Considering an Addition to the Family

[BirdGuy21]

Hello everyone,

I have a ten month old Green Cheek Conure named Alex. I have had her since July 2015, and am quite attached to her and her to me. As the title of this thread suggests, I am considering getting another bird to add to the family. I am looking at a Pearly Conure, age unknown. He/she is currently located in a pet shop in not the best conditions, and there is something about him that I can't shake. If I get the Pearly Conure, he would be housed in a separate cage in same room (living room) where Alex lives; after a quarantine period. I have been doing research into adding another bird to the flock, and I was hoping to get some members opinions here on the forum.

I understand that there is a possibility that the new Conure and Alex may not get along. In your experiences, how likely is this with Conure's? Is this more prevalent in larger birds, such as Amazon's and Macaw's?
I also read that the birds may bond more closely to each other, and Alex will lose her bond with me. Is this common? Has anyone with a Conure introduced another Conure to their family- if so, what were the results? I certainly don't want Alex to become less bonded to me.

Are there any other challenges related to living with two birds-Phyurra Conure's specifically, besides the added mess of two cage cleanings and two beaks to feed?

Thank you and I look forward to your replies.

 

[itchyfeet]

I currently have two, about to add a third.
Of the two I have, they don't get on together, but can be out at the same time in their own spaces. One is flighted so she takes off before anything escalates anyway. Individually, both birds are handreared and worked with daily, and I don't feel as though they're any less bonded to me.

You need to be aware that given your GCC is still rather young, there 'may' be difficult behaviours to come from him that you haven't experienced yet, just because of his age and stage - regardless of adding a second bird or not. This will take extra time, patience and balls to overcome if he's a bit nippy on it. As long as your confident with that, and you still have time/finances etc for a second, I'd go for it.

Those birds that pull you in do so for a reason You're right to do your research first though!

 

[BirdGuy21]

I currently have two, about to add a third.
Of the two I have, they don't get on together, but can be out at the same time in their own spaces. One is flighted so she takes off before anything escalates anyway. Individually, both birds are handreared and worked with daily, and I don't feel as though they're any less bonded to me.

You need to be aware that given your GCC is still rather young, there 'may' be difficult behaviours to come from him that you haven't experienced yet, just because of his age and stage - regardless of adding a second bird or not. This will take extra time, patience and balls to overcome if he's a bit nippy on it. As long as your confident with that, and you still have time/finances etc for a second, I'd go for it.

Those birds that pull you in do so for a reason You're right to do your research first though!

Thanks for your reply. I suppose my biggest concern is Alex no longer being bonded to me, or the Pearly never becoming bonded.

As to Alex being young, I believe she is starting her first full molt. She has lost some small head and breast feathers, but also some tail and coverlet feathers on her wings. I am looking forward to her flights growing in.
I am pretty good with her nippiness, and it is something we have worked on. She knows when she bites too hard, and is familiar with "No".

 

[itchyfeet]

What is the pearly like at being handled currently? Is s/he already pretty good, or is there work to do?

 

[BirdGuy21]

H/she will step up and is okay being handled. H/She is nippy but I expected that and would work with it. Nowhere near perfect, but workable.

 

[Terry57]

We already had a Crimson Bellied conure (Phoe)and were given a Green Cheek (Jax) last summer by someone who couldn't keep him anymore. Both are pluckers, although Jax can fly. We put their cages beside each other, and just hoped they would grow to like each other. After a month or so, Jax came over and sat on our finch flight with Phoe, but not side by side. It took about 3 months, but then they started interacting and now love each other.Cuddle together and preen each other. They still have separate cages as Phoe does not like to share food..lol. They hang out when they are out of their cages.
We got lucky that they get along, and we still spend a lot of socializing time with them both so they are both still tame.
Good luck!

 

[BirdGuy21]

It seems a lot of people say that they were lucky the new bird and current bird got along. Is it really that uncommon that they do not, particularly in Conures?

 

[Piasa]

My green cheek has never gotten along well with any other bird. Some he can ignore, but he persistently attacks others. He thinks of himself as the senior bird and boss, and is jealous of my attention to other birds. I do think there is some credentials they have for being the first bird or the one who has been there longest. Also he is strongly bonded to me. Even flirty female green cheeks don't interest him. Last time he had one trying to preen him, he crabbed at her and flew across the room to me!

I had a little lovebird (also my love) as I was growing up, and when I left home for college, he stayed with my parents. Even though I had him for 14 years when I got Beau GCC, because Beau lived with me and made me his, he still copped the boss attitude "I've been here longest!" with my lovebird, even in my lovebird's territory.

Right now, I have 2 birds with a death wish for each other, mostly because my conure was mean when my little girl birdy came home. They fight dirty, and it's hard to deal with.

But then, I've seen many other folks who can add a bird to their family and everything goes super smooth and easy.

Green cheeks live in multi-species flocks, so in theory they are much more accepting of new additions than many other genus.

