Second Male Eclectus?

Hi, I am a relatively new eclectus owner, having only had my male SI eclectus for about a year and I have a problem. This quarantine I have been bonding with my parrot a lot, and I am glad that I have, but I am nervous that by the time we get out of quarantine, my bird will become depressed. I am in high school, and there are going to be so many activities that I need to do throughout the day, I am not sure I will be able to spend enough time with him. I live in a household of 6, but I am really the only person who takes care of him, and once school picks up, everyone will be equally busy. I have thought about solutions, and I have come up with two.
1. Sell him
2. Get him a partner (Male+Male)
I am leaning towards option #2 because I love my bird very much, but I would like to get some other opinions.
Thanks in advance!
Mango 2 yr old Eclectus Parrot

Hello and welcome,

That’s quite the pickle. To be honest, gettting a second bird would be a bad idea here. Nobody can take care of one bird when you’re gone, and you want to throw a SECOND bird into that situation?

We often recommend high schoolers don’t get parrots, unless it’s a family pet that the parents assume responsibility for. There’s too much unknowns at your age and parrots need stability.

You’ve also got college ahead of you. -will you be on campus or off? - roommates, moving, housing situations where parrots may not be able to stay with you.

I don’t want to say rehome your boy - That would be presumptuous; I don’t know enough about your situation - but absolutely do NOT get a second bird.

When school starts, he’ll likely be ok during the day while you’re at school. You’ll be back by 2-4 pm. If his cage is in a central area around people, that’s more than enough to keep him happy until you get home.

I completely agree w/ Chris-MD (that rhymed lol). You need to wean him off your attention somewhat (while still giving him at least 3 hours of out-of-cage/interaction time daily), but you shouldn't ever get a bird for your other bird, because you cant be certain that any 2 birds will ever get along, and then you could end up in WAY over your head in terms of the amount of time they need individually etc.
There is too much that lies ahead and one bird is basically like having a kid...2 is not the answer.

Thanks for your advice. I’ll try to start getting my mom to interact with him more as she is probably the one who is home the most. Also I have another question. In around a week I am moving to a new home, and the drive is 5+ hours. Do you have any tips for bringing him with us?

Has he traveled before? Even for short distances in the car?
Fruit/veg=good (less messy) source of water.

Sorry, for a late reply, but yes. When we were hosting open houses, we had to bring him with us in the car because he would sometimes scare people when they came in. He was fine for drives under about an hour, but for more than that he would throw up a lot. Thanks again!