This is my little girl Darla. She has been home for just over a week. We are making slow progress with taming. I find if she is sleepy, I get better results. She was a hand fed baby, but never was a fan of being handled(I had visited her often). I found out that some hand fed English budgies will be available in about 2 weeks I had wanted to get her a friend at some time. I have another cage for quarantine. I have been promised these babies will be mushes. Would getting another be a good idea? Will having a tamer budgie help Darla bond too? I would plan on getting a boy. Darla is an English/American mix and these new babies are English. Looking for advice. TIA.
It can take a long time to win the trust of your budgie, you cannot expect much in a week. Most budgies do not like to be handled if by that you mean petting and cuddling. If you are going to get another bird it would be best if you had 2 of the same gender, that way you do not have to worry about mating/breeding. If you want Darla to be bonded to you it would be best not to get another bird until you have developed a stronger bond with her and she has become more tame, a budgie will always be another budgies best friend.
I agree with Cody, it took over three months to gain the trust of my girl enough so we could proceed with bonding, but she's going to be 8 this year now and we've been inseparable ever since. If you really want to build Darla's trust and bond with her, it's going to take a lot of patience and time; some budgies come out of their shells sooner than others!
She's still very new to her environment and situation so even though she was hand-fed I think she still has some adjusting to do
If you still want another budgie and have the resources to care for two, keep in mind that Darla and the new baby will almost certainly be closer to each other than to you!
Hopefully that helps
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~StarlingWings~
and Princess Mallorn!
Thank you to Deb for her wonderful Faery magic
I would not recommend getting another budgie for at least 6 months.
You need the time to bond with Darla.
Please do realize that most budgies do not like to be "handled" once they get past puberty.
Budgies may be willing to sit on you but as far as petting/cuddling go -- most birds prefer not to deal with that from a human.
I would also think very hard about whether you want the hassle of having a mixed gender pair.
With a mixed gender pair, you have to be extremely diligent to prevent breeding.
Having two budgies of the same gender is much easier.
Realize that no matter which gender you choose, there is never a guarantee the two birds will get along so you always have to be ready and willing to house them separately on a permanent basis if that becomes necessary.
Flock dynamics change each time a bird is added or subtracted from the mix.
Thank you everyone. I will hold off. I have been thinking about it and it wouldn't be fair to Darla. I need to devote all my time to her. I just thought about it since the opportunity was there and knew I wanted another in the future. So I am focusing on my little girl Thanks again!