So, I am thinking... what the heck am I going to put in the other side of my aviary?

Let's see... here's more thought into each side and different birds I can put in it.

I was thinking, if I add more budgies, what else do I have to worry about? Multiple budgies, fights, breeding, egg binding (lost my first bird because of that)... the reintroduction of AGY, dare I say. If one gets sick it can easily be spread to my beloved boys next door... then the whole budgie flock could get sick.

On the contrary end, I was considering something different, but only one. Either a pionus, mini macaw, BBC, GCC or quaker. I've excluded the poicephalus or plum headed parakeet, not in my area as it turns out, that breeder retired and sold all those birds years ago.

Let's dip into a little bit into the main points of my selections.

Pionus: nice size, very quiet for a parrot. Prone to respiratory infections, living next to dusty tiels may not be the best idea.

Mini mac: rowdy, comical, doesn't scream constantly but when it does it is at a high volume. Doesn't scream as much as an aratinga conure, not high pitched screaming, at a much more tolerable pitch. VERY strong need to chew.

BCC: dream bird, I find it absolutely gorgeous, is aratinga, screams loudly and more frequently. Very high pitch.

GCC: small bird, playful, slightly smaller than I would like, not really a screamer, but still a conure. Pretty colors and species generally has a good personality overall.

Quaker: don't know much about these ones. Might need help here. Stubborn, "bad boy" attitude, enjoys stealing, funny "grumpy" personality.

I am going on about one, slightly bigger bird because my biggest fear is getting a whole flock of budgies sick and/or my own boys again and I don't think I could handle that...

I know the correct answer is to do what I know feels right at the time, but thinking over it, which of the choices would you do?

Cant help you there.... I'm wondering what to
put in a cage with a very lonely budgie?
He was with Zippi, my tiel, who died back in October, I cant decide what to put with him...
I'm looking for an older bird, one who needs a good home, but so far nothing is available...
Hope you solve your dilemma soon....

The best thing to do is to look for a bird who wants to be with you. Those birds always turn out to be the best pets.

You might think about a Patagonian conure if you want a bigger bird. They're fairly drab to look at but they have a reputation for a great personality, and I've fallen in love with several of them. They're the largest of the conures and they're also quite loud, so keep that in mind.

I don't know much about Quakers either but I hear they're pretty aggressive. One owner described them as a mean green biting machine. You'd need to do a lot of research before getting one.

Although I sort of like bad boys. Biting doesn't turn me off at all. Excessive screaming does. That's why I'm iffy on any conure. Quakers too, but they don't scream as much as an ara conure.

Right now I'm leaning more towards a mini mac. I don't mind the strong need to chew. I have a TON of wood toys my birds won't touch. A friend of mine on Facebook has one and she tells stories about him and writes poems on him. He is such a great bird!

Magic Mikey Macnoblebird


https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=104800036217714

You do have to watch out for the safety of your smaller birds though, and a bird that's likely to bite you is also likely to bite them. Personally I would go with a species that isn't dangerous to the budgies and tiels. I babysat a green cheek conure once and he was adorable, but his beak was twice as big as the cockatiels' beak and he was nippy. So I would never have let him mingle with the tiels, and wouldn't want to keep a bird that I would always have to keep separated from the others. That was the great thing about Prince Ess - POWs are a mellow species and their body and beak is about the same size as a cockatiel so it's not dangerous to mix them together.

The Australian grass keets in general are pretty similar to this and might be a good choice. Bourkes are pretty common and come in some nice mutations. A seller at the local bird mart has handfed kakarikis that are just adorable. If you want gorgeous colors there are several grass keet species with a lot to offer. They're fairly quiet too.

What about Parrotlets? I think I spelled that right. They are really cute and I'm pretty sure quiet and friendly.

That's true. Actually all the birds selected can bite a toe off, so if I pick something bigger, that aspect doesn't really matter since they can all do some damage if not supervised. Parrotlets too.

I just don't really know right now if I want multiple small birds. I know I could not cope if an entire flock got sick, especially since I've had to deal with serious AGY and almost lost my boys. I'm thinking something slightly larger, but only one. I can pay for vet bills if it gets sick versus taking multiple budgies to the vet. If you didn't detect it, my biggest fear is that AGY will spread to new birds. Not only that, but I still suspect Poppy was the carrier, so if one day he breeds secretly...

For the record, I am not mixing species if that's what you're thinking. If I get something bigger, it would have it's own side, and that may take awhile.

A lot to think about.
Are you more concerned that a new smaller bird will bring AGY than a larger bird?

No. I'm concerned about getting a few more budgies to give Beck and Poppy a flock but then I started thinking about what if the whole flock got sick? I can't afford that, financially and emotionally.

One bird I can handle caring for but multiple little lives... I don't know how I would handle that.