Bonding with a budgie that lost his mate

[Jonk]

Hello I'm Jonk I have 3 budgie boys atm & I need help with one of them named Bananas
In September last year Bananas lost his mate Peaches to egg binding. The vet couldnt help her as we have no avian vets in my state & Peaches was short one time.
Since she past away Bananas has been sad but not to the point of not eating or drinking. He still is fairly active & tries to play with the other 2 male budgies I have Apples & Mangos who are semi bonded but they do bully him sometimes.
I never bonded with Bananas as he was a companion for Peaches while I was away working I basically got him so Peaches wouldnt feel lonely with me away at work.
Since Peaches past I've been trying to bond with Bananas but he isnt to fond of me unless I have food, he also stopped coming out of the cage to fly since Peaches past away.
Im wondering if anyone has any tips or advice to get him to open up or atleast come out of his cage to fly. I also wanted to know if it would be a good idea to separate Bananas into a different cage & sit him next to me rather then have him in a cage with the other 2 semi bonded budgies.
I will be getting another budgie so Bananas can have a friend again & not feel as lonely but I would like to bond with him first.
Any advice is welcome
Also thought I'd add a photo of my 3 boys
Mangos/Apples/Bananas

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry about the loss of your budgie. You can try target training with him. There are some good youtube videos on it.

 

[Sparkles99]

Your budgie may be in mourning. My Cloud has never recovered from his friend’s death.

 

[Jonk]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry about the loss of your budgie. You can try target training with him. There are some good youtube videos on it.

He's pretty decent with the target training & back before Peaches passed he would give me kisses when prompted to.
I'll keep up the target training & see if I can convince him to step up without a treat, thank you

 

[Jonk]

Your budgie may be in mourning. My Cloud has never recovered from his friend’s death.

Did you get another friend for Cloud? If so did they get along?

 

[Sparkles99]

I got Ernest for Cloud when the necropsy results showed Moss’ death wasn’t contagious. They got on fine but were never buddies. Cloud eventually teamed up with Macadamia (I have 10 budgie boys). I’m not entirely sure it was a good thing that those two hit it off. They periodically lord it over Ernest & Marigold.

But the Cloud I knew died with Moss. He had been gentle, kind & joyful. He’s not like that anymore & to this day he periodically flock calls Moss at the top of his lungs, especially towards nightfall. He knows Moss is dead & is never coming back. He watched him die. I can tell his voice from several rooms away. He’s louder than the other 9 combined & there’s a tragic desperation in it.

Budgies have complex emotions & you may find yourself with a changed budgie, as I did. I just talk with Cloud when he yells, as do some of my other good boys. Everyone processes grief differently.