2 of the Same Birds

[HumanWings]

Does anyone have trouble with having the same type of bird together and keeping them from breeding? Like 2 blue and gold macaws for example? What's the best way to stop this from happening and if birds are brother and sister will they never want to breed with each other?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Thingamagigs]

I am interested in this subject also. I have a corella and a galah and while they aren't the same species, they are known to readily hybridise. They are housed separately, but I still have to consider what course of action I can take if they end up bonding and begin to... experiment LOL

I will definitely be watching this thread for ideas

 

[henpecked]

No brothers/sisters will breed. I would have one bird first and bond with it before getting the second. Most larger parrots aren't people friendly if breeding with a mate. As long as you keep your pets bonded to you then the chances of them bonding to each other would be less. Of course smaller parrots are more social and except others quicker (for breeding) and humans have less influence on them. If your larger pet parrots ever took a "shine" to each other, i doubt there's much you could do to stop it. You could keep them in separate cages, but it they bonded to each other they'd have less to do with you. I always say your taking a big chance when adding a second bird.

 

[Kiwibird]

My parents 2 amazons (a male and a female) haven't given each other a second look when it comes to love interest in each other the whole 40 years they've been together. They are best buddies, but not THAT kind of friends. They actually get nippy with each other during their mating season instead of cuddly. Every bird is going to be different of course, but common sense would tell one the best way to prevent unwanted mating is to keep the birds in separate cages during times they are not being supervised. It's not hard to see they've developed a crush on each other and to nip that in the bud when you are watching them, but in a shared cage, they could mate while your at work, in the other room, sleeping ect... And birds don't have the same kind of morals people do, they will mate with a sibling of the opposite sex and think nothing of it. When your deciding on the right species, make sure to consider how much room you have for side by side cages so both birds can have a comfortable sized home. Or, you could just get 2 females or 2 males or 2 sexually incompatible species and not worry about babies even if they did try to mate.

 

[MonicaMc]

Parrots don't have morals. They don't care if they breed with their siblings, their parents or anyone else they may be related to. In captivity or in the wild.

You can have two of the same species of birds together and they may never mate. Even if they do mate, they may never lay eggs. (I know of a cockatiel pair who have been mating for over a year, and no eggs!) Even if they do lay eggs, the eggs might not hatch.

Usually, as long as you don't encourage them to reproduce, they wont. If they are really interested in reproducing, you can take measures to try and discourage them from reproducing.


Currently, I have a lone mitred conure (caged alone). I wish I could have gotten him and my cherry head, prior to his passing, to get along! But alas, opposites did not attract in this case. In another cage, I have 4 cockatiels and a bourke parakeet. Out of all the birds in there, only one is a male, and that's one of the tiels. Unfortunately, he lost his long time mate last year, and although he's paired up with another hen, there's been no interest in reproducing between the two of them. I'd rather keep it that way anyway, since I'm not interested in breeding.

 

[HumanWings]

Thanks guys for all the advice.

 

[WharfRat]

Henpecked offered some sound advice there IMO. Mating was always a concern to me as well but I solved that by having a pair of females (GW's) and a pair of males (YNA's). That's still no guarantee as to how they'll get along with each other either. Both our GW's and Zon's "squabble" with each other but nothing serious. I did separate the GW's though cage wise and plan on doing the same with the Zon's as soon as we can swing for another cage (which is soon, I hope). Also, I never let the GW's and Zon's interact with each other EVER. That would be disastrous, no doubt what so ever!

 

[sodakat]

Well, we all have our opinions and mine is that you can have pets who also have mates.

I'm not sure of the statistics, but on these online forums we rarely hear of pet birds producing young, compared to the thousands who don't. Mating and successfully producing viable chicks are two separate things.

I concede that some species are less likely to be friends with people if they have a mate, but I only concede that because that is what everyone says. I don't actually know of anyone who has raised two young zons or toos or macaws together to adulthood and allowed them to mate. Not saying there isn't someone. I just don't know of them. I do know lots of people who have breeder birds who are not treated as pets who produce young.

On a personal note, my pet pair has produced and they are still my pets. I hold out hope that there will be a time when most breeders are pets.

 

[henpecked]

I have amazons who are breeders and also pets. They "allow" me much more than the expets who are now breeders. The birds who bond to each other before being introduced to humans seem to accept humans much better than birds who started out as pets, IMO.Yes i hold wild caught zons to be special because of their unpolluted genes. But try finding pure Pans to use as breeders. My older wild caught breeders are dieing out and can't be replaced. Amazons who are parent/wild raised birds are the breeders who can be handled and actually crave human interactions. Tame /handraised birds are poor parents and are vicious when it comes to humans, just my .02 worth. I am by no means condoning the capture of wild birds for any reason, But i'll sure miss mine when they're gone. If you think pet birds are expensive, try finding good breeders.

 

[sodakat]

I have amazons who are breeders and also pets. They "allow" me much more than the expets who are now breeders. The birds who bond to each other before being introduced to humans seem to accept humans much better than birds who started out as pets, IMO.Yes i hold wild caught zons to be special because of their unpolluted genes. But try finding pure Pans to use as breeders. My older wild caught breeders are dieing out and can't be replaced. Amazons who are parent/wild raised birds are the breeders who can be handled and actually crave human interactions. Tame /handraised birds are poor parents and are vicious when it comes to humans, just my .02 worth. I am by no means condoning the capture of wild birds for any reason, But i'll sure miss mine when they're gone. If you think pet birds are expensive, try finding good breeders.

Can't argue with your experience and certainly was not trying to! I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd rather see pets raised knowing they are birds so they can produce and raise young successfully, instead of thinking they are people and also have parent raised birds who are more likely to successfully raise young, be treated as pets where possible.

I'm not encouraging people to breed their parrots. My real point is that most don't figure out how to mate, and if they do figure it out, they rarely produce chicks. I think people worry a lot about something that doesn't happen all that often in the larger parrot species kept as pets.

We'd better hope that pet parrots can produce though, since everyone's wild caught birds are getting up in years. Even the parent raised birds that were born in captivity are probably 2 months of clicker training away from being awesome pets though!

 

[henpecked]

IMO our pet parrots would have less issues if parent raised, but that's not the way things are done nowdays. The large majority is raised in incubators and brooders from day one. I didn't mean to sound defensive, just kind of outspoken and opinionated, LOL.

 

[goalerjones]

IMO our pet parrots would have less issues if parent raised...

Exactly the same thing my vet said. He said that birds who are parent raised don't have so many anxiety disorders like plucking.