Should I get another budgie?

Have a lonely budgie with gout - can I get another?

Hi I have a question I'm hoping can be answered. One of my budgies (Little Mikey) recently developed gout at a little over a year old. I am working closely with the avian vet and faithfully give him the gout medicine, pain medicine, and good food. But I had to separate the budgie that was in the cage with him as she started bullying and keeping him from getting to food. At this point he looks lonely - should I get a young budgie? When I take him to the vet he flips over the budgie she has in her waiting area. I know budgies are highly social with each other and playful but don't want to get into another bullying issue. Trying to do what's best for Little Mikey

Re: Have a lonely budgie with gout - can I get another?

The only good reason to get another bird is that YOU want another bird. Getting a bird as a friend for your current bird is very risky. As you said, they could bully him too, and they just might not like each other.


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The new bird would most likely do the same thing it's almost a given! The reason for it is hard wired into them to drive out the sick sne weak members of the flock or to out right kill them. This stops the spread of disease and the drawing in of predators. I would just put the cage of your gout bird next to his old friend cage. They can see interaction and be bear but he can't be bullied.

Lots of good thoughts here.


Many here have found that they have to separate birds permanently... some have been fortunate and multiple birds get along.
You just never know! Never, ever.
Good for you for being so responsible and serious, and for reaching out!
I think that as long as you're willing to deal with whatever happens (e.g., separating them, if needed, handling added expenses, etc.), you'll be a great parront.
Good luck!
Keep us posted, please.

No, please do not go out and buy another bird for your current bird, because you have no way of knowing whether ANY other Budgie or other species of bird will get along with Mikey, or vice versa. That's how bird's work when it comes to their relationships/bonding with other birds, very much like we as people work; they might bond closely with each other, they might like each other but not be close, they might not like each other at all but simply tolerate each other, they might hate each other and have nothing to do with each other, or they might be aggressive and violent with each other....So as already mentioned, NEVER buy a second bird FOR your current bird to be a companion, as you will probably not be able to house them together either, and then you'll just have another Budgie that is housed by itself...

***Something else you need to keep in-mind here is that Gout is a disease that is aggravated by stress tremendously, and Gout flare-ups are directly caused by stress. And birds obviously become very stressed very easily. So bringing home new birds is only going to stress him out and most-likely make the Gout worse, and then you'll have to have his Allopurinol dosage adjusted, and it becomes a big pain in the butt...

If you think your Budgie is "lonely", then their are 2 things that YOU AS HIS OWNER need to do for him: #1) Make sure that he always has at least between 6-10 different types of toys in his cage/play area at all times, and they all need to be rotated-out for new toys each and every month. Budgies LOVE all kinds of toys, they are the easiest parrot when it comes to them entertaining themselves, and also the easiest and cheapest when it comes to the types of toys they love, as Budgies love the cheap,
plastic bird toys, anything with a bell on it, and anything with a mirror on it. And in this situation I highly recommend that you get him at least one mirror, like one of those round, plastic mirrors that has a bell hanging from it that every pet shop sells, along with a swing (they love to swing), hanging plastic balls, any plastic bird toys with a bell on it that they can bang with their beaks, and hanging plastic rings that they can climb on and actually sit inside (they love to do this, and if you go to any baby toy section in Walmart or any other store, you can buy one of those large packages of different colored, plastic rings that interlock with each other and that you string together, and hang a string of them across his cage, my Budgies love to sit inside of those baby rings, and a huge package of like 20 of them costs less than $5 at Walmart in the baby toy section). Also, buying some of the smaller shredding toys they sell at Petco for $2.99 and $3.99, the ones made out of heavy paper/cardboard and that have a hemp loop that you can hang them from, so that he has something to shred/rip apart...They also love to forage for treats, especially millet sprays, Budgie's die for millet sprays, so you can make little cardboard boxes full of crumpled-up paper with little pieces of millet sprays hidden throughout the box for him to forage for...And the mirror in this particular situation should help a lot too...And then #2) YOU need to spend as much time with him as you possibly can, give him lots of out-of-cage-time each day, sit and talk to him, read to him, etc. He doesn't need another Budgie/Bird to be his friend and keep him busy and entertained as long as he's given the tools to entertain himself...

*****Also, something else to try, if you haven't already, is to put the other Budgie's cage right next to his cage. Even though she was "bullying" him when she was inside of the same cage as him, often they will get along wonderfully well, talk to each other all day long, and be wonderful companions and friend to each other if they are living right next to each other, but each keeping their own territory at the same time.

Thank you everyone for your experienced responses. This is a tremendous help. Little Mikey is in his own cage in what I now call the "bird room". The cage next to his has his 2 litter mates (which includes the female I just separated) which were bullying him. The cage on the other side of him is a big flight cage with a finch couple and at least 3 eggs. So he is surrounded by birds. The is well heated, has windows, and also has a humidifier running now that the furnace is running. As I write this, the room is full of bird chatter. I definitely do not need another bird



I appreciate everyone's knowledge - I won't get another keet based on all of this. He has his time outside of the cage - they all do actually. I considered another because they are so social and playful, but it's understandable why he would be picked on in nature. He also has toys, soft platforms, and his perches are lower in the cage (per working with the vet). She liked the fact that the female was being a good companion and looking out for him so she wanted me to keep them together. But now the female seems to have turned so obviously they are separated.



I did not know that stress can exacerbate the gout. Thank you !



I had a mirror in the cage, but then I read that it can be psychologically confusing? So I took it out. I'll do whatever it takes to help the little guy. He gets a lot of love. He has hanging toys - the cardboard boxes with stuff he can pull out, little plastic hanging toys for small birds, a swing - all hung low using hemp rather than metal. And millet - he asks for it and has me trained well. I appreciate the other toy recommendations - will be sure to rotate.



Will post a picture when i figure out how to.

well you shouldn't get another bird unless you really want too. and your bird may get bullied by the other bird too so its risky. my budgie became very ill and sick and my other budgie never bullied him at all and when he passed away my bird was grooming him as he knew he was close to death. its up to you honestly you just don't want to get stuck with another budgie. if you choose to not get another budgie i'd say play lots of bird noises,music, podcasts etc to keep him happy and make sure he has lots of toys and things to play with.

Just my two cents here..I am not a budgie expert. If little Mikey comes out of his cage,just show him some extra lovin'and attention. my very first "parrot' years ago was Wally,a little blue budgie,and he was loved by my whole family and he thrived by himself,and with you showing him some special time,so will mikey
Good luck and please keep us posted!



jim