Need Urgent Help With My Budgie Who Has Just Lost His Companion

[tithi.p_]

Hello there you guys!

I hope you are all doing well today! Very unfortunately, my little buddy has just lost his mate 2 days ago Ever since her passing, my budgie has been very unlike himself and unusual! He is usually such a big foodie, but now he doesn't even go to eat or drink water by himself. I have to put spray millet (his favorite treat) right to his face for him to nibble on it a bit, otherwise, he will probably starve to death. He is also not returning to his cage at night (which is something he always used to do along with his companion). I do understand that he is in grief after this incident.

The first day we had lost his mate, my budgie was flying around and chirping around the room like crazy! It was as if he was calling for her and looking for her. The second day, he was still flying around a lot and chirping tons, but a little less than the first day. On the third day, he was flying and chirping a little less than the second day. Today, he is not flying around much and he isn't chirping much either. All 4 days, he has not once gone into his cage to eat, even his favorite seeds! I also want to mention that he has not been preening himself as much recently as he usually does.

Because of this behaviour of his, we've decided to get him another budgie friend! We really didn't want to get a budgie from a breeder or the pet store, so we have looked at Kijiji to find a budgie who needs rehoming. My budgie's previous companion was a female budgie, but we are looking for a male companion for him now since we don't want to risk a female budgie's life when she becomes mature and starts laying eggs! Yesterday, my mom and I had gone to check a few birds out, and we met this great family who has 2 male budgies. Upon discussing, we decided that we could maybe get those 2 male budgies to accompany our own male budgie (totalling to 3 male budgies). They were a bonded male pair so we felt terrible separating them, hence we've decided to pick them both up.

We have not taken them yet, but I wanted to ask you guys if this was a good idea or not?! Do any of you guys have experience with housing 3 budgies together? Does this odd number of budgies create fights? Do you guys think my budgie will start taking care of himself if I slowly introduce these 2 new budgies to him? ANY advice or suggestions at all will be so helpful to me!

For reference, I also want to mention the ages of all 3 birds. My own male budgie is around 2-3 years old. The two new budgies we are thinking of welcoming are 6 months and 2 years old each.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE! I APPRECIATE IT!!! My budgie is currently sitting and chirping

 

[Wally&Eva]

Oh I’m so sorry for your loss and for the sadness your budgie feels. It’s got to be tough to witness. Hope you can get some comfort and info on this amazing forum

 

[tithi.p_]

Oh I’m so sorry for your loss and for the sadness your budgie feels. It’s got to be tough to witness. Hope you can get some comfort and info on this amazing forum

That is so kind of u thank you for your generous words!! I also hope that somebody is able to give me more information on this based on their experience

 

[Gribouille]

I'm sorry for your loss..
I have had 2 males first, Merlin & Tikki. I had been told they were both 8 weeks old and since those were my first birds I didn't realise Merlin was already adult. Thus he never allowed us to tame them, although Tikki was a baby Merlin would harcel and prevent him to bond with us.
So about 8 months after getting them I decided to get a new baby budgie and tame him. Willow had been bullied by his mother so I got him 6 weeks old and could really bond with him, holding him in his own cage and separated from the others, except from a couple of hours outside the cage. Merlin paired with Willow against Tikki. I realised much later that Tikki was sickly so the others woud chase him away, but this created too much chaos and I could see the budgies having a very strong pull on Willow, he was "escaping me" by turning into a wild and mischievous bird in the company of the others. There was constant bickering and such noise that I decided to rehome Willow before he was totally wild. Calm returned immediately.
I got to baby-sit him during the holidays, and chaos returned at once. So three was not working for us at all, but as I said, one of mine was sickly, which certainly triggered the behavior of the others against him. Might work fine for others, especially with the pair moving to your budgie's home, but maybe you could also wait a little and see if you could fine a lonely bird about his age, I'd think that would be ideal.

 

[Lady Jane]

Sorry for the loss of your female budgie. My suggestion is to first disinfect the cage the female was in. If you take in the bonded male budgie pair of course quarantine them 30 days. I would not puhavet the three together after quarantine period. A bonded pair will most likely act like your budgie is an intruder and fights could break out. Wait a while and see how things go.

