Energizer Meeting Rusty

dakota_328 · 11-11-2005, 11:55 AM

A month ago i bought a cockatiel and named her Rusty. So yesterday i wanted my budgie (Energizer) to meet Rusty. I put Energizer close to the cage and Rusty came over to say Hi, but then Energizer wanted to play with Rusty and jumped into her cage

. Rusty fliped out and started flying around the cage, so then Energizer started flipping out. it took me forever to get Energizer out and now Rusty is scared of me

Joseph · 11-11-2005, 12:23 PM

As Homer would say, "DOH!!!"

When I got my second dog, a ten pounder, my 40 pound austrailian sheppard was almost afraid of him. In due time they have become best friends. Birds are not dogs but in general I think the more aware they are of each other the smoother things will go.

Also, I recently got a parakeet and introduced him to our cockatiels. The only problems is that the 'keet is a spazz compared to the 'tiels. To keep the peace I usually have them seperated.

Side Note: Where is Arthur? My wife is originally from Toronto.

Joseph and Grace

Pootspete · 11-11-2005, 01:06 PM

Alissa, normally cockatiels and budgies do not get along with each other. Just look at the size difference. It is not wise to put Energizer into your cockatiel's cage. You were very fortunate that there were no injuries for either bird.

A budgie is very curious and playful creature and likes to torment or bother a tiel. From now you you should not let these two socialize together like that. If you have them in seperate cages side by side that is okay.

This is just my opinion, and some here may disagree.

Lovebirdfan · 11-11-2005, 07:58 PM

I agree- when a budgie and a tiel are together, the budgie is usually more aggressive. Both could end up hurt. For every example of them getting along, there are 10 more times when they don't.

Aviennda · 11-12-2005, 06:01 AM

Well, she didn't put Energizer into Rusty's cage; he jumped in there on his own. Sounds to me like she was just holding Energizer NEAR Rusty's cage so that they could meet and Rusty took it upon himself to enter the cage. I am sure that after this experience if she decides to try again, Rusty's door will be closed.

Oh Mowsie · 11-14-2005, 02:56 PM

Aww! I'm sorry to hear the introductions didn't work out.

Here's some suggestions for the two next time. As some have suggested, Budgies and Tiels don't generally get a long, but its not a hard, fast rule. What you can do is let the birds decide how friendly they're going to be with each other, but give them an "out" if they need one. Likely, Rusty freaked because Energizer's advances were much too fast for his liking and being in a cage.. there was no place for him to go. Also, birds are territorial, so if you want to introduce them, try bringing them out to a neutral place, say.. the coffee table on a gym. That way, no one has "claim" yet if one gets aggressive, the other can fly away to escape.

Caging them side by side (allow some space between them so beaks can't reach feet) may be of benefit too, as Pootspete suggested. Then.. they can slowly get to know one another, but with the safety of the bars in between them.

dakota_328 · 11-15-2005, 06:56 AM

Arthur is about 2 hours away from Toronto

cockatielnewtome · 11-15-2005, 07:22 AM

I think a lot of people on here have both budgies and tiels. People always say generically that budgies and tiels don't get along, but I don't know that I've heard a lot of actual stories of that. And we have never had any problems. We have 2 tiels and 3 budgies. One of the tiels and the 3 budgies have been together for 9 years. They have 2 big cages all on one 6 foot table and none of them are ever locked in. They just climb around and do when they want, go in, go out, eat, drink, sleep, whatever (they never fly off the table either, even though they are flighted). When we got our second tiel, I was a little worried to put him in with them just because people say that about budgies and tiels. But they get along just fine too. At night Peaches sleeps covered in our room. During the day, we put Peaches is in his cage and set his cage on the same table, in between the two big cages. In the evening we let him out to play with his "friends". I wouldn't really say they are actually friends though, but there aren't fights either. They mostly ignore each other. If there are squables, it's between the two tiels because Tori doesn't like Peaches getting too close to her. She's kind of a crabby bird. The budgies sometimes push Tori around, but they never fight. They are just like "get out of here, we're in here now" and Tori is such a baby that she leaves. I've never seen them push Peaches around. I guess I'd just watch to make sure they get along okay if you want to put them together. Keep play time supervised, at least until you know how they interact.

raptorace · 11-15-2005, 07:39 AM

I've also read here several times that it's the Budgie(s) that can hurt/kill the tiel, moreso than the reverse, regardless of size.

WolfRyder · 11-15-2005, 08:57 AM

I have witnessed, in my own home, how the budgies terrorize the tiels. Tiels are very laid back and really not agressive at all.

The budgies will pull wings, ride on tailfeathers and generally harrass the tiels if given a chance. Usually these behaviors are done by hormonal budgies, but I've seen it at other times as well.

Tessymae · 11-15-2005, 01:49 PM

The cage wasn't even open... Energizer just flapped over and ran on through the bars. Now energizer pretty much isn't allowed in a 1-foot radius of Rusty's cage.

Maybe they will get along someday, Energizer's probably the most laid back and sweetest little budgie ever.