Adding a male parrotlet to a female

Hi

I have a question. I have a 7 month old female parrotlet handfed and is very tamed. But during the day she is all alone in the house because I go to work. I was thinking what if I add a male parrotlet so she can have company. Is it true that if I do that she will not be friendly with me no more?

Thanks

I know little of parrotlets, but is it necessary to add a male rather than a same sex friend? Adding a male will only encourage breeding and babies, which are not a great thing if you're not an experienced breeder. There's no guarantee she wouldn't go "wild" per se, but generally if you have a strong bond with the bird and continue to have quality time with her AND the second bird, there's no reason they shouldn't remain loyal companions. But once they get into a breeding mentality, good luck handling them [emoji33] More often than not, strongly bonded breeding pairs will see others handling them or being near them as a threat when the mating season arrives. And I'm not even sure if parrotlets have a specific mating season or not.

Also, the general consensus for ANY animal is - do NOT get another animal for your animal. Reason being that YOU are the one caring for it, feeding it, paying for it, and training it. There's no guarantee the two will even like each other. They may hate each other and you may never be able to have them both out at the same time when you're home. So while they may have that sense of company while you're gone, they may also be at each other's throats when you're home and they're out. Just consider that for awhile before jumping ship.

I would like a male but I don't want to have babies from them. Should I get a female. Do they get along together with my female?

I hope our resident parrotlet people will chime in but here is my input

1)You can never guarantee your bird's reaction. She may reject you and love her new friend only. She may also reject him and love only you, and now you have two birds that hate each other but that you still have to care for. Also the male could do either of these things as well.

2.)Possibility of babies. Big can of worms, health risk to the parents, health risk to you if they decide to protect the nest from you, major risk to babies being produced by someone who shouldnt.

3.)I have no idea if parrotlets tend to get along in same sex pairs. Try it with cockatiels, everything is fine. Try it with Alexandrines, you get two dead birds. You need to find this out before continuing.

4)You cannot guarantee that the birds will ever be safe to house in the same cage even if they are friends. If you do end up able to cage them together it will be a process, and likely you will end up needing a completely NEW cage for them to share in addition to the ones they will live in while they get to know each other. So three cages total. Do you have room for that?

I strongly recommend waiting to even consider a second bird. You have a young bird that's just learning about the world. They can be taught to be independent and keep themselves occupied while you're not home. We all have lives! It's okay!

Besides breeding and bonding concerns, you really don't want to double your problems right now.

Thanks for your all your advice. I really want a male parrotlet. I like the blue / purple color very much. So If I buy another male and leave it in a separate cage but in the same room. They will have each others company during the day and let them out when I come home to play with them. Is that ok?

It may be ok, or they may be violent toward one another and you may not be able to have them out at the same time safely. Do you have time to give them both the attention they deserve if they cannot be out at the same time?

We got a male canary to keep our Kiwi (parrotlet hen) company during the day. They are so funny together. She just looks at him like, "why are you on my stuff!" The canary just loves kiwi and will follow her all over the place. He is very quick to get out of her way too should she get moody (which is a daily occurrence):09:

She really doesn't seem to mind him too much. :22: They are inside each other cages, in and out all day long when I am home. They are both flighted, so getting her in to her cage at night isn't a problem, I have to bribe him with a nice piece of broccoli or something tasty. Otherwise he likes to sleep right above her cage on a swing. He also sings to her and will being her feathers. She is like: "pfft.. whats that for?" :09: lil brat!

I chose the canary 1. because I love canaries, and 2. because they are not really hands on birds, like parrotlets are. So there really isn't any competition. my male is very inquisitive though and is allowed to fly as much as Kiwi is.

dexterlancer said:

Thanks for your all your advice. I really want a male parrotlet. I like the blue / purple color very much. So If I buy another male and leave it in a separate cage but in the same room. They will have each others company during the day and let them out when I come home to play with them. Is that ok?

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Males can ver very vocal, especially around breeding season. Females can be too, as you know they chatter a lot. So I would check some of them out before you make your decision.