Budgie Mates

[homebird]

A while ago my Budgie - a mature male - got really hormonal over his toys. The toys changed & his condition improved + he ended up with a lot of attention. Lots of people have this problem & deal with it in different ways.

I try & give my Budgie the amount of interaction he craves but sometimes I think I agree with the articles I've read - we aren't enough.

I like having one bird. We have him out a lot & he has a variety of toys & food - although he is still a seed eater mostly. But whenever he's lonely for interaction he ends up serenading something in his cage - only natural but its then that I think I should get a pal for him & then the issues of compatibility, space & health begin.

Would you please express your stories/opinions on the following?
1) There are a lot of members who have multiple Budgies & I'd like to hear from you about your journey into 'more than 1'. What are the drawbacks with Budgies?
2) There are a number of members who have 1 Budgie & are talking birds. - Do you think that because they talk they're more 'bonded' to there human friends than a non-talking bird? Do they get as lonely?
3) Alternatives that work??

Thanks, Jac

[Belinda]

Okay, here's my story. When i was in year 9 and 10 i was homeschooled, at the beginning of year 10 two of my budgies bred and i chose Blinkie to be my indoor pet. I was at home nearly constantly for that first year of Blinkie's life and so he didn't need a feathered friend, he literally had me 24/7. A friend for Blinkie was still on my mind during that year though, especially towards the end of it. I knew that the following year (this year) i would be going back to regular school and wouldn't be home all the time. In September of last year i had a perfect opportunity to give him a friend. I bred two of my pairs and had several babies. How easy would it have been for me to tame one for him. But i didn't, for my own selfish reasons i put them all out in the aviary when they were old enough. I didn't want to take the chance that he would bond to the budgie more than me. There were behaviours i didn't want to disappear - he paced when he saw me and got so excited chirping for cuddles, at night when he was covered he would come over to the cage bars and give me a good night kiss. The thought of not seeing those behaviours scared me and so i put my happiness before his. This year begun and so did school, Blinkie was still friendless but i wouldn't say unhappy. I left the tv on for him while i was out which is convieniantly never longer than 4 hours at a time (gotta love free periods at school). I still felt i should get him a friend though. He was bonding too much to certain objects - his rings, he humped his rope perch, if the rope perch was gone he humped his other perches...i felt like he really needed a friend of the feathered variety. In April i decided to put his happiness before mine and i got little baby Ozzie from a nearby pet shop. Within a week of quarantine Ozzie would pace and call for me to come out for cuddles, he was so tame. After quarantine was up i moved Ozzie's little cage to the living room where Blinkie lives. I introduced them and at first Blinkie didn't really know what to do with him other than flirt with this realistic budgie toy and pull his tail...

Poor Ozzie, Blinkie's budgie skills were very poor. But soon enough they were getting along beautifully...

And better still, Blinkie was still obsessed with me, Ozzie was still obsessed with me. Blinkie still said "kissy" and made his various noises. Blinkie had a friend and i hadn't been forgotten, it was so perfect and still is today. I have two of the best little buddies in the world and when i see them sitting together all snuggled up and happy i know i did the right thing getting him a friend. With budgies it's so easy to have multiple tame budgies and that's one of the great things about them. Watching two interact is so much fun - they're real little clowns. Ozzie now immitates Blinkie's noises and sometimes when i hear them. Blinkie hasn't stopped any of his old behaviours either...not the kisses, not the excited greetings and also not the humping...

Something you can do is have 2 budgies and house them separately only letting them be together for play time. I did this for quite a long time but now Blink and Oz live together very happily.

[homebird]

Thanks - that was very rewarding. The photos are wonderful. I think your point, about putting their feelings before your's, has great merrit.
I think that another Budgie may be in the cards.
I was wondering how he'd react to a baby?

[Belinda]

If he's been a single budgie all his life he probably won't know what to do with it. Blinkie certainly didn't. There will probably be a lot of head bashing and tail grabbing, a little pecking i'm sure, lol. Blinkie took a while to figuire out that Ozzie was the same as him, but he got there in the end.

[AbbeyNMommy]

Okay this is how I feel......
I also sometimes feel quilty for keeping one budgie.
I will ask my friends and family what they think and they usually reply along these lines:

Abbey is very Happy
Abbey is fine.....

Before Abbey I had two budgies and it was a nightmare,. One dominated the other so bad and would beat it up! I had to separate them as the more passive one was having a nervous breakdown....according to the vet!

She would constantly pluck her feathers out! So I ended up with two very unhappy budiges.

Mister Abbey is such a tame and happy bird that I think of his well being when I think of getting him a mate.......He is so special that I do not want to harm his well being in anyway.......I do not think Abbey is lonely.....I do not think Abbey is depressed.....This budgie is very content......I can tell!

Do I play russian roulette or leave well enough alone........I always come up with the same solution.......Leave well enough alone!

Every situation is different..........

[Belinda]

It's true that sometimes budgies won't get along so that's a deciding factor too, if they don't get along can you cage them separately permanently? Also, i find 2 males make an excellent pairs - no bossy hens to get mad at the silly males, lol. :P

[Gala]

I enjoyed all photos Here are my two budgies: Kiki is a girl, soon to be 3yrs.old. Choki is a boy, a bit younger than her. They are my great joy

[svolk]

I've thought about this quite a bit as well. I kind of go back and forth sometimes.

I do think Jerry is very happy and he has not displayed any serious mating behaviors as of yet - I'm wondering if and when this will start as he is roughly 2 years old. No regurgitating, no humping yet. We'll see I guess.

Like Diana's experience, I fear that Jerry would not get along with another budgie or vice versa. His experience with Lulu always makes me hesitant. He does want to be friends with her and show affection to her, but she just can't take it, he's too much for her - too hyper, too obnoxious. I know that cockatiels in general are much more relaxed than budgies, but I fear that the same thing might happen if we were to get another budgie.

I do think that Jerry benefits from merely seeing Lulu and talking to her on a daily basis. If they are in separate rooms they call to one another so they are somewhat bonded. I am happy about that.

If we ever get another budgie I would try and house them separately permanently and allow interaction during playtime (unless they REALLY insisted on being together at all times).

I also would really like an English budgie someday. Not necessarily as a playmate for Jerry, but if we were to get one while we still have Jerry, I worry about the friendship potential as well because I've read that English budgies tend to be slightly less hyper and active as American budgies.

I do think that Jerry has a strong bond with me over anyone else. That is demonstrated all the time, he would rather be with me than other people, other people get bitten or nipped by him, and he happily just sits and chats with me every night.

I also wonder if our schedule has anything to do with our situation being so good at the moment. We have a routine that is pretty set in place due to our work schedules and the birds seem to do very well on it. They are always very patient and I think they know when it's time for them to come out and when we have to leave and return later. During the week they are up at the same time every day, they go to bed at nearly the same time every evening, and they have a standard amount of time that they spend with us. On weekends they know they get showers and more time out of the cage. They seem to do very well on our routine.

My bottom line is that I haven't decided on this issue, but at this time I am not ready to risk messing up a good thing at the moment.