Getting to Know You

[BudgieCar]

I finally did it! Last Friday I went to the local PetsMart and got a companion budgie for my budgie-in-residence, Marla.
Right now, I have Marla and the new bird, Frosty, in separate cages about a foot apart. Frosty seems healthy; he's eating well, and his droppings look fine.
Frosty and Marla have done some chattering back and forth. I am wondering how long I should wait before I put them together in one cage.
Anyone have suggestions?

[Monica]

You would have been better off to quarantine Frosty, and have them both vet checked (however it depends on the situation as I know many people can't quarantine new birds, and have a hard enough time getting their bird a full health check)... Quarantine and vet checks are mainly made for the benefit of the birds incase one is sick and the other is not, you could have prevented the other from getting sick...

Anyway, since quarantine is too late (though vet checks are not), leave them in seperate cages for up to two weeks, and let them out at the same time. You may want to tame both of these birds though so it would be easier to handle them and put them back into their cages once they are out. Once they appear to accept eachother well, you can let them spend more and more time with eachother out of the cage, and once you are ready to put them together, either go out and buy a new cage with new supplies, or completely revamp one of their curent cages (perches, food dishes, toys, etc placed in a completely different way) and put them both in the cage at the same time.