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Post by Ally Moore on May 11, 2012 18:03:05 GMT 10
Hello,
I have a female turq (I'm fairly sure she is female. Yellow, red chest, red on wings, but doesn't look dark/colourful enough to be male). I handraised her from a chick. But she is getting lonely while I'm at work. So my question is, would she get along with a female budgie? I have a friend who can't keep her budgie anymore, and have had no luck getting another turq here in Tassie. No one will split pairs, and the prices are terribly high.
Jack (my turq) is not a timid bird, and can be a bit aggressive, whereas Polly the budgie is a little shy. Do you think they would do ok together?
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Post by avinet on May 11, 2012 21:43:55 GMT 10
If your Truk has red on the wings then it is very likely to be a male - the hens very, very rarely have red on the wings. See the pair illustrated at webparrots.com/turquoise_parrot_and_crimson_rosella.html - the female on the right. A Turk may get on OK with a budgie - generally Turks are not aggressive to other birds, except possibly when breeding. Sometimes a budgie can be a problem - some are quite nasty at times - but if you start out in separate cages side by side so they get used to each other before being placed together it should be OK cheers, Mike |
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Post by Ally Moore on May 12, 2012 8:38:08 GMT 10
She isn't as dark in colour as either of those birds. She has no green on her at all. I'll take some pictures of her and put them up this afternoon. I got told she was a boy when I got her, because she had red on her wings. So I named him/her Captain Jack Sparrow. But then I went into a petshop and saw some mating pairs, and Jack looks like the female, but with red on the wings.
I don't think the budgie will be a problem. She was handraised and is very timid. So she shouldn't fight with Jack. But Jack I handraised myself, and she can get very funny about other people/animals being around me. She bites my husband if he puts his hand in the cage.
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Post by avinet on May 12, 2012 11:43:29 GMT 10
She isn't as dark in colour as either of those birds. She has no green on her at all. I'll take some pictures of her and put them up this afternoon. I got told she was a boy when I got her, because she had red on her wings. So I named him/her Captain Jack Sparrow. But then I went into a petshop and saw some mating pairs, and Jack looks like the female, but with red on the wings. I'm a bit puzzled here - you say you hand raised Jack from a chick but when you purchased Jack there was already red on the wings. Turquoisine Parrots are born with the male looking just like a female, except maybe a bit more intense colour to the blue. The first red feather on the wings usually appears when the bird is 3 or 4 months old, well after it is weaned, and is taken as a sure sign that the bird is a male. If Jack has the red wing patch then Jack is correctly named as a male. The intensity of colour elsewhere doesn't matter - if there is a red patch he is a male. Photos will be good to see. One final question - how old is Jack? cheers, Mike |
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Post by Ally Moore on May 12, 2012 14:20:48 GMT 10
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Post by avinet on May 12, 2012 21:29:39 GMT 10
Thanks for the photos - they make it clear just what Jack is. Jack is a colour mutation Turquoisine, a red-bellied yellow Turk. A similar bird can be seen at www.localbusinesstownsville.com.au/breeders/turk.html with the male and female on the left of the page, and a yellow male feeding a normal green female at the bottom of the page Jack is also definitely a male, the red wing patch makes that certain. While it isn't as pronounced as in some yellow Turks, females don't have any red at all. The red belly is variable - some don't have any red on their bellies but some have been selectively bred to be red all the way up to the throat. We used to have a Turk as a pet bird in the 1990's, a delightful bird, that loved Chopin piano music! My wife plays classical piano and if she was practising Chopin he would fly to the piano and sit on top of the sheet music whistling happily away and enjoying the music, but if she changed to something a bit more modern he would screech in disgust and fly off - he particularly hated Debussy piano pieces. Turk (another one of our original names!) used to share a cage with budgies at one time and then cockatiels with no problems, but since he is 3 years old I strongly suggest keeping the budgie in a separate cage, hopefully the one it currently uses, until you are sure they get on OK. Place the cages side by side though, so they can get used to each other through the bars and on neutral territory when out of the cages. cheers, Mike |
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Gerard
Bronze Member
Hototo
Posts: 165
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Post by Gerard on May 13, 2012 6:36:06 GMT 10
Jack looks absolutely adorable Ally, so I'm glad he gives you so much joy. I love our native grass parrots. They're colourful, happy birds that quite often like to run around on the floor rather than fly.
I've never owned a budgie, but from what I've read, they can be notoriously bossy with other small birds. Should you attempt to house them together at some stage I would recommend that you place food and water bowls at both ends of the cage. Please be aware that birds can be very territorial when it comes to cages. Anything inside the bars they consider as their space and they don't like to share. This also applies to people and other animals.
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Post by Laraine on May 13, 2012 20:17:25 GMT 10
I've kept turks and budgies together for year and haven't had any problems. He is cute.
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Post by anzac on May 14, 2012 10:53:13 GMT 10
I think the important issue is whether they will be indoor birds or out in an aviary as in the aviary they might be able to sort out the space issue themselves. I sympathise with you Ally about being able to get a mate for Jack. When I breed my turks everyone seems to want the females.
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Post by Ally Moore on May 22, 2012 8:34:06 GMT 10
They are indoor birds  Jack lives in a big flight cage, but its not as big as an aviary. At the moment, Polly the budgie sits in her cage next to Jacks. They chat to each other constantly. I've put them in together for short periods of time, and they just ignor each other. I'll keep giving them playdates until I'm sure its safe to leave them in together permamently. Also, Polly isn't tame. Is it hard to tame a young budgie? She is terrified of hands. I think the people who had her, their kid must have tried grabbing her or something. Poor birdie. |
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Post by anzac on May 22, 2012 13:30:23 GMT 10
If they ignore each other, does it matter if they are together or not? Sounds like they don't really care. Ideally parrots are better suited to being with a mate of their own species but good luck with the intros if you do go ahead |
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Post by avinet on May 22, 2012 21:54:31 GMT 10
Also, Polly isn't tame. Is it hard to tame a young budgie? She is terrified of hands. I think the people who had her, their kid must have tried grabbing her or something. Poor birdie. How old is Polly? I found it easy to tame a baby budgie - up to 3 or 4 months old. When we had our pet shop I could get a baby budgie to be finger tame in less than 5 minutes. Beyond 4 months it becomes harder, and some will never really get finger tame. cheers, Mike |
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