering after that huge long story, whether or not I should find her a male companion.

 

Please let me know your thoughts and opinions.

Thank you.

[Finnie 0]

Personally, I wouldn't get her a male friend unless you want baby budgies. If she has already proven that she will lay eggs in spite of having no nest, then giving her a male will make her lay eggs that are actually fertile.

 

She does have no nest, right? Because if you have anything in her cage resembling a nest, that alone could trigger her behavior and egg laying.

 

She seems tame enough to be happy with just your company, if you can make sure you spend enough time with her.

[meeka 0]

Personally, I wouldn't get her a male friend unless you want baby budgies. If she has already proven that she will lay eggs in spite of having no nest, then giving her a male will make her lay eggs that are actually fertile.

 

She does have no nest, right? Because if you have anything in her cage resembling a nest, that alone could trigger her behavior and egg laying.

 

She seems tame enough to be happy with just your company, if you can make sure you spend enough time with her.

 

No she doesn't have a nest. She just lays them from her perch and she doesn't worry about them.

I understand they will be fertile - would I be able to remove them? Or would that just make her lay more? Someone told me I can boil them for a couple of mins - that seems so horrible though.

Yes she does spend time out of her cage, but not everyday as I work full time. This is the first time having a female bird.

[Finnie 0]

So if you get her a male, the eggs will be fertile, but you can still just throw them away. If she is incubating them (sometimes they do that on the floor of the cage) and you don't want chicks, then you can addle the eggs by shaking them, or I guess boiling, but that's a new one for me. Or some people buy fake eggs to give the hen to trick her into stopping laying.

 

Whether you get her a male or not is up to you. Having one or two budgies is a personal choice.