Keeping 2 budgies is always beneficial to the birds themselves, although it may
make it harder for you to tame them. If you want to tame them and you have 2,
then it's best to have 2 males. If you really want to keep 2 birds then 2 males
are the best option, as they will rarely bicker and fight, whereas 2 females
will spend most of their time doing just that.
It's also totally possible
to keep a male and a female in a cage together. There's one thing you need to be
aware of when keeping a male and female though, and that is if they're given the
right opportunities they WILL mate and breed. I suggest you think very hard
about what your plans are for your birds before deciding on one of each
sex.
Do you want her to have chicks? If you do, then provide her with a
nestbox (you can buy them pretty cheap at pet stores) and put a handful of wood
shavings inside it (also available at pet stores)
If they've mated
successfully, then she'll start showing an interest in the nestbox, possibly
within the next few days, possibly later. It usually takes about 10 days from a
successful mating to when the first egg is laid. The hen should then lay an egg
every other day, and the clutch of eggs can be anywhere between 1-8 eggs
(sometimes even more).
Ask the petstore for eggfood and millet, as the
birds will need extra strength to help them rear any chicks they might have. If
the eggs are fertile they will start hatching between 18-23 days of being
laid.
You don't need to feed the chicks at all, the father will feed the
mother, and she will regurgitate the food for the chicks when they get a bit
bigger. At first they will be fed by her with something called 'crop-milk'
basically the same as mothers milk, but in bird form ;)
The chicks will
start getting ready to leave the nestbox somewhere around the age of 28-35 days
old, the father will feed them for a little while longer and they'll eventually
start feeding themselves. Provide the extras (eggfood and millet) all through
the period of mating, laying and rearing, and also while the chicks are learning
to become independent.
If you don't want the hen to lay another round
after the first chicks have hatched, then remove the nestbox as soon as the
chicks leave the nest.
If you just want to keep one of each sex and not
have them mate and breed, the solution is pretty simple. Don't give them a
nestbox. Budgies will very rarely, if ever, mate without a nest to lay eggs
in.
===============Resource Box=========== Anna-Marie Stewart keeps
and breeds pet budgerigars. Visit Adorable Budgies for information, pictures
and forum http://adorablebudgies.co.uk ==================================== This
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