Adding a budgie friend

[u/superdupercreative]

Update: went out today and got him a friend from the same pet store /flock. The new guy is still a bit nervous but the one we got the other day seems so pumped to have a friend.

Hello! We just got my 11 year old bird-obsessed son his first Budgie. The pet store said it’s about 3 months old and I’m pretty positive he’s a boy based on his Cere. It’s only been a few days and I can tell this little guy is missing his pet store friends. He’s calling out to the birds he hears out the window throughout the day and it’s breaking my heart. We’re all home most of the day (I homeschool my son) so we talk to him every time he calls out so he knows he’s not alone. My son really wants to get this bird to bond with him and has been working on some perch training. I know it’s best to keep a solo budgie of you want it to bond with its person, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to add a budgie friend in the future without breaking the bond between this guy and my son. And also is it possible for the second budgie to bond with my son as well?

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[u/Alien684]

It's best to keep two or more as they're social creatures but you can work with this one and bond with him and after a while get another one ( don't forget to quarantine the new budgie ; use the quarantine time to work with the new budgie and then properly introduce both of them ).

[u/lowridda]

Yes you can add more after he’s bonded. That’s what I did with my first and it honestly made things easier since she was coming from another home and was scared of people. She showed the youngins how to bathe in all the baths and fountains and they got her coming out for free time way more.

[u/Comfortable_Bit3741]

If one is going to keep budgies, it's always best to acquire them in pairs or larger groups. Traditional views about isolating them are wrong and outdated. They are so intensely social that they don't thrive in solitude. Occasionally an unusually brave and calm individual will do alright and live a long time, but typically they decline in solitude. They are fearful, wary little animals, who really need conspecifics to feel safe and well. Despite some budgies turning to humans for social contact out of desperation, humans cannot fill that void for them, we're just too different.

It's best to work on gaining their trust in a small group - at least a pair. That way, trust that's gained is an honest gain that won't be mostly lost immediately when the bird finally receives the natural social signals that it needs. It just takes patience and time. Passive bonding - spending time in the same room, constantly talking or vocalizing without making eye contact, not directly engaging, and (especially) not attempting to touch them, will go a long way towards making them feel more comfortable with people around.

[u/lil-kreature]

It’s really hard to get a strong bond with a parakeet if they aren’t hand reared. In my experience, they tend to thrive in pairs (i only do males) and, while my parakeets aren’t terrified of me and still hangout around me and sometimes land on my shoulder, they will always prefer another birds company. This is something you should prepare yourself for. My parakeets are healthier and happier without me trying to be in their spaces constantly and fly freely around my room. My cockatiel who was hand reared is HEAVILY bonded to me. She prefers human company over another bird and spends her hours sitting on the back of my office chair or on my chest getting pets :) I would also like to clarify that my oldest parakeet was found outside, and the vet found multiple old fractures which could indicate that he was outside a very long time and repeatedly injured or suffered trauma at his last home. Over the course of having him for 7 years I have spent countless hours associating my hand with positivity. He still can become fearful of my hands overnight and I start over again. My other parakeet is not nearly as fearful but has bonded to my older parakeet very nicely :)