Putting two budgies together

[nichole1515]

Hi everyone I have a question and looking for advice  😅 I got Alfie my female budgie nearly 5 months ago thought she was a boy as that’s what I asked for but began questioning it a few months ago. Anyways she is slightly tame in that I can feed her millet and she is comfortable but anything else and she bites or runs away, she is not keen on coming out of her cage at all I have tried numerous times.. I recently just over a week ago got my little grey boy Stevie, they are separated atm and eventually I want to put them together. After a week he eats from my hand and has started to understand when I say finger that he should get on, he is comfortable with me changing feed bowls and water and although it’s early days I don’t know when I should introduce the two together? I want to get him more tame in the hope he will teach her etc should I continue to keep them separated while I work with him? I just feel like when I put him in there with her that he will no longer want nothing to do with me 😕 but I also don’t want Alfie the girl to be lonely..anyone have any advice or been in a similar situation?

[Hezz]

I’ve answered this partly in your other thread. Firstly your new bird needs to be quarantined for four weeks, ideally, before being introduced to the resident bird. This gives you a good amount of time to get finger training well established, as well as ensuring that neither bird causes illness to the other.

Introducing another bird to a budgie hen’s cage is a very bad idea as they can be very territorial once they mature. Your hen at around six, seven months old may not yet be that way but that’s not a risk you will want to take. A hen can be introduced to another budgie’s cage usually without any damage done, and usually she will still end up at the top of the pecking order.

Keeping the training happening when they are housed together, working through the interest only in the other bird, inserting yourself in their flock, encouraging feeding from your hands etc will generally help to keep the human interest going. A lot depends on how much time you dedicate to being with them and interacting with them.

[nichole1515]

Hi me again 😊

So it has been 4 weeks and I have put Stevie (the boy) and Alfie (girl) together in a bigger flight cage after spending 4 weeks next to each other in seperate cages etc. things have been going ok she has been trying to assert herself a little bit especially when it comes to food. She won’t let Stevie eat seed and chases him away if he goes to get food. Occasionally she will be eating and let him have a few seeds but then she gets nasty. I have 2 water bowls and 2 seed bowls and recently put in a third bowl of seed as I was worried he wasn't getting anything..they both seem to want to eat at the top of the cage and rarely go down to the lower seed and water bowls. Stevie is so placid so when she goes for him while he is trying to eat he just flys over to the other perch and then tries again to get food, she then does the same thing and he flies away again. At times she does let him eat and not get nasty, but I don’t want Stevie always having to fight to get food.I don’t know how to go about this now so any advice would be great…

Thanks 😊

[Hezz]

This has been address in your other thread:
budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/21422/female-budgie-won-eat?page=1#scrollTo=314042