male and female or 2 of same sex?

[Bruce & Karen]

The breeder advised us to ONLY keep a male and female together with no nesting box. Now we have a book about parrotlets that advises same sex pairs only! Who is right?
BTW, we bought a male and female.

 

[seamonkeychar]

Male & female together, same sex pairings rarely work and they will not hesitate to kill another parrotlet. Unless you are breeding it isn't really advisable to cage them together regardless of sex. Parrotlets are very territorial.

 

[Calpurnia]

I wouldn't get a female/female pair OR male/female pair (though it seems the point is moot since you already bought them), since with females you always have to worry about excessive egg-laying.

 

[goosegirl]

I have a lot of experience with parrotlets since I have been a hobby breeder of them for about 7 years now. Anytime a customers asks my opinion on this I always tell them to just get one! Parrotlets are still a big commitment and require just as much care and attention as large parrots.

If you want a good pet parrotlet you should just get the one. Just because they are small doesn't mean they are easy or don't need what the big parrots need!

With either two males or two females you always have the bird that is more dominant and will push the other around. Which is not fair to the bird that is always being bossed around. Also as others have mentioned they are very territorial and this can lead to bad fights and injured or even birds being killed.

With the male female pair even if you don't have a nestbox there can be aggression when they are sexually mature. The male may want to mate, but the female isn't interested, and you have a male that will now bully and pick at the female.

It's best just to get one as a pet, but if you want more than one I think it is a MUST that they be housed separately. Not sure why the breeder would suggest getting two at the same time, and a male and female that will likely only want to bond with each other. I really hope they aren't siblings.

Also, be sure to give them each one on one time so they aren't bonding with each other instead of with you.

 

[Bruce & Karen]

Thanks much for the great advice! Sadly, we listened to breeder instead of coming here. So we have a dilute blue boy and a turquoise girl. She arrived 1rst and was sweet and sociable from the start. Then he arrived and now she bites, won't come out, etc. What to do? When we separate them, they throw one big birdy fit that can last hours - as I'm sure you know. Well, we've got them now so will just have to do our best with them. Question: our boy will not be tempted out of his cage for ANYTHING! He doesn't even care about millet. Any suggestions?
K

 

[goosegirl]

What I find works if you have parrotlets that want to be together, but you don't want them together is to make it so they can't see or hear each other.

So, you may have to keep them in separate rooms for now until you can get some good trust and training established with each bird. Hopefully once this is done they can slowly work toward being in the same room if that is your goal.

Depending on how long you have had your male he may just need some more time to adjust. For now every time you walk past his cage give him a treat so every time he sees you positive things happen. Hopefully eventually he will be comfortable with you, and you can open the cage and feed him the treat directly and then close the door. Just increase the interaction gradually. Then open the cage and offer a finger with a treat lure and get him to step up. But patience and time is key. It will be a gradual process and take time.

For the female nipping that is just consistency with letting her know that's not good behavior. Parrotlets love chewing as well so a birdie kabob toy could be great for her. All of my parrotlets go crazy for them. Also try having a toy or something that you want her to chew and offer her that and if she complies praise her. If she is also a young baby make sure sessions are short because they will start nipping to tell you they NEED FOOD NOW!!! Such funny little babies they are.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with your babies!

 

[Bruce & Karen]

Yes, they make us smile with their antics. This they learned from our pugs: if they get TOO loud, I'll say shhh and they continue their conversation in a whisper! It's been nice talking with you.
Bruce