My budgie died and left behind his friend

[simonKW]

Does anyone know if its right to introduce a new bird to a cage when one who used to be there has died? For context, a couple of days ago I woke up to find one of my budgies dead on the cage floor, previously I had noticed that there was a bit of blood around his beak and under his feathers but I thought that it has been something to do with them grooming each other seeing as I got bit a couple of times by them and noticed how sharp their beaks are and thought that it was unintentional cuts during their grooming sessions. Much later the bird had gotten a big energy boost, he started to fly at anyone in the home and sit on their heads and shoulders, he also started to eat quite a lot. Now that the bird has passed and we buried him, the other budgie has gotten really sad, normally it was the other bird that left the cage first and tried things first, she was always quite scared to try thing first, which has led to my female budgie to not want to leave the cage and avoid any kind of social contact from us. Unfortunately as much as I would like to spend all day by her side and comfort her as much as possible, I work most of the day and can't give her the attention she needs as much as I try. Also the thought of her being alone home whilst me and all other house people being at work when she used to always have a friend saddens me greatly. So ive decided to get her a new friend to help her deal with the loneliness whilst I'm not there for her, however does there need to be extra precautions when introducing them? And what do I do exactly when introducing birds together, it is the first time for me owning birds and don't know much about introducing birds together since I got them when they had already been introduced to each other from a work friend who wanted birds but couldn't keep them due to also owning cats.
I thank in advance for any advice on the matter.

 

[Sparkles99]

I’m very sorry.

How old were they? It’s abnormal for a budgie to have blood exposed. It could have been fighting or disease. Personally, I’d stick with the one budgie & consider other opportunities for enrichment, toys, foraging, etc.

 

[simonKW]

I’m very sorry.

How old were they? It’s abnormal for a budgie to have blood exposed. It could have been fighting or disease. Personally, I’d stick with the one budgie & consider other opportunities for enrichment, toys, foraging, etc.

We have had them for about 4 years

 

[Cariloo]

Last fall, the older of my two budgies passed away. I've seen the mourning with a previously bonded pair, so I decided to get another budgie right away. I have a smaller cage that I use if one needs to be isolated for illness, so I placed the new bird in that cage, across the room. They started calling to each other immediately. After a a day or two of these loud chirps, I moved the cages next to each other. My birds are free flying,so I decided to forego isolation for 6 weeks....I think both me and the birds would have gone crazy. When I let my older bird out of his cage, he immediately went to investigate the newcomer. I could see how well they were getting along, so I let the older one go into the small cage with the younger bird. After an hour or so, I left that cage door open. The younger bird, even though not yet tamed, just followed the older one, so there were no problems with crashing into the window or not knowing where to perch. I know they say to isolate a new bird for 4-6 weeks, but it is just too frustrating for the birds when they are within hearing distance. Initially, the older bird really watched over the youngster who is a female (mistaken identity). But now that they are both mature, she is the boss and leader. I had really wanted 2 males, but the lighting at the store was poor and I didn't realize she was a girl until the next day. At that point, I didn't have the heart to return her to the store, knowing that most of these sweet little beings are purchased as throw away pets like goldfish.

 

[Budgiegirl]

aww so sorry. betcha he is happy over the rainbow bridge.

 

[Finchbreed]

What Cariloo experienced applies in most cases.
The 4/6 week isolation is in case of transferable illness - I make a judgment call on this myself - if you know the supplier and trust them - then ignore the isolation time (remembering that if something does go wrong you have no comeback on the supplier) - if the supply source is not to your standards - apply the isolation rules.

 

[Jayced!!]

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss!! I think Cariloo has some great advice here! In my experience it's been generally positive to introduce a new friend after the previous one has passed away. As others have said on here, isolation is mainly for birds who have not been disease tested or are from shady sources!