i have two birds, a female cockatiel and a male budgie, who are living in the same cage. as an inexperienced bird owner i housed them together but am planning on separating them soon. my budgie is a very anxious bird though, and i am worried about how he would react. could getting another bird help his anxiety? if so, i think another male budgie might be a good fit.
Hi Forrest,
While it generally isn’t good to mix species, especially different sizes, there can always be exceptions. If the birds have been together for a long time and have a bond, they can probably stay together. It depends on whether you handle either bird. If one is a pet and the other isn’t, that can be a problem because the one that isn’t tame may get jealous when you handle the other bird, and this can result in aggression towards the tame bird. If both birds are tame, this can also be a problem because as they get older they are more likely to continue to bond to the point that both bird lose interest in people. But if neither bird likes to be handled and they only have each other, they can probably stay together. Of course there are conditions. You should never give them a nest or anything they can use as a nest. If the cockatiel lays eggs, she could decide she doesn’t want the budgie to be in the same cage. She could get territorial and aggressive. You always need to be aware of how they are interacting, and separate them if they ever do begin to fight. Some harmless sparring is fine, but not fighting to the point that they pull out feathers or draw blood. If the cockatiel is tame and that’s the reason you want to separate them, then yes, the budgie would probably enjoy a companion if he doesn’t like to be handled. And I agree that another male would be a better choice than a female since this male is timid. Basically you need to determine what is best for the birds and whether they are so bonded that separating them would be cruel. It’s not uncommon to have parakeets and cockatiels together, and it can work out as long as nesting and breeding are not allowed. If you split them up and get another male, they need to be in separate cages to begin with. Put the cages side by side and give them time to get to know each other before caging them together. This may take several weeks, and you have to watch them closely once they are in the same cage.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
