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Thoughts on "Should have more than one bird"


Lupine

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My 2 cents for what its worth is Marco takes up a HUGE portion of my day. From the moment I wake up, to the moment I come home from work to my weekends. I make her food for the week on the weekends, dish it up and freeze what I can. Hours and I mean hours of cage cleaning, sweeping, mopping and chipping poop off things. Toy making, wall scrubbing, pellet/seed/water filling, singing to, dancing for, head scratches, whistling and conversations ... 1 bird will do for me! She wears me out lol

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The scary thing about creating a fid family is that we can't know in advance what's going too far or how things won't work. Everyone, fids included, is different. Most of us also change as parronts over time much like w/our children.

 

I really believe if you get another bird, it should only be because you want them just as much as you wanted your grey. No bird deserves to be jailed in a cage w/food & water thrown in. They should have their own time & their own love.

 

I originally started out w/smaller birds & worked my way up. For the most part, I found big birds & smaller birds don't often get along. It's likely their interaction will be antagonistic, for the most part. It doesn't mean it can't happen. It doesn't mean some combinations won't work out amazing relationships. It just means that the odds aren't really in favor of it. Which pretty much demands everyone has to have separate time, space, food, toys, ect. Speaking for myself, I think it's double the work, at least & a lot less reward all around.

 

Although admittedly, he was not my first bird, my grey Phenix was my first parrot. He had some fairly big issues that took a lot of time. At one point, I would have told you that I would never, never get another big bird as long as he lived. Fortunately, I learned some things along the way.

 

Getting my eclectus was one of the best things I've ever done for Phenix. They may seem like polar opposites. But Kura & Phenix are the embodiment of model training if ever there was one. Phenix has learned a mind boggling amount from Kura's sweet nature & sociability.

 

Physically, they don't interact directly. They'll both sit together w/me. Otherwise, one might occasionally hang out near'ish the others cage which I took to mean they just hadn't bonded. Until Kura got sick.

 

I was getting her out of the carrier after taking her to the vet. Phenix, I'd noticed, had been hanging on the front face of his cage from the second we'd walked in the door. As soon as I lifted Kura out where he could see her he said, "Kura!!! Are you OKAY?!?" True story. No embellishments.

 

Birds are subtle. They don't have to love all over each other to benefit immensely from the companionship.

 

If you are the type of flock that can happily integrate multiple species, then you could be a good fit for more than one type of parrot. Two birds are twice the expense when it comes to cages, vets & such. But bulk food prep, hand-me-downs & other things can help defray some of the other costs. I think overall, the pros & cons of having parrot "siblings" (vs finding a stable mate) can be comparable to children. Potentially very rewarding for the "right" type of family.

Edited by birdhouse
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I bought my second bird cuz I left home for work everyday feeling horrible.. BUT.. I honestly think he didnt mind being alone a work day.. It hought they would keep eachother entertained.. BUT when she "sings" very loudly, I can see he gets annoyed.. SOOO.. I have ended up with two greys, who both probably would choose to be the only bird:P But now I love em both.. and they seem OK with each other... (they have only known eachother for about 5 -6 weeks.. )

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