nickraph Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Hello all - I am curious how others who have multiple ways went about physically introducing them to each other. I’ll tart by saying that they are both older rescued female greys. Maxi is about 20 and JoJo 17. We started out having the cages in separate rooms so they could hear each other and have since upgraded to having both cages in the same room. Now I’m looking for the steps to get to the next step, physical introduction. I have a whole section of the house in which neither bird has been, my upstairs master bedroom. So i figured since neither could have claimed that undiscovered territory it may be a good place to place them both on the carpet and see how it goes. Is that naive of me or is there a better way to go about it? When the introduction happens, I’m sure there will be beaking and posturing and I’m curious about how to tell if it is to much for either of them. It feals like a touchy subject, To introduce the two of them. Just want everyone safe and no injuries. Am I over thinking this, if they don’t like each other will they just scuffle a bit. I know it can be dangerous which is why I’d like to know how other have successfully and unsuccessfully done this. Thoughts? Thank you everyone. (Photo is of JoJo.) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Hello again....thank you for rescuing....Greys don't have Alpha males, in the wild, they have flock leaders. In captivity, they follow what I like to call "seniority". If you have multiple types of parrots, Greys are the prime citizens. Your original Grey is your flock leader. In all practicality, this Grey should be fed first, let out of the cage first, spoken to first, etc. You introduce this Grey to all the other birds in order. With older Greys, even though the original is flock leader, you will see that they are revered by your original Grey. Sometimes, with females, this does not happen. They can be standoffish and arrogant. Don't place them together, let them come together at their own pace. Remember, they are living in your world physically, but mentally, they are wild and have ingrained behaviors. We have had numerous different types of parrots around at the same time and have photos of a Grey on one shoulder, a Zon on another, and a 'Too on our arm. If one moves toward another, they fly away. Rev. Jayd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Here's photos of fids together. Some of the Fids who we shared our home with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickraph Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 Thanks for the information Jayd. I appreciate it. It gave quite a bit of insight. However there really is no way for them to come together on their own right now. They have separate cages and when both are out they do attempt to climb up the others cage and that is not good idea. Any thoughts on how I could foster an environment where they can get to each other if they wanted to? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Thank you! What happens when one or the other goes up the other's cage? Have you ever let them come together there? Did you check out my photos? Are they clipped? 11 minutes ago, nickraph said: ..Any thoughts on how I could foster an environment where they can get to each other if they wanted to? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 (edited) I have a near 6 year old female Grey that we've had since 4 months old. She has always been the big bully in our house as she's easily 3x as big as any other bird we have (500 grams). Back in December we were asked to take in another Grey which is a 21 year old male. He does not weigh as much as our female but he has no problem stamping his authority all over our girl. We introduced them on night 1. I don't follow any rules or bull crap, I just go by the seat of my pants. Greycie, the female, tried to exert herself on him but we all quickly saw that she was no match for a much wiser older Grey. For a few weeks we would at least be in the same room but I found that the male easily had her under control and she wasn't going to beat the feathers off of him. They got into little stabby fights a lot but that has diminished greatly. She was never able to hurt him. He's not aggressive. I can now leave them completely unattended all day long and have caught them trying to mate, feeding each other playing together etc. They still get into the occasionally little stabbies but it's all harmless. The stabby fights concerned me a little, only because I was wondering if it's normal. I emailed a former member here who I know had two Greys that were bonded and also talked to the owner of one of the big bird sanctuaries. Both told me the little stabby fights are quite normal even with tightly bonded Greys. So I have no concerns over it. That's what worked for us. Edited June 13, 2018 by SRSeedBurners 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickraph Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 14 minutes ago, Jayd said: Thank you! What happens when one or the other goes up the other's cage? Have you ever let them come together there? Did you check out my photos? Are they clipped? Maxi in particular is a tad cage aggressive. I’d hate to see someone lose a toe by getting bitten through the cage. Actually, I missed the photos. Looking at them now. They are not clipped, however maxi cannot fly, she just crashes as she never had the chance to try. She was cage bound for almost 19 years with zero out time during that time of her life. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickraph Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 11 minutes ago, SRSeedBurners said: I have a near 6 year old female Grey that we've had since 4 months old. She has always been the big bully in our house as she's easily 3x as big as any other bird we have (500 grams). Back in December we were asked to take in another Grey which is a 21 year old male. He does not weigh as much as our female but he has no problem stamping his authority all over our girl. We introduced them on night 1. I don't follow any rules or bull crap, I just go by the seat of my pants. Greycie, the female, tried to exert herself on him but we all quickly saw that she was no match for a much wiser older Grey. For a few weeks we would at least be in the same room but I found that the male easily had her under control and she wasn't going to beat the feathers off of him. They got into little stabby fights a lot but that has diminished greatly. She was never able to hurt him. He's not aggressive. I can now leave them completely unattended all day long and have caught them trying to mate, feeding each other playing together etc. They still get into the occasionally little stabbies but it's all harmless. The stabby fights concerned me a little, only because I was wondering if it's normal. I emailed a former member here who I know had two Greys that were bonded and also talked to the owner of one of the big bird sanctuaries. Both told me the little stabby fights are quite normal even with tightly bonded Greys. So I have no concerns over it. That's what worked for us. Good information as well. I think I’m being paranoid about it. How did you introduce them? I feel like it would be the little scuffles that I’d worry about most. Those powerful beaks can cause so much damage human skin if they wanted it just screws me to think what they could do to each other. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 (edited) We introduced them within an hour of his arrival. These are photos of that moment. She's the one taking pot shots, and making the threatening head moves. I know my Grey and I am easily able to stop her in her tracks if things got out of control. He never showed any fear of her. They both can easily avoid the little jabs they both make. It's mostly just posturing. Just remember, they're the same size and know how to deal with their own kind. I have to be careful with her around our others because she has nearly killed our Caique twice. Also know that she is cage aggressive too and I would not let him walk on top of her cage (my birds are rarely caged except night time). They can remove a toe. Also, he took a couple of months to learn to fly. He could only crash land when we brought him home. The biggest problem he has with her now, is she steals his food from his foot when he's holding something tasty. 😂 Edited June 13, 2018 by SRSeedBurners 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 (edited) SR, Great Reply Thank you... Edited June 13, 2018 by Jayd spelling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickraph Posted June 13, 2018 Author Share Posted June 13, 2018 Thank Jayd and SR. This has really helped. Appreciate the responses from you two. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Thank you...I have always preached, RESEARCH. SRSeedBurners Quote: "I emailed a former member here who I know had two Greys that were bonded and also talked to the owner of one of the big bird sanctuaries. Both told me the little stabby fights are quite normal even with tightly bonded Greys. " 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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