Companion Bird - Good Or Bad Idea ?

[Violet_Diva]

So I've had Bella for more than a month. She was hand raised along with her brother, and once weaned, her and her brother went to stay with a caique and their sister from the previous years hatchlings as well as a few other birds.

She's now the only bird indoors and I feel a bit bad about it. Would she likely be happier with a feathered friend?

What are your experiences with getting second birds as companions for the first?

If I did get a second bird I would most likely keep them in a separate cage or get one of those cages with a divider.

Here's her with her old flock:

She's at the back behind her big sis!

 

[Flboy]

I am completely torn over this topic! Here is something to chew on:
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...-impacts-dna-repair-long-short-telomeres.html

 

[Violet_Diva]

Thanks for the thread link, much appreciated!

 

[GaleriaGila]

Truly, I'm torn, too. So many possible advantages either way.

 

[RavensGryf]

My only advice is to prepare for them not necessarily getting along, and to only get another bird if you really want one for yourself.

My Raven and Griffin are a 'couple', although they are two entirely different species and sizes. I had no idea it was going to happen, but it just did naturally. On the other hand, they need to be strictly kept away from Robin, who took both their toenails off when they landed on his cage.

 

[Teddscau]

I know with my budgies, if even one budgie is separated from the others, everyone gets upset (even enemies). I had to house Ziggy separately for a while from the other boys because he kept being abusive, and he was devastated, even though I put two of his girlfriends in with him AND let him out to play (this was before we built the aviary). I know, comparing the most social parrots on earth to ekkies .

Although that post about DNA repair has definitely done it for me. Once Ju's had his issues sorted out, I'm going to have Noah learn budgie body language so he can have heavily supervised play dates with them. I've tried letting them have play dates, and Noah wanted to be friends, but budgies peck a lot when communicating which Noah took as a challenge.

Oh, and to get back to your original question, I know with the budgies, as soon as you introduce lone budgies to others (after quarantine), it's something truly special. Can't say the same for other species, but it's definitely true for budgies.

I don't know, I kind of want to get Noah a friend that is housed separately...

 

[Anansi]

Julie's (RavensGryf) advice is spot on, here. You should definitely want the 2nd bird yourself, and you should be prepare for the possibility that they might not get along. Just like us, some birds get along and some just don't.

All that said, my experience with a multi bird household has been overwhelmingly positive. The thing to remember is the importance of establishing the rules of their out times. Most importantly, how fair distribution of your attention and affection to both will be managed.

Take Maya and Jolly, for instance. Jolly is my flier. It's as natural to him as breathing. So while training them, it's very easy for him to wind up getting more me time. Why? Because there's direct interaction while I'm working with him on his tree, and then indirect interaction while I'm working with Maya on hers and he decides to fly up to my shoulder. (Which doesn't happen the other way around because Maya - who was never allowed to fledge - isn't comfortable flying.) This is fine once in a while, but it cannot be the norm. Parrots are very perceptive, and the cumulative effect of that could potentially start to bother Maya. So I station-trained Jolly to make sure that he'd remain on his tree while I'm working with Maya.

Also, I adhere to a very strict turn-based system so that each knows the deal and they can anticipate their next turn. That understanding is important, and heads off potential jealousy issues.

Oh, and one other thing. If you do get another ekkie, I'd suggest that you get a male. I say this because, due to their instinctive nature, having 2 ekkie hens will tend to be far more... challenging... than having multiple males. This is because the eclectus social structure is very much matriarchal. Up to 6 or 7 males may lavish their attentions, without incident, upon a single female. But more than one female would set up an automatic rivalry situation, as in nature they'd be competing for the best nesting hollow. Not saying keeping more than one female can't be done. But it would certainly be more work.

And if you decide to get another male, you might want to use another breeder to ensure that you don't get one of her brothers. Even if there's no intent to breed them, you'd want to avoid the risk of any incestuous sexual attraction springing up between them. Just... so wrong! Lol!

 

[Violet_Diva]

Thank-you for all your advice and input.

