Need an honest opinion on owning TWO greys.

[JDS5607]

Hi everyone!

 

First off, let me just say this is ONLY an idea (as I know how excited everyone gets when a new grey will be coming into the forums haha)....

I've been THINKING about POSSIBLY, PERHAPS mentioning the idea of adding a second grey to our flock to my husband. As Sully is getting older, and really talking and doing tricks and such, I'm really missing his baby days. I miss him cuddling me, and not being able to stay awake more than a few hours before passing out wherever he is. In addition, I feel Sully may enjoy having another grey around that would match his intelligence level (because Romeo and Chicken can't talk and Joe is just plain mean to Sully-man) that he could play with and "talk" to.

 

I guess my question is, I know some of you have two greys. Do you recommend having two? I'll be honest, Sully outsmarts me sometimes, so I'm a little concerned about being ganged up on (LOL- I think.)...

And I know it's selfish on my part to get another grey, in part, because I want another baby around that will grow up too... but I also want him as a companion to Sully, as he LOVES talking to himself in the mirror and going "Boop boop?!?! Boop? No Boop." ( I think that's how he says poop.

[Greywings]

Each home situation and bird is unique therefore you cannot predict how your boy will accept another Grey. We live with 2 CAG's and 1 Timneh, 2 Too's. Pookie 21 years, ignores the other Greys and shares cage top time well with Fred the Elanora Too kind of avoids Gunner the Timneh. Gunner is able to share with Fred but wants to chase Pookie sometimes. Whisper the big silvery CAG only like people very jealous of other birds. You know your bird best how do you think he will react? Try playing a video of other Greys being active and vocalizing to get a little glimpse of his interest levels.

[JDS5607]

Well...

 

I'll be honest, Sully does NOT like the little birds, for two reasons, I think.

1. They fly too fast, and all around him.

2. They get on his cage without his permission. :\

 

I've shown him videos of other greys, and he doesn't seem to care to much. He doesn't seem to make the connection... I would love to take him to a petstore to see how he reacts to other birds, but I don't want to take the chance of exposing him to other birds that haven't been vet checked. He did come from a breeder though, that had lots of large birds, and he had two siblings, you think he would remember?

[danmcq]

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee on two Greys getting along. You will only be able to answer that question by actually bring another home and living with the outcome.

 

Our Grey is VERY jealous of any bird getting attention. A second grey in this home I know without a doubt it would not work here. Dayo must be with or on one of us at all times.

 

It seems to be the "baby" syndrome. They are cute, but as you said, they grow into adults.

[ZivaDiva]

Hi there,

 

I've been off the forums for quite a long time but came back and saw the topic and just had to click on in. I have a 9 yr old CAG and will be adopting a baby CAG in about 2 months. The new one was recently pulled from the nest and is being handfed and we're hoping s/he's weaned early June. The new baby is missing most of his nails. I have several other birds that are "special" so I figured I'd take another one.

 

My CAG, Z, (formerly Diva, formerly Ziva) doesn't have a problem with my 8 other birds but they are all smaller. I have cockatiels, lovebirds and conures. I'm going to go for it and hope for the best. Z is a really easy bird and doesn't have behavior problems. I hope he stays that way.

[BenzMama]

Jewel/Sweetie Pie came into our home at 2-1/2 as a foster who had been relinquished to a rescue foundation. She was a little neurotic bundle of fluffy & plucked sweetness. So wanting to trust ~ but so wary! During our first visit to the avian vet, he suggested we quickly get another Grey (huh?!) for her to learn appropriate behaviors from observing. Our thoughts were to get her settled first. She was such a joyful addition to our home that we adopted her after the 6-mo foster period. Well, just 10 months after that, we rescued another older (approx 20) Grey. On the evening we brought Toby home, there was an e-mail asking if we could foster another Grey from the same foundation where Jewel was relinquished. Dorian was a 14-yr old cast out from the only home he'd ever known when he started to pluck. We took him in. He was also recently formally adopted & we can't imagine our home without him.

 

On the positive side, Jewel finally began to talk at age 3+ after having Toby & Dorian sharing our home for just 4 months. She still remains #1 in the pecking order as she was here first. Her cage is opened 1st, she's fed 1st, etc. to lessen any feelings of being passed over.

 

Generally, our 3 are tolerant of each other but certainly not best buddies. While there is no problem in them all being out together, they generally do not interact with each other up close. We continue to work with all of them. It took over 4 months just to get Dorian to willingly come out of his cage. Now he immediately exits & perches on his open door. They each have specific needs & issues which we realize. And, yes, if we had it to do all over again, we'd do it all over again.

 

While you are looking at adding a baby, our experience may help another looking at adding an older Grey. We had each Grey enter our home with knowing we would do the adapting & adjusting to fit their needs. As far as being a little cuddle-bug which you've found in a baby and desire again? My little Sweetie Pie is the most loving little girl. She always lays her head in my hand or on my shoulder for 'rub-rub-rub' as she indicates her pleasure with 'ooooh' the whole time. And Dorian will also quickly lay his head down for some cuddle time, either while on his door or on my shoulder. Toby? That rascal will get his head scritched & then go off looking for mischief to get into. "I love you' in his sweet voice gets him out of trouble every time. But, hey! They're our fids & we love them unconditionally.

[JDS5607]

Wow! Thanks for the info and opinions!

 

Sully is still cuddly, and really sweet... just not like he was when he was a baby. However, Greys do grow up Another reason for wanting another grey is just the fact that they are so amazing, loving & loyal. We've had little birds, but their personalities have nothing on Sully's I wouldn't expect two grey's to be best of friends, I am more worried about Sully feeling replaced or jealous of the new grey. He has only bitten me twice, and both times was because I had another bird on my shoulder.

