Getting a Second Bird

[finchly]

Hello, my apologies I am not sure where to post this. My pionus parrot Ernie is settling in nicely. He's been here about a month, and despite being 18 and not being handled a lot (apparently) he is getting more cuddly by the day. He would sit in the cage 24/7 if I let him, but I'm not letting him! He does fly back to it after about 30 minutes. though.

NOW: I have an opportunity to get a baby cockatiel, hand-fed, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE cockatiels. I want to do it but --- will this set Ernie back in our progress? Are there jealousy problems between birds? Would I divert too much attention away from him? (oops, you can't answer that one)

On one hand I am dying to go get the baby. On the other maybe I should wait a year?

Other pets: 6 adult and 4 hatchling finches, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 50 fish. TIA for your input.

 

[ConureTiel]

Bumpity bump because I would love to hear thoughts about tiels and pi's in the same home.

 

[zoo mom]

My Pi is not really jealous of my other birds. He gets upset if they try to get on his cage and he does not like my RB2. But otherwise he really pays no attention to them. As for having a Pi and cockatiels I have them on opposite sides of the bird room with an air purifier near the cockatiels.

 

[wonderb]

I'd recommend waiting since you haven't had your pionus very long. He's still in the "honeymoon" stage. My pionus is not fond of smaller birds so if I had a tiel they would have to be kept separate. Plus tiels are dusty and my pionus has respiratory problems (common for the species).

 

[finchly]

I think I will wait. Thanks all for your input. I don't think Ernie is going to change *much* but he is definitely feeling a little freer each day. Plus there are always tiels around!

 

[Birdlove]

I got my tiel first and amazon second BUT my tiel lost some serious weight when I brought Lucy home. With the quarantine I had to split my time and she felt so neglected.
My tiel was 9 months at the time. I've only had Lucy since May but she has changed a lot. She's actually demands being perched on our hands for about two minutes at a time, and then she regrets it and asks to be put back on her cage. That's huge for her. Recently she's been flying off her cage and then walks up to us to be carried around. This is great progress from biting us every single time we approached her to be handled. I joke that she likes to eat fingers for fun but, honestly, she's just as sweet as can be. But it's taken time. Lucy is 12 year old rehome and has some serious trust issues. She's like a foster kid that has been bounced around from home to home. And it's not until now that she's feeling comfortable. Now when she doesn't want me to handle her she simply steps back and I know just to leave her alone. But again it takes time for them to get used to us and learn to communicate. I bet Ernie will probably become hands on as he feels safer and learns to trust you. I love Ernie's name, by the way!

 

[Cyreen]

I think I will wait. Thanks all for your input. I don't think Ernie is going to change *much* but he is definitely feeling a little freer each day. Plus there are always tiels around!

Naw, you barely know him yet. Mayu was 13-years-old when I brought her home and she's still evolving; she's been quite the smarty pants lately!