I was hoping that a second bird would be fun for both me and Bella, but I guess I've just got to prepare myself for the fact that they might not get along, or that they might be fine until she reaches maturity and becomes stroppy!

I was definitely looking at getting a male this time as I know that in the wild one female will usually be 'acquainted' with numerous males. But I'm not even sure how successful I will be as I think I'd want another Vosmaeri ideally, but I know how hard it was to find Bella. I guess I'll just have to keep looking. Ideally I'd want the little guy to be no older than 18months, and obviously not closely related!

There's way more Red Sided and Solomon Island in England, the Vosmaeri are much harder to come by! I'm sure if I'm patient I'll find him if it's meant to be!

Thanks again everyone for all your advice!

 

[CDavis]

Having 2 parrots makes the house 10 times more fun

 

[BruceTheQuail]

I can appreciate that they might be a little militant, but our avian vet (who is quite eminent) and his wife the behaviorist maintain that if the bird does not have a mate, it will look for the next best thing. That might be another bird of a different species, or a human. In their view, this is not desirable, as the bird becomes "messed up" and can have issues later in life. When I have suggested that I get another bird for companionship, their response is to forget the word companionship, birds want mates. That isnt to say that all will breed, but that is always on the cards if you make the conditions right for it. Now this is all a bit of a dampener but I have followed their advice for a number of years, and the results have been good (save for a mistake with some masked lovies, I now have a pair of females who are a little confused). I feel for birds who sit in a cage waiting for the human to be available, it must be a dreadfully boring life for the little guys.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I've had a response to my advert seeking a male. I don't think he's a vosmaeri. His colour looks quite different in the photos I was sent. Would any of you hazard a guess at his subspecies? As the tail feathers are now growing back, I've been told there's some yellow showing. But I don't have a photo. He's 10 months old.

The person he is with at the moment rescued him 3 months ago from someone who kept him in a tiny cage and didn't feed any vegetables or fruit Apparently his feathers were very grubby and he had no tail from being in a such a small cage. He's currently molting and in much better condition after being given vegetables and fruit and vitamins and regular bathing. The person he is currently with said they would like to keep him but their Macaw doesn't agree!

Im going to speak on the phone tomorrow and see if we think he'd like to live with me. Though I will need to negotiate a price but I really don't know what's fair to offer

 

[itchyfeet]

I'm on the wrong side of the world to give advice on costs, but i have my fingers crossed for you!

 

[Anansi]

He'll be one lucky bird if you do get him! It sounds like he's had a really rough time of it to this point. I'm not sure what his sub-species is, but I don't think he is a vosmaeri. Coloring seems off. Without the tail feathers to go by for sub-species ID, we may have to wait until his adult eye coloring kicks in. Of course, I'm hoping he allows his tail feathers to grow back in waaaaaaay before then.

 

[chris-md]

Is there a green edge on his primary feathers? That's a huge difference to help distinguish the subspecies.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Our oldest cat needs dental surgery

So unfortunately this little guy is just a bit too pricey for me at the moment.

 

[jenphilly]

I'll respond as both Adoption Coordinator and parrot home...

We get this question all the time from adopters. Our answer is always the same (outside of the littles that are caged all the times - finches, non hand friendly budgies, etc), we always tell adopters that getting a bird for your bird rarely works out the way the person hopes. Only get another bird if you have the time, space, resources and desire to have separate cage areas, separate play / social areas, separate play / social time with you, space for 2 playstands and so on.

Birds are unpredictable... if a bird is very bonded to their chosen person, they can be jealous and resentful of having another bird in the home. They could openly hate each other and be aggressive to a point its dangerous to have them in the same area at the same time. On the other hand, the two birds can strongly bond (even same sex) and become a couple and want little to do with the people in the family. And then there are ones that fall in the middle, where they essentially ignore each other, but that means you need to provide social time and enrichment to two birds. The question is are you prepared and ready to accept any of those 3 possible outcomes?

