Good companion for my grey?

[kyparamedic]

My grey, Chloe, has been resistant to everything we have tried to try to keep her from plucking her feathers. Now she pretty much only does it when she's alone and not getting attention. The vet thinks the next course of action should be a companion for her that can be there all the time and talk bird-talk with her as she loves having someone to talk to. His recommendations are something small and not too expensive like a brown-throat conure or a quaker. Both of these look like pretty neat birds but my only concern is if she will get along with them and vice-versa. I'm also torn between getting a baby or adopting an adult, like I did with her. I'm just afraid of inheriting a lot of problems. The breeders in this area typically have sun conures, green-cheeks, greys, cockatoos, and amazons. Of course I'm willing to travel to get her the right companion.

 

What are your suggestions and what kind of experiences have you had?

 

BTW, Chloe is 5 years old.

 

Thanks!

[Ajilon]

I know it's not on your list, but I have an amazon as a companion for my grey. They chatter together all day and seem to get along fine. It did take a while to establish who was boss between them.

 

Consider a rescue? With a rescue, you can have the birds meet face to face and see how they get along.

[Tycos_mom]

I also have a amazon that my grey is friends with she doesn't seem to interested in my smaller birds but her and fergie do keep each other company when I'm out. If I leave my dauter at home I don't put the birds in their cages when I go out. and many times I've come home to find Tyco hanging out with Fergie on Fergies cage.

[BaxtersMom]

Hi, I have 3 birds, Baxter my grey was the first. I adopted him when he was 12. Then neighbor brought over a lost conure. We kept him cuz we couldn't find owner. Then we got an eclectus parrot.

 

The conure and the grey are buddies but another member has a grey and a conure and she says they do not get along at all. It probably depends on the birds.

 

My eclectus does not like the conure at all. I think he would like Baxter my grey but my grey don't like him very much it doesn't seem like. Baxter will let the conure on his cage but not the eclectus. But I can have them in the same room with me close to each other and there is no aggression from either one towards the other.

 

However, they all have their cages in the same room and they come and go out of their cages as they please and I have never had any issues with them being out together.

 

There is no guarantees the birds will like each other or get along but I do think even if they don't get along that they might still entertain each other. They do make noises or talk back & forth among themselves and I think it is really cute to see and hear. I think they like having the other birds around and I think they enjoy each others company.

 

All my birds have come to me as adults and I haven't had any problems out of any of them. I think when you go to see an adult bird if you are considering adopting an older one you should be able to pick up some clues when you meet him or her. They don't all have to come with extra baggage. I've gotten 3 good ones out of 3 prospects:)

 

Don't know if any of this helped you but this is has been my experience with my flock:)

[kyparamedic]

Thanks for sharing your all's experiences. My vet had mentioned an Amazon as a possibility too but from my reading it seems like they can have a lot of mood problems, especially during 'adolescense,' so I had kind of ruled them out. I have read that Greys tend to associate better with birds of close to or equal intelligence.

[Suzzique]

I took in a 3 year old senegal in August. He is the cutest sweetest little bird. However Alex is not at all happy that he is here. Alex is a major bully. He gets timeout at least once a day for harrassing Martini. With that said Alex has picked up all of Martini's chirps (all very loud and piercing). They do also talk back and forth when Martini feels like it (he is really quit most of the time). So as Baxtersmom has said it really just depends on each bird. I would say get what you want and what you would enjoy having.

[kyparamedic]

Suzzique, how do you do timeout? Do you put him back in his cage or somewhere else?

 

Thanks.

[Toni]

I have Alcazar who is my African Grey and 2 DYH Zons. I had to remove the Zons to a different area in the house. Alcazar did not like them.Maybe because he was the first here. When he hears them he starts to yell. I want to get a Macaw but not sure now because of him getting upset.

[casper]

I have three greys, the first two are great friends and have bonded really well, the middle one does not get on with the youngest but will tolerate him.

I dont think you can ever say know for sure what birds are likely to get on but mine all love talking away to each other as they are in the same room, they definetly keep each other company.

Caroline;)

[Tycos_mom]

they will keep each other company when you are not around and thats what your looking for.<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2008/10/24 00:44

[NLJohnso]

Has anyone ever heard of a larger macaw and african grey getting along/becomming friends?

 

Im looking for a companion bird for my timneh right now...

 

Also, would you be able to tell if they like each other right away..or can it take time??

