Should I get a 2nd bird? Looking for other peoples' opinions.

[Remy]

When I was bird shopping I looked at 2 birds. The first was a sun conure named Mango, and he/she was very sweet, but I was nervous to take him home because they're reputed for being extra loud, and I live in an apartment (but she does too, and says he's not too bad). The girl was looking for a home for him because she doesn't have enough time to spend with him anymore. She really cares about him and clearly wants what's best for him, and wasn't just trying to get rid of him. She got him from a situation that wasn't very good for him.

I ended up getting the second bird I met, my caique whose name I changed from Bucky to Puck. He came from an old lady who couldn't take care of her pets anymore.

It's been about a month, and Puck and I are getting along great. I love him a lot, and he seems to love me too. However, I keep thinking about Mango, and wondering if I should get him also. I emailed the girl a few days ago, and she still has Mango.

I don't NEED another bird for myself, but I think it might not be a bad idea to have two, especially for times when I can't spend as much time at home. I have a huge cage for Puck that's definitely big enough for both of them.

I find myself doing things like wanting to leave work early all the time because I want to be with my baby and don't want him to be lonely.

What do you guys think? It doesn't seem like having one more would be much more work in terms of care, and it'd be nice for them both to have buddies, but I want to think it through thoroughly before I decide for sure.

 

[tlouiselle]

Do you think Puck would get along with another bird? I am in the same situation as you. We just lost our conure and are in an apartment for a few more months. It is hard to decide which bird to get. For me they are like potato chips and if I have one I MUST have two Would she let you have him in a trial basis? It doesn't hurt to ask. We had a black capped conure in the apartment but he was quiet. Right now we have in indian ringneck and he does great. I have read that a pionus is a quieter bird too.

 

[Remy]

Caiques have a reputation for being aggressive with other birds, but so far he's friendly with everyone he's met (so far just dogs and humans). I could have them in different cages for a while to get used to each other before leaving them alone together.

I think she might let me have him on a trial basis.

I've also always wanted an eclectus. I'm wondering if I should just hold out for an eclectus that needs a home, but I somehow fell in love with Mango on our one meeting. (I've always admired suns too.)

I just don't want to take on more than I can reasonably take care of. Oh, and my other concern is that my property management company said I can only have one bird, but I figure if it's not super loud I can get away with it. XD

 

[tlouiselle]

Ha ha sneaky The suns are louder for sure. I am not sure how Puck is...a busy bird or calm bird...but I had a black capped conure Oscar (we tragically lost him 2 weeks ago)...and he was a little too busy for Sky (the ringneck). Sky liked his company, would sing with his, and they would call to one another if they were seperated. But Oscar would bother Sky. He would play with his tail and try to get close to him. That is why Iam not getting another conure at this time. I loved him to pieces but he liked to terrorize Sky. I swear it was like watching two siblings

 

[Remy]

The current owner has Mango in an apartment and is fine, although when I met him in a park he let out a few calls that were more ear-piercing than Puck's are. I'm training Puck to be quiet indoors for the most part, but he's pretty good most of the time. He's not as much of a "busy bird" as I expected a caique to be; I'm not sure he's any busier than any other bird I've had.

Puck has lived with other birds before (in separate cages) and I don't think Mango has.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[kobe629]

To me if you have only had your bird for 1 month I would wait a year to see how you feel adding another bird to your flock. Also I would get separate cages for the birds just in case they don't get along and when your not home just in case they fight when your not around.

 

[MikeyTN]

Sun Conures are noisy birds!!!! I would be cautious putting two birds together when your not home! You need to keep them separate for awhile to observe the new addition to make sure he's healthy and all. Vet visit would be nice! I really don't consider most conures to be apartment birds period as most are very very noisy birds. It is one of the few types of birds that I just can't tolerate, and I have a macaw and a too....lol.....My partner LOVES the Sun, but I've been against it as there's been so many people that tries to give me theirs and I said no no and no! I am a ex conure owner as I moved and they stayed behind with my best friend since they like him better. I just give them to him and he still have one while the other one tragically died. That's been 14 years ago and I don't miss them one bit...

Eclectus on the other hand are very quiet birds!!! At least mine are! They chatter and make cooing noise more then anything else. But just remember as they are diet specific birds!

 

[Remy]

Yeah, I'm hesitant to have the sun in my apartment, for the noise reason. She says he's fine in her apartment, but we may have different definitions of that. My caique is pretty quiet most of the time (as long as he's not locked in his cage when I'm home), and I think a lot of it is because I'm training him to be.

If I did this, I'd start them off in separate cages to make sure they get along first, before putting them together. I thought about putting a divider up in the big cage, so they'd both have enough space, but I don't know how to do that.

I've wanted an eclectus since I was 12 or something. I'm totally cool with diet specificity. I'm extremely diet conscious. It's kind of a hobby of mine, haha.

 

[JensFlock]

If you like the conures, have you looked into the blue crowns...like my avatar.
I'm also really partial to an eclectus.

 

[Remy]

I don't think I'd seek out a conure at this point, but I just got attached to this one that I met and was hoping I could do something for it, but I want to be smart about it. Noise is a concern for me though, because I live in an apartment and have a relatively low noise tolerance myself.

I should clarify, I like chatter and stuff, but just not the LOUD calls and screams.

 

[snackies]

I don't think you should get him, as much as you want to help him out.

Sun Conures are LOUD... louder then a macaw or cockatoo, it's more ear piercing. It actually hurts! lol. If you live in an apartment, getting a sun conure is a quick 1 way ticket to getting booted out, lol. People will complain, unless you have some mircale bird that doesn't know how to scream... To be honest, majority of the time people say they "have no time for their bird" means there is some other reason they are giving it away, with a sun conure, my bet is that it's gotten too loud. Sun Conures are the 1# rescue bird in my state.

Besides, you have no guarantee that to 2 birds will get along, it would be annoying to buy 2 of everything etc. A lot of time brids will tolerate being in the same perch or area as seperate species but not in the same cage, unless raised together from babies/same clutch or siblings.

 

[Remy]

Snackies - She didn't seem like she was BSing me about the reason... but I just had a feeling that I shouldn't do it, but then couldn't stop thinking about him.

You're probably right. I don't have the space for 2 cages permanently. I could do it for a while, but the one cage is pretty big (bigger than most macaw cages I've seen), and I have a small apartment. =\

I've always had different-species birds together in the past with no problem. I've done it with cockatiels, parakeets, quail, doves.. This is my most "hardcore" parrot though, so I'm not exactly an expert on that though. I've had to separate boy quails from girl quails because of their violent mating habits...

Oddly enough the only one that was really aggressive was one dove! I can't blame him too much though. One time he landed on a cockatiel (there were plenty of other landing places, they were all flying free in the house) and got bit, and then every time he got the opportunity he'd peck at the cockatiels and pull out a feather if we let him! We just had to keep them separated. He did this for the rest of his life. So much for doves being peaceful!

 

[mtdoramike]

No, a second bird means double the work and so on. I just got a second bird and it requires double the efforts for feeding and cleaning, not to mention that you WILL have to split your time between the two. I think it's still a bit early for you, you really haven't formed a strong bond with your first bird yet. Give it 6 months and see how it goes.