 

[Pixiebeak]

yes if you dont know the cause of death its best to vet check your boy. Grief is real , but can be Grief plus being sick.

I have 2 boy budgies thst do great. Then I added another male and all 3 did great. But lost one to head trauma that he couldn't recover from.

I think the 2 boys would do well. But definitely quarantine, clean, and vet check current guy.

I also am sorry for your loss.

 

[tithi.p_]

Sorry for the loss of your female budgie. My suggestion is to first disinfect the cage the female was in. If you take in the bonded male budgie pair of course quarantine them 30 days. I would not puhavet the three together after quarantine period. A bonded pair will most likely act like your budgie is an intruder and fights could break out. Wait a while and see how things go.

Thank you so much for your reply, you're awesome! So the thing is, I have actually asked the person who I'm getting them from and she's told me that they're in fact, not too bonded! Apparently they've been living together for 3 weeks only. The budgie who is 2 years old used to live with an elderly lady who has hand tamed him very well. The budgie was the elderly lady's ONLY budgie so he is more interactive with humans actually than with his own species. The 6 months budgie, however, is more bird interactive. If they're not bonded, do you think I can house the 3 budgies together? (provided that they're not bullying one another)

 

[tithi.p_]

yes if you dont know the cause of death its best to vet check your boy. Grief is real , but can be Grief plus being sick.

I have 2 boy budgies thst do great. Then I added another male and all 3 did great. But lost one to head trauma that he couldn't recover from.

I think the 2 boys would do well. But definitely quarantine, clean, and vet check current guy.

I also am sorry for your loss.

I completely agree with you; I will definitely do that. I'm glad to hear that your 3 males are doing fantastic together! By head trauma, do you mean that your budgie has had an injury on his head? If so, I am extremely sorry! So the thing is, I have actually asked the person who I'm getting them from and she's told me that they're in fact, not too bonded! Apparently they've been living together for 3 weeks only. The budgie who is 2 years old used to live with an elderly lady who has hand tamed him very well. The budgie was the elderly lady's ONLY budgie so he is more interactive with humans actually than with his own species. The 6 months budgie, however, is more bird interactive. If they're not bonded, do you think I can house the 3 budgies together? (provided that they're not bullying one another) Thank you for your kind wishes once again!

 

[tithi.p_]

I'm sorry for your loss..
I have had 2 males first, Merlin & Tikki. I had been told they were both 8 weeks old and since those were my first birds I didn't realise Merlin was already adult. Thus he never allowed us to tame them, although Tikki was a baby Merlin would harcel and prevent him to bond with us.
So about 8 months after getting them I decided to get a new baby budgie and tame him. Willow had been bullied by his mother so I got him 6 weeks old and could really bond with him, holding him in his own cage and separated from the others, except from a couple of hours outside the cage. Merlin paired with Willow against Tikki. I realised much later that Tikki was sickly so the others woud chase him away, but this created too much chaos and I could see the budgies having a very strong pull on Willow, he was "escaping me" by turning into a wild and mischievous bird in the company of the others. There was constant bickering and such noise that I decided to rehome Willow before he was totally wild. Calm returned immediately.
I got to baby-sit him during the holidays, and chaos returned at once. So three was not working for us at all, but as I said, one of mine was sickly, which certainly triggered the behavior of the others against him. Might work fine for others, especially with the pair moving to your budgie's home, but maybe you could also wait a little and see if you could fine a lonely bird about his age, I'd think that would be ideal.

Thank you SO much for some insight on your experience doing this! I am so sorry that your little buddy was sick at that time Is he doing okay now? Thank you very much for your kind wishes! So the thing is, I have actually asked the person who I'm getting them from and she's told me that they're in fact, not too bonded! Apparently they've been living together for 3 weeks only. The budgie who is 2 years old used to live with an elderly lady who has hand tamed him very well. The budgie was the elderly lady's ONLY budgie so he is more interactive with humans actually than with his own species. The 6 months budgie, however, is more bird interactive. If they're not bonded, do you think I can house the 3 budgies together? (provided that they're not bullying one another)

 

[Pixiebeak]

The one i lost was spooked while caged , a freak accident that he hit his head on something. I kept him going for few months but he kept having seizure after the injury and that eventually claimed him.