As a bird home... we have interesting experience. We often have a foster in our home too, so can share from quite a bit of different situations. But a great example is my macaw, Max. I also have a bare eye cockatoo, they both are bonded to me and wonderful with me, they have absolutely no interaction with the exception if one does a panic flock call to warn me the UPS or mail person is about the break in and kill me, the other will scream too. Otherwise they do not verbally respond to each other, literally they have no level of connection. Reality, when Ivory (BE2) is sitting with me and Max sees her snuggling or getting all the attention, he will come over to climb up and chase her off. Ivory is flighted, so if she does not leave on her own, she gets 'tossed' to fly over to one of the many bird stands we have in our living area. While generally they ignore each other, they have never shown real aggression towards each other, even when Max goes to chase Ivory, its more like a dog bark, or a kid yelling to go away, never an actual attack (tho we don't test that and let them directly interact). But, in that breath, something to note, while Max tolerates me having a BE2, he was absolutely irate when we had another blue and gold in the home. And even when he goes over to visit at the shelter with me, I've tried introducing him to a couple other macaws I love and he is extremely possessive and super aggressive, not just the go away, but full out needing to separate them because he tried to attack. When Johan was here in the home, Max bite me a few times after I gave attention to Johan (not vicious to draw blood, just enough to get his point across that he was a very angry jealous little boy and his Momma should not be playing with another blue and gold). So, we've learned that while I can have a cockatoo or any of the other non macaw fosters we've worked with over the years, absolutely no way in heck would Max accept me bringing home another macaw. So, that is a thought to keep in mind....

I personally have seen more people think their bird would do well with a companion only to realize that when they pick a human, most parrots prefer their person over other parrots. Many will tolerate other parrot's presence in the home, but out of the 14 birds we have in our home, the only birds that are 'companions' to another bird are Victoria's two green cheek conures (which have pair bonded and are not quite the people birds they were before deciding they were a couple); the cockatiels (two are sisters that Victoria handraised, so they are very bonded to each other but still seem to see Victoria as mom) and then my little group of misfit budgies (they are not hand tame budgies, they live in a small group so the point was that they had a small friendly group).

Anyway, I've babbled on.... from both sides of the fence, the question really is - do you want another bird and do you have the time to commit to having another 'child'?

 

[Violet_Diva]

Thank you jenphilly for such an all encompassing reply. I really do appreciate your input. Your first hand experience of various parrot social dynamics sounds very interesting! I like the fact that your message is indicating multiple realistic outcomes (all for consideration).
Ultimately I understand the level of commitment required and am hopeful for indifference or positive interactions. But like you said they might hate eachother. I have been mentally preparing myself for this possible outcome too.

I have just been in contact with a local owner looking to re-home their male. He's a mix, that's mostly Red Sided. From the description, his personality seems quite different to Bella. So I am again hopeful that I may end up getting a second bird after all as he is more affordable than the potential little guy I posted pictures of and much closer (thus reducing travelling costs) and he comes with his own cage too. But I do keep thinking about that other poor little guy. But as I can't afford him, I hope it means whomever buys him will be able to spoil him He definitely deserves it.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Hopefully I should be going to visit the nearby male next week to speak with the owner and see if we can agree on terms.

Here's a picture of the little ekkie


I will let y'all know how the meeting goes!

 

[Violet_Diva]

As usual, things haven't quite gone to plan this week. I got a letter summoning me to court as a witness, so had to change my plans.
Went to court today only to find that they'd sent me the wrong day! So I could have visited the ekkie today after all
So now I've got to go to court in a couple of weeks (the date that should have been printed on the letter).

As a result, I've decided that next week on my day off, instead of visiting the little ekkie, I might just have to bring him home too!

Hopefully by this time next week I'll have a new addition to my flock! I'm quite excited, though I'm a little worried as hes apparently quite a talker! We've made a space in the living room by the kitchen for his cage for the duration of his quarantine, and after that he'll be moved to Bellas room (if she doesn't mind!)

 

[Violet_Diva]

4 days to go until I get to collect him. Im so excited and can't wait to bring him home! Here's another photo I received from his current human: