One of my birds died. What can I do for the one left alone?

[clayuk]

I woke up this morning to find one of my birds on dead on the bottom of the cage. I have had Mork & Mindy for around seven months and me and my wife are very upset. They both looked happy and active yesterday and seemed to be no problems. I don't understand why and I will not be able to find out. I'm worried about Mindy what should I do ? I dont want her to be lonely. Should I introduce another bird? or should I monitor him/her for a few weeks?

:very_sad:

Ian

[Pips mom]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your bird. I too, just lost my female cockatiel and she had been with her mate for five years! Because your two haven't been together as long, I'd try to just watch the remaining bird.........especially since whatever may have killed the one could possibly be something that may affect the other one........with my two, I had them for years and had my female who died to the vet for blood work and know that whatever killed her was something that won't affect my other birds. I'd wait a little while before bringing in a new bird, just to be safe. I hurried to get my male cockatiel another mate because he just seemed so upset and missing her......plus I know that my birds are all healthy and won't expose a new bird to anything.

[mangokiwi]

I am so sorry :( My husband and I went through the same thing last winter. We had our pair for about a year when Mango (the girl) passed. Kiwi (our boy who survived) was so sad. I don't know how Mindy is doing, but Kiwi would alternate between flying around frantically searching for Mango and calling out to her and then sitting very still and very quiet for long periods of time. All we could do was be with him as much as possible. Losing Mango was heartbreaking enough, but watching Kiwi hurt was just as bad.

I would not get another lovebird right away, not just because of diseases, but because your bird need to mourn. We got another lovebird, Luna, about 2 months after Mango passed away. We also were very slow to introduce them. We had them meet from their cages at first and then would let one or the other out and they would crawl on the other's cage. Kiwi did take one good swipe at Luna after they first met, but she was behind bars so no one got hurt. It's been 10 months and while we let them out and they play together all day long and clearly really like each other, they are not bonded like Kiwi and Mango were. They still sleep in separate cages. I would not get a new bird and put him/her in the same cage as Mindy.

I hope Mindy is doing ok and that everyone heals quickly. It's so hard to lose a bird!