Well bless your heart for taking this little fella in. I never cease to be amazed at how cruel folks can be, especially to little birds like this that have the potential of being such sweet souls. It's also great that you not only have an avian vet to turn to, but that you went ahead and got him a check up. The reason I advised you not to get into a hurry to get the additional bird is quarantine. Any time we bring a new bird into a home with a resident bird, it is crucial that we maintain a minimum of a 30 day quarantine. The new bird must be kept as far away from the resident bird as possible. There must be no mixing of bowls, toys, anything they contact and we must thoroughly wash our hands with antibacterial soap in between handling them. This is always necessary but especially so if a bird comes from a pet store. There are many "mom and pop" types of stores that do a good job with their birds. Many do not. Especially the chain stores like PetCo, PetLand, PetSmart, etc, are notorious for having sick birds. They give their so called health guarantees of 7,10 or maybe even 14 days, knowing full well they are basically useless and they will never have to make good on them. The reason for that is; one of a bird's strongest instincts is to mask all symptoms of illness or injury. By the time we see any symptoms, the bird is too weak or too ill to keep up the pretense. It can be too late to save them by then. If you want to get another and if you want it to be able to eventually share a cage, it will have to be a parakeet. They should never be expected to share a cage with a different breed. Also, please do not buy at one of these stores. Seek out a reputable breeder who is near enough that you can go see their set up for yourself and be sure you are comfortable with every thing you see and everything they tell you. A good breeder will have a much higher quality of bird, genetically and in all other respects. The best part is, breeders almost always will be only asking about one half the price of a pet store. If you get another budgie, after quarantine is over, you can place the cages in the same room and allow them time to get acquainted, from a distance. The next step will be allowing them closely supervised time out of their cages at the same time. If you have or can get, a separate play gym so they can meet on neutral territory, that is best. Each may very well be protective of their own cages so a neutral meeting place is best. You will be able to tell by watching their interactions, when and if, they are ever ready and willing to share a cage. An estimate of how long it may take would be impossible for me to make. It's going to depend on too many things, especially the personalities of the birds. If, since you are going to need a second cage anyway, you decide to go with something different than a budgie, most of the same suggestions will apply except you must never expect them to share one cage. Since you are fairly new to this, I'm going to share some links to some basic budgie information about diet, possible illnesses, things you have to be especially careful of with budgies such as diet, nutrition,etc., just in case it's info. you are not already aware of. For example, one of the worst, most unhealthy things you could do would be to feed a seed only diet. Very unhealthy and can shorten their life span drastically. If it is new info. for you, I always suggest printing out the information and keeping it handy for future reference. I hope this will be helpful for you but if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. Patricia