Thank you for reaching out to Ask Lafeber. The first thing I would do is remove the mirror. If you want them to bond, you need to remove what he’s most bonded, so he will bond with her better. Ideally, it’s always best to quarantine a new bird for a minimum of 30 days. However, since they have already been exposed to one another, I suggest being very diligent in watching their behavior and watch for any illnesses such as tail pumping, fluffed up feathers or droopy eyes. These are all signs of illness.
It’s always best to put birds into a neutral cage that neither one is possessive or protective of. Some birds will be possessive of their toys or in this case a mirror. When they do go into the same cage, and it’s important to give them two separate food and water stations. It doesn’t always happen, but some birds can also be very possessive over their food and not let their cage mate eat or drink.
If you plan on breeding these birds do not put up a nesting box until you know both birds are over two years old. Their cage set up should be placed in a quiet room in the home and never in the kitchen. Always use clean Aspen shavings as substrate in the bottom of the box. It’s the safest and is odorless. You can put about two inches in the box, and the pair will kick out what they don’t want. Some birds like a lot of substrate and others like very little to none but always make sure you give them the option to choose.
The fact they are playing on top of his cage is a very good sign they will be compatible. Yes, they can still mate without a nesting box but again, don’t offer them one until they are old enough. However, the bonding process is important for a pair of birds to become good parents and work well as a team to care for the babies. So, once you have the right size cage for both of them and they are showing signs of getting along well, you can put them in the same cage.
In the meantime, this will give you plenty of time to get both birds on a healthy diet if they are only eating seeds. I suggest slowly converting them to the Lafeber’s Classic Nutri Berries and Avi Cakes for Budgies. Parent birds need to have excellent nutrition so they can raise healthy babies. You can also introduce them to fresh green and yellow veggies except spinach. Spinach binds calcium with birds and reptiles, so it’s important to never feed it to them. The female especially needs healthy calcium levels in order to stay healthy through the egg laying process.
If you have other questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach back out. Also, if you do decide to let your birds breed, feel free to get in touch with our customer service department again and ask for me and I will be happy to help you.
Good Luck,
Debbie
