:fear

 

I've had my budgie Bobby for 9 months now, but he seems to be getting a bit lonely..... I want to buy a friend for him at the weekend, but I don't know if it's safe to do this now? I know budgies are meant to live in pairs (or more), but how do I go about introducing a new one without the fear of finding one of them pecked to death a few hours after doing so???!

 

I'd be grateful for any advice!

If you really want to add another budgie, you should quarantine him or her away from Bobby for at least 30 days - different cage, different room, different toys, everything. They should have no contact except via hearing. This is to protect both birds should one or the other be coming down with something not apparent yet. It is easier to treat one bird than multiple birds. During quarantine, play with and change food/water/cage liner of Bobby first. Wash your hands after any contact with the new bird.

 

Once the quarantine is up I would bring the new birds cage into the same room as Bobby and let them get to know each other through cage bars for a few days. When they start sitting as close to each other as the cage bars allow, you know they want to be together. Once you let them out together, keep an eye out for any serious bickering. They may "test" each other to see at what point they back down, but this is normal. Once they seem comfortable with each other out of the cage, I would leave both cages open so they can explore each others cage, and let them decide whether they want to share a cage or not. If they both retreat to seperate cages to eat and sleep, let them. Budgies are very social as a rule, and you probably will not have any problems, but there are always exceptions and they might always keep seperate cages, even if they play well together.

 

*edit*

Welcome! I just noticed this was your first post. :fear Do you have any pictures of Bobby you can post? What's he like?

Edited July 11, 200619 yr by Rainbow

Pretty was around 9 months old really still a baby when we intro him to Merlin. It was a very simple transition and it went smoothly.

 

I did the 30 day quarentine, hard but I did it because I didn't want anything to happen to them. Most of the time nothing does but I didn't want to personally take the chance.

 

Then when they were introduced I put them on top of the smaller cage that I had to get used to each other. When I put the cages side by side I made sure they didn't touch because you don't want any feet being injured by a beak bite. Within a few days after they were more used to each other and Pretty figured out Merlin was not a girl, I moved them into the cage together only during the day. I kept them apart at night for about a week after all squabbling was at a very minimum.

 

They get along great. Pretty is the protector, Merlin is the baby and acts like it. Pretty will preen Merlin and feed him because begs to be feed (Laughing out loud) but Pretty won't do it the other way around.

 

Getting another one is awesome, it was the best decision I made for our family and for Pretty. He is so much more outgoing.

Hi!

 

Thanks for everyones advice!

 

I don't want Bobby to come to any harm so I've been doing my research (as a responsible budgie owner!).

 

He's really funny, and likes to make his presence known - especially first thing in the morning!! He's become a bit vicious lately though, like when I put my hand to him to jump on my finger he snaps at me a bit... is this normal?!! He's been pretty tame, although still a bit nervous!

 

In the meantime, I've added a picture on here for you all to see! Awwwww!!

 

I'll keep everyone updated on "budgie 2" when I get him/her at the weekend!

 

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/kirstyw_2006/Bobby.jpg

Edited July 12, 200619 yr by Rainbow

Bobby is super cute.

Don't react when he tried to bite you he is testing you to see if he has control or you do. I know for a fact, Pretty won't try and bite me but he pretends to bite the kids because they react.

 

Also he may be going through a hormonal stage very common and a moult coming on? So it makes them more irritable too.

 

Be consistent, don't change anything and don't react he will be back to normal.

 

We called Pretty, Stinky Poo there for a while when he got really flightly with us.

He is a lovely budgie. :rip: He sounds like he is a bit hormonal. Like Lovey said, if you are consistent with him and don't react to the bites he will get over this phase.