I'm kind of sad for Speck. All he wants more than anything is a bird flock. He is definitely much friendlier to me. If he's in a good mood, when I walk up to him to talk to him, he'll jump to the front and his tiny pin feathers on his head move when I speak to him in a silly voice. When he comes out to exercise, he'll land on the tiel's cage and they are so mean and unwelcoming to him. The thing is, he keeps coming back when they are so nasty to him. I think he wants a flock that will be nice to him. I'm so happy he's much nicer to me, but I don't think he'll ever accept me as a good flockmate to hang around with.

One option is to get him a budgie friend, but I don't know whether you'd want a bigger flock and anyway there's no guarantee that they'll actually like each other. Does he have a mirror? A lot of people will tell you that mirrors are bad, but I think they're fine in the right circumstances. They provide a type of companionship to a bird who would be lonely otherwise. If it's causing major behavior problems that's one thing, but if it isn't causing major problems then I see nothing wrong with it.

A mirror wouldn't have to be in the cage all the time (which is where it's most likely to cause problems with hormones and territoriality). It could be his special 'friend' to play with when he's out of the cage. You could even hold the mirror in your hand for him to play with and get some social time with him yourself.

You can get similar results with a toy budgie figure.

He's had a mirror before. Let's just say it's no longer an option for him. He's one of those birds that will never leave no matter what he sees himself in. I was considering adopting a handfed budgie friend for him, although I would get a cock this time around. I was considering it. His cage is suitable for 2, and I have a quarantine cage, but I don't know what my dad would say.

The only way to find out is to ask him. If he says no then that rules out that option and you'll have to focus on what else you can do. Maybe a toy budgie figure would be less of a problem than a mirror. If he says yes, you can think seriously about whether you want to do it or try other things first.

It breaks your heart when you see a bird, who is trying in every possible way to be accepted and friendly, being chased away or ignored. I hope you find a good solution for him, he just wants a friend, poor baby, and those boys are mean!

They're not that mean! They're just budgie racist. I'll ask tomorrow.

So I asked this morning and he said he isn't really sure. It can go either way from this point. Is there anything I can say to convince him? Maybe something like having a friend would be beneficial to him since he only wants to come out sometimes. With a friend he would more than likely come out more. Or like, maybe a hand trained buddy would have him open up even more with me. I know Beaker did when I got Jaid. The living situation would not be any different, aside from the quarantine cage, but the feeding, cleaning and general care would be the same, just with 2 budgies.

But the problem is I think he doesn't want another Mackenzie. He doesn't really care for other budgies besides Beck because he thinks they are all like her.

Tell him that male budgies are friendlier than females - it's true! They're also more fun to watch because they do the whole song and dance routine for anything that vaguely resembles a budgie hen.

I got a much better reaction today! He said he'd think about it. He said he sometimes notices Beck alone and knows that the living arrangement would be no different (I had to sell 2 cages because he doesn't like them cluttering his house). I know his exceptions. I know he will only go along with it if it is definitely a cock and it has to be hand trained. So now that he's "thinking about it", I leave him alone for a week and ask later on again. Hopefully Beck will have a friend soon.

Good luck getting your future bird! Do you already know a place where you can get hand tamed birds, or will you start looking when the time comes? Sometimes there are very nice birds on craigslist who are already tame and old enough to be sure of the sex.