I’m buying my first bird this Christmas (a budgie), so I have plenty of time to prepare. However, I’m a little confused. Should I purchase one or a pair? My new budgie book says just one is an “incomplete bird” and needs a friend to thrive. Is this true, or will they just ignore me? Will I still be able to tame them both? Also, will a male and female still breed if I don’t give them a nest box? I’m so confused!!
If you want your budgie to bond to you, then only get one. Otherwise it will ignore you completely for it’s friend. Yes, they might still breed they will just lay their eggs in the seed dish or just crap them out in the corner of the cage. If you feel you won’t have enough time to play with one budgie on a regular basis, I recommend getting a friend for it to play with.
former volunteer – Avian Rehabilitation Center
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If you want to be able to handle your bird, get a single male budgie. They don’t bite as hard as the females, and can learn to talk easier than their female counterparts. The rule is the bird needs a friend, if you can be that friend, do it, if you start spending less time with the bird than you think is fair to the bird, buy it a companion bird, but don’t expect to be able to handle either as much as a single. Also, when purchasing toys for your bird, don’t give it a mirror if you want to be able to work with it. A bird will fall in love with itself and not want anything to do with you.
Manager of a mom and pop pet store for over a year, owned or trained at least one of almost every animal known as pets, including budgies (parakeets)
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i agree with the first answer. if yo want one you can tame and have a lot of time for, make sure it’s young. plus make sure you feel you will always be able to give it alot of time since it will not be able to relate well to another bird once it’s tamed. it will feel more human than bird because it will mimic you. If you get two, you might have the best luck if they were both hand-fed and are still very young. that way they can have the birdie companionship but still feel close to humans for comfort, food, etc. It’s not hard to find hand-fed babies for sale. and i’d say two females is probably the best route since then they never feel hormonal and will not fight with each other much. plus they would probably be more likely to be willing to share your attention.
Manager of a mom and pop pet store for over a year, owned or trained at least one of almost every animal known as pets, including budgies (parakeets)
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I’m gonna hit on this topic because i feel this is often mislead in all the books.
Never buy any bird in pairs and i’ll tell you why!! If you want a companion get ONE! Two birds are more then what you bargained for. Look at the date the book was written. Most books put on a new cover(picture) and then send it back out with the same old information. If you read this board, over and over again people ask the same questions with problems about birds from egg binding, to splayed legs, to not knowing anything about placing the babies of birds to nest box issues or just plain not having enough money to take the birds to a vet for proper care. Enough birds are entering rescues at an alarming rate every day, to which they can’t get the funding for and are now being euthanzied.
Often times a pet store will tell you to buy two birds and the theory behind it is, that they will get lonely. Not true!! If you do your job you intended to do when you purchase the bird, the bird will and enjoy your company and the time you spend with it. Remember it’s a life long commitment as any animal would be.
I can not for the life of me figure out, why people who can’t take care of one bird, go out and buy another one!! Before you know it, there are babies and more birds to add to the over population that is already here.
Get one bird. The bond you have with that one, is enormous. Spend time with it, and use common sense, and it will take you far. Feed it a proper diet with a variety of foods, and it will live a long life. Purchase the book “Feeding Your Pet Bird” by Petra M Burgmann on Amazon.com, sometimes they sell them for around 2 dollars. Best book out there, and you’ll find yourself going back to it time and time again.
Email me anytime you have a question.
28+ years of breeding, avian certified, avian behavioral specialist, 180+ pairs of birds, rescue, & a sense of humor LOL
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If you are going to spent a lot of time with it, one will be perfect. Parakeets are extremely sociable birds, they love to be around people or other birds. So if you want to bond with it, I would go with one. If you can’t spend a lot of time with it, It might not be a good idea to get two. whatever you do don’t get it a mirror. the bird could bond with the little budgie in the mirror, and not want anything to do with you. Or, it could get stressed out because the other little bird won’t sing back to it. that may sound funny, but think about it. It is cruel. so, anyway, its up to you. good luck!
5+ years of Parakeet breeding, raising, and training
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