Proper Introductions

[BudgieCar]

I have a single budgie, Marla, whom I bought from a pet store approximately three years ago.
Recently my other budgie, Melody, had to be euthanized due to an inoperable tumor near her spine.
Marla seems a little lonely, although she and Melody never got along very well.
I would like to obtain another budgie as a companion for Marla.

Marla is a rather husky bird with an assertive personality.
Would it be best for me to look for a bird who would be Marla's equal, or should I go for a smaller bird who would not seem like a threat?
And how should I introduce the two to each other?

[Monica]

NEVER put a female budgie with any bird that is smaller than her, especially finches and canaries. If you were to put Marla with a softbill, and no way for the softbill to escape or get away from Marla then Marla could quite possibly hurt the little thing. If you want to try another species then it's best to look into grass parakeets (bourkes, turquoisines, scarlet chesteds, etc). Budgies can be quite aggressive over their territory, and are quite bossy birds.

You would never want to house a budgie with a finch, canary, lovebird, parrotlet, or anything larger than a cockatiel. If you do house them with other birds, it may be best to look for other types of parrots that their relatives are native to Australia.

The reason that Marla and Melody may have not gotten along may be because they were possibly both females, and two females can be quite aggressive to one another. If you want her to have a friend, one that she may learn to get along with, get a male budgie. However, if you do not want them to share a cage, or do not want breeding, then you should check out some other species of small parrots.


After you quarantine the new bird, you could slowly introduce them through two different cages, and letting them out at the same time with close supervision. If they get along quite well, and you would like to house them together, then completely rearrange one of the cages and put them both in there at the same time.

[BudgieCar]

Thanks a lot for the good suggestions!
A trouble with budgies is determining sex; even my vet tells me that he cannot be sure without doing a chromosomal analysis. And, of course, pet shop employees always say, very slowly and clearly as if they fear going too fast for me, "See this little part above its beak? If that's blue, the bird is a boy; if it's pink, the bird is a girl!"
Well, maybe.
I once had a bird whom I thought was female develop testicular cancer
I will, however, put considerable time and thought into choosing Marla's new companion and introducing them to each other.
Thanks!

[Monica]

Well, its usually best to talk to an avian vet and to go to bird stores instead of petstores if you have any. It's actually extremely easy to sex budgies, unless they may be lutinos, albinos, or a deep pied...

Females usually always have a white cere (may have blue or tan on it) that turns a tan or a crusty brown color. They usually have a wider stance than males as well when they are fully mature, as their pelvis bones are usually further apart.

Males usually have a deep blue or purplish cere, while in albinos, lutinos, and the deep pieds they will always have a pink cere (females will usually get a white or crusty brown cere). Males usually have a smaller stance/pelvis bones are closer together.

The hard part is, is when the budgies are chicks. They all will have pink ceres... Some breeders learn to tell what sex the chicks are while they are still in the nest, though it's quite hard to people who are not experienced with raising chicks.

Another way, though one that is not 100% accurate, is to tell by the length of their tails. If the budgies are the same size, and their tales are fully grown out, males will usually have a slightly longer tail than a female. This is not accurate as it would be like saying we could tell what gender a human was by our hair if we didn't cut it, though because of all the nationalities there are, peoples hair grows to different lengths.

[BudgieCar]

Wow! I have learned a lot even since I discovered this site just this morning.
What I would really like to do is get my new bird from a good breeder, but as I am severely disabled it's difficult just to get to the local PetsMart, where the bird areas are always clean and the stock healthy and lively.
I do have a good avian vet, but even he is hesitant to make sex determinations on budgies.
Oh, well..........