# Budgie advice please :)



## Artisan (Mar 27, 2011)

Hiya 

Have never ventured over to this section before and would like some advice before i start researching more.
My OH and i have decided we would like to add one or possibly a pair of cute budgies to our animal family...probably in the summer sometime (or later) as we have a friend who has an outdoor aviary and is breeding some budgies this year.
From memory (had budgies years ago when i was a kid) Am i right in thinking they do better in pairs or more rather then on their own, Will keeping one on its own cause problems /stress for the single budgie? Would we be better keeping 2 females/male and female? and my last question for now is...what are the dimensions of a suitable cage for a pair, inside the house (they will be let out to fly around the room - obviously with curtains shut so they dont fly into the windows) But we want them to have a decent sized cage - big enough for the 2.

Thanks : victory:


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## BlackRose (Jul 8, 2007)

Hello
Congrats on deciding to add some of these lovely birds to your family. They are very cute and funny. Unfortunately looking online can be very confusing when researching any animal and their habitat. You get such conflicting info. I cant offer much help ATM, but I am going to look into cage sizing for you if you can give me an idea on how Manu budgies you'd possibly like.

In my experience or remembering then keeping budgies when I was little on keeping budgies in pairs was advisable. Of course this may vary depending on the budgies temperament and background etc, but if you are getting babies you should be more than ok with a pair.
Assuming there's any resemblance at all to the parrotlet (which differ dramatically and unpredictably in company accommodation), then they may bond more with each other than with you. And also I think in uneven numbers budgies, being very social, would feel left out if everyone has paired up with a special friend and one hasnt. 

I don't know about how to keep males and/or females budgie wise, but I'm assuming its best for two females?

It really comes down to what you want in your budgie pets, and your relationship with them.
I'll post back if I find anything out for you and in the meantime someone should hopefully post some actual experience on these birds. 

All the best. Keep us posted and pics. :2thumb:


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

You definitely want to have more than one as they are "flock" birds. We have many in a large indoor aviary in a spare room.

As large a cage as possible is best. By not providing nest boxes over the last few years ours have not mated, we decided that we really have enough. We have always found the males more friendly and easier to tame, although admittedly now we leave them all together and do not interact with them as such. When we bred them we took out the pairs we wanted to bred and put them into separate cages. They were then returned all together as a family once we were happy that the youngest one was feeding safely.

They are noisy - ours are now waking soon after 6 am I must get the extra blackout covers at the bedroom window!


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## Artisan (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks very much both of you, i suspected they would do better in pairs or more.
We will be getting 2 then and a nice big cage for them. Had a few budgies growing up and they were lovely to have around. 
I dont mind if they get more friendly with eachother then with us but we do want to hand tame them so we can interact with them aswel and have them sit on us etc which i know if you get them when young you can form a really nice bond with them.
We will be getting them as young/baby birds so there shouldn't be a problem with finger taming etc.
I also know they can be really noisy at times  but thats not an issue really.
Its good to know if you dont provide nest boxes - they wont breed as readily and if we are getting them as babies i understand you cant sex them until they are a a fair few months old and the males get the blue cere?
So it will be a lucky dip when we do get them i expect...and a nice surprise to see what they are when older.
So i take it 2 males are ok too seeing as you can keep them in family groups? will 2 males not fight at all or if getting a pair is it best to mix sexes?

Thanks again for the help : victory:


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

The blue ceres come through fairly quickly but we haven't had any problems with more males than females (unlike reptiles!)

I must admit though we have always found the males more friendly and the two that were the tamest were both boys. The females can be a bit bitey when handled but of course that is a female/mother's instinct - despite my username I am one of them!


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## Moony14 (Aug 20, 2011)

My grandfather has raised budgies for 20 odd years and has been passing all his knowledge onto me. For pet homes he suggests a single male budgie if you wish to have a strong bond with the budgie and then introduce a second budgie later on. Getting two at once can make it more difficult to tame them. Are you hoping to tame them or have them more for looking and listening?


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## Artisan (Mar 27, 2011)

Stephen P said:


> The blue ceres come through fairly quickly but we haven't had any problems with more males than females (unlike reptiles!)
> 
> I must admit though we have always found the males more friendly and the two that were the tamest were both boys. The females can be a bit bitey when handled but of course that is a female/mother's instinct - despite my username I am one of them!


Thanks for that 


Moony14 said:


> My grandfather has raised budgies for 20 odd years and has been passing all his knowledge onto me. For pet homes he suggests a single male budgie if you wish to have a strong bond with the budgie and then introduce a second budgie later on. Getting two at once can make it more difficult to tame them. Are you hoping to tame them or have them more for looking and listening?


Bit of both really. A little friend but also to watch/listen to. 
So we should be ok to get a male to tame....then to add another bird either another male or a female at a later date to tame....and there wont be any fighting over a strange bird coming into the first birds territory or anything like that?
Thanks everyone up to now, this has been very helpful :2thumb:


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

We've never set out to tame ours so cannot comment on that side, but if you have one and then add another that could cause problems as the first budgie may well not take to a new one coming into his territory. Although we have only ever added several to an already existing group. Any new one would have to be quarantined anyway, even if from the original breeder I would still recommend it.

Personally I would go for two plus and spend time with them as you intend. It is of course up to them whether they want to interact with you and respond :flrt:

Babies will be ready fairly soon - next thing will be choosing which colours!


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## Artisan (Mar 27, 2011)

Stephen P said:


> We've never set out to tame ours so cannot comment on that side, but if you have one and then add another that could cause problems as the first budgie may well not take to a new one coming into his territory. Although we have only ever added several to an already existing group. Any new one would have to be quarantined anyway, even if from the original breeder I would still recommend it.
> 
> Personally I would go for two plus and spend time with them as you intend. It is of course up to them whether they want to interact with you and respond :flrt:
> 
> Babies will be ready fairly soon - next thing will be choosing which colours!


Ah well probably go for 2 at same time then  

My OHs friend has an outdoor aviary with all sorts of birds so we will probably be getting them from him as youngsters.

Looking forward to it : victory:


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