Second bird w/CAG

[MnGuy]

Hey All,

I have a few questions regarding my ongoing consideration of possibly adopting a second bird sometime down the line.

First: I have a 16-year-old female CAG I adopted about 10 years ago. She has no “obvious” behavioral issues. She’s friendly and sees me as her favorite (I do live alone so that’s a given, I guess!), but she’s not aggressive with guests or children, or, possessive of me when it comes to other humans. (My family visits often and friends come over.)

She was friendly with my first parrot, a Meyer’s, but the feeling was not mutual. I don’t know if she would be aggressive with other birds, or, overly possessive of me. She’s been a solo bird for about two years after the Meyer’s passing.

I completely understand that getting parrots to get along is a crapshoot and that even when they do, supervision is important. That said, I’ve always thought that it would be nice if my CAG had a parrot/bird companion in the household. I own my home.


Questions:

1/ Do CAGs tend to get along better with other CAGs? There’s a male CAG up for rehoming in my area and I’m wondering if he’d be a good possibility. I would never breed, but have read that opposite gender, same species matches sometimes seem to work well.

2/ I’ve read a lot about how some birds are sensitive to grey dust. If I ended up with another species (and I have considered getting canaries), would they have to be in a completely different room? My CAG is in my living room. I have a spare room, but had considered keeping a second bird in my dining room, which is basically attached to the living room bc it’s an open layout. If they are in separate rooms most of the time, can they share common space daily? (Since my CAG is in the living room where I spend most of my time.)

3/ How dust sensitive are non-macaw species? I’ve considered the Asian parakeets (moustache, IRN, etc.), pois and like I said — even a pair of canaries.


Thanks for reading.

 

[hrafn]

From what I've gleaned, a parrot will always be happiest in the company of her own species, rather than a bird of a different species. Greys in particular are notorious for being little snots toward any bird that isn't also a grey. Kamara sure lives up to that reputation.

I have New World birds, and they are kept as far as physically possible from my CAG and tiels at all times, with multiple walls and air purifiers between them...and even that doesn't feel far enough. Though macs (especially B&Gs) are most susceptible to Pulmonary Hypersensitivity Syndrome, I would be very wary of keeping any non-dusty bird around a grey.

 

[Kodigirl210]

I think that as always it depends on the birds. A co-worker has a CAG that shares a cage with a conure. Since they are both in their 20’s idt she has suffered from living with a grey. I also have a CAG & a conure but they are both babies. Interestingly enough Isen is very protective of Sif. And while there some ruffled feathers in the beginning Sif has begun to call out if she hears Isen is distressed. I believe they will be great friends HEPA Filters not withstanding. As far as not breeding, I’m not sure how that would be accomplished. Nature finds a way.

 

[MnGuy]

Thank you both for the great information and input! I really appreciate it.

Were I ever to get a second CAG and be it a male and were they ever to mate, my hope and plan is that both would be docile enough to still let me handle them so I could remove any eggs and replace them with fake eggs.

But you raise a good issue — it could prove challenging to convince them to let me near their eggs.

My CAG lays on occasion and can get testy but still comes out and interacts with me sporadically while she’s sitting on her eggs.

 

[Hankmacaw]

@MnGuy Please read this before you get a companion for your CAG. We have had more than one AA member lose their bird the Pulmonary Hypersensitive Syndrome. Realize that some birds will never become susceptible to PHS, but no New world bird has a sign tattooed on them that says I'm sensitive to Old World Bird dust and you never know if they are sensitive until it's too late to do anything about it.

Pulmonary Hypersensitivity Disease - Macaws and Conures | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[MnGuy]

@MnGuy Please read this before you get a companion for your CAG. We have had more than one AA member lose their bird the Pulmonary Hypersensitive Syndrome. Realize that some birds will never become susceptible to PHS, but no New world bird has a sign tattooed on them that says I'm sensitive to Old World Bird dust and you never know if they are sensitive until it's too late to do anything about it.

Pulmonary Hypersensitivity Disease - Macaws and Conures | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Will do. Thank you!

 

[JLcribber]

But you raise a good issue — it could prove challenging to convince them to let me near their eggs.

They're not on those eggs every minute of every day. It only takes seconds to replace an egg. This is a non issue.

 

[Zara]

But you raise a good issue — it could prove challenging to convince them to let me near their eggs.

My CAG lays on occasion and can get testy but still comes out and interacts with me sporadically while she’s sitting on her eggs.

A good solution is external nestbox, not internal.
Slide a slim chopping board between the cage and nestbox. 2 second job.

 

[jmfleish]

We have multiple species in our dusty house, greys, Cockatoos, Eclectus, and Amazons. They all do very well with each other as far as sensitivity to dust is concerned. I did have s Patagonian Conure for a while and she was horribly sensitive to the dust and I was forced to find her a new home. The Macaws are also incredibly sensitive to dust, especially the B&Gs and the hybrids. So I would automatically say stay away from Conures and Macaws.

Having said that, I would also try to stay in the same general size range for a new bird just so you don’t have to worry so much about one bird hurting the other.

I love my Amazons and ‘toos, but the greys are my favorite. We have several and it is a crap shoot of whether or not they get along. Most of them are tolerant of each other but I do have one feisty female who loves humans but just doesn’t care for any other bird. She came with a mate who passed away a few months ago and doesn’t seem interested in pairing up with any of our other greys. She’s definitely a pistol and we just work around her personality quirks! The neatest thing about having multiple greys for me is that they all chat with each other even if they don’t always physically interact.

Other than that, my Amazons are great as are my ‘toos and even my Ekkies and all do fine with the dust.

Good luck with your search!