I expect that we will have to wait a few years to get another grey, simply for lack of space and perhaps waiting until Sully grows a little older, and we can really see what his needs are. If he grows to be a very independent bird, I would love to be able to get another one. However, if he stays the way he is now, it may be best not to get another grey.

I promised my hubby when we brought Sully home, that our flock was complete... but you just CAN'T help wanting another one!

[chezron]

Maybe you could foster a bird, and see how it goes. At least if it doesn't work out you can give the bird back. Better than to buy a bird and to potentially have chaos. Although not so good for the foster if it has to change homes again.

 

Just say you do get another baby, he or she will also grow up at some point, and not be as cuddly. And there you are with no cuddly baby-again. It happens.

 

I think it also depends on the grey, because ours is still pretty cuddly at three years old and will sit for long head-scratching sessions.

[zandische]

Hey Jenn!

 

If it was up to me I'd adopt every unwanted grey I could find! I love these guys!

 

Your sig says Sully is only a year old - heck, he's still a baby!!! I have two greys who are brother and sister from the same clutch. We thought getting two at the same time would mean they would get along better. NOT! They fight just like brother and sister! They just -have to- kiss and cuddle for about 30 seconds every morning, then the rest of the day it's all squawks and chasing around the house and stealing each other's toys and food. They are almost two years old and while you may be wishing for that sweet cuddler again, I am REALLY wishing for mine to grow up a little bit already! LOL.

 

The reward of our two birds is the "flock family." Although each bird has made a significant personal bond to one of us, we share a pretty open family bond between all of us. The reward of interacting with two totally individual greys is pretty awesome. They each have their own talents too - Gryphon is the talker, whereas Seraph is a puzzle queen. Gryphon likes to "snuggle" by sitting on my arm where he can lean his head on my chest for scratches or head rubs, and Seraph likes a good old fashioned full head massage, so it's easy to enjoy snuggle time with either one. I definitely don't regret having two, but they do demand much more attention and time!

 

Since Sully is still so young, he may accept a baby more readily than an older bird. In the wild, a young grey would be exposed to many brothers and sisters, as well as new baby flockmates, over the course of his new young life. It's not unreasonable to think he'd make friends with them. Give Sully a few years to mature and he'll have a very specific pattern locked in his brain for his "flock," and my guess is that a new flock member will be harder for him to accept regardless of whether its a grey or not.

 

However, I think that greys make up their mind about other greys on an individual basis, the same way they either like or don't like other people. At a year old Sully is fully capable of making these independent judgements, and just like in any social situation, how you approach him with the baby and how you include him in activities will probably play a big factor in how well he takes to it. He may seem fully grown right now but deep down he is still very dependent on you for the cues in how to act in life. If you introduce the baby through a nuturing, postive process and give him positive interactions with it, (and also let him know he is first in your eyes) my guess is that he will be more likely to accept the new family member. (You need to do this for the baby too!) But you'll need to have a plan in place for how you do this BEFORE the baby comes home. It might even help to get a stuffed toy grey to get him used to the idea of another grey in his space.

 

Just my thoughts and good luck - my husband has already declared we are a two-bird household and no more, so I've lost that battle I think

[rbpittman]

The reality of the situation truly depends upon the amount of time you really have to devoting to the care of your flock. I have 7 parrots and 4 parakeets. The parakeets take no time at all - they pretty to look at, make wonderful sounds, are easy to clean up after and are rarely out of their cage. They were not handled young so they are frightened to people beyond belief. The parrots on the other hand take up the majority of my day. I am a stay at home mom/full-time student with no plans of working outside of the home. That doesn't mean I don't have times when I have to be away from them in my own house.

 

Run down of the flock: Sterling - 13 yr old U2; Dixie - 3 yr old CAG; Beau - 22 mo. old CAG; Yoshi - 2 yr old. TAG; Morgan - 10 mo. old Amazon; Blue & Bean - Sun Conures.

 

Dixie was the first and does not interact well with all of the others. Sterling cannot stand Greys (or other birds) and is housed in our living room while everyone else is in my office. Beau, Morgan, Blue & Bean are quite comfortable hanging out on each other's cages and no problems have ever occurred between them. Yoshi was from a one bird home and has been here since February. She cannot be left out with everyone else out for even a few minutes unsupervised. With supervision she's good. She is inquisitive and wants to be friends with everyone, but seems to go about it in a very weird way (or she's very aggressive?)

 

Before you consider adding to your flock with another of the same type you really have to look at what implications the addition will have on your current flock. I will admit they do learn from each other, but Beau is still not talking much and he's been around Dixie since he was 4 months old. He can say his name and a few other words, but they are what I say to him. Dixie has picked up everything she can from Yoshi, Yoshi's language has more than tripled since she arrived. Morgan repeats what I say, but doesn't say anything that Dixie or Yoshi say. The conures, well they just scream a lot, great alarms system. Dixie says everything you tell her for the most part, and she is the one who is the most receptive to learning new words and things. She is also the one that seems to have the most cognitive abilities, but she is the oldest.

 

Getting a new CAG because you miss the "baby" you once had is like saying you want to have another child because your first baby is growing up. That's not a judgment on you, (I have 4 children) but at some point you look at what the real reason for the new addition is and what they can bring to the flock. Maybe what you need to look at in this instance is what can you challenge your CAG with and expand their abilities to. The relationship is changing and sometimes it's very difficult to change with it. I wish you luck on your quest to the answer of this question.

 

Robin