2nd Bird or Not to 2nd Bird?

I have only had single birds. I really enjoy the companionship of having a single bird but I have a full time job. My wife also works full time and our early twenties children are full time students and come and go unpredictably.

My Hahns is 1 yr and 7 months old. He really loves me and also is affectionate with my wife as well but I know he gets lonely. Sometimes I take him to a local bird store and allow him to see the other birds (thru the glass only) and he gets really excited.

I just don't know if a 2nd bird would be a blessing or a curse. I know theres no guarantee they will get along. And I know my relationship with Hahnzel will change. But I want to do what is best for him.

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. Even down to what sort of bird might work best.

First, I would sit down & make a list of the pros & cons of bringing a new bird home & be honest with yourself.

The right bird might not affect your relationship with the Hahns, if are not looking at a companion/mate for it. Get your lists together & maybe we can offer better suggestions...any ideas what species?

Nothing too much bigger but definately nothing smaller, I would hate for a death to occur.

Offhand another Hahns, perhaps a Senegal or Myers. But definately not a conure since the noise my Jenday made put everyone but myself off him. He had a Severe as a bunkmate while he was being weaned before I got him, but thats too big a beak for my liking and I wouldnt like the potential moodiness of an Amazon.

I just don't know if a 2nd bird would be a blessing or a curse. I know theres no guarantee they will get along. And I know my relationship with Hahnzel will change.

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That's pretty much the crux of the situation, there is really no way for you to know what will happen. Our first bird in this family was a Hahn's, we had her about 1 1/2 years before we added the other birds. There was almost an immediate change in her behavior (I wasn't surprised at all). Lani was always the wife's bird til this change, she definitely prefers me now although the wife can still handle her.

I will say this though....NEVER leave 2 birds out when away at work (or even the store). We quit letting Lani loose in the bird area very early on, she'll land on the other's cages without even a thought cause she ain't afraid of any of them!!! Scares me that she'd lose a toe like that.

It's interesting. When we had just our sennie, I was convinced she was the happiest bird in the world. Now that I have 2 greys in the same room as her, I think that it is better to have more than one if you're in a good situation. She doesn't interact with them at all, but she seems to get a special joy calling with them. It's like she now feels a part of the flock and joyous for it, though I'd love to get her a companion of her own. Our relationship with her hasn't changed since I don't EVER leave them together if I'm more than 1 foot away due to the size difference, but I think maybe she feels safer, more natural.

I never leave him out unless I am either with him or he is in direct line of sight. When I go out with the dogs before I leave for work I keep an eye on him thru the glass door. So leaving two birds out wouldnt happen.

Instead of trying to think what specie you want, go visit multiple types and find one that chooses you! You may like certain birds but they may not like you back. Unless your confident in training a potential problematic bird to just get it from the get go. I personally have no issue with my smaller birds as I've trained so many of them in the past that I don't have a issue training them. Even the big birds. Most of our birds chose either my partner or I from the beginning except JoJo that needed a lot of training, which he's been trained by me after only a week. But total trust came a little later. All of them had issues with their prior owner, they were either unable to hold them or other issues. I was able to hold all but JoJo from the day when we went to visit. Basically, just let the birds choose you, the ones that were meant to be with you will choose you.

The biggest issue I have s size. I simply dont trust the bigger beaks. I have been looking at the poicephalus group, the Myers and Red Belly have caught my eye.

I would also like them to be able to be together, and perhaps even share the same cage. I dont know if that is a realistic expectation. If not perhaps just keeping the same species would be best?

It's never wise to keep birds in the same cage unless they get along, BUT since you both do work all day, your not there to see when they do bicker and consequences can follow. Separate cages would be a wiser decision. Plus not all birds will get along, but of course there's always a chance they would love each other as well, but you just never know. Get the bird you feel the most comfortable with, don't think about the part for them to get along cause all that depends on themselves.

Sharing the same cage isn't safe. A aviary would be ok because of the larger size and only if the birds were well socialized bird to bird growing up. I know of so many birds who got along for years and years when suddenly one lashes out, causing perminent injury or death. Most of these cases are the amazons, eclectus, and cockatoos. Birds simply need their own space, especially when they become mature adults.

I agree never put two birds together unless they have had time to get used to each other in separate cages for a longish time period. Then you need to give them the biggest cage you can so they still have their own space.
We were fortunate in that we had an indian ringneck female and an alexandrine male which spent quite a reasonable time in cages touching and when they were out it was obvious in time that the alexandrine was besotted with the ringneck. So we got a lovely big strong cage lots of feeders and wooden perches. They had odd squabbles but spend all day so close that you cannot see a space between them. He is in love.
To be honest big beaks tend to be more gentle the alexandrine is really gentle and you can trust him to feed from your mouth much safer than the little greencheeks .
But to be fair to the bird you have so they do not feel too intimated I suggest that you try to stick to a similar size

I wouldn't share cages unless it were same species. But then you have to deal with possible hormone issues.

My older quaker was DNA female, but showed no hormonal behavior at all, even when Lucky (unknown gender) came to live with us. I housed them in separate cages next to each other for a while, and when it seemed like they got along, bought a nice big double-wide for them to share. They each had an upper side of the cage as their own turf and had separate food & water set ups.

But they got along fine, even when Lucky tried to flirt and cuddle with Mark once in a while.

After Mark died Lucky seemed to miss avian company, so we adopted a homeless quaker (unknown gender). They seemed to want to hang out together, so after some get acquainted time we let them. The new bird is massively hormonal, and sometimes Lucky likes that, sometimes not. But Lucky has his happy hut and sleeps in it or hangs out for private time, and Aubrey has another area for sleeping/playing.

The hormones are settling down and overall they both seem to be happier than living apart. There are no fights beyond a few jabs to remind each other about personal space.

It's been a couple of weeks, and I constantly monitor them for signs that I should separate them, but so far so good. But I always assume I may need to at some point and keep another cage & space ready to deploy.

Here's a pic of their cage. It was kind of stripped down to wash the happy hut & other furniture, but you can see the upper area with a bird for each side.

Thanks everyone for your input. It has given me much to think and pray over. For now Hahnzel will stay a single. I love my time with him as it is and the risk of that changeing is enough to hold any plans. Once I get further into my RN program however it might benefit the little guy more for a friend to be with him. Everything in its time.