Budgies are big flocking species. I personally wouldn't keep a solo Budgie. Space is important, large cage better. From my experience i wouldn't be worried, especially as you won't have a female around. But there are always the "chance individuals " that like to prove people wrong .

 

[tithi.p_]

The one i lost was spooked while caged , a freak accident that he hit his head on something. I kept him going for few months but he kept having seizure after the injury and that eventually claimed him.

Budgies are big flocking species. I personally wouldn't keep a solo Budgie. Space is important, large cage better. From my experience i wouldn't be worried, especially as you won't have a female around. But there are always the "chance individuals " that like to prove people wrong .

Thank you, pixiebeak, for your reassurance that everything will be alright! I really do want the best life for them, and hope that they get alone well with each other. I am so sorry to hear about your late budgie that must have been so frightening and tough to see! But you're very brave for sticking through with all those bad seizures and being there for your budgie. I am sure he is in budgie heaven now I also have one more question actually; when you were introducing your 3rd male budgie to your 2 budgies, how did you do it? Did you quarantine your new budgie? If so, then for how long? Did they adjust well immediately or does it take some time for them to adjust? I'd love to know so I don't lose hope for this!! Thank you in advance, so much My current budgie is actually a big chirper and big flyer, he's very hyper basically! The two new ones I want to bring are I think a little bit on the shy side. Do you think these personalities will interact? How was the personality of your 3 male budgies before? Were there any specific problems which you had faced? THANK YOU!!!

 

[Pixiebeak]

it sucked and was so unfair to loose him this way! He had a head tilt and was blind imeaditly after injured. I did work hard to save him , his buddies would visit him at his cage every day. The last day he was alive they must have known, as they never left him sang and sang to him. The next morning he was gone.

It really sucked! Because he had already survived so much. I was called because people were seeing an escaped budgie for about a week. I tried to catch him . But a huge tropical storm came in.....I came back 2 days later after it blew over. I was playing budgie sounds and after an hour he landed in a bush next to me. I lost sight if him a few minutes later a lady came out of the house next to me holding him. Her cat had caught him and carried him inside. She got him out of cats mouth and gave him to me. 2 bleeding holes in his head, in shock and skeleton thin............

If you don't know, cats carry a bacteria called pastuella( sp?) As well as other bacteria. But pastruella has a doubling time of 1/2 hour its nearly 100% fatal to birds within a few hours to 24 hours. People can get septic in hours as well. I do have a lot of experience taking care of sick birds. I called my vet, I git meds in him within a half hour of him being in cats mouth. Lot of intensive care . By a miracle we saved him .

I'm a huge believer in quarantine..............but........after 10 days he had recovered, gained 25% of his body mass back. Was active and freaking out in his smaller hospital cage. I talked to the vet and asked is it safe to add him to my flock? She felt if he had anything else besides cat bite to face , starvation from living on the lamb he would be dead. Plus he had 10 days of antibiotics. So go ahead if he was so stressed caged.

Well.....I opened the cage and let him join the flock. He was excepted instantly zero issues. One happy birdie.

The next day he started sneezing, lots of crop adjustment and scratching neck and nose. I caught him , took pictures of his inflamed and swollen inside of mouth. Sent pics to the vet...we thought left over from cat tooth that made a hole from side of face into mouth....he got better a couple of days later.

10 days later..my quaker Penny was alomost dead ...followed my the rest of my flock getting seriously sick. A very long battle to save them all.

So the escaped budgie had picked up chlamydia, was probably incubating it . Because it takes 45 days of doxycycline to cure ....he had only a partial treatment..he infected my whole flock with chlamydia.

So quarantine!!! No exceptions! Vet exam.

