Greys and Amazon greens

[Lilly]

Hi there, i am going to look after my friends blue fronted amazon for a few weeks while they're away.

Will the birds get on/ My african grey is about 8 months old and the amazon is 4 months old??

[Brat Birds]

At that age, you have a good chance of them getting along. My suggestion is to introduce them in a space that neither one of them can claim as 'theirs' A natural space will give no one an edge. Make sure that you are always within arms reach and never take your eyes off them. Have many small toys around that you can also use to distract them if necessary. Good luck.

[birdhouse]

That sounds like good advice. Everything depends on individual personalities. But they're young enough that they should be ok, if by ok you mean have much reason to be in the same space w/o being hostile. BFFs, well...?

 

Best in a calmer, quieter place where there aren't too many chances for anything too scary to happen. Birds have a way of misplacing & attaching emotions in a weird way. So if just for an example, a pan crashed to the floor, one or both might blame the other if they got spooked. That can make some difficulties w/their socializing until the fid(s) got over it

[Ray P]

What I would like to do is share with you what I would do.

1. Your grey by nature is shy and a amazon by nature is very out going

2. This is your greys home and the amazon is a visitor.

3. Make sure your grey always has top billing, First to be uncovered, First to be fed and watered and first out of the cage, and last to go back in his/her cage and last to be covered at bed time. Remember this is greys home first and they should keep their number one spot.

4. I don`t know how well you know this amazon so make sure you can handle be for ever letting it out of its cage so if something goes wrong you can handle the zon with out fear of being bitten.

5. Supervision, supervision, supervision.

I hope this helps.

Let them see each other in their cage before introducing them to each other and se how it goes.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Ray P

[Talon]

Ray said it best. Also, if it were me and this was a visitor only. I wouldn't best quick to try and have them get along. Your grey doesn't know it's for a short time, not forever and they will try and establish their pecking order. I would make certain you never take your supervision guard down.

[Greywings]

I would ask about any medical testing your friends birds have had. It always makes me nervous to expose my birds to others with out a quarantine period. What does your Vet suggest in this type of situation?

[katana600]

A question I would ask is if one or both are flighted. We had the experience of fostering a cockatiel. After the month of quarantine, I brought our little red-bellied parrot Java (about 6 months old at the time) in to meet him while Milo was in his cage in the separate room. She flew off me and landed on his cage and he bit her toe. She grabbed him by the beak and pulled his head right through the bars. I did not anticipate that and it scared me to death that she could have ripped his beak off even though they were about the same size. She did leave a permanent imprint on his beak. So, proceed carefully and better still, while you friend is there with you to help with the introduction since they could best handle their own baby if there was an unexpected reaction. You might also consider the meet and greet first time to be after dark where you could turn off the lights as a quick diversion technique. I wonder if having a squirt bottle and a towel or fleece blanket to separate them if they are both flighted would be a helpful precaution. She was my first parrot, I knew nothing except her sweet baby side up to then and didn't suspect any trouble so I was not at all prepared. You may not have a bit of trouble.

[Luvparrots]

Great info in Katana's post. I have a small TAG who is almost 5, she is very aggressive toward other parrots. I call her my stalker. She is the boss although my CAG outweighs her by 200 grams. Introducing the two parrots to each other in your home while your friend is there is a great idea. It will let you know if they will tolerate each other's company. Talking about the fact that the zon is visiting and then the zon leaving with his/her owner will help your grey understand what visiting is. A couple or three visits and then the zon leaving let's your grey understand what visiting means.

 

Zons are great parrots, you may find you can't live without one so beware, they are addictive! LOL!

[Lilly]

Many thanks for your advice. I am getting him on Friday, I will watch them very carefully. I want to let the Amazon out the cage at sometime because I don't like them being stuck in a cage all day. Just hope my Lllly isn't too agressive.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Excellent advice by Ray! Socialization is always important, as well as letting birds know your expectations and socially good behavior.Nancy