My old parakeet is afraid of my new one

[Akuma223]

Back in March we got my male parakeet Klobi a friend. The new parakeet is still skittish around people but immediately took to Klobi. The problem is Klobi avoids her like the plague, he almost seems afraid of her despite her never showing aggression towards him. They still live in separate cages until the new bird gets better with people so i know there haven't been aggression (they're always supervised when they're together).

What should I do about this? I want him to bond with the new bird so he doesn't get lonely when I'm gone. He is closely bonded with me and screams when I even walk out of the room.

 

[LordTriggs]

in short there's no way to guarantee they will be friends. Would you instantly become friends with someone if put in the same room?

Hopefully with their cages next to each other they can slowly warm to each other but ultimately right now your new bird is, well, new and change to a bird is a sign of danger.

really you should have gone through quarantine protocols when bringing the new budgie in (separate room for 30 days) as there is risk of them hiding illness which could be passed on to Klobi but that's past now so keep an eye on both. If either show signs of sickness then take them both to the vet.

 

[EllenD]

Never buy a second bird for your first bird, that's a really good rule, as it usually never works out. You cannot force birds to like each other, just like you can't force people to like each other. So it's quite obvious that your first bird is bonded to you and is happy that way, and either way he is not going to bond to the newer bird. So I wouldn't keep trying to push it, you can try keeping their cages side-by-side and see if it eventually changes, but it probably won't.

By the way, if you have a bird you are bonded to closely, and you have to leave him during the day for work or school, as most people do, that's okay, he doesn't need "a friend", he won't get "lonely" as long he has ample toys of different varieties to keep him occupied. Some people also leave the TV on for their birds. Either way, he doesn't need a second bird.

Something else to think about is that if your bird had bonded with the new bird, he more than likely would have totally stopped being bonded to you! Once they bond with another bird they typically stop being friendly with their "person", or at the very least they aren't as closely bonded, as they'd much rather be with another bird that they are bonded with. So if you want to keep such a close bond with your first bird, then don't buy him a second bird. Not ever. You got lucky, as he doesn't like the new bird. So now you have 2 birds that may or may not ever get along, probably won't based on how the first bird has acted so-far, so you need to simply make sure that both birds get ample attention and out-of-cage-time each and every day, and have a variety of toys in each of their cages.