Well, we have a little problem with our budgie. She used to be one of a clutch of five, but all her siblings have died (she's 11 now) and we're worried she's lonely. She still sings a little, but she's lost interest in most activities and seems to sleep a lot. Most of the time there's no-one at home during the day but her.
We dont know whether to get her a little friend or not, because not only are we going to england in a few weeks (we wont to be there to supervise- she'll be staying with my sister for five weeks), but we dont want to get a young bird as she's retired, and i dont think she'll appreciate the activity. but if we get an old bird, we'll just be left with the same situation: one will die and we'll be left with just one again. Also we've introduced 2 other birds into the group before (both have passed away a while ago) at seperate times, and pete didn't seem to take any interest in either of them. I dont know it this was because she allready had a flock or not.
So i'm just wondering, has anyone else been in this situation? Does anyone have any advice on whether to get another bird or two? Or does anyone know what toys or general activities we could give her to keep her entertained? She seems to be afraid of conventional toys, she's lost interest in all plants except lettuce and celery (eg apple, native plants from the back yard, etc) and the only things she's interested in are seed (but she's on a diet-ordered by the vet) and 'cottoning', which involves basically her chewing cotton, which she seems to love.