How to get a second Parakeet?

[tjsbird]

Hi all,
I've done some research on this topic online but I wanted to get the board's input. This seems to be one of the better message boards out there.

I recently adopted Broose, my girlfriend's parakeet that is 4 ish years old. The parakeet was in her apartment by itself during this time. I adopted it because I have a larger place and she can fly around. For the last few months, Broose seems to be fine and flys around the house, chirps/makes happy noises, etc. I leave music on during the day when I'm gone, leave the window blinds open so she can see the back yard. She will sit on my hand to eat millet but that's about it. When she first came to my house, she would get on my hand, shoulder, etc. I think that was because she wasn't used to my place. But now that she is, she doesn't seem to be too keen hanging out with me.

Anyways, I'm thinking of getting a second parakeet. Everything I've read says they are social animals and I bet Broose would like having a budgie buddy. My questions for the board are:

1) Should I keep the new bird separate from Broose for a while? I've read that you should do this because of disease and just getting the birds used to each other. If so, what is the best way to introduce them? I'll be taking Broose, who has been by herself for 4 years and a bird that just got taken from their current bird friends. If I keep them separate, I will need to get a new cage - probably a bigger cage anyway because I'm going to keep two birds in it.

2) Are there any issues with introducing Broose to a younger bird? Will they not get along?

3) What happens if they don't get along? They don't have to be best friends but I don't want them to fight, etc.

4) I read that if you have multiple birds they won't bond with humans. Is there a way to still try and get them to bond with me at least a little? It was fun when Broose would sit on my shoulder a few months ago.

5) What gender of bird should I get? Should I get another female bird? If I get a male bird, will they lay eggs and have baby birds? I don't want to deal with eggs, babies, etc.

Thanks in advance for your help. I sort of stumbled into taking care of Broose but she's really grown on my over the last few months. I just want to take care of her and make sure she's happy.

T.J.

[Weka]

Hello and welcome.

There's a lot of info here in the threads on whether or not one should look into getting a second bird. As you've noted, many factors should be considered, ie species, age, level of tameness, quarantine, etc.

That said, as a girl I had a parakeet and unexpectedly ended up with a second one in my care when I was a teen. I didn't notice any decrease of tameness in my original budgie's behavior, but the second one remained a bit wild. They eventually learned to enjoy one another's company, but I was VERY careful in how I introduced them and always made sure they had lots of opportunity for flying outside the confines of their rather small cage. (I look back at the "advice" I got for their care 25 years ago and cringe). Knowing what I know now, I can't help but if I would've done things a bit differently...


--Weka

[Pajarita]

I have never had a single issue introducing a budgie to another budgie, they love, love, love having a companion of their own species (they are VERY flock-oriented), even of the same gender (but that only works if they are by themselves because if you introduce a male to two females, you might end up with trouble). Yes, you need to quarantine first for 30 days. After that, just let them go out together, they will gravitate toward one another and, when you see that they both go into the same cage over and over and that there is no fighting, you can house them together BUT always provide two of everything (food bowl, water bowl, greens, etc).

As to how to make them and keep them bonded to you, I am sure that training one while the other is in a cage works to a certain point. Personally, I don't interact with my budgies, I let them live their birdy life with other birds and they are VERY happy doing this.

[JaydeParrot]

To start off with I wouldn't keep them in the same cage, keep them seperately caged but close by, if their both good fliers you could watch them meet in the same room, if it goes wrong they can fly away from each other or you could intervene. Being budgies I doubt they could do much harm to each other but I still wouldn't cage them together immediately they may become scared or territorial.

I brought a pair of very untamed senegals and I've tamed both of them to the point where I can pick them up in my hand like michael does with Kili. As long as you spend time with each and make each feel like an individual, there should be no reason why they would be untame towards you.

Personally I'd get another female as you don't want to have to deal with the hardship of selling baby birds to people and never knowing what happens to the babies. Budgies and parakeets tend to breed a lot more easier than most birds.