Putting two birds in one cage and would he be bored?

Hellooo everyone
It has been a long time since I posted but I have a conundrum
I am hoping to go away for two weeks or so in a few months time and I a friend of mine has offered to take Obi my beautiful Green Cheek Conure and Scooby my Budgie. They get on very well together and I often leave them in one cage when I am at home and busy when I can't give them flight time or out of cage time. They sleep in separate cages always so they both get maximum rest and sleep time and because my Budgie can really pester my Conure sometimes (which he always tolerates).
My friend says she would be happy to have them but she does not want to take them out of their cages because she has two dogs and is worried as both my birds are fully flighted that the dogs might eat them.
If she did not take them out their cages for two weeks would this be unfair, would they suffer through a lack of exercise? Probably a crazy question but I just wanted to ask.
Also the other option if I keep them in one cage whilst I am away so that they have eachothers company would this work or would it be a bad idea.
Thanks for any advice you can offer

1) do you have an alternate freind/family member?

2) can you negotiate some out of the cage time with dogs outside or put in a bedroom or bathroom say.

Can someone spend a couple hours a day at your home when you're gone?
(S)he could watch TV, read, hang out on the Internet while the birds are flying around.

You'd have to train him/her on what to do but IMO it would be best for the birds to remain in their home and maintain something close to their usual routine.

Well, good for you, for caring and wondering and planning...

As a self-appointed Queen of Paranoia, I'd never leave the two together unsupervised for a long time, lest a feud spring up!

Getting along well together is one thing when they have the ability to avoid potential conflict but quite another if they are caged up with no means of escape. Your budgie may unwittingly pester your conure to the point where the bigger bird lashes out with injurious results! I would try to find some other arrangements for their care while you’re away if you possibly can.

Nope, nope, nope!

Never leave two birds (equal size but esp. unequal size) together unsupervised if they haven't been living together for ages.


You are changing the situation enough by not being there- and that stressor could be the trigger for a change of behaviour.
So that may be the signal that sets one of them off.


You already mentioned the smaller one likes to be anoying... so that makes the breaking point occuring even more likely!

I agree with ChristaNL. All our birds have their own cage, and the only exception is if two birds are bonded.

Much less stressful if you could find someone to come to your place.

Yeah, you definitely need to have them both in their own, individual cages, especially since you will not be around and they'll be with people they aren't bonded with. You have no idea at all how they will respond to each other, and since you won't be there to watch them you just cannot risk it, otherwise you may come home to two badly injured birds, missing eyes, beaks, toes, or worse, a dead bird. So not matter what you end-up doing, you absolutely must put them each into their own, individual cages with their own food/water dishes, toys, etc. Just make sure that whomever watches and cares for them puts their cages next to each other so that they can see each other and talk to each other the whole time you're gone, but so that they cannot touch each other at all. And make sure that whomever watches them knows that when they do let them out of their cages together that they supervise them the entire time they are out and tell them that it may be necessary to separate them or break them up if they start fighting with each other...

As far as the situation with the dogs and not letting them out of their cages at all, it's an extremely bad idea to not let them out of their cages for 2 weeks, especially since they are both used to being out of their cages every single day. What you don't want to have happen is have whomever is watching them not let them out of their cages at all for the 2 weeks you're gone, and then you come home to sudden Feather-Destructive Behaviors like Barbering, Plucking, etc. due to a combination of stress and severe boredom. And putting them in the same cage together wouldn't solve this issue anyway because they would still be trapped inside of a cage for 2 weeks with no exercise and no human-interaction/attention, which is what they are both used to. So that's another reason to not put them in the same cage together, forgetting that it's just too dangerous, it likely wouldn't do any good anway.

I would either find someone else who is able to safely let them each out of their cages every day for a good amount of time, or if you have to have this friend watch them then you need to either #1 keep the birds in their own, individual cages at your home and have this friend come over to your home each day for a few hours so that they can let them both out of their cages to fly around, get exercise, and get some interaction/attention each day, or #2 this friend needs to put her dogs away in a separate room behind a latched door in her home each day for a couple of hours while she lets the birds out to fly around and get some exercise and attention each day.

Keeping your birds in your home would be less stressful for them overall, because they'll not have to leave their home/environment which they are used to, and then there would be no danger when your friend comes over and lets them out to fly around and play for a couple of hours. However, if your friend isn't able to do this, then there shouldn't be any issue with her putting her dogs into another room behind a latched door for a couple of hours each day, should there? Dogs can handle being locked inside a room for a couple hours each day, while your parrots cannot at all handle being locked inside cages 24/7 for 2 weeks....Unless your friend has a real issue with putting her dogs into a separate room each day for a couple of hours...