G'day

 

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on what to do about my budgies. Both are male, one has a blue cere and the other has a purple one.

I bought them as babies about 8 weeks ago and everything seemed to be going alright. They were learning to step up, they'd jump all over my hand when I was holding millet etc. Happy days.

 

The only thing that was weird is that every night, Bernard Mickey Wrangle (The blue one) would go to a particular perch where he liked to sleep, and without fail Zazu, (The yellow one) would wait until lights went out and kick him off. I'd hear the fighting and when I turned the light back on, there was Zazu sitting in Bernard's spot.

 

I didn't worry too much, as they got along fine otherwise, but gradually, more and more, they're finding it harder to get along. They now fight over everything. As soon as one goes near the other, they'll start pecking each others heads, biting each other on the feet, making weird noises and standing up really tall with their beaks open. They fight over food, even though I've put in separate food dishes. I've also noticed they rarely preen each other any more either.

 

I'm no budgie expert, but I thought males were supposed to be rather agreeable? I had chosen what I thought was a large enough cage so if they got fed up with each other they could get some space, but they seem to clash anyway (picture attached). I've just started to notice some weird looking patches on Zazu's head that looks like it might be where he is getting pecked. (Though he gives as good as he gets)

 

So what should I do? Will they grow out of this? Are they just establishing an order of power or something like that? Should I separate them, and if I do, do I need to get them each another buddy to play with all day or just spend more time playing with them individually?

 

Your advice would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

Dean

 

is it only at bed time??

 

mine always fight over the highest spot to sleep as budgie feel safer higher up, but as they are outside they have while the sun is setting to sort out who wins.

 

You could remove the spot they are fighting over - if that is it is the swing I can seen in the picture

or use a small soft night night might settle them down it could be issues over the sudden lost of lighting.

Hi Nerwen,

 

It started out only at night over the perch, the pink one over on the right of the picture.

Now it's over anything and everything, at all times during the day. They've started to sleep on opposite sides of the cage at night.

 

when was the last time you rearrange the cage or swapped toys around?

 

this could settle them down as they loss their 'favourite' areas and have new things to explore.

Are they moulting? Maybe they are being hormonal, and it will settle down after the moult.

Try changing the perches to run front to back giving them a way to fly across the cage and I would remove the mirror type toys totally

 

Put two swings in...one at each side of the cage.

 

PS cuttlebone under the perch down low isnt the place for it to be....put it high up and not under a perching situation where it will get pooped on.

Edited December 11, 201113 yr by **KAZ**

Thanks for the replies guys!

Nerwen, I change the toys in the cage around about once a fortnight, the last time I did it was about 10 days ago.

 

Finnie, I don't think they're malting? If they were would I be noticing an unusual amount of feathers being shed? What should I be looking for?

 

 

Kaz, I'll try what you said regarding the perches, mirror toys, swings and cuttlebone and see how I go!

 

If I try all these things and it turns out they just don't like each other, where do I stand regarding separating them? Even now as I type I'm looking over my shoulder at them fighting away! Will I need to get them each a new bud?

You are right that the first sign of moulting is an increase in loose feathers. But a lot of times that might not be too noticeable. The next sign will be pin feathers coming in on the head. That looks like little sticks sticking out. Sometimes it might look like blackheads, and sometimes like pink bald patches. It just depends on how many are coming in in one spot all at once.

 

A lot of first time owners don't realize what they are seeing, and they write in that they are worried that something is wrong with their bird. Your birds are getting to the age to expect moulting, and since you mentioned the baldish looking patch, it made me wonder. Some people will notice that their tame budgie gets unfriendly and bitey during a moult. The usual advice is to give them more cover time at night. They need more sleep. 10 to 12 hours a night is considered normal sleeping time. During cranky periods, increasing that to 13 or 14 hours can help.

 

You might not need to separate them permanently. Maybe just during cranky phases. And if they were in separate cages but near each other, they might not be too lonely. Especially if you give them supervised play time outside their cages. No need to buy extra birds unless you have been bitten by the bug and you just WANT extra birds!

 

 

Personally, I think it's strange for two males to not get along. Usually it would happen if they were fighting over a female. (Or I had two males fighting over another male, once. ) So if you just happen to have a male that is more "argumentative" than most, there's no guarantee that he would get along with any other new friend you got for him. You could end up with four birds that all needed separate cages. (But I think that would be highly unlikely.) If your cage is big enough to house four, and you really wanted that many birds, there's a chance that just by changing the group dynamics, your two guys would get along better in the bigger group. But unless you were wanting to be a multiple bird owner, I don't really suggest that the solution to a bird problem is to buy more birds.

Edited December 12, 201113 yr by Finnie

apart from what everyone else has said, I'd not only get two swings, but make sure they are both at exactly the same height. They'll both want to sleep on the highest roosting spot. So two identical sleeping perches or swings, and both at the same height.

i would not consider adding MORE birds to the mix a good idea to solve anything. You might, after trying these suggestions, look at separating them. Do they get out of the cage at all for any play time?

I agree with Nerwen. Try all the cage arrangement suggestions first and then see whats what but dont add any more birds.

Hey guys, I gave it a little while to test out all these theories, and as it turns out I think they are moulting. I've noticed an increase in feathers over the last few weeks all around the cage, I guess I just gotta wait it out. If they're still fighting in another few weeks I'll be back for more advice!

Edited January 9, 201213 yr by Finnie