I think i just created a problem

[Stacey254]

Hi Everyone, this is my very first post. Pease forgive me in advance because I'm sure this has been answered before, I'm just terrible at navigating this forum.

OK, long story short, hopefully.
So after 20 years of not having birds, I decided I wanted a feathered friend in my life. After a ton of research I decided on a GCC and found a local breeder. I told the breeder in advance that I hadn't had a bird for a very long time and I was nervous about having one again So out of the four birds that are hatched and after a deposit one is reserved for me. Yay. Super excited. This is all done over the internet. Probably my first mistake. Said breeder says my bird is weaned and ready for her new home. That she thinks my bird is a female because she's moody. Great I think. My husband goes and makes the 3 hour drive because its just easier with our small children. We put Izzy in her cage, go slow, and finally she starts to trust us after a couple of weeks. Izzy will come out of cage and spend time with us. She has a very nippy personality which i believe is normal for all GCC'S
A couple of months go by and I'm convinced Izzy has chosen my husband as her favorite person. Izzy constantly jumps off me to spend time with hubby.
So, skip forward. We hop into a pet store and find a very sweet yellow sided GCC. It's a love at first sight moment. The sign says this bird will require a lot of patience is trying to rub against me through the glass. Out of giggles I ask the store asst. if I can hold said bird. Bird snuggles right in and wants to stay with ME. No nipping, none. I'm so excited about this we come home with Bo. Both birds are unknown sexes.
After the fact, I research and find out if Izzy and Bo mate, they become life partners and don't want anything to do with humans. All i wanted in the first place was a bird that was my little snuggle buddy. I thought His and Hers now. I now read that i may have made a huge mistake.

Any advice please?
Thanks so much in advance.
Stacey

 

[SailBoat]

Well, that's clearly one of those 20/20 hind sight DNA testing thing.

Short term is for each to have their own cage and separate out of cage time.

I'm an Amazon Snob and beyond the above, I'm going to leave you with the Conure experts.

 

[Laurasea]

Awe... Congratulations on two babies! I had my first GCC for years and then brought home second. They had separate cages at first, but bonded and lived together until my first passed. Both were still bonded with me too. But both were girls, do I don't know how a male and female would behave. I spent time with each separately, and together out of the cage. I believe you can still have a happy flock and they will enjoy having each other and you too! I now have a Quaker and they live to be out together and snuggle with me at the same time! But they have separate cages.

 

[Jen5200]

Well I can add my experience with 3 conures and a cockatiel. I don’t think you made a huge mistake at all - you just may not have had all the information before bringing Bo home .

I’ll throw these caveats out in front and then tell you about my household. Birds don’t automatically bond with another bird - sometimes they don’t care for each other, sometimes they are just friendly with each other, sometimes they bond. They don’t have to share a cage to keep each other company and sometimes that works better for everyone.

I have 2 conures that came to me sharing a cage and I believe they are bonded (I don’t provide any “nesty” areas and would never let them hatch babies if any eggs appeared). They are quite happy to spend time and interact with me as well (I haven’t had them DNA’d, so don’t know their genders - they are 6 & 3). My 3rd conure doesn’t particularly care for other birds, she tolerates the others but has not formed any real friendships with the other feathered beings in the house - but she loves people. My cockatiel pretends that there aren’t other birds in the house and she loves my husband.

I guess what I’m getting at, is that birds are pretty individual in who they like and how they interact. Caging them separately to start is always a good idea - they may not want to live together anyway and it gives you time to build a comfortable relationship with them as individuals and as a group. I think you’ll figure out what will work for your flock - hope you’ll share some pictures of Izzy and Bo!

 

[MonicaMc]

I'm with Laurasea and Jen here.

I've had multiple birds for years. The only time I had a single bird was when I first got into birds about 18 years ago... and it was just a budgie... but of course, if you have one budgie, you need another budgie! And when people found out I had budgies, then they gave me more budgies! And a family (my mother went to school with the husband and one other person - they'd often study at the family's home) knew I loved birds and bought me a cockatiel. And someone else came by our home, saw we had birds, wanted to know if we wanted another one!

So in short, I've always had multiple birds at one point in time or another. I can't say that they were all tame and friendly, but that was also never a requirement. As long as they were healthy and happy, that was fine by me! And if they wanted more interaction, I'd happily oblige!

Although when I had 5 adult flighted budgies, all pet store birds or breeder birds (not hand raised), I decided to try a little experiment... my only goal was to see just how comfortable I could get them to be with me. I wasn't trying to tame them, just make it so that they weren't afraid of me. Sure enough, I was able to get them all to be comfortable enough to fly out of their cage and to my hand a few feet away to eat!

