Cohabitating Budgies

[MrJackpotz]

Hi everyone

I have 3 birds, 2 whom are budgies. I had a cockatiel initially, and decided to pick up a budgie from the rescue one day. they did pretty well together until Blu (my budgie) had his hormones kick in. He never wanted to mate with my tiel but the crackhead energy turned up which stressed her out. So I kept them separate for a while until I Decided to get Bijou last year, my second budgie.

They have bonded very well and all of my birds are very happy. For the sake of space in my new place and for them to be able to spend more time together. Typically they get along very well, although Bijou can be a bit territorial with food, treats, and me even. They will spend extended time in each others cage's and let each other play with their toys. I just setup a new large cage for them with new and familiar toys, and multiple food bowls/perches. Just last night I got them to go in and eat millet out of the bowls.

I wanted to see if there were any more tips for cohabitating them. I think they will live together well but for now are very accustomed to their own cages. Bijou is also discovering the wonders of his body and spends a lot of time pleasuring himself on his toys, so I try to keep the cage closed when he is out but he is admittedly very fixated on that currently

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Some male budgies love their toys A LOT! Some female budgies love boy budgies A LOT, like my girl Joey who chases them and enticing them to mate with her. I have some very I oversexed budgies right now.
Hopefully their hormones will calm down and Bijou doesn't start trying to mate with Blu but it would surprise me. I've had two females, sisters, mate with each other and lay eggs.

As long as Blu isn't bothered by Bijou's behavior they should be able to share a large cage. Just keep an eye on them.

 

[MrJackpotz]

Sure, I guess I'm not concerned about compatibility but moreso transitioning them over into a new cage. Their current cages are their safe homes they've had all their lives and i dont want to suddenly rip them away from it. I plan to keep them as cages in my other rooms for them to use and go outside in

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Are you planning to cage the two budgies together with the cockatiel?
Assumimg the cockatiel gets its own cage, How big is the cage you want Blu and Bijou to share?

I have two female budgies that just started sharing a 30x14x18 cage last week and they are not having any conflicts. Previously Joey had the cage to herself. The second budgie, Cora, is a rescued escapee I adopted. Females are more likely than males to be intolerant of newcomers.
I have rarely had any serious caging incompatibilities with budgies unless the cage is too small. I would obviously keep an eye on the two budgies when there together in a cage.

 

[MrJackpotz]

Yes, my tiel will have her own cage. I have a large cage that is 37’’ long, 23’’ wide and 60’’ high with ½’’ wire spacing for the budgies.

I'm just wanting to transition them stress free mostly, I've had Bijou for a year and feel confident they will live together well

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That size cage is great for your budgies!

 

[MrJackpotz]

Thanks. Ive been encouraging them to play in the cage and they've been figuring things out. Blu LOVES the cage, he was very scared at first, and wanted to keep eating at the food bowl Bijou was (Who kept kicking him off, little jerk). But eventually he was parking himself in there and screaming for Bijou to join him.

Bijou of course is still more interested in getting back in his cage for his...."sessions". I've been closing their cages when I let them out to encourage him to play and explore. But I'm debating whether or not to switch his hammock out because he is just too fascinated. I removed his first toy he fell in love with to try to curb the behavior, but I soon learned he would find anything and everything. So I put it back in and seeing how much he missed it broke my heart.

I'm probably overthinking it, I don't want to take away all his toys but he is very overly fascinated in masturbation right now. Im worried it could hinder progress towards cohabitation if he prefers to do that over socialize