[Siobhan]

Okay, so we put Benjy into Bonnie's cage -- just opened both doors and put his door up against hers and he went in. He found her swing immediately and took possession of it. She's sitting on a perch below that. Both of them are just sitting there. She looked up at him a couple of times. He looked down at her. Now they're sitting there all sleepy-eyed like they're dozing off. No sign of aggression, but no sign of interest, either. Just ... sitting there. Is that good, bad or indifferent?

[kylie]

Well i have two tiels that have not long been put together as i needed the extra cage for Ali. They didnt show any signs of aggrrsion witch is always good but they refuse to even share a common perch. Joe the male that i have had for ten years is completely indifferent to Angel who is a young female. He has always been my bird and for ten years was the only bird in the house.Now having four other birds he has to share me with i guess we have lost that really close bond we used to have since Angel and Ali came along but he still enjoys his time out even if it is for shorter periods of time as he does not seem to like Ali my QP. He is conten to share his cage with Angel as long as she doesnt try to come too close to him or get in his road and they talk and flock call to eachother even tho they are only on seperate perches.
So i guess if u want the two birds together for any specific reason and they are not aggressive towards each other then let them be they will work out what to do or not do with each other.
If u are hoping to breed(not sure if male and female) then prepair yourself that they just may not like each other like that and u may stay the"fav". And it could go the other way if they do like each other and re of both sexes then u could also loose ur bond with one or both of them.

In anycase as long as the birds are happy and healthy u are probably doing the right thing.

Goodluck hope this helps a bit.

[Siobhan]

Addendum: They're beaking each other -- it looks like they're trying to kiss -- and chasing each other from perch to perch, making mostly softly chirping sounds, with the occasional squawk. They've each had a go at a toy, and Bonnie had a couple of bites of food, and then they sat on the same perch together for a few minutes, just sitting, like they were posing for a portrait. Now he's facing one way and she's facing the other on the perch and they're just sitting again.

[kalipso2]

i bought my 2 budgies at the same time thinking they'd get along since they were together with a bunch of other budgies at the store.

it's not that they fight because they don't but my female wants nothing to do with the male. they don't sit next to each other. they don't preen each other. they don't play together.

not sure what i did wrong!

[Siobhan]

I think the experiment's a success (crossing fingers!). They played and chirped and chased each other around and then took a nap sitting on the same perch wing to wing. They took turns at the food bowl nicely (there are two food dishes and two water dishes, just in case) and ate from the same millet spray, and Benjy preened Bonnie's head. Tomorrow I'll put Benjy's toys in that cage if they're still getting along so well, and call it a done deal. He likes her toys just fine but I bought several for him that he played with every day, so I think he should have them in the big cage.

Bonnie has a happy hut that she never uses so I'm thinking I should take it out to discourage mating behavior. I'm told that if they don't have a nest they probably won't mate, and while they're both still too young for that, I don't want to give them any ideas, either. That will also make room for Benjy's swing that he likes so much. Bonnie has a swing and he's been playing with it, but he likes his a lot and if they have two, they won't have to take turns. Not that Bonnie ever plays with it. She hasn't been playing much at all, until I put Benjy in there and he MADE her play.

[Siobhan]

Just now, Bonnie preened Benjy's head. Now they've both preened the other, so they're happy little friends! Whew. What a relief. The point of getting Benjy, besides the fact that I adore budgies, was to give Bonnie "a buddy," as the vet suggested, and I'm SO glad they like each other. If they hadn't, we were going to put Benjy back in his own cage and just enjoy them separately, but it's so much fun to watch them playing and being silly TOGETHER. And one less cage to clean.

I'm going to put Benjy's toys in there and then give that cage a good thorough cleaning so we have a spare all ready and waiting in case we need it for something. I am NOT going to get more birds.

[Glowbird]

I'm glad it worked out! Bonnie will get a lot more exercise now. Mine are in constant motion until someone decides it's time for a quick 15-min. nap, then they all go quiet at once. They seem to have so much fun.