SHOULD A BUDGIE LIVE ALONE?

As intensely social birds, budgies need constant companionship, preferably from a bird of their own species. The kindest way to keep them is in an aviary with their own flock. If not, then they should be kept in a same-sex pair in a very large cage. Only people who are at home during the day should even think of keeping a single bird - and they should be prepared to most of the time interacting with the bird, letting it out of the cage for three hours a day to fly around. You must be prepared to be your budgie's friend and flock all in one and it is a big commitment. Do not condemn your budgie to a lifetime of lonely boredom stuck in a tiny cage. Just because budgies are small doesn't give us the right to mistreat them.

Copyright WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition 2007