Sudden loss of Parrot, and trying to find another parrot companion for the one left behind

[MyFerociousChicken]

Hi,

I lost my precious Ellie on April 17, 2024. She was a 15 year old derbyan parakeet. She never laid an egg in her life and never had prior health issues in all those years. She ate a very balanced diet, was extremely active, and was the most loving, gentle, and calming presence I or anyone in my family could wish for, the perfect study or work buddy as a post secondary student. She went perfectly normal to downhill in the span of 7 days - even having undergone numerous vet visits during those days and taking every precaution known to man. The necropsy determined her body didn't know how to produce an egg, her first egg. The egg formed consisted of only a yolk - whilst the membrane grew around her heart and liver.

She left behind her "little brother", a male quaker parrot who was adopted as a companion for her and became bonded to her for the the past 13 years. He is now distressed - he is a very social boy, always has been, and one of the requirements to initially adopt him back then was to have another parrot present in the household. He calls for her and she can no longer answer.

I want to find a companion for him (and for my grieving heart), ideally another male bird (I do not wish to revisit the risk of egglaying again with a female), ideally a quaker parrot, and young (<1 year), especially if it means it'll be easier to establish a hierarchy.

I'm not sure where to look though...

Ellie and my quaker Chippy lived in separate cages, same room, and they had a brother-sister relationship where one would tease the other in ways such as slowly inching into the other's personal space (when both perched on Ellie's cage), going into the other's food bowl to eat their food when they out (again, going into Ellie's cage), lightly tugging on the tail, etc. Ellie let Chippy overstep boundaries, she was shy, occasionally submissive, and extremely gentle in her warnings with him - never used her size to her advantage.

I plan to maintain the same arrangement - separate cages, same room.

I'm in Ontario Canada, and to surmise, I'm looking for feedback on where to start, as I have already begun looking into adoption centers, and I am not familiar with any breeders. I would not knock off the possibility of looking into adopting from a shelter in the US that may have difficulty rehoming a quaker given the restrictions in certain states.

Apologies for the essay

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Hi,

I lost my precious Ellie on April 17, 2024. She was a 15 year old derbyan parakeet. She never laid an egg in her life and never had prior health issues in all those years. She ate a very balanced diet, was extremely active, and was the most loving, gentle, and calming presence I or anyone in my family could wish for, the perfect study or work buddy as a post secondary student. She went perfectly normal to downhill in the span of 7 days - even having undergone numerous vet visits during those days and taking every precaution known to man. The necropsy determined her body didn't know how to produce an egg, her first egg. The egg formed consisted of only a yolk - whilst the membrane grew around her heart and liver.
View attachment 58865

She left behind her "little brother", a male quaker parrot who was adopted as a companion for her and became bonded to her for the the past 13 years. He is now distressed - he is a very social boy, always has been, and one of the requirements to initially adopt him back then was to have another parrot present in the household. He calls for her and she can no longer answer.

I want to find a companion for him (and for my grieving heart), ideally another male bird (I do not wish to revisit the risk of egglaying again with a female), ideally a quaker parrot, and young (<1 year), especially if it means it'll be easier to establish a hierarchy.

I'm not sure where to look though...

Ellie and my quaker Chippy lived in separate cages, same room, and they had a brother-sister relationship where one would tease the other in ways such as slowly inching into the other's personal space (when both perched on Ellie's cage), going into the other's food bowl to eat their food when they out (again, going into Ellie's cage), lightly tugging on the tail, etc. Ellie let Chippy overstep boundaries, she was shy, occasionally submissive, and extremely gentle in her warnings with him - never used her size to her advantage.

I plan to maintain the same arrangement - separate cages, same room.

I'm in Ontario Canada, and to surmise, I'm looking for feedback on where to start, as I have already begun looking into adoption centers, and I am not familiar with any breeders. I would not knock off the possibility of looking into adopting from a shelter in the US that may have difficulty rehoming a quaker given the restrictions in certain states.

Apologies for the essay

** Hugs** It's so hard losing a loved one, no matter the species. As for finding a new bird - Ineke Montgomery of TweetieBeaks in Ontario has quakers and green cheeks, I believe at the moment. I'm getting a pionus off her. She comes highly recommended just about everywhere I looked!

 

[MyFerociousChicken]

** Hugs** It's so hard losing a loved one, no matter the species. As for finding a new bird - Ineke Montgomery of TweetieBeaks in Ontario has quakers and green cheeks, I believe at the moment. I'm getting a pionus off her. She comes highly recommended just about everywhere I looked!

Thank you so much, I will start with her

 

[Botsari]

I think your instinct is %100 correct in this case. This was exactly me a year and a half ago. I lost my 27 year old African Grey - I had him since he was a baby and even had to feed him part formula for a month when I first got him. That’s him on the right in my avatar picture. His buddy (on the left) was a year older and they had been together the whole time - same cage and everything. It was horrible and crushing for me - I felt the boy I lost was my “once in a lifetime bird” in terms of how bonded we were - but I was most worried about his buddy. They were the center of each other’s worlds for almost three decades. About 6 months later I brought home an African Gray baby. That was a whole odd couple saga of the “grumpy old man” and the “awkward kid”. It took about 8 months before they fully decided the other was OK, but now they are close friends and in the same cage at night. Even though it was a little awkward in the beginning my older bird’s body language told me almost immediately that he was happier just having another bird around.

I’m definitely of the school that however close they are with people a parrot’s life is fuller with some kind of bird companion as well. That probably goes double for a bird that has known nothing else. I feel like it is their birthright to have some healthy bird to bird social life.

I considered adopting, and maybe that would have worked, but after a ton of thought I chose a hand-reared baby of the same species as the friend he lost. In my case the reasoning was that while you can never be sure beforehand for any two birds, that would be the highest probability for a good match. The downside is the same as the upside - while a very young bird is not bird number two that is entirely set in its ways, I realized right away that they are also dopes and not fully mature, so just as likely to stumble blindly into a bird to bird social faux pas. Just go slow and be patient introducing the two.

As for the ache inside for my lost friend, it never goes away, but the worst part blunted with time.

 

[kme3388]

I’ve actually have never seen a derbyan parakeet in person. Their grayish eyes with their feather coloring is so stunning. I’m very sorry for your loss. I didn’t realize how dangerous or life threatening eggs can be to female parrots before joining this forum. Thank you for sharing what happened.

Again, I’m so sorry for the loss of your feathered loved one