How close is too close?

[BirdyMomma]

Hi

So, being a mom to multiple birds, I am ever vigilant as to never allow them un supervised, out of cage close contact. This is one of the many concrete rules I have learned here on this forum, and it does not get diverted from.

We train all of our birds, at least once a day, all together. Additionally, because of the way our house is set up, all of the cages are in one room, in relatively close proximity.

I have seen my birds take interest in one another, and approach each other, however I always intercede and remove one before they get close enough to touch each other.

My question is, am I preventing them from building a natural bond, or is my hyper vigilance the correct course of action to insure safety at all times? Should I stand by and let them investigate each other on their own terms, as you would with dogs?

Please share any info or experience you have regarding this question.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Great question! I will be following closely.

Can I ask an additional question? What about size differences? My zon, Percy, is extremely interested in Jack, my budgie. I've looked at them and the fact that Percy's beak is as big as Jack's entire head and neck concerns me greatly! They're never out at the same time because Jack is flighted and may easily get too close to that big sharp beak

 

[Kiwibird]

If they are expressing interest in each other, and it appears non-aggressive, I see no problems letting them "meet" under close supervision. If they are friendly with each other, over time (common sense applies) you won't always need to supervise, but until you're sure they get along, it's best to be there.

Edit: @ Percy- Don't think I'd allow a budgie and an amazon together, period. Even a little nip from Percy could really hurt Jack. But Birdiemommas flock are all big birds, so they probably aren't likely to mess too much with each other because they all know the others have the beaks to defend themselves My parents amazons are together all the time, they are very bonded and while they get in the occasional scuffle, they have never harmed each other. About the worse that happens is one preens the other a little to hard, so they get subsequently nipped. Nothing that wouldn't happen in nature. The cockatoo is rather aggressive, and does not interact with the amazons, who are both really gentle birds. Thats actually a good thing to bring up when you have a lot of birds, some are fine to interact, others aren't and sometimes life changes make birds who used to be ok together no longer ok together. You just have to watch and see. Kiwi has been allowed to interact with my parents zons (under very close supervision, since he's unfamiliar to them). They seemed super interested in each other when they were all in cages. We let Lucy and Barney out of their cages (which are connected) and set Kiwi up there with them. They all just sat there like lumps and stared at each other, like "what now"? You'd THINK that on his end he may or may not have ever been with his own kind (other amazons), and the other 2 haven't been around a new/different bird in 35/40 years, and yet, they just sit there like feathered lumps:20: I thought they would want to come check each other out, but I was wrong.