Do you have more than one bird?

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have our little Yoda and he's an absolute joy. I work from home so I love having my little companion with me while I work. We've had him for almost a year now and no complaints at all. He's well bonded with me and with my husband equally. Sometimes he prefers one of us and sometimes the other, fortunately he didn't decide that one of us was a rival and one of us his mate.

So now we are toying with the idea of getting a second feathered family member. We're considering an African Grey. Of course, we don't want to do anything that would be bad for our first born or hurt his bond with us.

Anyone of you who has 2 or more birds (especially if you have two), what is your experience and how has that worked out for you?
Do you have them all out of their cages together, or take turns bringing just one out?

For anyone who has a smaller bird (green cheek conure like ours maybe) plus a larger bird (African grey or bigger), do they fight? Do they get along?

Any thoughts or feelings or stories or advice in general would be great to hear.

Thanks!


Edit: I just want to mention a couple of additional notes. We fully understand that if we got an African Grey, he would need to have his own cage, his own toys, his own playgym, and shouldn't be left along with Yoda without supervision.

Fortunately (unfortunately?) the Rb is so aggressive and territorial that I've never even dared to think of another bird...
Many here have found that they have to separate birds permanently... some have been fortunate and multiple birds get along.
You just never know! Never, ever.
Good for you for being so responsible and serious, and for reaching out!
I think that as long as you're willing to deal with whatever happens (e.g., separating them, if needed, handling added expenses, etc.), you sound like a great parront.
Good luck!
Keep us posted, please.

You will be hard-pressed to find members with large and small species that keep them together. Most do not get along. I have heard that they have to be separated, their size difference really puts the smaller bird in a lot of danger and risk. It is possible to get species to get along but I would not personally recommend a smaller conure sharing play space/being out of the cage with a larger bird like a grey.

That doesn't mean you can't own both. Several members in fact own several together but I think you'll find they do not interact out of the cage together in most cases.

Thanks for the vote of confidence GaleriaGila! You're such a sweetheart!!

If the AG and Yoda didn't get along, but we were able to have both out at the same time (one on me, one on my husband) without problems, then that would be perfectly fine. Sure it would be great if they got along reasonably well, and we'd do our best to encourage them to accept the others presence.

At the same time, Yoda is our first born and very special to us. I'd never want him to feel neglected or scared or get hurt because of a new kid joining the family. Whatever we decide to do, we'll do it after careful research, thinking, and planning.

I was in the same boat as you about a month ago! I just got a 2nd bird and I would be more than happy to share my story.
My husband and I had been talking about getting a 2nd bird for around 6 months but we were so afraid to ruin our wonderful bond with Ollie our sun conure. He too had let us both interact with him with cuddles and bonded with both of us much like your bird. Needless to say we were worried that the other bird would not be as friendly, fight with Ollie, that Ollie would get so mad he's decide to hate us and the new bird, that the new bird might not be able to be as well trained as Ollie, that the new bird would bite a lot because Ollie is so kind and gentle ect ect the list goes on and on...I am sure you're thinking the same things! As for getting an AG, I would recommend something a bit smaller (for safety reasons) if you would like them to be pals and at some point.

We definitely did not rush the process after we decided that we were just going to take the plunge and get a 2nd bird. We had not really decided which kind of bird or what size we wanted to get but we were pretty open to any bird (probably not a Macaw or larget cockatoo) that we felt would be a good fit for our family personality wise. We spent most of our weekends visiting bird shops (one sells some older bird and rescued bird that we really like) and we would look at bird and hold them and see what they were like but even though we had held and saw many birds none of them seemed quite right or feeling an instant connection so we held off.

In the beginning of January we made a routine run a bird store to get some food and such and pet the birds and we came across a Nanday Conure that looked very happy and did not nip at me when I chanced my fingers through the cage. My husband was very interested in him because he looked like a dragon. They took him out for us, told us he was 3 months old and when I held him he did that baby sound at me and I told him "I'm your new mommy" and he did it again and cuddled against me and that was that! We took him home immediately. We named him Finley (DNA sexed).

