Hello fellow parrot enthusiasts :D!

[Aidualc]

Hey everyone,

I finally decided to join this forum after reading posts here for quite a while.

"Quick" introduction: I am the lucky parrent to 4 cheeky parrots:

Nemo is a one year old male African Grey which my partner and I got as hand reared last November and is just starting to really test our boundaries. He is named Nemo because he is missing a toe.. but clever as he is.. you wouldn't ever notice that it's missing- you can still easily pester with one toe missing . He has just learned that clothes driers are the best thing in the world and he loves singing.

Sebastian is a sun conure which we got "second hand" as a companion to another sun conure we had, Snarf, who unfortunatly died due to egg laying complications :'(. As he has had previous owners he is a bit.. broken.. but still incredibly lovely and cuddly as sun conures are renowned to be. His favourite spot is resting inside my top with his head poking out the neck.

Rio is one of two senegal parrots my partner and I "inherited" from his sister as she couldn't stand the mess that parrots inevitably creates. He used to share cage with another Senegal (Pepper). Due to.. um... personality differences.. they have a bit of a love/hate relationship, so we decided to separate them into two cages. Unfortunatly, due to the stress he's been living under (this is my assumption) he had started chewing feathers even before we got him and still does.. if anyone has any really good way of preventing chewing I am all ears. It doesn't seem to affect him health wise as there are no bald spots or anything.. but regardless.. I want him to be happy!

Pepper is the last (but definitely not least) of our parrots. He/she is the other senegal we got from my partners sister. We don't know the gender.. we were told that originally they got pepper because they thought she was female as a partner to Rio. However, due to the.. um.. heated.. relationship to Rio it was assumed she instead was a male. However, we have come full circle and think that she is in fact a she as senegals are slightly dimorphic in bone structure and feather colourings.. so we think that she's a she and Rio just really doesn't like her.. she makes advances and really wants to hang out with him, but unfortunately it's NOT reciprocated. Love is hard.

Anyway.. that is a short introduction to my situation. I do have a question to the forum (not sure if this should be put in another thread).. as is evident from above I have 4 parrots.. who are all quite territorial. I would love nothing more than to be able to have all out at the same time without them fighting. Nemo, Sebatian and Rio are all male whereas Pepper is female (we think). We have tried before to slowly have them all out at the same time, but it normally ends with someone attacking someone. Is this a lost cause or how do we go about having them all out at the same time.

Sorry for the long post.. but.. hi !

 

[Kentuckienne]

Welcome! I'm new myself, and learning so much here. Looking forward to seeing your feather babies.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums! You have quite a varied flock, and we'd love to see pictures if available!!

The beauty and freedom of having all members out of cages simultaneously is sometimes so elusive. I have struggled with that for many years. Unfortunately they are at times simply incompatible regardless of similar species or even when related. Sometimes I believe the issue arises from having the primary human companion in the area, spurring jealousy. Otherwise it may simply be territoriality. You will have to judge whether the risk of injury is greater than the possible eventual mellowing of attitudes.

 

[SirEdwin89]

Welcome welcome, what a fantastic introduction, and glad to have you here more officially! I concur with Scott, if you have pictures, we love pictures!!!!!

As for Rio chewing feathers, you could try adding chamomile to his diet. A few of my birds drink chamomile tea, I started trying it when we adopted Conan who was more naked than not, and it has helped reduce his plucking it seems. It's a natural de-stresser and helps with anxiety. Can't hurt to try

As far as the birds all being out together, ah, that is a Dream I too have. I don't have any advice unfortunately, as so far my attempts have been far from successful. As scott said, that dream can be an elusive one!

 

[Aidualc]

Unfortunatly, I've come to mostly the same conclusions.. it is just such a shame.. which is why I was wondering if anyone had had any success with flock merging.. further complications include size and background.. as three of my parrots come with baggage.. it is hard to judge how to tackle any "phobias" in such a complex scenario.

As for pictures.. I hadn't even thought of that, but happy to oblige

 

[Aidualc]

Oh.. chamomile.. what a great idea.. I shall try this immediately.. Do you mix it in with the drinking water?

 

[SirEdwin89]

Oh.. chamomile.. what a great idea.. I shall try this immediately.. Do you mix it in with the drinking water?

Funny as it is, I actually make them cups of tea. Keeps them from trying to steal my morning coffee.

Though, you can accomplish the same thing with just getting the chamomile flowers and mixing it in with their food. You can buy them pretty dirt cheap.

I've also heard of people using chamomile tea as a bath spray for the ones who don't seem to like it, the point being that when the birds are preening, they will ingest the chamomile that way. That however I have never tried.

Oh, and I almost forgot, what a happy looking flock! Love the head poking out picture lol.

 

[Aidualc]

Hah.. that is amazing.. Nemo does like to have a cup of tea as well, but alas.. he always tries to drink it like a human.. and not having lips just means he just ends up biting the rim and gets confused !
Thanks ! And what an amazing cockatoo.. I love how the head hardly fits into the cup .
But thanks for the tip.. and it's easy to modify in intensity as well, so that Rio can get used to it in small doses first and in different forms.. parrots are so picky!!

 

[Scott]

Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing!!

