Hi,
I’m not sure how long you had the new one before you tried them together. But any new bird should be kept away from any existing birds for at least 30 days to make sure the bird is healthy. It’s still no guarantee, but if a bird is carrying a disease, often it gets sick after the stress of changing homes. You really know for sure if a bird is fully healthy without having a Vet run tests. After 30 days, you should put the birds in cages side by side to have time to get used to each other. If the birds vocalize to each other and sit near each other most of the time, this is a good sign that they might get along. But once in the same cage, this can change. In a situation where you put the new bird in the other bird’s cage, and the other bird starts being aggressive, it can help to move the old bird to the extra cage, to give the new bird time to get comfortable in the cage. Female budgies can be very territorial, so she may or may not do better if she spends time in the smaller cage while the new bird makes itself at home in her cage. Always closely supervise birds when put in the same cage, and there should be at least one food & water station per bird. A little bit of harmless sparring is fine. But if one bird constantly chases or follows the other bird around, or if feathers get pulled or blood is drawn, they need to be separated. Real aggression like this rarely stops. Some birds are simply not compatible. They choose their own mate or companions in the wild, and do not always like the one we choose for them. All you can do is try this slow approach, and then if they show interest, try them together again. If the female is still aggressive, then she either isn’t compatible with this bird, or she doesn’t want to share her cage with another bird.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
