canary or 2 budgies

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Tish
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canary or 2 budgies

Post by Tish » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:22 pm

I can get 2 more birds should I get a canary or 2 budgies? Which one is less noisy? Can I have 2 female canaries together?
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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Sheather » Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:27 pm

I'm very partial to both canaries and budgies. Budgies can become tame pets. Canaries rarely do.

Canaries are quieter, though the male's song is loud, to me it's a very pretty noise, and I love it. When budgies get loud, it's kinda ike "ack ack ack ack ack ack ack ack ack ack ack ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK", and not pleasant at all. Canary's chirps are super quiet generally, just little peeps.

Two hen canaries won't harm each other but during breeding season, they'll argue. If one is more dominant, it can stress the other out.
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Barbara
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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Barbara » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:00 pm

Tish I have two male english budgies they are the sweetest not as chattery as the smaller ones they love one another sleep together and groom one another,I also have just one male canary that I keep in with my finches and he is lovely to listen too.He is in with gouldians and wax bills so not by himself and is very happy in his flight cage.I would have a hard time deciding because I would want them both.Best of luck with your decision keep us posted
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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by FinchLady » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:33 pm

I have been considering same question: canary or 2 Budgies. I last had Societies: lovely soft chirps but very messy guys (partly because '3' birds quickly multiplied to eight birds) Also looking for birds that would tolerate occasional car trips/weekends visiting family. Budgies are noisy but fairly good car riders. Do canaries travel well in car? Messier than Societies or Budgies?

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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Dave » Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:03 pm

I'm not sure about Budgies, but this is my Traveling Canary story. We moved, 800 miles, and I had 8 Canaries that I didn't want to part with. I put a 4' long cage in the back seat, with the Canaries in it, and they cheeped and peeped all the way. I drove straight through, because I didn't want to haul the cage into a motel. I'm not sure the Canaries knew they were traveling.
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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by FinchLady » Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:30 pm

Traveling Canaries story very encouraging since we take long car trips to visit family. My Society finches were nervous and stressed in the car. I had to leave them home with neighbor changing water twice a day or board at local animal clinic (expensive option).
Thanks for the post.

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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Barbara » Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:37 pm

FinchLady I personally think canaries are messier then society.Mine are in very big flight cages and the canary is always throwing the seed everywhere,have managed to find feeders that slow him down quite a bit.He also makes more of a mess taking his bath then my family of six society in the bath at the same time.Now my budgies,never take a bath but loved to be misted every day with water,never poop in there food and never fling anything,although I haven't been able to get them to eat much fresh food.But they are neat little guys but they are the English Budgies much quiter and calmer then the little American budgies you find in the pet stores.I hope you have fun making your decision.
One canary
Two english budgies
Two Bourkes
Pair of red cheeked bleu
Pair of goldbreast
Pair of orange cheeked
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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by FinchLady » Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:58 pm

Thanks Barbara. So, English Budgies are quieter and cleaner than American Budgies. Do they still have the same sweet, playful personalities? Equally hardy birds? Definitely worth a look.

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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Sheather » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:22 pm

I have had 15 or so American, 3 English budgies.

English are playful, fun little guys. They don't make nearly as much noise - or mine didn't anyway - they're also calmer and easier to tame.

But their lifespans are shorter, and they aren't quite as active.

They get along fine with other budgies.
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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Barbara » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:59 pm

FinchLady there personalities I think are a a lot quieter,they are very playful and smart,as far as health goes I have had mine for over a year and no problems and hope to have many many many more years of enjoyment with them.If you look under my post new home under hookbills you can see a picture of them.you can also go to utube and compare them.The English budgies are twice the size of the American.
One canary
Two english budgies
Two Bourkes
Pair of red cheeked bleu
Pair of goldbreast
Pair of orange cheeked
Family of six ,Family of seven+three Society

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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by w.l. » Wed Apr 05, 2017 5:12 am

Tish

I vote for the budgies.
They might well be noisier than canaries, but have much more personality and a more interesting social behaviour.

I'd find 2 female canaries boring. You'd even miss out on the song, the main reason to keep canaries.

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Re: canary or 2 budgies

Post by Sojourner » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:05 pm

Budgies are super messy. They shed tiny feathers and dander constantly. And they are VERY noisy.

They are also short-lived if you feed dry seed only, and it is very difficult to get them onto fresh foods if they weren't taught to eat veggies while still young.

English budgies are over-bred (hence the shorter lives) and ugly too boot, IMO. Being bred for large size has restricted the gene pool.

However you can lengthen the lives of your budgies - and they will, it turns out, be quieter and better behaved and more active - if you can get them onto a mostly veggie diet. It took me almost a year but I did finally get my guys onto veggies, just when I was about to give in to despair. Actually just when I was about to give in to despair AGAIN. The change in their behavior was immediate. They hardly ever scream any more, its more a constant background of twitter-chirping instead of a constant litany of ACK ACK ACK ACK.

The thing about budgies is they need a big cage even if you're going to have just the pair. Fortunately the Prevue F040 can be had on Amazon for $100 on sale most of the time. Last I checked it was on sale. I am putting 2 of these together for my budgies, and another 2 for my finches, to get them a 5' long flight space. There is also the F050 that gives a 36" flight path from one cage.

Anyway they need both the flight space and the climbing space. My guys love scampering up and down their ladders and flying as well. They have this helicopter game where they will each fly to the center of the cage and hover there, then perch and do it again. They need flight space to do that.

My mother bred finches and canaries years ago and I remember having to keep the canaries separately when not actually breeding. Hence every time I have an idle thought about keeping canaries I change my mind after recalling what a pain they were too keep. They seem to do well in large aviaries in groups but generally not in cages. In cages they seem to do best as singletons, unlike every other bird I've ever kept.
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