Long story....ooops....but it was a very traumatic lesson.....I could have lost every single bird in one go! So yeah....I talk about it a lot.

Especially sad he only got a little over a year with us . He was so happy so playful, sang like an angel! To have lived his life and overcome so many battles...then for a freak accident to take his life....is so upsetting to me so grossly unfair.

 

[tithi.p_]

it sucked and was so unfair to loose him this way! He had a head tilt and was blind imeaditly after injured. I did work hard to save him , his buddies would visit him at his cage every day. The last day he was alive they must have known, as they never left him sang and sang to him. The next morning he was gone.

It really sucked! Because he had already survived so much. I was called because people were seeing an escaped budgie for about a week. I tried to catch him . But a huge tropical storm came in.....I came back 2 days later after it blew over. I was playing budgie sounds and after an hour he landed in a bush next to me. I lost sight if him a few minutes later a lady came out of the house next to me holding him. Her cat had caught him and carried him inside. She got him out of cats mouth and gave him to me. 2 bleeding holes in his head, in shock and skeleton thin............

If you don't know, cats carry a bacteria called pastuella( sp?) As well as other bacteria. But pastruella has a doubling time of 1/2 hour its nearly 100% fatal to birds within a few hours to 24 hours. People can get septic in hours as well. I do have a lot of experience taking care of sick birds. I called my vet, I git meds in him within a half hour of him being in cats mouth. Lot of intensive care . By a miracle we saved him .

I'm a huge believer in quarantine..............but........after 10 days he had recovered, gained 25% of his body mass back. Was active and freaking out in his smaller hospital cage. I talked to the vet and asked is it safe to add him to my flock? She felt if he had anything else besides cat bite to face , starvation from living on the lamb he would be dead. Plus he had 10 days of antibiotics. So go ahead if he was so stressed caged.

Well.....I opened the cage and let him join the flock. He was excepted instantly zero issues. One happy birdie.

The next day he started sneezing, lots of crop adjustment and scratching neck and nose. I caught him , took pictures of his inflamed and swollen inside of mouth. Sent pics to the vet...we thought left over from cat tooth that made a hole from side of face into mouth....he got better a couple of days later.

10 days later..my quaker Penny was alomost dead ...followed my the rest of my flock getting seriously sick. A very long battle to save them all.

So the escaped budgie had picked up chlamydia, was probably incubating it . Because it takes 45 days of doxycycline to cure ....he had only a partial treatment..he infected my whole flock with chlamydia.

So quarantine!!! No exceptions! Vet exam.

Long story....ooops....but it was a very traumatic lesson.....I could have lost every single bird in one go! So yeah....I talk about it a lot.

Especially sad he only got a little over a year with us . He was so happy so playful, sang like an angel! To have lived his life and overcome so many battles...then for a freak accident to take his life....is so upsetting to me so grossly unfair.

Omg....I really don't even know what to say, except that you're an actual God-sent angel! You know, the things you did to save your little guy wouldn't have been done by everybody! This little guy was blind after the accident, and he still had the courage to live happily?! That's honestly something we as humans can learn from. Your budgie is so brave and courageous for LIVING, and I'm sure your support meant a ton to him! I'm sure his ultimate death was so hard on you, but I'm so glad that you were able to save the rest of your flock after that terrible accident. I hope you're doing well right now and please don't blame yourself I still can't believe what that little budgie went through; literal hell before reaching your hands. I'm so ashamed to say this, but that is actually how my budgie passed away as well (my current budgie's companion). Hell, I didn't even see her pass away because she escaped my house During really hot days where I live, my family tends to open the bird room window (for the budgies). We've done this many times, but 4 days ago, my girl budgie decided to take a leave by ripping apart our window's wire grid, creating a hole big enough for herself, and escaping. Never even in our thoughts did we think she'd go away this way. She was a perfectly healthy budgie, so full of life, and so curious; the most curious budgie I've ever seen. She'd always want to be shredding her toys, looking at new spots to discover, and chirping. I miss her so much. I can relate to you a lot! Only difference is that my budgie has probably passed away, not due to sickness, but due to my irresponsibility and not realizing that she was capable of ripping our window's wire grid. I like to believe that God wanted to take her, and that it was time for her. I also believe it's the same way for your little budgie who you took great care of! He's definitely in a better place now, away from suffering. I hope you are at peace with this incident as well! Thank you so much for your advice and help, I greatly appreciate it! I hope that my budgie is happier than ever once I introduced the new two birds to him. He's already getting so excited whenever he hears their voice from the other room! Thanks once again! How are your 2 male budgies doing now?!

