I was thinking of getting two budgies for some time now.. years accually, my parents just wouldn't let me have birds before. so, i've read and read, and some things lean twards getting two girls, and recently i've read males get along better together. i know most male animals dont get along with other males.

 

if im planing on only two, is it best to get males or females? or male and female... but i dont want babies! (they dont breed without a box i've read?)

Two males would be a good choice. In budgies the females seem to be the more aggressive/dominant ones. I just replied to a question of yours in another post and you seem to want tame budgies, if this is the case i would start with one young male then once that's tame add another.

With budgie most are happy with a friend either two males or two females or one of each. It doesn't seem to matter. Yes there is a risk of babies with one male and one female, even with out a nest box sometimes they will find their own way around that. There is a member on here right now that had two budgies lay and raise two clutches with a box and when offered one didn't use it.

 

So if you don't want that headache sick to same sex couple. Then again this is easier said than done sometimes, since a lot of the time it takes a trained eye to see the difference in young budgies to which gender is which. Have a look around the site there are plenty of threads and links to show you how to tell between the two.

 

Now wether you want two girls or two boys is up to you. Males are the ones that make the noise, put together they will both sing happily all day long with each other. While the females are the ones that will happy tear everything you think is cute and would be fun to play with to pieces. The girls to sing but it is more often the loud calling noises to birds outside, rather then the gentle peeping that the males do while falling asleep or courtship wobbling.

 

Just think about what you are after in the birds and set out to get that dream. Also keep in mind that two budgies are less likely to bond to you than each other. If you are wanting a bird to happily sit on your shoulder then just one bird might be the better option.

im still confused! i know i can get two boys or two girls, (starting with only one for a while then might add adnother.)

 

but which is the best pet? males seem harder to come by around me. i live in Naples, so no to many birds seeing as old people have no use for pets on the golf course.. but at the pet store im planing on getting my bird at has many girls but only a few boys. they had a gorgous female, looked to be young also.

 

what i want to know is, do males or females make better pets? you said males sing all day, and females shread stuff all day, and sing to birds outside? *still so confused* i went to the store to get my bird accually, a male pied and still might get him.. but decided against is because i still couldnt make up my mind.. boy or girl. i like one of each, and cant get both right now.. i'd like to go tonight to get him/her since i dont want them at the store any longer than they have to be.

 

thanks so much!

It can be a difficult decision.

 

I have 10, 6 females and 4 males. The 4 males make enough noise for 10. Here is what I notice in my flock, maybe it will help you decide which to get. It's not cut and dried by any means, I know a lot of people will tell you their birds don't behave this way.

 

Males: are perfectly content to sit and warble to themselves, each other, toys, cage bars, (really any inanimate object) quite a bit. LOL mine are almost never quiet unless they are asleep. I do not find the singing annoying, but I am used to it. They warble and intersperse that noise with short, sharp, chirps. Males usually have no problem sharing food or toys with each other. They will chew toys up, but not to the extent a female in breeding condition will. Contrary to poplular belief, males can bite just as hard as females. My males will bite if you pick them up, my females won't. My males tend to be a bit more flighty, and will startle more easily than my females. I have one male that likes to make the "danger, danger" call just to see all the other birds take flight. What an unusual sense of humor he has... I'm told males are more likely to talk, but either sex will talk.

 

Females: have one mantra. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine. If you are looking at it, it is mine. If you are playing with it, I want it. If you are near it, I will chase you away, whether I want it or not. If you are eating it, it is most definitely mine. My females are 100 % more jealous of my time and attention than the males. The males could care less - they are happy with each other or with toys. But if I pay attention to one hen, then all the other ones want attention too, and will chase away other birds to get it. Hens generally don't quite understand the concept of sharing, LOL. But I find my hens are sweeter, steadier, and gentler than the males are, and have much more attitude. They are more curious, and when I introduce new food or a new toy, the females are usually the first ones to investigate. They also chirp and warble, but not as loudly as males. Most of their noises are softer, single chirps and clucking or clicking noises. They chew quite a bit.

 

With only two birds, it really won't matter what sex you get. It's really whatever you prefer. It might sound like you can't keep two females together, but you really can. If you do get two females though, I would suggest a slightly larger cage as they seem to require more "personal space" than male budgies do. With two birds, use three seed cups in case one of the birds gets possessive of the food. A bird can guard two cups, but it's too hard to guard three. :fear

you were very helpfull! you put females in an all new light. i went back to the petstore, to find they got a few new males in. some people recomended getting one male to start with. so i tryed my hardest to pick one (1)young (2)one i really liked, and (3)a male.

