Multiple cages for my new green cheek?

Okay so here’s my situation. I recently lost my sun conure Katniss, and it obviously broke my heart after bonding with her all those years and I knew I needed another bird in my life. I live with my parents, and they didn’t hate my last bird, but after she bonded to me she started getting territorial with my mother so she stayed in her cage in the evenings, or I’d take her to my room. I can understand why my parents may have found her annoying (noise), and after she wasn’t around anymore they got used to not having her giant cage in our living room. I knew I would have to negotiate a way to keep a new bird in the busy part of the house if it was gonna be comfortable and not completely alienated from my parents. I hope to avoid the problem behavior of my Sun.

When I adopted my new green cheek about a week ago, I was able to put the big cage in our mud room, which we are often in and out of all day.... I didn’t want the cage in my bedroom and only around me while he’s adjusting to a new place. This certainly isn’t a good permanent spot for Laszlo so I showed my mother some cages about 2/3 the size of the one we have and convinced her to let me keep the smaller cage in the living room. I am planning on moving the big cage to my bedroom, and hopefully getting him to feel comfortable in both environments.

So......... I am wondering if it would be something that could work with a bird having 2 cages, and how big of a hurdle it will be to introduce him to another new environment once his new cage comes this week. I used to be home alone all day and could have the bird out with me, but because of the pandemic, my mother now works full time at home and it became difficult to maintain the routine I had with Katniss and ideally I would like my room to be a safe place for the new bird and I to be alone.

I have lots of bonding and work to do with my 7mo old Laszlo, so I know it will be a while to get into the routine of going upstairs (probably during the day) and downstairs to be around the family at night, but I’d like to know if anyone has any advice/warnings, or just tell me their thoughts. I feel like it’s gonna be a lot for the little guy to move into the house from the mud room and I’d like to make it as painless as possible.

Overly kind of your Parents to allow you to get another Bird. Their concerns and lack of interest should have been a clear signal to you that although you 'want', they didn't.

You should have the primary cage in your room and 'possible' another located elsewhere. The location fully their choice.

Multiple cages can be confusing to a new arrival and until you have developed a bond, additional locations should be avoided.

All birds can be different, some have no problem with more than one cage - others are stressed by it. I agree with Sailboat in that it would preferable to have him get comfortable in one cage first and get comfortable with you and your family as well. Then I would try to start with his alternate cage. It may be helpful to take a toy or something that he really likes from one cage to the other to help him recognize it as a good place. Most of mine are pretty relaxed about changing cages, but not all are....I would just watch for signs of stress or anxiety.

UPDATE: Laszlo has blown my mind today when he wasted no time exploring the new cage. I let him out this morning, and he watched me put all the purchases and toys into his new cage with excitement, and it only took a minute after I rolled the new cage in reach to his current one before he made his way in and then climbed up to the perch on the open roof. He spent about half an hour experimenting with the landscape and then I placed him back into the other cage for a break, and i would have let him stay our longer but I had to end secure him so I could attend my online class. He is very nice and open to my mother and anyone else who’s given him attention so far, and I think everything will work out with the transition into a different part of the house, and eventually acclimating him to the upstairs and downstairs cage setup. I’m so proud of how brave he’s been so far, and I’m thankful I spent the money on a place for him to be around the family this early in his life.

Everyone enjoys Laszlo and it will be nice for him to be familiar with what happens in the house and still get lots of one on one time with me upstairs. Thanks for the advice and I’m gonna continue training and trying to settle him into the dynamic I’m working towards with gradual steps. I see the potential issues I could have had with only keeping him with me in my bedroom, and I want to prevent him from being afraid of the environment downstairs and then fearful or aggressive with my parents. Right now my mom and dad have developed a friendly relationship with the bird and are gonna keep trying to bond with him.

Here’s a link to a video of him in the new cage https://www.instagram.com/p/CDRjzpsgOeN/?igshid=1mn86rt1qt5nw

Please accept my condolences for your loss of Katniss.

Nothing at all wrong with multiple cages once Laszlo acclimates. You are so fortunate having parents permitting a cage in a primary part of the house. Terrific video of him exploring, cannot predict whether a parrot will be shy or enthusiastic!

Scott said:

Please accept my condolences for your loss of Katniss.

Nothing at all wrong with multiple cages once Laszlo acclimates. You are so fortunate having parents permitting a cage in a primary part of the house. Terrific video of him exploring, cannot predict whether a parrot will be shy or enthusiastic!

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I know I’m lucky to have a great set of parents who want to enjoy this bird along with me. I miss Katniss dearly, and it helps that this time around I have a new bird who is comfortable and open to learn and bond with me. Katniss was a very nervous rescue and it took her a very long time to move past her fearful tendencies. I was preparing for a difficult adjustment period trying to bond with a scared or aggressive new bird but Laszlo has gone above and beyond what I thought could be possible at this stage.

I appreciate the support. These forums are great

I think multiple cages or hang out spots are great. My burd hang out on or in each other cages, plus I have a movable burd stand I git st the pet supermarket and attached a big rope bungee to, as well as placing ceiling hooks and using fishing line to hang rope hooos or bungee ropes this gives them different hang out spots near me, off furniture and us their own place. It’s goid for their minds to have different spots to hang out, and they like being part of everything

Laurasea said:

I think multiple cages or hang out spots are great. My burd hang out on or in each other cages, plus I have a movable burd stand I git st the pet supermarket and attached a big rope bungee to, as well as placing ceiling hooks and using fishing line to hang rope hooos or bungee ropes this gives them different hang out spots near me, off furniture and us their own place. It’s goid for their minds to have different spots to hang out, and they like being part of everything

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Yeah I plan on making a pvc pipe gym to go in my room soon to add more play areas.

I’ve made two, it was fun to make but wasn’t thrilling to the birds, the pipe is slippery so you have to wrap something around it... maybe yours will be more fun to your burd
But i found those big rope bungee are better liked by my birds, they like walking up the spiral and hanging upside down to reach the lowest loops and you can bend them into different shapes and zip tie chew stuff or treats..

Just sharing my take, the pvc pipe idea appeals more to us humans than the parrots I think...I ended up tossing mine and it was like four feet tall multiple levels lol
But I’m sure there are people and parrots that really enjoy them as well

I attached a spiral perch to a pants hanger. Strong tension rods in front of some of the windows allow me to give my Sunny a window spot easily. I started keeping it on the bathroom curtain rod as a default -- the sunny wanted to chew the tags on a washcloth that was hanging up so I got her a "Taggies" cloth as well. I put an additional tension-rod over the bathtub for clothes drying, and then bought several more spiral perches... Sunny now has a complex hanging playground in my bathroom, which she loves, and demands to visit frequently throughout the day.

So, if you can find places onto which to hook a hanger - then, you can attach a spiral hanging perch to a hanger for a movable play area.

I have multiple spots for mine and they do fine. They got introduced to each spot as a new place to play, there were fun treats and brand new toys and for a few days they were just open playgrounds. Now I can use all of them as cases as needed. My birds are both super Velcro birds, they'd be on me 24/7 if they could. Just do everything with lots of patience and love and positive reinforcement and they should be fine. And if not, there's always the forum for help.