Compannion for a GCC? Newby needs advice, please.

[WendyM]

I lost my lorikeet recently and am planning on getting two conures. I have no experience of conures. Could you knowledgable folk give me some advice on the following concerns.

I want to have two birds who get on together. I was planning on getting two male GCCs. However, Ive been told males can become very territorial when they are hormonal and can fight. Can anyone comment on this problem please?

What would you suggest as the best compannion for a GCC? I have the following options available at the moment. Very limited in Australia at present as it is not the breeding season.

I have one male GCC baby who will be available in a week. These are my current options, and I would appreciate any comments or advice you could give me.

Option 1. The male baby GCC and a male baby Pearly (waiting on DNA sexing for the Pearlies - there are five chicks, so should be one male ). There is also the option of female GGCs and/or Pearlies.

Option 2. An 18 month old pinapple (very tame) and a baby GCC or Pearly. I suspect this is not a good idea.

Option 3. Get the GCC baby now and wait till the breeding season comes and take my baby to help choose another baby.

Option 4. A GCC male baby and a male of another species. Unfortunately this is limited to budgies and cockatiels at the moment, so would have to wait a few months to get other species.

Option 5. Get a male and a female, or two hens.

Some other questions

Is there any difference between GCCs and Pearlies? From my You Tube research they appear to be very similar.

The available GCCs and Pearlies live 300 and 500ks away - in opposite directions! If I get Pearly it will have to be air freighted...... would this be OK?

Sorry about the long email. I want to make sure I get it right!

Many thanks for your help.

Wendy, from Sydney

 

[MonicaMc]

I want to have two birds who get on together. I was planning on getting two male GCCs. However, Ive been told males can become very territorial when they are hormonal and can fight. Can anyone comment on this problem please?
I would have to say that it would depend on a case by case situation. Two birds of the same sex can, and do, get along just fine! They don't always, but getting two birds of the opposite sex doesn't guarantee you'll end up with two birds that get along!

What would you suggest as the best compannion for a GCC? I have the following options available at the moment. Very limited in Australia at present as it is not the breeding season.
Preferably another Pyrrhura. If you go with two birds of the opposite sex, either get two of the same sex or be prepared to prevent hybridization.

I can't say which option is best as only you know that. Are you ready for double the trouble? If you want to conures, it is usually best to get two at the same time from the same breeder that have been raised together.... but can you handle two conures? We can't answer that for you.

Is there any difference between GCCs and Pearlies? From my You Tube research they appear to be very similar.
I don't have experience with Pyrrhuras (well, not physically caring for them! I've handled/started training but that's about it!) but I have heard that they all can be pretty similar. Some birds are going to be nippier than others while some will just be more laid back.

The available GCCs and Pearlies live 300 and 500ks away - in opposite directions! If I get Pearly it will have to be air freighted...... would this be OK?
For my second conure, I traveled over 200 miles (~321k) one way on the road to go pick him up.

My third conure was over 10x that distance away (over 2,100+ miles or 3,380k) and she was shipped via airplane. What was supposed to be an ~12 hour trip total ended up being around 35 hours because she missed her connecting flight in one state and then it was too hot to ship her for the rest of the day. She had to stay at the airport overnight and take the first flight out in the morning! Other than having lost a bit of weight (which is no surprise), she arrived safely! That was over two weeks ago! She's still doing fine and settling in!


So yes, shipping a bird via the airlines is ok!

 

[WendyM]

Thank you Monica for all that good advice.

Ive decided to just get the GCC .... he is such a cute little guy from his pix and is very tame, so I'll only have one. I might try and get a second one when the breeding season starts.

 

[MikeyTN]

If you keep the two in separate cages, it doesn't really matter what sex you get. IF you keep them in the same cage, if a male and a female, then you'll have to deal with mating and such. By keeping them single or separate gives you a better chance at keeping them tame and friendly towards you. By pairing them up, there's no guarantee they will be friendly to you!

I personally don't like shipping birds but that's just me....Someone on here not long ago, their bird caught a virus while being shipped, but he may have already had it too? But you just never know....