I hope this post isn't too much of a downer. I think my situation is more on the extreme end. But, it's a possibility and good to be aware of.

 

[MonicaMc]

I have three conures right now. None of them get along with each other, nor do they get along with any of the other birds.

Jayde and Charlie *can* mostly get along in one spot, but no where else... anywhere else, they squabble. Well, they squabble in this spot, too, just it's the only spot where they can be side by side with *minimal* amounts of squabbling.


My first conure did get along with my first cockatiel... but not by his choice! (nor mine!)
The tiel just wouldn't take "No" for an answer and she wormed her way in next to his side! Considering the size difference, I *would not* recommend a conure or a cockatiel together! I was just lucky with those two.

 

[BirdGuy21]

I really am surprised that it seems so common for birds to not like each other, but with every bird having a unique personality I suppose it should come as no surprise. I am still weighing all the facts and considering the potential issues that could occur. I hate to walk away from the guy because of my fears about "what if's", but I don't want to harm Alex as well.

 

[Piasa]

If they are both babies/juveniles, I think it will be easier. They are also both pyrrhuras, same size, same expectations of what they want another bird to be/do. Alex can't get hurt as quickly or as badly as if new bird was a bigger kind.

Just be alert so that if there are any problems brewing, you can stop them. You've been smart to take time to consider things and get opinions, you will make a good decision and good parront to one or two birdies

 

[BirdGuy21]

Thank you for the kind words. My current conure is nine months old, I do not know how old the Pearly conure is. This is a very touch decision.

 

[MonicaMc]

If you consider how parrots in the wild are raised vs how they are raised in captivity, it's no surprise that so many parrots in captivity don't get along.

In the wild, chicks would learn from their parents how to act around other birds. They may join up with other flocks of different species in a communal feeding ground or water or even other places.


In captivity, instead of birds living in a flock, we separate pairs and keep them alone. We then allow them to breed and after x-amount of weeks, we remove the chicks. Instead of learning how to act appropriately from their parents, they must learn from humans. We humans then fail to socialize these birds with others, thus resulting in aggression in *many* birds.


You wont hear the end of it of how important it is to socialize young dogs with strangers and other dogs, but in parrots? Short of socializing with other people, it's nonexistent!

Many people buy one parrot, and then only have one parrot for years! The bird never gets a chance to socialize with other birds and may even get limited human socialization. We then have birds that are aggressive towards other humans as well as birds.



Of course, sometimes people get lucky and get a single bird that has been an only bird for it's entire life and this bird gets along with other birds without issues. Although Charlie has never truly gotten along with any of my other birds, he did get along with a lilac crowned amazon in his foster home, and his first home he may have been an only bird for 10 years of his life.

 

[MonicaMc]

Here are some examples of wild parrots "getting along".

https://www.flickr.com/photos/benyehuda/2092099075/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ensifera/4212633637

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonflyhunter/16345460058/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/birdbrian/15444196776/



The odd thing is, is that parrots out in the wild rarely ever go out of their way to cause bodily harm to another parrot. Sure, they fight and squabble, but rarely does any of this lead to injuries. In captivity, many birds would "happily" go after another bird resulting in bodily harm, anything from a nail, a toe, a wing, a beak or even worse. Charlie, for example, is missing half of his lower beak. He was able to bully around 3 amazons in his foster home, so why not the blind ruby macaw, too???? Needless to say, he got the short end of the stick....

 

[BirdGuy21]

Very insightful response, @MonicaMc. Also very sad when you consider how we have raised so many wonderful parrots for human companionship, only to remove them from their natural tendencies and expect them to live up to a standard they could not possiblly naturally understand. Fortunately for some, they find loving homes with people such as members on this forum. Unfortunately for others, they are regulated to a live locked away in the most unnatural situation possible.

I did go visit the Pearly today. Unexpected turn of events- he has become bonded to a young Jenday Conure and they must be sold together. They have been staying in the same cage for several weeks now. The Jenday is beautiful and not in the least nippy. She is afraid of hands, but will step up onto arms and is happy to ride on your shoulder. She did not bite once. The Pearly has become very nippy since bonding to the Jenday though, and drew blood on several spots on my hand. This does not bother me in the least, as I am more than willing to work with him. However I was having a hard time deciding on adding another bird to the family, let alone two. I am very torn now.

 

[MonicaMc]

Sounds like your best bet may be to hold off for a while before deciding on a companion. Two is double everything of one, but three is triple.


Not only that, but any conure can hybridize with any other conure species. (that I am aware of, thus far - I don't know if some conure species have hybridized or not, but others closely related have) So getting a second conure of another species, if that bird is of opposite sex, you need to be prepared in the event that your two birds bond and could possibly decide to hybridize.

Conures in the same genera tend to produce healthier offspring than conures outside of their own genera.... more specifically, Pyrrhura x Large Conure hybrids tend to have health issues! Or at least born with deformities or may have high chick mortality rates.



I have two, maybe three different conure species, and thus far, none get along well enough to want to make babies! And that's ok by me!