Advice from Multiple Bird Homes

[ShaunaR]

Hi All!
As some may or may not know, we have a Canary named Steve and a 1 year old Caique named Pixie. Since Steve doesn't come out of his cage Pixie tolerates him fairly well. Their cages are side by side and occasionally when out she will land on his cage and attempt to move his toys around but doesn't appear to be aggressive towards him. When he sings she sometimes screams. I have been thinking about whether we will some day get another bird and have some questions. Did your Caique adapt to another parrot? How long did it take? Is it recommended to keep with Caiques or is there another type of parrot they generally like more than another or is it basically a crap shoot?

Last and most important question: How do people spend enough time with each of their birds in multiple bird homes? Pixie is so demanding and time consuming it makes me wonder how people with numerous birds cope with time management.
|Thanks Ahead,
Shauna

 

[Kyoto]

I'm posting to follow this! I feel the same way about my conure, I want to get her a friend of a different species, but not sure how I would manage my attention as she wants ALL of it.

 

[itchyfeet]

My 'tiel isn't too demanding, but neither is my ringneck in all fairness.
When they're out, one might have free time on the play stand whilst the other is having a shoulder ride or some training time.
You might need a few interesting new toys or foraging ideas to keep them on the stand, and not have jealousy issues during the others 1 on 1 though?

 

[djdancer]

Okay I hope I can be of at least some help. I have 3 birds: Sun Conure (female), Green Cheek (female) and Sunday Conure (male). I recently adopted the Sunday from a rescue. I used to have a Jenday(male) and he passed away before we adopted the Sunday

The Green Cheek didn't like the Sun Conure at all and would attack the Sun but did like the Jenday before he passed. The Sun and Jenday were mates but it didn't matter to the Jenday who got alone with both the Sun and Green Cheek.

Now the Green Cheek still doesn't like the Sun and also doesn't like the Sunday and will attack both if they are on me and he flies to be with us. The Green Cheek will also attack me if he's on me and I walk near the Sundays cage but not the Suns cage. So weird but might be because the Sunday is fairly new to our home and the Green Cheek has not yet accepted him.

All three can be out sitting or playing on their cages without bothering with one another. It may be because I've reprimanded the Green Cheek by putting him back in his cage upon each episode of attacks when all three are out playing by themselves. The Green Cheek will also go into the Suns cage and get food, water and take a bath when out at free time (also without episode). The Sun is still afraid of the Green Cheek when he's in his cage but they don't bother with one another.

Bottom line is it depends on the temperaments of your birds. Our vet recommended that we do adopt the Sunday. Some days I do regret having all of these birds because I feel like I can't ever have a life because all of my attention goes to the birds or cleaning up after them. I feel like I do a lot of juggling and feel bad when each does not get the same amount of "me" time. Some days (being very honest) I feel like I need some time for me. It's like having young children all over again. I do love having them but have to be honest about things.

I'd love to know how much time others spend with their birds because my birds just want me all of the time.

I hope I didn't confuse you even more.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

My advice - get the species you want ,but realize they might just be friends with their cages side by side. I have a lot of birds that can be out doing their own thing [like on top of their cage ] and leave the other alone. Sometimes that doesnt work ,one will want to attack the other. You just let them out at separate times. Caiques can be very aggressive towards other species [but do ok with their own kind].My male and female Caique are best friends [they don't share a cage]. Same with my conures they love each other. Their is a process to introduce them to each other [but that's another thread]. So their most likely to be able to interact with their own kind.

 

[Kyoto]

No confusion. That was good encouragement to wait longer before I get another bird

I let Kyo out (GCC unknown gender) for 1 hour in the morning before work and feed her fresh food. She gets a treat and goes back in her cage while I'm at work.

I let her back out whenever I get home for an hour or two until dinner. She is then in until I'm done my dinner etc. And usually this is an hour before her bedtime.

After dinner she gets one more hour out and usually goes in on her own around 8 when she gets tired.

If I could give her more time I would. There are some days when I work my photography job and she only gets out in the morning and before bed, but I try to minimize those. So I'd say she gets 3 to 4 hours out on a normal day. I try to clean with her out but sometimes it's too hard lol. I have to keep her in her own room because of my husband's cats, so this also affects how often I can let her out.

Sometimes I want to relax, so I put her in her travel carrier (has a food and water dish and a few toys) and take her into the living room to watch tv with us safe from the cats. I have to watch them like a hawk though so I'm not a big fan of doing this.

I can only imagine how chaotic adding another bird might be for my life :3

 

[djdancer]

Kyoto thank you for telling me about the time out periods. Mine are out almost all day and that might be my problem. I feel overwhelmed at times. I am not by any means trying to tell you to get or not get another but you're right, something to think about. Is your GCC nippy at all? Mine is a female and is mean at times to us. She'll be all nice and loving one minute then the next she'll turn into a pit bull. Just out of curiosity what color are your GC's feet? I read something a while ago about the females having pink feet and males having grey feet. Also your vet might be able to help you out by telling you the gender by feeling the sternum. If not the test is only $20. Our GC has pink feet and vet told us it was a female. The test proved right. I know of someone who also has a GC with pink feet and sure enough she's a female too.