 

so i picked one cutie, most likley male, and a sky blue dominant pied, i think hes one of the brand new birds, and has the 'shell' markings that the babies have all the way down the the cere. after i got him home, his cage was all set up already, and has been for while, so i went to put him right in for the night.

to my suprise, he steped right up on my finger, but fluttered down to the ground (i was kneling) his wings were cliped when i got him. so i picked him up, and as i was carying him to the cage, he gently pinched me with beak. i have high hopes for my little guy!

 

two stupid employees told me "are you kidding me? the're going to bite the **** out of me!" when i asked them if they could get another pied out so i could further look him over before deciding my my boy. they then told me "they bite so hard! it hurts really bad, you have to be carefull" i just told them, they need patience, and you need to earn there trust, and that they should come around. his soft pinch has so far proved them wrong. he doesent do it out of meanness, it seems hes just doing it out of, 'hey! put me down, i dont know you!' ill get pictures in a few days : )

LOL, I put females in an all new light, huh? I hope not a bad one, I really prefer the females to males! I can't wait to see pictures of your new little one...does he have a name yet?

oh yes! if i didnt like my little guy so much i'd wish i had gotten the female i had my eye on. ill get a picture of him later, and hopefully figgure the whole picture thing out.

Congratulations on your new bird. I'm sure we can help you determine if he really is a he. I really haven't made a consious choice of picking a male or female bird yet. But it seemed, that I always ended up with males. The birds I have now are a female and a male. I got the female first and she was pretty tame when I got the male (about 5-6 months later). They each have their own cage.. but spend alot of time out together. Females and males have different personalities.. and each bird is an individual.

I'm gald you have a little one now and he is already calm around you. Keep up the handling every day so he will bond to you well and i'm sure soon he wouldn't even think of biting you.

 

Don't worry about the pet employees it's surpirsing how many people that don't know anything about birds get to work in a pet shop.

i have two not to great pics, so ill wait till i can get a few better ones.

 

its day three and hes such a good boy! i held him once yesterday, and 5 times today! very short outings, but he seems to like me, and loves coming out! hes really not scared! hes learned the step up comand all ready! some times he stepes up, and steps back down, but will gladly step back up when asked. : ) im so suprised hes come along so well!

my dad who loves big parrots, and had a cocatoo when he was younger and just loved him (till his roommate left a door open) thought busgies were dumb birds to have, and that having a nice one was possable, but unlikley and i never would get a nice one. me and Binks have proved him wrong! my mom just loves him too! once he gets a little more ajusted to me and living here, hes being moved from my room to the family room "so they can enjoy him too!"

 

he hes sneezed three times, once yesterday, and twice today after he got water in his nose from his water bowed while hoping back to his cage.

 

his name is Binks. i got it from a favorite movie from when i was little. if you have kids, or watched disney channel yourself, years ago they played a movie, hocus pocus. the three witches, and the boy who takes his sister Danny trick-or-treating, meats a girl and they get chased by witches ect.. but Danny finds a talking cat named binks. i loved binks when i was younger! now i have my own, possibly talking binks.

Bria, that's wonderful news! I can't wait to see pictures of Binks. :dbb1:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/dov2908/P1010336.jpg

 

havent figgured out how to make an image smaller, so heres a link ot one picture. his color is more sky blue in person, camera distorted in a little bit.

 

how young/old does he look? ill get better pictures today.

 

By The Way! when i got home from school my dad told me he had been singing all day, i was thrilled! i went into my room, and started talking to him, he talked back in budgie! short songs, and chirps!

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/dov2908/P1010336.jpg

 

havent figgured out how to make an image smaller, so heres a link ot one picture. his color is more sky blue in person, camera distorted in a little bit.

 

how young/old does he look? ill get better pictures today.

 

By The Way! when i got home from school my dad told me he had been singing all day, i was thrilled! i went into my room, and started talking to him, he talked back in budgie! short songs, and chirps!

 

 

What a cuti. Good to see he is settling in.

 

He looks about 8 to 10 weeks old.

He looks like a dominent Pied with that head spot.

Edited December 20, 200519 yr by daz

Well done on getting your budgie, cute picture