 

[Shezbug]

Quarantine is essential so whatever is decided won’t be able to safely happen till after proper quarantine is over and pairs are generally better than odd numbers.

If one of the newer birds is more interested in people maybe he could be housed alone (after quarantine) and have more human interaction and the other two could be potential house mates.

 

[tithi.p_]

Quarantine is essential so whatever is decided won’t be able to safely happen till after proper quarantine is over and pairs are generally better than odd numbers.

If one of the newer birds is more interested in people maybe he could be housed alone (after quarantine) and have more human interaction and the other two could be potential house mates.

Thank you for your quick reply! I will keep this in mind. I have already gotten the birds, but the people whom I've gotten them from have told me that I could give them back if I feel as if I'm not ready to take that responsibility, or if my current bird isn't getting along with them. I am honestly so confused on what I should do! This is my first night with the new birds and I'm already getting nervous for one of the new bird's. I am going to attach a video of what's happening! But basically, one of them is making a weird sound and breathing heavily very suddenly. I heard it during the night and had to turn on the lights to check on him. And this is what I'm seeing. (Just realizing that I cannot send videos here) But he was basically doing some heavy breathing here and there with a squeak sort of sound coming out of his mouth. Does this seem concerning? Or have you heard of anything like this before? He is in quarantine at the moment of course!

 

[Shezbug]

Thank you for your quick reply! I will keep this in mind. I have already gotten the birds, but the people whom I've gotten them from have told me that I could give them back if I feel as if I'm not ready to take that responsibility, or if my current bird isn't getting along with them. I am honestly so confused on what I should do! This is my first night with the new birds and I'm already getting nervous for one of the new bird's. I am going to attach a video of what's happening! But basically, one of them is making a weird sound and breathing heavily very suddenly. I heard it during the night and had to turn on the lights to check on him. And this is what I'm seeing. (Just realizing that I cannot send videos here) But he was basically doing some heavy breathing here and there with a squeak sort of sound coming out of his mouth. Does this seem concerning? Or have you heard of anything like this before? He is in quarantine at the moment of course!

To share a video you need to link it from another site like youtube, fb, instagram etc.

 

[tithi.p_]

To share a video you need to link it from another site like youtube, fb, instagram etc.

Oh thanks so much! Maybe this will work?

iCloud

Sign in to iCloud to access your photos, videos, documents, notes, contacts, and more. Use your Apple ID or create a new account to start using Apple services.

share.icloud.com

Let me know if this link works for you!

 

[Shezbug]

Does it breathe like that all the time or just when you’re close?

 

[tithi.p_]

Does it breathe like that all the time or just when you’re close?

I've only had this new bird for a couple hours, but I only experienced hearing this once (during the night). Currently at nighttime, it's breathing normally. During the whole day, he was also breathing normally! This just happened for a couple seconds here and there today during the night while I was passing by the cage. Thanks for your comment! I also want to mention that this bird is 6 months old. Maybe he got a little scared at my arrival, hence breathing like that for a few moments?

 

[Scorpi0]

I've only had this new bird for a couple hours, but I only experienced hearing this once (during the night). Currently at nighttime, it's breathing normally. During the whole day, he was also breathing normally! This just happened for a couple seconds here and there today during the night while I was passing by the cage. Thanks for your comment! I also want to mention that this bird is 6 months old. Maybe he got a little scared at my arrival, hence breathing like that for a few moments?

My youngest budgie is about 3 months old and he will breathe like that for a minute or two if something really scares him.