Living together

[Kelly012]

Hello!
I have two budgies and they live in the same cage. I was thinking about buying a cockatiel. If my parrots will live in the same room, but in different cages, will the new bird want to be friends with me or only enjoy feathered company?
I'm sorry for my bad English.

 

[Txcockatielguy]

You ask a hard question: There is no guarantee any bird will warm up to you but I would be willing to bet if you interact and talk to the cockatiel on a regular basis, I don't see why it wouldn't like you. I know the budgies came first, but IF you get a cockatiel, you might want to give it a little extra time with you at first so it can not only get use to it's new home but you as well.

 

[bug_n_flock]

Most of my birds share a cage with another bird or birds. The bird room houses birds who are hands off only and also very friendly pet birds. My best friend cockatiel has his own cage, but the cage is in the bird room. He is very friendly with me and all other people. Two of our pet budgies, Robin and Little Fish, still share a cage with their parents. Robin and Fish are very tame, their father is curious about people, and their mother is scared of people. It depends on the individual bird, and also on how much time you spend with them. But mostly, they are all individuals and it depends on the bird. If you get a cockatiel raised to be a pet(either hand fed or socialized well as a baby) and then keep interacting with it regularly, I think you have a very good chance of having a friendly pet cockatiel. But you never know, really.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forum! I hope you will post here and tell a little about yourself and your budgies, so everyone can Welcome you.
New Members Welcome - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

Only get a fully weaned bird, unweaned babies won't make a better pet and often die. Of you meet the bird and it has been properly socialized it will step up for you. And should do fine.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forum! I hope you will post here and tell a little about yourself and your budgies, so everyone can Welcome you.
New Members Welcome - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

Only get a fully weaned bird, unweaned babies won't make a better pet and often die. Of you meet the bird and it has been properly socialized it will step up for you. And should do fine. Remember to keep a new bird separate from the ones you have to make sure it is healthy. I do 3 weeks, some people are do longer. People have brought new birds home that seemed healthy only to die, and cause the other birds to die to. So i recommend at least 2-3 weeks separate, a separate room is best during quarantine. Then they can all be near each other

 

[Kelly012]

Thanks everyone! I'll remember that.

 

[noodles123]

No way to be sure-- just make sure you have enough time to supervise the new bird in the event that it needs separate out of cage time from your budgies (each day for a few hours) due to conflicts--- it could also lose a toe if it lands on your other bird's cage and they are bonded..so be extra watchful for aggression etc, and never totally trust them together due to the fact that you have a pair + new larger bird.

There could be jealousy, hormones, etc...jealousy in terms of you, or the other bird pair..Hard to say. They could also be fine, but if you get a baby, remember that when they mature sexually, behavior can change a lot, so don't just trust your birds together indefinitely because they get along when he is a baby.

Make sure you quarantine your new bird in a far away room for 45 days and wash very very well between touching birds, water, food, toys etc (consider changing shirts between handling), as asymptomatic diseases often shed during times of stress (adoption etc). You will want to get your current birds checked for diseases (blood work etc if possible) before you bring the new bird home, and then take the new bird when you can and before they mingle. Cockatiels produce a lot of dander and that can spread certain diseases in the air.

It is important to know that very healthy birds can carry very bad viruses (and spread them) even if they never show symptoms. Some birds can get sick with this between 1 week to 10 years of exposure, and others live their entire lifetimes as carriers without showing any symptoms.

Amen to no un-weaned babies.

 

[Kelly012]

Thanks noodles123! Yes, I was going to separate birds when they're out of cage. Besides, I don't think I can watch three birds flying around my room at the same time.

 

[Laurasea]

Wait you want to keep rye new cockatiel in the same Cage as the budgies???
No i font recommend that st all.
A cockatiel would need a large cage
for themselves, i would try and sim for a cage that's 30 inches long 20 inches deep or larger

 

[Kelly012]

No, they'll be in two different cages. Budgies' cage is 60 cm long and 40 cm deep, so I think it's enough. We adopted them in a really small cage and we're lucky we found this one (by the way, it belonged to a cockatiel).

 

[Laurasea]

it is hard to find good size cages abroad...
Hopefully the parrots will have plenty of free time out of the cages and that makes all the difference.

Cockatiels and budgies on average do fine out of the cage together, under supervision of course. Individuals can clash, so you would have to observe.