Dilemma about a new budgie, need advice

[DanielD]

Hello everyone, this is first time I post on any bird pet forum. I couldn't find any advice so I want to ask it myself.

Around a year and a half ago we got a male budgie Shusya. He is currently a year and 7 months old. Now I personally was against getting him a female because he was perfectly happy alone and we gave him a lot of attention every day from the morning to late evening, but on new year out of the blue my little brother persuaded the family to buy a female budgie Nyusha. Nyusha is still young being a few months old.

Nyusha is following Shusya everywhere but it seems like he doesn't accept her back and he keeps flying/running away from her. I am concerned that he will never accept her and keep flying away and rejecting her. Note that they are not violent and never fought. Shusya just prefers to do what he was doing before we got Nushya.

Now to the dilemma, on one hand we want to return Nushya to the seller but in the same time we feel guilty about it, especially because while they are not exactly being mates they are not fighting either. On another hand I am concerned about how will they behave in the future, what if my male budgie will suddenly become aggressive or when the female budgie matures she will harass our male? We really don't know what to do so I am asking for some advice. I'd love to find Nyusha another owner but it does not seem like an option in my area, at least I think so right now I should try to look a bit more.

I really need an advice on how should I handle this situation. I am afraid and feeling guilty about returning the budgie to the shop, but what if it will get worse in the future if I don't?

Note: they have known each over for exactly one week, Nushya accepted Shusya straight away, following him around while he keeps flying away from her which I assume to be rejection/lack of interest. We saw him interact/kiss her a few times but it still doesn't look convincing to me.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forum! That's a well written first post.

Usually budgies like other budgies, they have a strong flock instincts.

I'm not sure what advice to give , sorry. I hope some other members will come along today and have advice.

But welcome to the forum. Stick around be part of everything. We are good people. Lots of good tips on parrots. I hope you feed leafy salad greens and veggies to your parakeets, so good for them.

 

[DanielD]

Hello, thank you Laurasea! We are doing our best to give them a balanced diet, a mix of seeds and pellets with fresh vegetables every day.

 

[Aavogaro]

Welcome to the forum. I am new here myself I don’t have much budgie experience (my first is at the store cage training to come home) but I do have 15+ years parrot experience. As far as them getting along I think in time they will as budgies have the natural instinct to flock. However the transition might be easier and perhaps quicker if you put them in separate cages next to each other. That would allow your Nyusha to gradually get used to Shuysha without being bothered by her natural instinct to be close to him. I would guess her presence without being pestered at first would get up his curiosity as he becomes used to her call and her behavior. You could certainly let them out to play together for brief periods of time at first and gradually extend the amount of time they spend together before eventually transitioning them into the same cage once you notice he is no longer bothered by her. I think this os a situation of Nyusha being used to a year and a half of being alone doing things his way vs. Shuysha coming straight from a store having been around other birds. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time for it to all smooth out.

 

[DanielD]

Thank you for your answer Aavogaro. We'll get a second cage as soon as we can.

 

[herbwx]

I just read your post and was thinking to myself exactly what Aavogaro
suggested. One week is very likely not enough time for the two budgies to become good friends. It makes sense that the younger one (pretty much an ''infant'' by bird standards) would follow the lead of the older one and it also is possible/probable that the older one may be feeling an invasion of his territory. But it's good to hear they are not fighting. Having them in separate cages in the same room still allows them to see each other and communicate. If you can leave the cage doors open, probably Shusya will become friendlier with the younger one over time. And they may start visiting each other's cages as they get used to one another. The beauty of two cages is that you can separate them if you need to, even if they don't do it for themselves.

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

You are thinking too much what will be in the future. Maybe you will buy another budgie couple. The budgie is too young and the reaction of your older budgie is normal. Do not return her into the store. Just try to let them and let enough plays for the younger budgie.