sun and a GCC

[diadins]

My husband is going to be rescuing a GCC. I am just wondering about trying to make my sun and the new addition friends. (after the initial quarantine obviously). We have a cage for the GCC but I would like them to eventually be able to come out together and spend time together. Does anyone foresee an issue between these two species that would conflict with my plans?

Thanks

 

[ErichT]

My Sun came first and we were lucky that our GCC and her get along. Kiwi is can be a bit a pushy one at times,but Mango drew a line . They cuddle and bicker like kids do. How old are the 2 of them? When we got Kiwi she was 6month and mango was 2 , if they are both seasoned and stuck in their ways it may be a bit more of an issue. Every story is different . Use caution and give them both personal you time away from each others view.

 

[Bradari]

I had a sun and gcc that I hand raised together. They were the best of friends until one day my sun was in a bad mood and killed my gcc.

Broke my heart and I had to rehome the sun after that. He started attacking my kids. Took 2 years for me to be ready to get a new gcc

 

[Timothy]

My advice that works for me: Take it slow! After quarantine, have the birds in seperate rooms in earshot of each others cages so they can hear each other chatter. Then after a week, bring their cages into the same room (After quarantine for sure) for the next 2 weeks Have one out and hold/play with him while the other is in the cage and rotate which you play with every half hour or when time allows. Then allow them to be outside and on top of their respective cages for a few days. By this time the birds will be familiar with each other so you can Then eventually supervise them and allow them to be either on the floor together, or on a stand together, Start with each bird on seperate ends (Make sure its a big enough stand, like maybe a Javawood stand.

Do NOT put them on a cage together, birds are defense of their territory and will defend their cages! Make sure you let them see you playing with/petting the other bird. Sweet talk and etc etc. its a good idea to have them distracted with treats and toys so they arent too focused on each other at this point.


Good Luck!

 

[faeryphoebe1]

I have both and they despise each other. Both these conures are jealous birds.

We have to monitor out of cage/flight time because they will fight.
We break up several squabbles a day and must keep vigilant.

 

[SilverSage]

It is more about the individuals than the species in this case. I have a method that I find to be most effective and fool proof, and the least risky of any that I have used. Because you only have one bird right now, it should be fairly easy.

Choose a place in your house where your sun conure spends very little or no time. Not the bathroom, because you are going to be eating there for a while. This should also NOT be the same room as the cages are kept. Just in case you arent already aware, lets go over some big no-nos.

1)NEVER put the birds in the same cage. I am not saying someday they cant be safe together, but they will need their own cages, and they can turn on each other when you think things are fine.

2) Never give anything of your Sun's to the GCC.

3)Never be in a hurry for them to get along, ever take short cuts.

4)Never allow one bird to sit on the other bird's cage. This does nothing but encourage territorial behavior, and promote the biting off of toes - I am not kidding about this, it is very important!

Ok, I assume they will be able to hear one another during quarantine. If this is not true, then after quarantine place them where they can hear one another for a t least a few days. I also assume they are both tame. If they are not tame, do not introduce them until they are. Once quarantine ends, and they have been able to hear one another, place their cages at opposite ends of a room, preferably not the room you would typically hang out with them in, so that they cannot get jealous of one another getting to spend time playing with you while one sits in the cage watching. Pick one meal a day, some will do this at breakfast, some later in the day, it depends on your feeding schedule, but pick a meal. This requires you to feed meals and not just free feed, but it is healthier anyway. Pick a meal, and feed it out of the cage in a room that does not have the cages in it, and that is not a room your sun is likely to be possessive of. Feed each their meal on opposite ends of the room, and then put them back in their cages. Play time can follow, but only if you have two people to play, again, at least on opposite ends of the room. The next day, repeat, but move the dishes closer. You do this day after day until the dishes are touching one another. Feeding is a flock activity, and I have always had the best results by using this method or variations of it. If something goes wrong, simply move the dishes a little farther apart and start from there. Once they have eaten out of dishes that are touching, transition into together play time after they eat. If you feed three meals a day as meals instead of free feeding, then do this at every meal. At the same time, you can be moving their cages closer together as well.

A note about quarantine: I always suggest blood tests along with quarantine, as even with isolation and the stress of the move some diseases will not show themselves. I use Avian BioTech for my tests, so that I can pay roughly $20 per test instead of ten times that amount from a vet. I suggest asking your vet what blood tests are involved in a "full blood panel" through his or her office, and then ordering those same tests yourself independently from a company such as listed above. You simply look them up online, request the test kits (I use blood cards) which should be free, and follow the directions from there. In my mind no quarantine period is effective without this, especially since very few of us can conduct a "true quarantine" meaning separate ventilation systems, full shower and change of clothes and shoes after every interaction, etc.

 

[katina]

It sometimes fatal to the bird you have, I had a beautiful love bird female, I went to the sale barn they promised it was a boy put them together, at that time I knew nothing about quarantine at that ,any way the new bird killed my peaches I couldnt keep the one after, I rehomed him. But not before my male lovebird layed an egg.

 

[SilverSage]

Simply putting two birds together, regardless of gender, is asking for one to die. If introduced properly most birds will learn to be friends. Rushing things risks ruining that, and some birds will never be friends but most of the time if you take the time to do it right the result will be good. Birds were meant to live in flocks, it is natural for them to have friends. I am very sorry katina, that your bird died. Next time please follow the suggestions here to avoid the tragedy of one bird killing another.