Ask Lafeber

Old budgie meets new budgie and becomes aggressive

I’ve recently gotten a new 8 week old budgie, new cage and toys. After awhile of letting my new and old budgie get to know eachother I placed them in the same cage, im sure they enjoy eachothers company and like eachother but I’ve noticed my old budgie has become very aggressive within a matter of 3 days. It seems he is either very protective and territoral of the new budgie or is showing his dominance im not to sure. My old budgie wasn’t as tame and a single bird for a year and half but I’d still receive kisses and be able to pick him up but now im unable to as he bites to point I bleed. my new budgie is frigid and scared but im afraid that my old budgie will remain aggressive and my new budgie will pick up these ways and they both won’t become tame or trust me. I dont know what to do to get them both tamed and feel safe.

Hi Keira,

If you want the birds to be tame, they each need to be in their own cages. When you cage two birds together, regardless of their sex, they will almost always form a bond and no longer be interested in people. It is especially true with a bird that has not been tamed, like your baby. You are not likely to ever be able to tame it unless you separate the birds. It’s also not a good idea to put a baby with an older budgie. The older budgie really has no use for a baby, and he is very likely to end up losing his temper with him and hurt or kill him. When you have a pet bird, you are the companion. Getting another bird as a companion just shuts you out of the equation. You need to understand parrot behavior, and once they are adults, they only interact with a mate. The rest of the flock is there for protection, but there is little interaction between adult flock members. A bird will almost always choose another bird over a person when they share a cage. So your best chance for either bird to be tame is to separate them. Plus it is the best thing in the interest of the young bird’s safety.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda