We had two budgies (male and female) for a while but the female died about 6 months ago. The male that is left on his own is between 3 and 4 years old and we would like to know if we should introduce a new budgie to keep him company or not. He was rather bullied by the female and may be happier on his own but we just want to do what would be best for him.

 

Thankyou for any help.

Hi and welcome!

 

How does your bird act now that he is by himself? Does he still sing, chatter, and generally appear happy, or did he become "not his usual self" when your other bird died (very sorry about that-I know it is a difficult time to go through)? Birds do grieve too. Do you get to spend much time with him or is he alone quite a bit? Is he tame and used to interaction with people? What kind of personality does your bird have? Do you think he would want the company of another bird? If you want to get another bird, I would do it more because you want to get another bird, and not just for company for the one you have. There is always a small chance they will merely tolerate each other and would have to always be housed seperately. Not to mention more $$$ will need to be budgeted for veterinary care, food, and toys. Do you have two cages already? It is a good idea to quarantine any new birds for at least 30 days before introducing him or her to your current bird. By listening to them during the quarantine you may be able to get a pretty fair idea of whether they want to interact with each other or not. Since they should be in seperate areas of the house during this time, they will only be able to hear each other. When I first brought home Skittles as a friend for Rainbow, it took less than 3 minutes before he knew another bird was in the house.

Thank you Rainbow for your reply. Yes, I was going to get another bird just for Budgie and not because I wanted another one for myself. I only want him to be happy and think his life is better now that Lucy has died, she was terrible to him, even to the point of not allowing him to eat, but as I am out quite a bit I worry that he will be lonely. He sings and chatters to himself, a lot, when I am home, and is eating very well.

 

Thank you for your advice.

maybe if he is still chirpy then he would be better on his own for a while. while you are out you could always leave the tv or radio on to keep him company.

If you think he is happy, and you can spend time with him I don't think it is wrong not to get another bird. But, if you change your mind, you might have better luck getting another male budgie as a companion. Males are a little more lenient when it comes to sharing food. All four of my males can eat out of the same dish without any problems, but add any of the females to the equation and soon she is the only one that can have any. Adding more food dishes to the cage can solve the problem too.

 

Do you have any pictures of Budgie you can post in the pictures forum?

I am not sure if he is happy or not. The problem was we have had birds for many years now and when we started out with Georgie, although he was a really happy bird as he spent all his life out of the cage, except for bedtime, we then got him Billie to keep him company, but Georgie didn't seem to like him and after about a year Georgie died. So, we then got Lucy to keep Billie company, but as Lucy was a baby when I bought her, the first night after having her with Billie, she was flaked out in a seed tray, so I went back to the pet shop and asked for their advice and they said she must be missing her brother or sister, so I bought the other baby bird, to find out she was a she too. These two did not get on at all so decided to split them up and so got Budgie for Georgie 2, she hated being away from Billie, and went mad to get out, in the end she died, I think it might have been all the stress. Then Billie died and I was left with Budgie and Lucy. Lucy got quite gross and could hardly fly she ate so much. I did have three feeders in the cage at the time, but although she couldn't fly she chased Budgie around all the time, to stop him eating. So Budgie has ended up a very quite, shy, timid bird and will not come out of the cage at all. I have forced him out but it was all so traumatic that I gave up after a week.

 

Thanks Pixie for the suggestion about the radio, I do leave it on all day and whenever I go out.

 

Yes, will look for a picture of Budgie and add it to the forum.

 

Thanks for all your help

It sounds like you have had a difficult time with your birds. I wouldn't give up on Budgie, though. You will just have to start at square one if he's not tame at all. It sounds like he has endured a lot. I wouldn't force him out of his cage though, just leave the door open. He may eventually decide it's not so scary after all. He will probably like the extra attention, just take it slowly. I've had single birds, and currently have 10 and have managed to keep them all relatively tame. It really depends upon the bird. All my single birds seemed to be happy, and the ones I have now are happy too, so either way you go it's not wrong.

i think if it was my budgie then i would leave him on his own for a while so he can get his confidence back. i work quite a lot so my budgie is on his own during the day but i always have him out in the evening and whenever i am home. Try leaving the cage door open and putting some millet spray just outside. im sure all he needs is some loving attention and he will be right as rain. i dont believe that it is cruel to have a budgie by himself so long as he gets flytime and attention from you everyday.

 

hope this helps.

Thank you, Rainbow. Thank you, Pixie, will keep you informed of my progress.