OK to keep just one parakeet?

I recently bought myself a pretty little parakeet (budgerigar), a rare indulgence for me on our limited budget. The folks at the store said it was all right to keep just one alone. But I'd like to get either more confirmation or more opinions.

I've heard that if you keep only one parakeet or parrot it will be more friendly to its human owner. But if you keep 2 or more they will be more focused on each other & not want to interact as much with their people. Right from the start this lil' parakeet has been remarkably docile, going to anyone's finger with no fuss at all, and has not ever tried to bite. She was not previously finger-trained, she was just in with a flock of other parakeets in a cage at the store.

I don't want to change this behavior by adding another parakeet.

However, this docility may be just her general temperment. In her cage she mostly sits quietly, not climbing or flitting around very much. She has a nice large cage about 3' tall, 2' wide, & 1' deep, with some interesting tree branches in it for climbing, a mirror to look in & a tassel to nibble upon. I don't think she lacks for amusement, but still she mostly just sits.

So I wonder if she would enjoy her home more with another bird companion to share it.

I trusted the store keeper when she said that parakeets do well on their own, it would have been to her advantage to tell me I needed to buy more than one.

My little bird, Calypso, has been sitting on my shoulder the whole time I've been at the computer. Please let us both know what you think!

If you have lots of time to ineract with your budgie she should be fine. She seems like a friendly little mite if she's already hand tamed. All birds are flock oriented though. It bothers me a little that she sits so quietly in her cage. Budgies are usually quite active. They love food. Try giving her some mixed veggies with apples,grapes and fresh romaine and see if that gets her interest. They also love boiled eggs. Mainly the yolk. Also I've noticed their favorite toy almost always has a bell or a swing. Post pics so we can see her! I love parrots. Down to the littlest of the bunch. Did you know the budgie holds the record for the most words spoken?

Its okay. Though if it spends a lot of time in the cage alone, I would give it a little plastic friend and a mirror so it can talk to itself. They like that.

Awwww! I have had 4 or 5 parakeets at different times growing up and I agree with the pet store: a single bird will bond better with people, 2 or more will play with each other more, but still interact with you. Just make sure that you have lots and lots of time to spend with her.

My first bird was the best one I ever had! He was a gift for my 10th birthday. My dad took off the top of of his cage and he had the run of the whole house because my parents liked him, too and we didn't have any cats or dogs to terrorize him, so he got to visit with people all day long. My mom was a stay at home mom and I had a younger sister who was not in school yet. He would run around on the kitchen table at breakfast time, sampling the food. He'd run around on the top of the curtains chirping. He liked to sit on my book while I was reading it and eat the pages. Oh I loved that bird!

A few years later, we got 2 more parakeets and a cat. So all 3 parakeets were given the run of my bedroom and I was a teenager, at this point. They played with each other and myself and my sister, too. All 3 of them loved to wake up at the crack of dawn chirping and playing and would spend a long time running up and down my body while I was trying to sleep (I was a teenager after all!) They would peck at my eyelashes and I finally had to hang sheets all around my bed to get some peace in the morning!!! (It was the bottom bunk) They would get so excited to see me when I walked in the door, they would all fly to me at once, landing on my head.

Calypso is a beautiful name for her! Post pictures - I'd love to see her!

Quote:
Thanks for these ideas, I was hesitant to give Calypso anything other than her seed mix for fear of giving her too loose stools. I guess I'll offer her just a little of this at a time, see what she likes best. Should I just give her a whole apple slice or lettuce leaf or halved grape and let her peck at it on her own? Or mince it together like a salad? I am hoping her quietness is just due to the change in her surroundings & she'll begin to chatter more once she gets more comfortable here. There sure are a lot of bird noises coming from the yard, the roosters, ducks, geese & guineas, plus the song birds coming to the feeder & bird bath. She seems very bright & healthy, not ill or depressed...just quiet & still.

Calypso is a beautiful shade of aqua-green with a yellow head, my favorite color combination of parakeet. She's the color of the water in the Caribbean, thus her name. I'll post photos as soon as I can.

She sounds beautiful. Just love their happy little attitudes. You can serve it up however you wish. But I'd make sure she got a little bitof te variety. If she's never had veggies you will want to start her slow. Her stools will naturally be looser because of the soft food. It's real important for her to have the though. Budgies are very suseptable to fatty liver disease. A straight seed diet contributes to this. Common sense of no chocolate,caffiene,onions(some professionals disagree on this) or carbonated drinks. Also take care with dairy, they love it,but they can't digest the lactose. So cottage cheese, yogurt etc. in moderation is fine. They also do not need grit. They shell their seeds. Can lead to impaction.
Eating in the birds world is a flock event. If you're comfortable with it, Put her on your shoulder when you eat and give her little nibbles of what you're eating. Quite a bonding thing. It's what her mate (or parent) would do for her.

Awwww! Yes, she will be fine alone. Just make sure to spend some quality time with her. Best of luck!

Congrats on the new budgie! Of all the birds, budgies are one of my favorites!

I've had budgies for years. I find that hand raised budgies tend to prefer people, or so mine have.

Some of mine tolerate a companion, but some have even gone so far as to reject their budgie companions in favor of people.

However, parent-raised birds that are not handraised often are very difficult to acclimate to people and will usually prefer the company of another budgie. Because they are very social birds, I've always gotten my parent-reared budgies a real budgie companion or two.

This is our little budgie, Sac-au-lait with my daughter. Sac was hand raised as a baby, but not properly handled when sold to her new family. She was given to me after a few years in a cage because she turned into a biter and just hated people and hands. It took about a year or work but she has come around. Now we can't keep her away from us, lol. She's also taken up with our new African Grey who is very tolerant of her!

Best of luck with your new baby!

A single young bird will make you it's flock. She is still and quiet when alone for the reason you suspected, she wants to interact with you! Your bird is probably pretty young, and learning all the time. You are the source of all the fun and good things in life, food & treats, company on your shoulder even at the computer. Spend time with your bird, train it. Fresh food is good, but if you do not have time, a little frozen veg microwaved until room temp will do. Not all seed, and while young is the time to teach the good habits of eating fruit and veg!