How to add a second parrot to your daily routine!

[wrvgirl]

Charlie the Too will be joining us this weekend. We have plans to break her in slowly and her owners say that she will most likely be jealous of my ringneck, Apollo.

My dad, the bird guru of the family told me to work them separately and take them to a different room [duhhhh, dad.]

But I was wondering if there were any other ways that I could get both birds used to a new routine, without too much jealousy between them.

The goal is that they learn to accept each other as companions, I don't want them to be jealous of each other, I will try to very hard to split my time equally between them.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[weco]

Your dad is right about working/training two birds separately.....often, when you train them together, they will watch each other & not really pay attention to what you are trying to teach.....

There is no quick & easy way to train birds, if you want to do it right.....

You are going to want to keep the 'too & IRN separate anyway.....different sized birds, different sized beaks, different attitudes & personalities that can easily conflict.....

 

[Safira]

After quarantine is over, if you're going to have them in the same room then I would make sure the bird that was there first (Your IRN) is the first one you go to/interact with/feed. When I go around my bird room, I always go to my B& G macaw and feed her, then I'll go to the CAG's and feed them. I'll let her out first, then them, etc, etc. When my other Macaw is out of quarantine, I plan on moving my CAGS out of the room into another one and putting my GW in the same room as the B&G to keep them from getting the dust. But I'll still go to my B& G first, then the GW.
I hope that made sense, it doesn't sound like it did to me.

I do agree with working with them separately as well, but as far as general routine like filling up food dishes and cleaning cages, I'd do the IRN - then the Rescue.

 

[Grinder]

Safira is right. I was going to say the same thing. Make sure you let Apollo know that he is the leader of the flock. Interact with him first. Feed him first. Let him out first. The only thing you do second is put him in his cage after you've done so with your cockatoo.

 

[wrvgirl]

My problem with quarantine is that the Toos cage is MASSIVE, the only place it can go is in the bird room....should I move Apollo's cage out and then back in later? Or do I just keep them together in the same room?

I don't want to move Apollo out, because when I move him back in, I don't want the Too to think that she was there first....or is that a crazy thought? lol

Also, the Toos owner said that the Too has been living in a really small cage, because "she doesn't like big cages." I asked my dad about this and he said the lady is full of it...that what I need to do is keep the Too in the smaller crate to force interaction; he said if the Too is in the massive cage, she will learn that she can hide or back away from me when I open the door, and that letting her do that in the beginning is just going to forge a pattern that the Too doesn't have to interact with me.

Like I said, I trust my dad about these things, he's been breeding and handraising for 30+ years, and he's done it all...granted, retirement he has very few babies and birds, but he did it for so long, I like to think he knows what he's talking about. lol

Thank you all for the advice. I didn't expect to be taking on another bird, and definitely not something as large as a Too! [Not that I mind, I love cockatoos!] but I'm a little nervous about this, I just need someone to verbally pat me on the head and lead me in the right direction. lol

 

[Safira]

I'm a little torn on this.

On one hand I want to say move her directly into the big cage. She's already going to go through having to move houses, moving cages at the same time might be easier. I've done this with one of my CAG's and she was fine with it.

On the other hand, I don't know how attached this bird is to her current cage. I can tell you my B&G macaw HATED the large cage I got her. I'm not sure if its the shape (it's a extra large corner A&E cage.) or the actual size. She's back in a smaller dometop now and doing better.

I do find myself agreeing with your Dad, it might be easier to get her use to you handling her if you keep her in the small cage. Once she's settled in, maybe take her to play on the larger cage until she gets use to it and make the switch?

 

[wrvgirl]

That's what I was thinking...that she could stay in her dog crate [ugh, even typing that word makes me sad] until she's settled and used to being handled, and then we can start letting her on the playtop of the big cage until she's ready to move.

The owner also said that the Too doesn't like toys or fruit

What does this bird do all day??? I have a gut feeling that the poor baby has just been neglected and never given the opportunity to play with things or try new foods...she also said the Too won't eat anything except cheap crap seed...

Any suggestions on how to wean her onto GOOD feed and fruits and greens?

Thank you again, I appreciate the feedback...I just need someone to bounce ideas off of. lol