Need help with new budgies

[My_3_birdies]

On Sunday my husband and I got two budgies from a local pet shop. They were housed together with a couple dozen other budgies. It's been 4 days and they don't seem to be getting along. I first thought they were both males, but now I think one might be a female. The one I think is a girl(frosty) is somewhat aggressive towards the male(buttercup). Frosty will pin buttercup in a corner and not let him move. If buttercup tries to move past frosty, frosty will squawk and bit buttercup I don't know what to do. Is this normal for them to be this way at first? Is frosty just trying to establish dominance? Frosty is smaller and under 4months old and buttercup is larger and around 7months old. Any help is greatly appreciated! And feel free to ask any questions

[Marrie]

Sounds like bullying. If it gets worse, there could be injuries or one could be prevented from eating (which is a common issue with bully pairs). Do they groom each other? Sit next to each other at all? Eat together? Show any sign of bonded pairs? If not, I would get a second cage and put it next to the other and let them bond through bars/neutral meetings.

Typically you don't want to house unbonded pairs together as they will fight, in a large aviary type situation, it's less of an issue but when you put them one-on-one ... they start arguing. It's like invite 50 people to your house for a party and even if you don't like a few of them, it's pretty easy to ignore them and hang out with someone else. Invite one person over to your house for lunch and you find out "wow, this person and I really don't know each other and have nothing in common." Let them meet in neutral territory and they may bond if you want to house them together. If you know their age and post pictures of their ceres, one of our budgie experts may be able to tell what gender they are for you.

[My_3_birdies]

Thank you for the reply That is a good way of looking at it.
They sit next to one another almost all day and both feed and drink without fighting. I haven't seen them groom each other or share food tho. It's only once in a while that they seem to get upset with one another.

I'll post pics later if I can get my computer to work with me. I'm on my phone right now and it won't let me upload:/

[Marrie]

If your phone has net, you could upload them to photobucket through your phone then link here.

If it is just the occasional squabble, it could be due to the stress of moving/figuring out what belongs to who in the new cage. Have you noticed them fighting over anything in particular? A favorite perch, a toy, a sleeping spot? Have any feathers been plucked, or any injuries? Or does she just hold him down?

[My_3_birdies]

They havent hurt each other. No injuries or feather plucking. They argue over the top perch on the side. And Ive seen them chase each other around a couple times. They mock fight over actually bitting to cause damage. Their squaking is what makes it sound awful.

<a href="http://s1052.photobucket.com/albums/s441/my_2_butterflies/?action=view&amp;current=photo-1.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s441/my_2_butterflies/photo-1.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

If that worked right, thats frosty. I think female? But Im not really sure.

<a href="http://s1052.photobucket.com/albums/s441/my_2_butterflies/?action=view&amp;current=photo1.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s441/my_2_butterflies/photo1.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

And this one is Buttercup. Im pretty sure male.

Im not sure if the pic will show up or if its coming out as just a link. Im so rusty with computers:/

[My_3_birdies]

Ugh... It didnt work:/

[My_3_birdies]

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[My_3_birdies]

Yay! It worked! lol. Sorry about all that. The top one is Frosty and the bottom one is Buttercup

[maxollie]

In my opinion Buttercup, the little green budgie is definitely a male because of the dark blue cere. As to Frosty, that cere is a lighter blue, but not the usual tan, ivory and/or brownish, or whitish cere that I've seen in females. You just might have to put them in side by side cages for awhile until they get used to the environment and surroundings in their new home. There truly is nothing more hurtful than to see a bigger budgie bullying a smaller one, or having control over the one that doesn't have the ability to stand up for itself.

The sure are precious little babies! I love their names and they are sooooo beautiful!

[Pipers Mom]

Your budgies are beautiful. Thanks for sharing the pics.

[My_3_birdies]

Thank you Ellen and Carolyn

Its actaully kinda flipped, because the smaller one is the trouble maker. I just cant seem to get these two. I took this pick earlier and they were cuddling. If they do start up the bickering again I will need to cage them separately. Id hate to wake up and find one of my birds injured or dead Im hoping maybe its just stess causing frosty to act out. Only time will tell.

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[soliel]

you have beautiful budgies there ; I understand what you face as I had the same problem with my new added budgie ...thank god they stopped and they conspiring together to leave me a lone ...

[LoriPratt62]

They are beauties ! but ummm I'm seeing what looks like 2 boys there... good luck they will train you LOL be patient.

[My_3_birdies]

I'm hoping they are both males. Frosty's temperment and behavior is what was making me lean towards female. Either way they are going to be fun to bond with My bourke, Lucky has been bonding with me a lot more since we got the budgies. He follows me from room to room and will even hang out on my shoulder now I've had him a year and it's taken him a long time to come around. That's understandable tho because he has a shady past. I have yet to fully win his trust. Hopefully the budgies will help him feel more comfortable