Looking to adopt, need advice please!

Sadly, yesterday my little parakeet, Cricket, went to birdie heaven. Such a lovely addition to our family 4 years ago, her constant chirping will be missed.

Now I am faced with a problem though, my Meyer, Charlie, is the only bird in the house for the first time in his life. His previous owner had 3 conures to entertain him and although they were in different cages, Charlie enjoyed Cricket's company. He is looking a little glum and I have decided to start looking for more birds.

Due to a college student's wallet and not too much space for a large cage, I'm thinking about lovebirds or parrotlets. I have a cage big enough for two but I am facing a couple questions.
A. Will getting females trigger any hormonal-related behaviors in Charlie and get him upset?
B. Will two male parrotlets/lovebirds get along in the same cage?

Obviously, they aren't sharing a cage with Charlie, but they are on tables next to each other and close enough to see and communicate with each other.

Please, please if anyone has suggestions comment. I don't want my baby to be lonely or get depressed.

Thank you!
Mary

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm not sure about Question A, but I can answer a little of Question B. If you see two lovebirds in the same cage, and they appear to get along, they should be fine. If they come from different cages/breeders/etc., you might not be so lucky. Some birds will get along very well even if they are from different cages--mostly male & female or male & male, since female & female pairs tend to get nesty and hormonal--but you can't be too sure.

Is there a specific reason why you want to get two lovebirds/parrotlets?

Lovie said:

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm not sure about Question A, but I can answer a little of Question B. If you see two lovebirds in the same cage, and they appear to get along, they should be fine. If they come from different cages/breeders/etc., you might not be so lucky. Some birds will get along very well even if they are from different cages--mostly male & female or male & male, since female & female pairs tend to get nesty and hormonal--but you can't be too sure.

Is there a specific reason why you want to get two lovebirds/parrotlets?

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Thank you. I was thinking two would be better than one cuz they would have a friend, my past parrots have been alone in their cages and I know it depends on their breed sometimes and they prefer to be alone but I worry about them getting lonely. I used to have two parakeets and when one of them died, I saw a change in the remaining ones behavior.

I'm trying to find out more about parrotlets because I don't know too much about them, do they do better alone? And if I did get two I would be getting them from the same person. I don't want babies though so that was why I was thinkin two of the same sex.

First things first, do you know why your budgie died?

MonicaMc said:

First things first, do you know why your budgie died?

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I don't think how she died is relevant to me getting new birds...I had her for 4 years I don't know how old she was but because I got her second hand I was unable to convert her from her seed-only diet. She was not sick, had a fine appetite, was grooming and very active, I just found her the other morning it looked like she passed over night.

It can be very relevant if she died from something that can kill a new bird. So if it was something contagious your new bird could be at risk.

riddick07 said:

It can be very relevant if she died from something that can kill a new bird. So if it was something contagious your new bird could be at risk.

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Gotcha. Well she didn't appear to be sick, unfortunately she didn't eat anything but seed, I tried numerous times to get her to eat other things because I know that that affects their health but I was not her first owner and she only ate the seed. My other bird is fine, so I don't believe there was an illness in the house...

If she didn't appear sick even near the end then it is more likely that it was diet/age. I'm sorry you lost her sounds like you loved her a lot Just watch your other bird for illness or take her for a vet check just incase.

What part of NJ are you in? If you are interested in adoption and live near A Helping Wing they have smaller birds available. Lots of budgies and cockatiels. They also have a nanday conure/lovebird pair if you are interested. They would require work and patience since they are a bonded pair. They also have a small amazon/red belly poi pair. A small green cheek and several different pairs of conures. They also just got in a new senegal and a sun conure.

riddick07 said:

If she didn't appear sick even near the end then it is more likely that it was diet/age. I'm sorry you lost her sounds like you loved her a lot Just watch your other bird for illness or take her for a vet check just incase.

What part of NJ are you in? If you are interested in adoption and live near A Helping Wing they have smaller birds available. Lots of budgies and cockatiels. They also have a nanday conure/lovebird pair if you are interested. They would require work and patience since they are a bonded pair. They also have a small amazon/red belly poi pair. A small green cheek and several different pairs of conures. They also just got in a new senegal and a sun conure.

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Yes I am familiar with that organization, not really close but I've heard of them. I'm looking for smaller birds though because of space and the cage I already have. I'm also talking to a few people about parrotlets already but I will check them out.

Still not sure about which sexes to get. I'm leaning toward two brothers but I'm not sure, will boys get along alright in the same cage together?