Brigitte

Thanks for your replies, everyone... Unfortunately, it wasn't infatuation. Whisper died while I was at work the day after I sent my post. My son was off school and checked on the bird periodically but things got worse in the afternoon. By the time I got home from work, it was too late. It's odd that the pet store never mentioned anything about putting a bird in "quarantine" before introducing it to other birds. They knew I had budgies at home. I've purchased all of them from this same store. For future reference, how long should this "quarantine" period be? What exactly do I need to do during this period? I've been watching "Sucre" very closely since Whisper was stuck like glue to this bird in particular... Everything looks fine so far. No other birds have shown any similar symptoms. Everyone's flying around the living room, playing, chirping, eating, drinking and the rest... Again, thanks for your comments and concerns . . .

Okay, here goes. . . I have five budgies, the newest member was introduced a week ago today. I am not sure of the gender, but I had two males and two females before I got this fifth bird (we named it Sucre) In the last two days one of my females (Whisper, 10 mths old +/-) has been acting very strange. Whisper has been spending most of the day with feathers puffed up and sleeping, snuggled right up to this new bird. When I say snuggled, I mean stuck like glue. It seems to be mutual, however, because Sucre seems to lean right into Whisper. The only time Whisper will tolerate being physically separated from Sucre is the time it takes to go to the bottom of the cage, load up on seeds and find Sucre again. I do not intend to breed these birds, so I have not supplied any nesting material. I must mentioned that before this behaviour started, Whisper was a very active bird. Whisper loved to fly around the room, play with the play pen on top of the cage, perch on the kitchen chair closest to our patio door to look at the wild birds outside. Now, the only activity is sleeping, snuggling and eating. If any of the other birds approach, Whisper protests. At first, I thought Whisper may be sick because it's feathers are quite noticeably puffed up (especially around the head) and the amount of sleep the bird tries to get. The bird's appetite is quite good if not increased. I've also noticed Whisper feeding Sucre and Sucre reciprocates by looking for food in Whisper's beek. This made me wonder if the "illness" in question is not actually love. Should I be concerned or should I be delighted? I'll wait for your replies,