Ollie was not impressed but not totally disgruntled and despite being a little annoyed he went about his usual business of giving kisses and cuddles and being a watch dog. We couldn't not let them officially meet until I got the all clear from the vet and that was about 6 days later. We decided to let them meet on our tree stand in the living room thinking it was neutral enough. By then Ollie was a bit jealous of Fin because he has seen me cuddling with Fin and giving him attention. What happened was Ollie would nip at Finley a bit and we'd tell Ollie "no bite" and he'd back down. That is kind of what their relationship is like at the moment. Fin follows Ollie around and Ollie warning nips him gently. Fin wants to be his friend but Ollie is not that interested at the moment but shows promise of them one day being friend. It kind of reminds me of a little brother annoying a big brother haha. It's really one of the best case scenarios because Ollie isn't super into Fin and so my bond with Ollie will stay strong and because Ollie isn't that interested in being friends it means Fin has in turn bonded to me instead of Ollie which is great. They can be on play stands together but it has to be supervised.

Having a 2nd bird has been wonderful, Finley is kind, caring, doesn't bite and is a very carefree happy guy. He is a bit bigger than Ollie but I know Ollie is quite small for his species and Fin is kind of big for his so it makes them more different is size than they would normally be.

Having 2 birds is a bit messier but they are both potty trained (I started with Fin the 1st day I got him and he hasn't pooped on me yet) so that makes it easier. I have to sweep more basically and sometimes do a bit more vacuuming but it's not that bad. Our house has been taken over a bit by cages but that is okay...what's a few bird cages in your kitchen and living room eh? That's not weird at all right? Lol...

I will attached a few videos I made on the subject of our birds getting along and the cage tour (we have 1 more java tree and 2 sleep cages that are not shown).

Ollie and Fin on Mommy
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdi-0SjyxpQ"]Ollie and Finley share mommy! - YouTube[/ame]

Ollie and Fin on Java Tree
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAlWdTjZFpU&t=13s"]Tree time - YouTube[/ame]

Cage and Tree Tour
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAgvHaQNyLk"]Birdie cage and stand tour - YouTube[/ame]

I have 11 birds. I must bring them out in groups that I'm confident will get along. My Ekki can't be out with any of the other birds, because he damaged my pineapple's beak as well as has bitten off the nails from 2 of my birds.

I have 4 birds but they are all of similar size. I have no experience with African Greys or any larger parrot, but maybe a smaller bird would be more suitable? Your conure might provoke the grey and the bigger bird could do some serious damage to the little green cheek. A bird like a cockatiel, Quaker, IRN, other conure, or Caique might be a better choice for you. When you get a second bird, expect there to be some jealousy between them. They will want to steal each others’ food and compete for your attention, and my birds even go into each others’ cages. I actually had to stop typing for a moment because Ducky and Pearl both decided it would be a great idea to go into Kermit’s cage.

Jackie, thanks for the note. If we go for it, we'll be sure to be careful with them being in the same room outside of their cages.

Greytness, WOW 11! Just the fact that you are able to bring them out in groups gives me hope. I can't imagine how I could handle more than 2 birds. As it is with Yoda I've had to learn to do everything with one hand.

Sunnyclover, Thank you for the EXCELLENT post! The video with you and the two birds on their mommy was so sweet! I've read articles that say introducing a second bird is very much like introducing a new child to the first child. I have a LOT of brothers and sisters myself, so I think I can relate to how important it is to keep a good balance and lots of love to all for the emotional well being of all siblings. As far as the mess goes, I keep things very very clean with Yoda. He's out of his cage all day long and he's potty trained. I give his cage and playstand a thorough cleaning every night and vacuum the floors every night, and it's just become part of my daily routine. Cleaning a second cage and second playstand will just add another 15 minutes to the daily routine I expect. I'm far more concerned about the parrots being happy then I am with having to clean more stuff.
Thanks again for the long and detailed post. Great advice. I'll keep it all in mind.

Flybirdsfly, That's too funny... as we speak I am trying to type one handed because Yoda is demanding attention from at least one hand. I can imagine if I had a second, it would be a challenge balancing time between the two of them. I'd certainly not have them out together right away. I think the most common scenario would be that they'd only be out together if my husband is home to be the perch for one, while I am the perch for the other.
During the day when I am working from home, I'd almost certainly have to do it with just one bird at a time. Maybe have one in his cage near me, while the other occupies a hand.

Keep in mind that the one in the cage may scream if they're not allowed out while the other one is with on you. It's also possible that your birds may want to be on the same person at the same time and will do anything they can to get there. Like for instance my birds usually want to be with me in at times and will NOT sit with my husband and because they're clipped they like hop off him and run and jump on me unless ofc I'm not in the room and then it's fine. So yeah...

It’s even harder with a flock of four fully flighted fids. They constantly land on your head, chase each other off your shoulder, fly from one person to the next...
But keeping both your birds flighted would ensure that either one could get away and avoid a fight.

Since we work with rescue and foster situations a lot we’ve had everything from budgies to eclectus our at the same time. We don’t allow interaction between birds that don’t get along or birds that have a significant size difference; we do many smaller play gyms rather than a few big ones so that birds can be rotated and kept apart


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When Mum's RB2 stayed with us, we just had one IRN & a 'tiel. I kept all three fully flighted. They didn't interact with each other much at all but all had the freedom to take their own space when they wanted it, too.

Now we have the tiel, 2 IRN's and a lovie. The lovie is the most aggressive as such, he's the boss bird and the IRN's bow down. The minute he want's them off the playstand, they willingly oblige.

The IRN's are an enigma. Bonded quickly with each other & share a cage. Both stayed bonded with us. Pretty incredible really given the blue was meant to be an aviary only rescue, but now flies straight to the shoulder when I enter a room.

I watched them for months, and still do now, albeit not as intensely. As long as you have the resources and time to interact with both independently I think you'll be okay - but I did get lucky. I'm not risking it again - aside from the fids we stand to inherit one day hopefully very far away, our flock is full!

I sometimes let my Cockatiels out of their cage when Bella my CAG is also out of her cage.

My Tiels keep there distance and Bella does not go after them. At most my oldest Cockatiel Lucky might land within 3 feet of where Bella is perching and make hissing noises but there have been no conflicts.

texsize

We have a lot of different play areas and the little ones are flighted. The big ones are also flighted but they don’t really use their wings as much. I’ve had conures out when macaws are out. My male conure is the only one I would be worried about with the macaws. I’ve had him try to push my Amazon around so I know he is an idiot. They tend to stay in their own area and avoid the other birds (the male conure just gets overly horonomal sometimes and thinks he’s big enough to boss everyone around). But I can just open the door to the male conures cage and he won’t bother the other birds in their cages. I obviously have the macaw caged in a different room than everyone else haha

You just have to figure out the dynamics and work around them. Usually it isn’t that difficult to find what works. I rarely bring my male conure upstairs he just generally stays down stairs away from the living room where we are with the big birds most of the time.

Squeekmouse said:

Anyone of you who has 2 or more birds (especially if you have two), what is your experience and how has that worked out for you?
Do you have them all out of their cages together, or take turns bringing just one out?

For anyone who has a smaller bird (green cheek conure like ours maybe) plus a larger bird (African grey or bigger), do they fight? Do they get along?

Any thoughts or feelings or stories or advice in general would be great to hear.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have 2 small birds, both are cockatiels. I have 1 male, Riley, a pied tiel, and 1 female, Bailey, a pearl tiel.

For about a year or so Riley was the only one.

When I got Bailey, my plan was to get a 2nd male but I ended up getting a female.

Overall, I'd say they tolerate each other and get along fairly well. (They're not a bonded pair.) They do, from time to time, pick on or chase one another but it's generally harmless and they tend to work out their differences. They do get concerned for one another too. It's nice to see them outside their cage and in flight together. They've even traveled together. I generally take them to the vet at the same time and to get their nails clipped. In the beginning, I tried taking them in the same travel cage, but it didn't work out too well so now they each have their own travel cage and it works out ten times better.

I'm happy with my decision to get a 2nd bird.

I've got 8, all cockatoos except for one BFA and one TAG.

No, they cannot all be together, especially the Goffins with their rivalries and jealousies. 3 of the 5 Goffins are uncaged together 24/7/365 and the other of the same species are kept separate but enjoy plenty of out-of-cage time. The uncaged TAG lives with the other uncaged Goffins with no association or hostility. In the past the 4 lived with an uncaged Citron and Moluccan. All the disparate toos got along very well and engaged in grooming and other socialization. The BFA doesn't mix with any of the others.

Size does matter, but mixing Yoda with a Grey may be possible with supervision. Haven't had a Congo, but the TAGs are rather peaceful and not in my experience particularly territorial - except for their cage.