Best pairing for green cheeks

[Aconite]

Hi there,

In brief: which is better with GCC? Male/male, female/female, or male/female?
Please point me to the thread if there already is one.

I’m planning on getting a pair of green cheeks. I want two birds, as I had an Amazon who was bonded to me and it became impossible to do anything because she lived on my shoulder. She passed away a few years ago due to old age and I miss her, but I don’t want another deeply bonded bird. I’d prefer two birds who can bond to one another, but have me as their buddy.

I really don’t want to breed birds as there is no way I could rehome the babies. So I’ve been told that I could have a male / female pair and that they won’t breed if I don’t give them a nest box. But I’d prefer to avoid any accidents.

I don’t know about female fertility. Would a female / female pair still lay infertile eggs? And could they get egg bound?
I never asked these questions when I had my amazons and never had any issues, but I’d like to be more cautious with these birds as I have the luxury of time. (My amazons were handed to me by someone who couldn’t cope and I just had to roll with it.)

I assume a male / male pair might get more territorial or aggressive during hormone season, but after fostering many amazons and cockatoos I’m not too worried about this.

If you could get any pairing of green cheeks - which would you choose if you wanted a physically safe and healthy life for the birds.
(I’m going to have them free roaming in safe areas of my home and I have an aviary for flight training. So they will get loads of exercise.) I just don’t want internal issues I can’t see. But maybe it’s not a bird problem? I keep lizards and egg binding can be a problem for them.

Thanks for reading!

 

[LaManuka50]

Hi there,

In brief: which is better with GCC? Male/male, female/female, or male/female?
Please point me to the thread if there already is one.

I’m planning on getting a pair of green cheeks. I want two birds, as I had an Amazon who was bonded to me and it became impossible to do anything because she lived on my shoulder. She passed away a few years ago due to old age and I miss her, but I don’t want another deeply bonded bird. I’d prefer two birds who can bond to one another, but have me as their buddy.

I really don’t want to breed birds as there is no way I could rehome the babies. So I’ve been told that I could have a male / female pair and that they won’t breed if I don’t give them a nest box. But I’d prefer to avoid any accidents.

I don’t know about female fertility. Would a female / female pair still lay infertile eggs? And could they get egg bound?
I never asked these questions when I had my amazons and never had any issues, but I’d like to be more cautious with these birds as I have the luxury of time. (My amazons were handed to me by someone who couldn’t cope and I just had to roll with it.)

I assume a male / male pair might get more territorial or aggressive during hormone season, but after fostering many amazons and cockatoos I’m not too worried about this.

If you could get any pairing of green cheeks - which would you choose if you wanted a physically safe and healthy life for the birds.
(I’m going to have them free roaming in safe areas of my home and I have an aviary for flight training. So they will get loads of exercise.) I just don’t want internal issues I can’t see. But maybe it’s not a bird problem? I keep lizards and egg binding can be a problem for them.

Thanks for reading!

Welcome back to the forums, @Aconite, it seems it's been a while since you were last here! I'm so sorry for the loss of your Amazon, please feel free to post a tribute to her on our Remembrance sub-forum if you'd like to

Personally if I was in your situation I would opt for a rooster/rooster combination. There is, of course, absolutely no guarantee that ANY two birds will get along with each other, regardless of gender, but in that way you would at least be certain that no eggs would result, fertile or otherwise. I lost a little lorikeet hen a few years ago to complications arising from infertile egg-laying and it was utterly heartbreaking. There was no lorikeet rooster around at the time but she was just very determined to lay anyway. One of our present mod team has two hen conures, a GCC and a black cap, and they have to date had no issues but again, these things can change although hopefully they won't.

In my opinion if you have a rooster/hen combination of conures there is a very good chance they will mate and breed, irrespective of whether they are provided with a nest box or not, it's just what they are primed to do. I currently have a varied lorikeet rooster and a princess parrot hen, and I didn't think they'd be the least bit interested in mating with each other but I was dead wrong - no eggs so far thank goodness! My avian vet even told me he'd seen hybrid chicks of a cross between a scaly-breasted lorikeet and a superb parrot so it can and does happen, even with totally different species. Even with two roosters, you could end up with two birds who hate each other, or get along ok, or love each other to the point where they exclude you altogether. I think all you can do is choose two birds that you will love and be prepared for all eventualities, whether the two of them actually like each other or not.

 

[Aconite]

Thank you so much for that prompt reply. It is always so tricky, isn’t it! But I think that’s half the fun.
My amazon was bonded to me, and my son’s Amazon was bonded to him. But the two amazons were fine together as long as I was out if sight. My poor husband spent his entire time ducking as both birds dive bombed him.
He was so happy to have the last few chaos free years, but he’s seen how my mental health is supported by having animal companions and so we are going back to life as dictated by our feathered masters.

I appreciate the advice, although I’m sure in practical terms it will come down to who pics me and not who I choose. So I’ll let you know. It might be that I simply struggle to find a pair if males that like each other.

I’ll let you know either way, but my suspicion was that roosters would be better, so I’ll stick to that plan.
I’m so excited to have birds back in my life. I can’t wait!

 

[LaManuka50]

Thank you so much for that prompt reply. It is always so tricky, isn’t it! But I think that’s half the fun.
My amazon was bonded to me, and my son’s Amazon was bonded to him. But the two amazons were fine together as long as I was out if sight. My poor husband spent his entire time ducking as both birds dive bombed him.
He was so happy to have the last few chaos free years, but he’s seen how my mental health is supported by having animal companions and so we are going back to life as dictated by our feathered masters.

I appreciate the advice, although I’m sure in practical terms it will come down to who pics me and not who I choose. So I’ll let you know. It might be that I simply struggle to find a pair if males that like each other.

I’ll let you know either way, but my suspicion was that roosters would be better, so I’ll stick to that plan.
I’m so excited to have birds back in my life. I can’t wait!

You're most welcome, @Aconite, I'm glad I was able to be of some help you to And I'm looking forward to meeting your new flock members very soon!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Keep in mind that females can (and often do) lay eggs without a male present. I don't know how often GCCs do this but budgies do. I have two females that sometimes actually try to mate and at least one of them lays eggs pretty frequently. Birds are so programmed to make more birds that it can be difficult to stop.

 

[Aconite]

You are not going to believe this… but I didn’t take anyone’s advice! Not even my own!
After tons of research, talking to breeders, discussing it with friends who keep birds… I got 3 celestial parrotlets. 2 boys and 1 girl as they had been kept together at the breeder and I didn’t want to separate them. They are adorable and I can’t wait for them to enrich my life. I hope I can enrich theirs too.

 

[LaManuka50]

You are not going to believe this… but I didn’t take anyone’s advice! Not even my own!
After tons of research, talking to breeders, discussing it with friends who keep birds… I got 3 celestial parrotlets. 2 boys and 1 girl as they had been kept together at the breeder and I didn’t want to separate them. They are adorable and I can’t wait for them to enrich my life. I hope I can enrich theirs too.

View attachment 84648

Oh they're gorgeous, congrats @Aconite, I don't think I'd have been able to separate them either. Do they have names yet?

 

[Aconite]

Oh they're gorgeous, congrats @Aconite, I don't think I'd have been able to separate them either. Do they have names yet?

Yes, they are called Cirrus, Nimbus and Stratus. Because they all have cloud pattens on their heads.

 

[LaManuka50]

Yes, they are called Cirrus, Nimbus and Stratus. Because they all have cloud pattens on their heads.

Gorgeous names for gorgeous birds, @Aconite, I'm so happy for all of you!