[SchroedersJen]

Greys are single species flock birds. In the wild, they only allow other greys into their flock and chase any other tyoes of birds away. this is a survival skill for them and is ingrained in their instincts. Most south american parrots are multi species flock birds, you will often see macaws, amazons and toher birds in the same flock. Since South American birds are patterened to live with other birds, it is easy to introduce new species into their flock. It is much harder with greys because their instincts are telling them that the other bird poses a real danger. In the wild, they rely on being part of a large grey mass to look big and scary and ward off preditors. A bird of a different color sends a signal that there are individual birds here. Your grey may not like having another bird if he has been an only bird and thinks he rules the roost. There is evidence to indicate that greys that are not first birds come into the multi speces flock have an easier time adapting to other types of birds.

 

there is a long article that goes more in depth here:

 

http://www.africangreys.com/articles/overview/learning.htm

 

As the article suggests, you can certainly try to introduce another bird, but it will take a lot of time and patience and may cause more stress than it solves.

 

My own personal experience leads me to believe that this is true. There is an exotic bird store locally that i bring Schroeder to to get supplies (I also purchased him there, it's a fantastic store.

http://www.omarsexoticbirds.com/

At Omar's, the birds are kept out so that people can pick them up and play with them. They are not kept in cages all day. When I bring Schroeder, he LOVES it when I go play with the timnehs. he likes to feed the babies, allows them to crawl over me while he sits on my shoulder and he plays with them and makes happy, excited noises. When I go to the congo area he is curious and polite, but he is a bit confuses. None the less, he lets them crawl on me and, and on occasion will join in the play. Heaven forbit I try to pick up a bird of another species. he DOES NOT like those other birds. he gets nippy and makes ittitated chirps. He knows Im boss and tolerates the interaction, but once I made the mistake of picking up and snuggeling with a Scarlet Macaw and Schroeder lunged at the bird, screaming and I ended up chasing a terrified macaw around while Schroeder sat on a nearby perch. Yeah. The timneh freaked out the Macaw. His point was made and I did not do that again.

 

If you believe that your vet is right and another bird is a good idea, id suggest another grey if you have the time and finds. It seems like it will be least stressful for your pet and more rewarding in the long run. Of course, and I am sure there are many members here that will agree, that their multi speces flocks can work out great, but I have to wonder how often the greys in the flock that we perceive to be getting along happily are really just putting up with it because they don't have a choice.

[TinyTimneh]

I second what SJ said about greys being single species flcok birds... they often dislike other birds.

I'm pretty stunned your vet recmmends another bird... especially if your grey plucks now for attention. It's only gonna get wrose with another bird around, because she'll feel invaded and jealous and pluck even more because not only does she want all your time, now she cannot have it and has another bird to constantly remind her of that fact.

I won't argue that another living creature might help out, but consider something that just makes noise, like a canary, if you want to go that route and get your grey a 'buddy' for when you're out.

Instead, put your effort into teaching your bird to play alone and entertain herself, plus give her some sort of not too rigid schedule and teach her ways that are acceptable to get your attention. ignore her plucking for attention also. good luck!

[kyparamedic]

Intuitively this makes sense, so I talked to my vet about it. He basically dismissed it as total crap and said he'd like to see some research from a qualified individual. So I went ahead and got a 6 month old male quaker about a week ago. He's in quarantine now so in a month or so we'll see how it goes.

[judygram]

In any case Andrew, I hope it works out for you and please do share some photos of your new quaker with us.

[kyparamedic]

Thanks, I will. I feel so bad for him having to be kept in a room away from everyone. It had to be a stressful experience being taken from his flock only to be placed in a cage away from his buddies. We try to visit him often and provide plenty of toys.

[Luvparrots]

Andrew, can't wait to see pictures of your growing flock. What have you name your new Quaker?

[kyparamedic]

Dexter, after the Showtime TV series about the serial killer. I was reading the other day that you should be careful what you name your birds because they have a tendency to turn into what the name infers. So I'll be keeping all the knives away from him

[Luvparrots]

Ahhh, yes I remember that show.:ohmy: :silly:

[TinyTimneh]

harsh words from the vet lol but oh well. I hope you enjoy your new Quaker and that both birds at least tolerate each other for everyone's sake. as others have said, do post pics!

[Lyric]

Congratulations on your new addition to your flock. I hope the two can learn to be friends. Please let us know how they get along when Dexter is out of quarantine.