Should I put my budgies in the same cage?

[qiaolintan]

I have 2 budgies, a boy (Rain) and a girl (Tro). Tro and Rain are currently in separate cages but I've noticed that Rain is constantly hanging out at Tro's cage whenever I let them out. Every morning after breakfast, he paces in front of his cage door until I let him out and he goes straight to Tro's cage, it's so cute. I had put them in separate cages at first because Rain was a new addition to our family and I didn't know if they would like each other or not.

Now I'm wondering if I should put them in the same cage so that they can hang out while I'm at school/work, but I've read that you should only put budgies together if they've bonded. Rain obviously seems to adore Tro, but I don't know if the feeling's mutual. Tro seems pretty blasé about whether Rain is in her cage or not, and there are the occasional argument but they usually last about 5 seconds. They kiss and preen each other as well, which seems a good sign, but I wouldn't want them to fight if they're in the same cage. Should I put them together or not?

(If I DO end up putting them together, I'm definitely getting a bigger cage because the ones that each of them have now are big enough for only 1 budgie to have enough room to comfortably fly around. The cage I'm looking at is 80cm (length) by 50cm (width) by 100cm (height). How does that sound? Does it sound like the 2 of them will have enough space to fly around and get away from each other if they had an argument?)

 

[BirdLady13]

If you haven't already, I would suggest testing the waters first to see how they get along when they're out of their cages together. With a large enough cage, as long as they tolerate each other, they should be fine. Keep in mind though, they may end up making baby budgies. If/when you house them together, watch for signs like injuries that could indicate they do not get along.

 

[Zara]

Keep in mind though, they may end up making baby budgies.

This can be avoided simply by boiling any eggs found, allowing to cool and putting back.
An EB breeder on this board says that they actually don´t need the eggs at all, and instead of boiling or using dummy eggs, can be removed and the birds shouldn´t lay to replace, so you could give that a go first. If the birds don´t lay to replace, then carry on removing eggs.

 

[Khizz]

You can also prevent hormonal behaviour by giving them longer night time coverage, feeding a diet not high in fat and removing anything like dark, nesty areas.

What do they do at nighttime? I saw some members noticed that their birds started staying in the other's cage when it came to bed time. Wasn't that the case with Aldora and Jaime @Zara?

 

[Miss_sj]

Start by giving them supervised time in the cage together, and gradually extending the time. How old are they? How long have they been in the same roon for?

It's normal for the female to be a little blase about the male I think! Minor arguments are also normal.

 

[Zara]

Wasn't that the case with Aldora and Jaime @Zara?

This happened with Sydney and Adelie. They would share out of cage time... then Sydney would hang out in her cage when they were caged, then eventually he stayed in her cage overnight. It was a process over numerous months.
My understanding is that budgies tend to get on with others in most cases, but still nice to transition slowly

 

[Meerkat07]

yep most of the time its fine to keep them together unless one is severely attacking the other. Not just normal bickering but visible pain, the shrieking out of pain (not just being loud). But if that doesn't happen very often they should be fine.

 

[Lady Jane]

Most of the time budgies of different genders get along well from the first meeting. I don't foresee any problems and I know you will be watching over them . Pictures?

 

[MC_Hahn's]

To be completely honest, it all just depends on the individual birds. Make sure you take into account other environmental factors as well, and understand that parakeets are like little people--Each has their own unique preferences, and what qualities you may see in a bird may appear drastically different to another. Remember that even the best of friends can become annoyed with each other at times.

 

[Olliebirb]

Yes like others have said, test how they do in each other's cage. With my budgies, Winston will fight Oliver away from food and Oliver will scream and fly to the bottom of the cage if Winston gets in with him.

 

[Zara]

It is a good idea to leave the cage open during their first few times together in the same cage.

 

[qiaolintan]

Start by giving them supervised time in the cage together, and gradually extending the time. How old are they? How long have they been in the same roon for?

It's normal for the female to be a little blase about the male I think! Minor arguments are also normal.

Tro is 4 years old and Rain is 1 years old. They've been in the same room for about a month and have been visiting each other's cages already! Rain spends all his time in Tro's cage.

They have arguments over food and other birdie things that I as a human don't understand, but they disappear as quickly as they start, which seems good.

 

[finchly]

I thought one was sick!?

 

[qiaolintan]

I thought one was sick!?

Yep! I'm definitely not going to put them together now, my question is just to prep for the near future (because it looks like Tro's on the mend!!)

On another note, the vet did tell me to keep them in separate cages for now, but it's more to monitor Tro's food intake without another bird because it'll get confusing to keep track of who eats what. But she told me that it's okay for them to hang out as usual!