 

[Kyoto]

Hi again,
I have the test and just haven't had the nerve to pluck her feathers!! haha it's just not that important to me. I may bring it with me to her next vet visit as she needs her nails trimmed and I'm sure my vet can grab a little blood from her nail. His feet are grey, but pink underneath.

Yellow sided conures have pink feet regardless of gender, and I think normal GCC like Kyo are always grey footed.. At least I believe so.

And as for the pit-bull ness, yes absolutely But I have been working with her to pressure train and give lots of praise for good behaviour. She has improved by 100% since the nipping started and hasn't drawn blood in over a month. She used to draw blood almost daily. She may never be a shoulder bird, but I'm okay with it. She is my little companion. I would seriously love to have her out with me all the time, but because of the cats I just can't she isn't afraid of them and would totally run right to them.

 

[djdancer]

I have a regular GCC and her feet are pink. I've seen them with grey feet to but hers are definitely pink. I don't think I've ever seen a yellow sided GC but am going to look when done with this post.
What are you doing to train your conure? Really curious on what kind of training techniques you're doing. My GC wants nothing to do with training even with giving the favorite treats (tried about everything) and even if I withhold feedings she doesn't want anything to do with it. My other two are champs with training.

 

[RavensGryf]

I honestly don't know how I'd handle multiple birds if I had a bird who was demanding of tons of attention lol!

All of mine (except one of the budgies) are either cuddly or at least touchable, but none of them are demanding or needy of my attention. It does help that Raven and Griffin are bonded best friends. Although it's very unusual for Pois to like other birds, I'm fortunate that Griffin fell in love with Raven right away. They babysit each other.

Raven likes to come and say hi to me, and only occasionally likes to be on me. He will cuddle or hang out with Don though (his favorite person), but he is never demanding of human attention. He's content to play alone or be with Griffin, and "if" we never ever handled him again, I bet he'd be okay with it too!

Griffin seems to be bonded to me and Raven about equally. He will ask for attention, but never demand it. He's just as happy with me, or with Raven, or alone with his toys.

Robin hates other birds. He is extremely cuddly with me, and I can touch and cuddle and kiss him everywhere. He's been bonded to me for over 20 years, yet he is also extremely independent, and can maintain that for as long as he needs to. In fact, one of the most independent birds I've seen. He's the most 'go with the flow' parrot I've ever heard of.

Mink the baby English Budgie was hand fed, so she's tame, but still tentative. I'm making a point of making time to handle her daily to get her more comfortable with hands.

I don't know Caiques first hand, but you always see Caiques together. They are said to prefer company of their own kind and not tolerate other species.

 

[Dopey]

It's a question everyone asks and until you get multiple birds you can't understand that it - just works. You want to make it work so you do whatever it takes to work for everyone. Some days my birds all get out and some days they just get beak scratches or love talks.

I cover my birds and while I am covering them it's a time that I can talk to them and have some fun with them while in their cage or going back into their cage. Then again in the morning while I'm folding up the cage covers I talk with them and say their names and call them good birds or pretty birds. Same thing when I'm putting in and taking out their food and water dishes.

 

[witchbaby]

Personally, I keep all my birds outside of their cages for most of the day and don't clip their wings. This way they're free to interact with me when they choose to and then fly off and entertain themselves or spend time with another member of the flock when they've had enough. Just making myself available to them in a safe environment has worked out great. Everyone gets attention when they need it.

I haven't had much of an issue with size differences and multiple species. They've worked out the dynamics and mostly avoid any birds they don't get along with. I keep a close eye on them regardless.

 

[RavensGryf]

Personally, I keep all my birds outside of their cages for most of the day and don't clip their wings. This way they're free to interact with me when they choose to and then fly off and entertain themselves or spend time with another member of the flock when they've had enough. Just making myself available to them in a safe environment has worked out great. Everyone gets attention when they need it.

I haven't had much of an issue with size differences and multiple species. They've worked out the dynamics and mostly avoid any birds they don't get along with. I keep a close eye on them regardless.

Good to see you again . That's great that you have that dynamic where everyone seems to get along well. It sure does help to make things easier. That's what we all hope for, but a lot of us have birds who are like roommates that don't all get along lol.

 

[witchbaby]

Good to see you again . That's great that you have that dynamic where everyone seems to get along well. It sure does help to make things easier. That's what we all hope for, but a lot of us have birds who are like roommates that don't all get along lol.

Good to see you again as well! I know it's been way too long since I last posted.