Picking a suitable cage mate

[Brisch]

I currently have a very well bonded what I believe to be male cinnamon green cheek conure, I am wondering if it is ok to house a Nanday with him? I would only ever do this if they got along, and I wouldnt put them together right away. Is this a possiblilty or is there too great of a size difference, right now someone is trying to rehome a Nanday in my area so we will go meet them soon. Please let me know opinions and dont prosecute me for asking the question please.

 

[thermodynamic]

I currently have a very well bonded what I believe to be male cinnamon green cheek conure, I am wondering if it is ok to house a Nanday with him? I would only ever do this if they got along, and I wouldnt put them together right away. Is this a possiblilty or is there too great of a size difference, right now someone is trying to rehome a Nanday in my area so we will go meet them soon. Please let me know opinions and dont prosecute me for asking the question please.

Definitely get a second cage suitable for the Nanday first. When all is well, use the larger cage for both birds and keep the smaller as a 'time-out' cage.

Your points are correct - it is technically possible, but only if criteria are met in favor of all involved.

How well-acquainted are the Nanday and GCC currently? (sounds like the nanday is going to be a new addition)

Keep both birds in separate cages - adjacent to each other but sufficiently put apart so that neither bird can be of beak's range of the other. Or talon's range... This process is called, if I recall, "howdying". Study the birds' body language and see by their reactions if they are trying to get to know each other, are indifferent, or act defensive in the sight of the other.

If you know the birds behave with each other on a playgym or other neutral territory, then you can - very slowly (MONTHS) - get them to co-habitate.

Each bird considers his/her cage to be the prime territory as well, and just putting in the Nanday might be seen by the GCC as a 'threat'. One thing that helps, when the time comes to put them in the same cage, is to rearrange the toys and perches in the cage. It effectively becomes a 'new home' to the the other bird as well. That will have to be done at the proper time, down the road, if it looks like both could cohabitate, without abandoning their bonding toward you in the process...

So let the Nanday bond to you as well, before trying this.


Do keep in mind:

* birds do establish a pecking order - dominant and submissive types
* two parrots have two different personalities and may not like one another. Just like two humans can loathe each other. So what you are trying might not be possible at all.
* keep a close eye on the birds, they might try to pick fights or worse with each other.
* the birds might bond and then ignore or hate you.
* this process takes a long while, especially if the birds came from different sources.



I would take things very slowly -- and if there was any sign of aggression from one toward the other, or signs of lesser interest toward you by either bird, I'd nix the prospect and keep them in separate cages forevermore.

I have two birds that cohabitate, Rusty and Scooter, but both were bought at the same pet store and were in separate partitions at the time. Scooter took longer to bond with me, but for this scenario it's been good luck. Situations CAN work, but not always. Do note that Rusty loathes Rosie and vice-versa, but Scooter is submissive to Rosie...

 

[ZephyrTK]

As an unrelated side note, please make sure you are prepared for the noise Nandays make.

We have a wild flock in the area end they can be truly deafening. I would feel comfortable saying a Nanday can easily out scream a Sun.

I'm thinking of getting my Emmy a friend so I appreciate you asking this question as I am also interested in the answer.

 

[Brisch]

I took my bird to meet the Nanday tonight, I knew right away it was not going to work out. The Nanday was bonded to a male, which I know can cause issues once re-homed to a female owner. She was 3x my birds size, as Honey is very small for a green cheek. She was also very aggressive, I was not going to put myself or my little baby through that. She also has 10 years on my bird.

In the next week here I am going to meet a black capped conure, 1.5 years old, male. The owner is a very well known bird person in the community, but the bird was bought for her son. The bird is currently going through a biting stage and the poor boy is afraid of the bird, mine has already gone through the biting stage so I think I can handle doing it again.

I will again have my bird meet the new bird before I make any descisions as I dont want my bird to be unhappy. I do understand that the assimilation will take some time to happen, I have rabbits and they are much the same when it comes to new cage mates, even when fixed. So we will see how the next meeting goes.

Thank you Thermodynamic, your input is very much appreciated and very informative. A few things I did know, but you have helped me understand a little better how this whole process will work or not work, depending.

I will keep the thread posted on how the next bird meet and greet goes.

 

[Neravas]

if you are looking for a cage mate, i would recommend another bird of the same species, perhaps you could look at another green cheek but maybe a different color?

 

[MonicaMc]

Either go with a bird of the same species, or go with one of a similar species same sex to avoid hybridization.

Here's photos of a green cheek x nanday hybrid....
Flickr: Search Hybrid Parrots