Which unintentionally lead to working with *A* cockatiel. Took me a while to figure it out... but she wanted the same interaction. She was previously hand raised then neglected and hadn't shown any desire to interact with humans after I got her. So I started feeding her. Then I took in another cockatiel who was watching the first cockatiel, so I had to feed her by hand too.... and then I was feeding the entire cockatiel flock by hand! Including the ex-breeding pair where the male was extremely skittish! Oddly enough, that ex-breeder male turned out to be the most trusting of me! I still wouldn't have considered him tame and friendly, but his demeanor had, without a doubt, changed!


As far as conures go... my first conure and my second conure never got along. They were the complete opposites in everything except color! They weren't even the same species! But likes, dislikes and health? Complete opposites!

My second conure and third conure got along alright, but they could never share me! I had to have one on my shoulder and the other on my arm or leg. Since those were their preferred perches, it worked out fine!

My fourth conure never got along with my second or third...



I only have my second conure, Charlie, still, sadly, since he was the only one that hasn't come to me with health issues or potentially genetic issues, but then again, his parents were wild caught imports and the worst thing that has happened to him was that he tried to pick a fight with a blind ruby macaw and got the short end of the stick so he requires beak trims for the rest of his life. He's 24 years old and I'm 2 months short of having had him for 12 years!


I have two foster green cheek conures. Don't know if I'm keeping one or both right now, but I can say that the first one, Scooter, doesn't seem overly interested in the other birds. I *think* he/she was cage mates with a quaker at one point in time, but the quaker ended up going back to the breeder and I don't know how friendly s/he and the quaker really were. The second green cheek, Merlin, definitely has a preference for other birds/green cheeks. Scooter can be handled and scritched but Merlin cannot be handled at this moment. He will accept scritches, at least! As much as Merlin is interested in Scooter, the feelings do not appear to be mutual. Scooter doesn't outright dislike Merlin, but seems indifferent. I feel like if they *were* bonded, it would actually help Merlin to come out of his shell more. If they never bond, that's okay, too! Neither one have any interest in Charlie or the other birds.

 

[LordTriggs]

multiple birds can work, you just gotta put in a bit more effort. I would get a DNA test done on them to make sure what genders they are. Personally unless they make the decision to move in together I would keep separate cages to avoid any bickering and to give each their own space, it may also help stave off any removing bond between the humanoids and the avians of the family though like anything with a bird there's no guarantee.

 

[Stacey254]

Thank you so much to everyone that took the time to respond, I'm extremely grateful.

I should add that both are babies, Izzy, hand fed, hatched March 2018 and Bo, Unknown pet store GCC, hatched April 2018.
So from what I'm understanding, i should keep both Izzy and Bo away from each other until they are DNA sexed? I have been keeping them in separate cages because i didn't want to put two unknown personalities together. My husband was thinking they could share a cage but i was hesitating. i'll be ordering second large cage today. I am fortunate enough that I stay home and am able to give both birds tons of attention either together or separate. i did introduce the two before I made this post. They seem to get along, which is good but now also my worry. Izzy and Bo call to each other, preen each other and share the same treat bowl with no squables. Should I allow them supervised time together with me? Or do I just give them each their separate one on one with me?
Thank you again so much for your time and patience.

 

[Jen5200]

My personal opinion is that you don’t have to keep them away from each other pending DNA testing. Neither will go through puberty for awhile, and you have time to get the testing done. Even once they are mature, you don’t have to stop them from interacting - just don’t encourage nesting behaviour like providing nest boxes or hidey-holes that could be perceived as nesting opportunities. Since you’ve already introduced them, and there’s no aggression, they would probably enjoy having time out of cage together. Personally I would keep them in separate cages (my opinion only), to allow you time to build bonds with both of them. I would also do some separate time out, again for building bonds with them. Separate cages, near each other, still lets the birds socialize and keep each other company. You can always re-evaluate down the road if they want to live together, or if they are happy having their own “houses”.

 

[katiea]

All my birds are in pairs and they all like me- except one new rescue tiel but that’s not because she has a friend. My gcc is bonded to me and spends lots of 1:1 time with me but he also adores his friend. I wouldn’t house them together unless they bond. Green cheeks can be a little unpredictable with their moods, especially when my 2 boys get sleepy..they turn into little monsters

 

[Stacey254]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice! This community is amazing for knowledge and support.
I'm going to go ahead and order a separate large cage for Bo and i'll place them right next to each other. Right now he's in a small cage not suitable for long term by any means, so I have been keeping them separate already and continue with what i'm doing now for socializing them alone with me and each other. DNA testing is on the list for September so everything should be fine until then.
I guess only time will tell with Izzy and BO.
Again, Thank you all so much who contributed their knowledge. Pictures will soon follow.

 

[MonicaMc]

I agree with Jen! Now, if they get along and you choose to house them together sometime in the future, I see no harm in that! But if for whatever reason, they end up not getting along (and it can happen! especially as they mature into adults and their personalities may change), it doesn't hurt to have a second cage! Not saying you should put them together right now, but it's something you could consider in the future!