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I am thinking of adding a friend for my budgie. I've purchased 2 together before and they never grew attached to me, only bonded with one another. Since I've already grown close to my little girl I worry that I will lose the relationship we have if I add another budgie. Do you have any tips on how to create a relationship with both so we can all live and love each other? I know they will naturally be best friends but do any of you have birds that can still be independent from the other when they are free to play outside the cage? And still enjoy your company?

Also, since I have a female should I add a male or female as her company? I do not want to breed so I will not be adding a nest.

Thanks!

When I first got budgies, I ended up with two males. They were only bonded to each other, but when one of them passed away, the other and I bonded together. Since he was still depressed, I got him a little friend. The original budgie no longer seemed as bonded to me.

This probably would not happen in your case if you did not house the little ones together and simply provided them with their own cages. You can allow them to play together if they like each other. (Plus, that eliminates the breeding issue.)
If you do that and build a bond with the new fid, your relationship with your current little one should be fine. Just remember to continue what you're already doing as far as out of the cage time and socialization goes.

I have had this dilemma with my birds also. From my reading and experience with birds I have found that you can't have it both ways. Either you have a pet parakeet who is your companion or you have a pet parakeet who is part of a parakeet flock. If there are other birds around, the birds will naturally want to bond with each other and this is the healthy thing for them to do, especially if you are looking to have baby birds in the future. In fact, birds that are kept as companions are actually not always the best parents since they have become detached from their wild instincts.

Addie wrote:... Either you have a pet parakeet who is your companion or you have a pet parakeet who is part of a parakeet flock. If there are other birds around, the birds will naturally want to bond with each other and this is the healthy thing for them to do, especially if you are looking to have baby birds in the future. In fact, birds that are kept as companions are actually not always the best parents since they have become detached from their wild instincts.

My only experience with budgies in the last 40 years has been with youngsters intended as breeders, so I know very little about pet budgies. But I do want to say that what you've described, Addie, isn't accurate for all birds -- though it certainly might be for budgies. However, it is what older breeders often say about birds other than budgies, so perhaps that's where your information comes from.

I've paired several types of pet birds without losing much "pet quality," meaning their affection for me. In most cases, I formed a bond with each bird individually, during his or her quarantine period. As soon as I introduced intended mates to each other, I stayed very much in attendance, handling them together usually so neither became jealous of the other's mom time. As their bond grew, I withdrew a bit, especially during nesty times when they seemed to want me to keep my distance. But whenever they ask to be picked up -- sometimes many times each day -- I'm happy to do so.

They love each other, they love me, I love them ... it's all good! Birds with whom this has worked very well are cockatiels, quakers, and pionus. It worked differently with macaws and amazons. These larger birds still loved seeing me, even when I was not bringing food but they wanted much less physical interaction with me. Usually my attention was from enough distance that they could not jump onto me, or I scritched them through their cage bars.

Annie, I hope others with budgie knowledge will answer your question, but my advice is to form your bond with a new bird during a 30-60 day quarantine period, as your vet advises.

Paca

Budgies will bond with each other instead of with the human, and you will lose "pet quality" if you house them together.
You can buy another one, form a bond during quarantine like Paca said, and then house him or her in another cage.
Your birds can still be friends that way and you can maintain your bond a whole lot easier especially if you aren't home all day long (which most people aren't, of course).

Budgies will bond with each other instead of with the human, and you will lose "pet quality" if you house them together.
You can buy another one, form a bond during quarantine like Paca said, and then house him or her in another cage.
Your birds can still be friends that way and you can maintain your bond a whole lot easier especially if you aren't home all day long (which most people aren't, of course).