Ask Lafeber

Sibling budgies in same cage

Can I keep budgie siblings in the same cage? They are more than 1 years old. Would breeding between them have any issues?

Hi,

You should never keep related birds in the same cage if they are male and female. You can only keep same sex siblings together. Related birds should never be allowed to breed with each other. This results in many issues including  weak genes, weak, unhealthy chicks, chicks that fail to hatch, chicks with deformities, and more, such as chicks that appear healthy and die suddenly within the first few months. Budgies have been badly inbred in captivity in order to get fancy colors, which has resulted in most captive budgies having inferior genes and short lifespans. The average budgie these days lives to only 6-8 years old. Please separate your budgies.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda