# Heartbroken about rehoming my budgie



## mlore

I’ve never written in a forum before, but I am just feeling so sad to say goodbye to my budgie tomorrow and I’m looking for some tips and advice.

My husband and I live on campus at our university and I got a pair of sweet budgies to be my registered emotional support animal(s), but we just found out this week that our apartment will only let us keep one of them. My husband and I are so angry because we tried to explain that they are much happier and healthier in pairs but they don’t care and said I have until tomorrow to get one or both of them out or theyll start charging $50 a day. We’re newlyweds and students so we can’t afford that at all. 

We immediately looked into moving somewhere pet friendly but we’re much too poor to put down a deposit anywhere in our city. We literally have no choice but to choose one of our precious birds to rehome and I’m just devestated. Honestly, I could legally have a Great Dane in my tiny apartment, but not two harmless, sweet budgies.

I think my white budgie (male, I think, named Alfie) would benefit the most from having other birds around, and the pair I have are so new that they haven’t completely gotten used to each other, but do you think they will be okay? Stella is my yellow budgie and she seems like a happy, healthy bird, but I’m terrified that she’ll be depressed or lonely by herself. Does anyone have any tips on keeping single birds happy, especially when you’re still working on taming them? 

Thanks for listening. I’m new to budgies and I can’t sleep I’m so worried and sad about tomorrow.


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## FaeryBee

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

I'm sorry to hear that you will have to rehome one of your budgies. 
Have you found a new owner to give it a safe and loving home or will you be taking the budgie to an animal shelter or bird rescue for rehoming?

You need to remove the wicker nest from the cage immediately. 
Budgies do not need nests -- they sit and sleep on perches.
If you have a female, having a nest in the cage is going to encourage her to lay (even if there is no male present).
This is NOT a good thing.
Rearranging the cage frequently, and limiting the light the budgie gets to 8 hours a day will help tremendously. 
Please be sure you never put a nest box or anything that could be used as a nesting site in the cage.

When the budgie comes into condition, limit the amount of protein in the diet at that time. 

Many budgies are quite happy as solo birds.
For the budgie to be happy, you and your husband will need to give the budgie regular and consistent attention on a daily basis. Play music or the TV for the bird when you aren't around so that the budgie doesn't feel so alone.

Recognize that when you first separate the birds, there is going to be a period of adjustment for both of them. You are going to need to be calm and relaxed around the budgie. 
If you are overly stressed and upset then the budgie is going to pick up on your emotions and it will take it longer to adjust.

Since you are new to budgies, you need to learn everything you can about the best practices in caring for them for their optimal health and well-being.

Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, all of the How To Guides, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and the stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.

Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.

These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgie.

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## StarlingWings

Hi there and :welcome: to the forums! 

You've come to the best place to learn even more about budgies! I'm sorry for the difficult decision you have to make :upset: As mentioned, single budgies can be very happy alone given that they have enough interaction and a good relationship with their human owners as well as the disposition to become good "people birds". When making the decision for which one to rehome, you should keep the budgie that to you seems more outgoing and adventurous as s/he will find the adjustment to a single life easier  

FaeryBee has provided some excellent resources above, so be sure to read through them. They include the forum's many stickies and articles to ensure that you're up to date on the very best of budgie care practices. 

If you have any questions after reading through everything, please be sure to ask as we'd love to help! 

Keep us posted on how things go :hug:

Cheers! :wave:


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## HarryBird

> I got a pair of sweet budgies to be my registered emotional support animal(s)


I'm old and still a bit vague on what 'registered emotional support animals' are all about... could you clarify if your budgie(s) would be supporting you at home or would you be expecting to take the bird(s) everywhere you go?

Most emotional support animals are dogs for good reason (a long history of being bred to be working partners with humans)... if you wanted an animal companion to give you everything you need and ask little in return, I can't think of many worse choices than any sort of parrot. What on earth made you choose budgies, if you're new to them? They can be rather needy creatures themselves.

A lone budgie might be fine or it might be lonely. Budgies kept with a budgie companion might be happier, or might be killed by their companion... depends on the individual birds and their situation. It's kind of hard for anyone to tell you if your bird(s) will be okay. Good luck.


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## StarlingWings

Rebecca, 

Registering your animal as an emotional support animal only means that having it will help your well-being and mental health. A lot of people register their animals like that as it's often the only way to keep them on college campuses :thumbsup:


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## philw

As far as apartments are concerned it seems ridiculous that 2 "tiny" budgies are not the same housing risk as 1 medium sized dog. Just curious but sad, and lack of understanding
of some "landlords".


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## SmolBirb

I'm sure you've considered this but I just thought I'd mention, you could rehome both of your budgies and try to start over if it's too hard for you to make the decision to split them up.

Although that may cause a few more problems for you having to register the new one etc. I just understand how difficult it would be trying to choose one over the other.


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## RavensGryf

I’m very sorry that you were forced to make a sad decision like this after getting your budgies. 

I was wondering about an update. Any news?


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## MuffinMama

I'm sorry too OP that you have to rehome your budgies. I have a bunch that were rehomed to me and I struck up a friendship with the previous owner. I hope things worked out well - thinking of you!


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