Ask Lafeber

What should I do with my two fighting budgies?

My two budgies (around 5-6 months yrs old) though regurgitating to each other and following one another sometimes, seem to hate each other. They would make this kind of warbling noise then come at one another. Also, if one of my budgies is eating (for example), and the other comes, the one eating immediately leaves. This seems to happen a lot more at night. I don’t have another cage to separate them, and I honestly don’t know what to do.

Hi,

Unfortunately, If these birds don’t get along, you have no choice but to separate them. You may need to find a new home for one of the birds if you can’t get another cage. At 5-6 months, if this is a male & female, they should not be together anyway because it can cause the female to lay eggs while she is still too young. A young bird is at a much higher risk of becoming egg bound and dying. Budgie should be about 2 years old before you let them breed. You should definitely have at least 2 food and water stations, so that one bird can’t keep the other from eating and drinking. It is very stressful to a bird if it is bullied by the other. While some harmless arguing is OK, when it gets physical or if one is chasing the other one a lot, then they should be separated. You can’t force birds to get along, and some birds simply aren’t compatible.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda