can a conure live with another bird...?

I thought this forum would be a good place to ask as I don't have a lot of experience with birds...

I have a male jenday conureat the moment who I've had for about 1 year since he was just weaned from a breeder. His name is Paco and he is super sweet, never bitten and very adventurous. I love him lots and he never gives me any trouble! I have always really liked birds and am wishing I could get another one... the breeds I like the most are cockatiels, greencheeks, sun conures and quakers.

The only problem is that my mom isn't 100% convinced yet and won't let me get another one unless they can be in the same cage, because she doesn't want cages everywhere, but she said she will compromise if I find nicer cages, as the one I have now is quite large and takes up a lot of space.

I am just looking for opinions from people who have or who have ever had two birds living in the same cage - is it possible? I know I couldn't move them in from day one, I have a spare cage that could serve as a temporary house.

I have seen many types of birds living in the same cages at pet shops, greencheeks and cockatiels for example, and lorikeets with roselllas etc. - and aviaries with 10+ birds. Do you think I would have a better chance with a bird of the same species? I would prefer a sun conure or greencheek conure.

This is a pic of my cage at the moment, it is big enough for two birds.



another question I have is that, if I have two birds, even if they are not living together, will my jenday lose interest in me?

Hi it is always good to listen to mum but my son had a male Indian ring neck for 3 years and their was a female INRI her owner had died she had been in 3 other homes & ended up with Shane because she was very nasty bird ( NOT HER FAULT ) now she & the male are best friends & Shane misses out on cuddles .
But my daughter has two cockatiels 1 she had for 12 months then she received a 2nd bird both ( GIRLS ) both aviary birds both get on great also very cuddly .
I have seen & read that conures do get on very well with ( some ) other birds !
But their is always a chance that your bird will like it,s new friend a little more .
But if you spend time every day l am sure all 3 of u will be great mates !
Hope our experiences help you , and your cage looks plenty big enough , good luck **************************************************************

It all depends on the birds! Take your conure to meet it's new potential feathered friend to see how they do. I'm actually going to meet a blue headed pionus in need of a new home sometime this week and I'm taking little Lucy (black cap conure) to meet her new pal to see how they hit it off

Like others said, two birds may or may not get along. And it's also possible for them to be more bonded to each other than to you. You would definately need to have them separate at least at first for quarrantine, then to see if they get along. How big is the bar spacing on that cage? If it's bigger than 1/2 inch, it wouldn't work for greencheeks, or birds of simiilar size, they could get out/get stuck. Beautiful cage though! Would love to see a picture of Paco.

I agree with what everybody here has said. I have 3 birds of different species who live together in a large cage. If I separate them, the eclectus will escape his cage and let the other two out and bring them back to his cage. All 3 of them sleep together on a perch side by side. They still want to be with me more than the other birds. Thats' something you have to watch. Make sure they don't bond to the point of excluding the humans.
I guess every bird is different, but from me experience, you can keep them together if they are happy about it.

JensFlock said:

I agree with what everybody here has said. I have 3 birds of different species who live together in a large cage. If I separate them, the eclectus will escape his cage and let the other two out and bring them back to his cage. All 3 of them sleep together on a perch side by side. They still want to be with me more than the other birds. Thats' something you have to watch. Make sure they don't bond to the point of excluding the humans.
I guess every bird is different, but from me experience, you can keep them together if they are happy about it.

Click to expand...

Sounds like it's time to put a padlock on the ekkie! hahahaaha:09:

I also agree with the others its never a garentee whether your conure will or will not love another bird. I think they are right that you should take your conure to meet its new potential buddy. I have lots of friends who have conures in cages with other breeds of birds but then i also have some who say their conure hates other birds. So it is all what your bird would like, because like people they all have their own preferances and triggers to what they like and what bothers them. Just take it slow and give your baby time to adjust and like said before you will need 2 cages to start with anyways to give them that time apart for that quarr. in the begining. Hope it all works out.

Thanks for all the replies - I think taking my bird into a pet store to met other birds or to the breeders if a great idea... im sure they wouldn't mind if I asked first.

My jenday was raised and weaned by himself if that makes a difference... he had a brother but he died early on. ): do you think that would make him not like other birds as much since he didn't grow up with them...? he thinks he is a person sometimes...

what are some things I can avoid to stop him bonding with the other bird more than me? they will be alone when I go to bed and am at work, and I work about 7 hours a day, mon-fri - but they would be out together as soon as I get home until bedtime, like Paco atm. I also get him out before work to help me make mine and his breakfast and have a shower.

I know you want them in the same cage.. but here's how it's going for me in a nutshell:

Lucy (Black cap conure) is in her cage on the opposite side of the room from Bleu (blue head pionus). They talk and chatter but Lucy is a wench. If they're both on the floor, Lu will chase Bleu and has charged the poor pionus twice already. She's tried to preen her too, I think.... It's a mix of preening and light biting... and Bleu doesn't take too kindly to it, she tried to eat Lucy's head yesterday... (no real biting but it was definitely a warning to Lucy to "leave me alone!") I'm really not sure if Lucy is chasing Bleu, or if she's more following Bleu... and Bleu isn't fond of having a 65 gram shadow... It's a very haphazard process with CONSTANT supervision... so far... I'd say it's not going perfectly, but it's not going bad either

hope this helps a bit

By my experiences with Cricket GCC and Rosie timneh I have to say I would never put a big bird with a little bird. Conures ok with other conures. I took my Cricket to the vet today for his first exam and was I shocked. Vet said where Rosie bit Cricket near his ear there is a small broken bone. OMG! He feels big and little beaks do not mix. Once bit from a big beak on a little bird can crush the skull. They are never out of cage at the same time. The broken bone will stay as it is and will not harm him but it was ery close to loosing the function of his beak. So lesson learned to anyone that wants to have big and little birds together. Rosie is not the aggressor here and she was just defending herself.