Integration

[blln314]

Hi. I have a question about integrating two birds. I ave Mali who is a 6 year old CAG and Oscar who is the same age. I got them both about 6 months apart and they have been living with me and my family for about 5 1/2 years or so. They have been in separate cages positioned right next to each other the entire time. When they are out of the cages together they usually stay apart. When Mali is out he will climb on Oscars cage and they will interact with each other peacefully and friendly. I have never seen one act aggressively toward the other.

 

So my question is: I was considering getting a corner cage and putting them both in the same cage. What are your thoughts on this?

 

I appreciate all your input and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

Rick

[Dave007]

Hi. I have a question about integrating two birds. I ave Mali who is a 6 year old CAG and Oscar who is the same age. I got them both about 6 months apart and they have been living with me and my family for about 5 1/2 years or so. They have been in separate cages positioned right next to each other the entire time. When they are out of the cages together they usually stay apart. When Mali is out he will climb on Oscars cage and they will interact with each other peacefully and friendly. I have never seen one act aggressively toward the other.

 

So my question is: I was considering getting a corner cage and putting them both in the same cage. What are your thoughts on this?

 

I appreciate all your input and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

 

It's not a good idea to change their life styles. Each bird has set up their own home, developed their own personality, have individual likes and dislikes, mentally has their own ideas concerning their encironment

Rick

 

 

It's not a good idea to change their life styles. Each bird has set up their own home, developed their own personality, have individual likes and dislikes, mentally has their own ideas concerning their environment. Also, as of now, each bird is an alpha bird. That could be damaged because of possible invasion by one bird being put into another bird's home. Remember that greys are jealous birds and are most happy in their own established home. All of these things won't show up when both are out of their cages because at any time, both have the option of retreating into their own abode when outside. Play it safe--don't upset the apple cart. PLUS, a corner cage takes away valuable internal space and greys need plenty of cage space.

[Luvparrots]

I have a cag and tag and they get along fine. They do not live together although they do go into each other's cages to steal food. When one does that, the other just sits on the top of his/her cage and waits for the other to retreat. My tag(6) is female and my cag(4) a male. They never go into a cage together. They are both flighted so do not threaten each other because they can each escape if they wish. I would never remove one cage unless they on their own chose to share a cage for at least a year all on their own. I doubt that will ever happen. Everyone deserve alone time, even people.

Edited February 7, 2015 by luvparrots

[Dave007]

An add on---I'm in the same situation as Luvparrots. I have 3 established greys. 2 CAGs and 1 TAG. They'll get along outside of their cages. The TAG is the most aggressive and shows that personality when the other 2 get a little bossy. The TAG usually wins. If I were to put them together in one large cage, there's trouble brewing just around the corner. I know for a fact that they would maim each other. AND just like yours, they been together for years but it means nothing. All 3 have their own ideas about living comfortably but it all has to do with individuality. Even I have to treat them differently.

[Muse]

We've had it both ways. We originally had a pair that were brooded together. They often went into one or the other's cages together of their own volition. When we lost Marden, Megan did not warm up to our adopted boy, Peck. They tolerate each other now, but are not "bonded". She's fallen for a handsome Amazon but they do not share cage space. He's a former wild-caught breeder and reportedly killed a mate, so I don't encourage them to be in any small space together. They do, however, spend hours playing in the playroom together. But everyone has their own cage which is their personal 'space' to retreat to.

 

That being said, we have our little "Odd Couple" - Maks the male cockatiel and his boyfriend, Alex the male sun conure. They had separate cages, but bonded together during 'out' time and when it came time to go back for the night, the began putting themselves back, together, in Alex's cage. Since Maks bites like a rabid wolverine, I was loathe to try to remove him. We've never had a problem with them. They now live in a 'duplex' cage with the divider out. But this kind of cross-species relationship is certainly not the norm and I would never advise anyone to try to force it to develop between birds.

 

To share such an intimate space as a cage, they truly have to be bonded or you risk fights. Think of it as if it were a bedroom. You let strangers visit in your living room, typically. But only the closest friends or family gets to visit in the bedroom. Their cages are like that to them. It's their personal 'safe space' and birds are often very defensive of it.

 

If I were to even consider this I would put a common cage in as neutral territory and leave the smaller cages and let them sort out whether they feel comfortable sharing that neutral space.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Many have birds of different species that get along. I had a grey, sunconure and amazon that got along great! ( we have lost our amazon two years ago). Three cages, two jungle gyms, but I would find them all in one cage. ( we have open concept). I went down from three cages to two. While they were all together all the time( they made this happen), I wanted one cage to escape to. I DO find Sophie my grey in that cage once in awhile. Just a place to escape and decompress Nancy