Lonely GCC?

[OllieTheConure]

I somewhat recently got my green cheek conure Olive, and she is an absolute sweetheart. She is friendly and cuddly and smart. My sister and I have been spending basically all day with her, but we start camp soon and when school starts she will be alone during the middle of the day. We will still have her out before and after school, at least six hours, and she can see/hear our mom during the day and look outside the window but I am afraid she will get lonely. Does she need a cage mate? Another conure would have to stay in the same cage (which is plenty big; 3' by 2' by 4' tall), and I'm not even sure our parents will let us get another. Do you think she will be okay being alone for that chunk of the day, or will she be unhappy? Thank you so much for any advice!

 

[BlueAbyss]

You don't necessarily need another GCC. Whenever I'm out, I have a radio station set on low enough volume that my GCC can hear it. Gives a feeling that there are humans around. Plus LOTS AND LOTS OF TOYSSSSS. Foraging ones help the most so that it keeps them busy. I like to have variety of toys in the cage like bells, foot toys, hanging foragers, etc. Just make sure you make it up to her with lots of loving when you get home cause my GCC tends to keep a very painful grudge against me if I don't give her enough attention.

 

[~Drini~]

When I first got Eris I kept him as a solo-bird for about a year but eventually decided that the 3 hours of actual human company I could provide him with would never compare to 24 hours of having a birdy companion. He used to be alone for 13 or 14 hours of the day because I come home around 5 or 6. Toys and radios will only do so much to combat loneliness. Birds are very very social. I will never regret getting Diell because she and Eris just get along so well and both of them are truly happy. I see them preening each other and playing with each other all the time. I still give them plenty of time outside the cage, but I sleep easy knowing they have each other to rely on for the many hours I am not there.

Keep in mind that I am in high school. I found that I could not continuing being Eris' sole companion with the increasing rigor of school.

The issue is that you can't know for sure if Olive and the new bird will get along well. But still, having a buddy in the cage next to you is almost as good as having an actual cage buddy.

 

[Lwalker]

My situation was sort of like @~Drini~ (different details but same end) and I was lucky as Cricket and Watson bonded and share a cage (their choice - they started off in two cages side by side). The problem is that getting another bird is a gamble and they may need separate cages and separate "out" times always - which doesn't sound like an option for you.

Forgive me if you already know but there are different types of attention you can show your bird. You sound like you have the direct attention covered but birds also enjoy ambient attention. That is the attention they get from their general surroundings, day-to-day. It sounds like that is where you mom might come in, if she agrees.

If Olive can see/hear your mom going about her daily business she will likely enjoy watching and listening. When your mom is home, it would be great if your mom could talk to her a bit, sing, play music as she goes about her day. GCC's are very curious - mine like to watch me fold laundry and do dishes. the reason I got a second bird is that I live alone so when I was out there was no action for them to observe and no ambient attention. With good toys, the window, some background music and your mom ( a snack and a little nap thrown in), Olive might have enough to keep her interested until you get home.

 

[OllieTheConure]

Thank you for the replies! Olive had started out with her cage in my bedroom, but we moved her downstairs so she can see more movement and activity during the day. Glad we did that now!