Most of my "problem interactions" are between members of a Goffins Cockatoo family! Sibling rivalry with no apparent solution. But I stumbled on one safe-spot at night; once dark I can hold them all and enjoy them interacting. The birds that will chase and fight by day will cuddle, groom, and seem totally at ease. I *know* they are fully aware of each other, perhaps it is the vulnerability of darkness that allows tolerance? I suspect some is jealousy, and I try to give all equal time. They probably notice "injustices" measured in seconds!!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome, such a nice family!

 

[Aidualc]

Thanks !

Ah.. that is very interesting with the dusk-interaction.. I might have to try that! Just to give it a go. But I agree that unfortunately you just have to accept that there are things you aren't in control of and just work with what you have. And being fair with out-time and spread it as evenly as possible is a very good starting point .

 

[Tsali]

Hey everyone,

I finally decided to join this forum after reading posts here for quite a while.

"Quick" introduction: I am the lucky parrent to 4 cheeky parrots:

Nemo is a one year old male African Grey which my partner and I got as hand reared last November and is just starting to really test our boundaries. He is named Nemo because he is missing a toe.. but clever as he is.. you wouldn't ever notice that it's missing- you can still easily pester with one toe missing . He has just learned that clothes driers are the best thing in the world and he loves singing.

Sebastian is a sun conure which we got "second hand" as a companion to another sun conure we had, Snarf, who unfortunatly died due to egg laying complications :'(. As he has had previous owners he is a bit.. broken.. but still incredibly lovely and cuddly as sun conures are renowned to be. His favourite spot is resting inside my top with his head poking out the neck.

Rio is one of two senegal parrots my partner and I "inherited" from his sister as she couldn't stand the mess that parrots inevitably creates. He used to share cage with another Senegal (Pepper). Due to.. um... personality differences.. they have a bit of a love/hate relationship, so we decided to separate them into two cages. Unfortunatly, due to the stress he's been living under (this is my assumption) he had started chewing feathers even before we got him and still does.. if anyone has any really good way of preventing chewing I am all ears. It doesn't seem to affect him health wise as there are no bald spots or anything.. but regardless.. I want him to be happy!

Pepper is the last (but definitely not least) of our parrots. He/she is the other senegal we got from my partners sister. We don't know the gender.. we were told that originally they got pepper because they thought she was female as a partner to Rio. However, due to the.. um.. heated.. relationship to Rio it was assumed she instead was a male. However, we have come full circle and think that she is in fact a she as senegals are slightly dimorphic in bone structure and feather colourings.. so we think that she's a she and Rio just really doesn't like her.. she makes advances and really wants to hang out with him, but unfortunately it's NOT reciprocated. Love is hard.

Anyway.. that is a short introduction to my situation. I do have a question to the forum (not sure if this should be put in another thread).. as is evident from above I have 4 parrots.. who are all quite territorial. I would love nothing more than to be able to have all out at the same time without them fighting. Nemo, Sebatian and Rio are all male whereas Pepper is female (we think). We have tried before to slowly have them all out at the same time, but it normally ends with someone attacking someone. Is this a lost cause or how do we go about having them all out at the same time.

Sorry for the long post.. but.. hi !

Welcome! You have certainly come to the right place to learn and share all things Avian.

Our indoor "flock" consists of one 18 month old CAG and three yorkies, my husand and myself. Since we have only one feathered person in the family, my experience is rather limited. However, through research I learned that African Greys tend to be a single species flock bird and will often drive away birds of other species. I'm not sure about the flocking customs of sun conure and senegals so I can only suggest that if Nemo is initiating the fighting, it could be a simple matter of him being determined to rid his territory of unwanted species.

With that said, our captive birds are very adaptable and I would think that with enough time, patience, space and perhaps a truckload of favorite treats you could train each bird to limit his movements to a particular area and thus avoid conflict. I believe you would have to train each bird individually and then start training with multiples.

Good Luck!

 

[GaleriaGila]

My bird is an "only", but I still wanted to post and welcome you to the Forums!

 

[Aidualc]

Thanks !

The fun thing is that Nemo is the one being attacked.. he's the biggest softie ever and just a big baby.. so he's the one that just seeks the others out out of curiosity and them being .. well significantly less.. um.. bulky.. obviously get threatened and are territorial to boot. So bad combo. But that said, we don't want a situation where Nemo decides to retaliate.. because that would be a whole different situation to two tiny senegals picking at each other.. he could do serious damage if he wanted to. Luckily he doesn't. But it is a good point tho that different parrots have different affinities to ceratin flock structures.. I'll have to read up on that some more- thanks !

 

[Scott]

Thanks !

Ah.. that is very interesting with the dusk-interaction.. I might have to try that! Just to give it a go. But I agree that unfortunately you just have to accept that there are things you aren't in control of and just work with what you have. And being fair with out-time and spread it as evenly as possible is a very good starting point .

That is perhaps the very best possible compromise. If you try the darkness encounters, be careful and do so for short periods of time to start!

 

[Terry57]

Hello and welcome! Your flock is beautiful! As for having them out at the same time, we have some that cannot be out with the others, no matter what we do

 

[chris.carr11.cc]

Welcome to the forum. It's sounds like you have a fun house. I'm interested in hearing about the future stories you and your birds are going to bring to the forum.