Two Greys in one cage?

[Raven Skies]

We have two African Greys, one male, which we inherited from my aunt, who is roughly 14/15 years young and one female, which we've had since hatchling, who is now roughly 11 years young (Can't remember the exact year of birth). The female (Coda) has a very large cage, more than big enough for two, and the male (Tweety) is in an average-sized cage.

We've toyed with the idea of putting them together in one cage, but Tweety was very aggressive and wild due to kids teasing him. We've rehabilitated him to be a bit less aggressive, but he still has some tendencies to bite. For this reason, we're scared of putting them together, for fear that he will bite Coda.

When we push their cages together, they sit and "kiss" each other, but we're still scared that they will fight when put together. We don't plan on breeding with them, we just thought it would be better if they can be together. Tweety has never had out-of-cage time, but Coda has. We talked about giving them out of cage time after getting their wings clipped, and maybe then we will be able to see if they get along well. But even if they get along outside their cages, how will we know that they will be fine inside together?

Is there some way to find out, apart from just doing it, to know whether or not they will get along? And should they not get along, how do we break up the fights? Water? Towel? Sorry for all the stupid questions, but we've never had more than one parrot before and not in one cage either. Thanks for any responses/advice.

 

[finchly]

They don't normally have out of cage time?

Maybe you could put them in one cage with the door open and stand there and watch closely. I don't have greys though - someone else will help you.

@ncGreyBirdLady

 

[ode.to.parrots]

I don't have any experience with greys, but from what I've read, if they want to live together, they will 'move in' together on their own. For example, they have out of cage time together, their cages are next to each other, and one day, when it is bed time, they both choose to climb into the same together.

I could be totally wrong, though. My two were already cage mates when I adopted them, so... yeah. I hope this helps!

 

[Mizzely]

They don't need clipped wings to be out of their cage Birds allowed to fly are much healthier, confident, and happy!

I had a green cheek that got along fine outside the cage with my quaker, Jingo. But if they got locked into a cage together they would bicker. They were fine being friends but not cage mates. It's like people... would you want to share a bed with all of your friends? A bird's cage is the equivalent of a nest in our homes, and they only share a nest with a mate, usually.

They should be given the choice to move in themselves. They'll let you know if they want to. But they need time to get there and they'll only do that if given ample time out of cages together

 

[JLcribber]

We've toyed with the idea of putting them together in one cage, but Tweety was very aggressive and wild due to kids teasing him. We've rehabilitated him to be a bit less aggressive, but he still has some tendencies to bite. For this reason, we're scared of putting them together, for fear that he will bite Coda.

You should be fearful. You can not just put ANY two birds together in one cage. It's not your decision. This is a "relationship" that needs to develop over time. It may happen. It may not. You need to approach it like it won't.

We talked about giving them out of cage time after getting their wings clipped, and maybe then we will be able to see if they get along well. But even if they get along outside their cages, how will we know that they will be fine inside together?

They spend all their waking hours in each others company. They are together. They don't need to be stuck next to the other in a "small" cage.

You said it a was a large cage. When it comes to large parrots like Greys a large cage is measured in feet, not inches (bird safe room or indoor aviary). You will basically be putting them both in a "box" with no way to leave should things happen.

 

[JLcribber]

We talked about giving them out of cage time after getting their wings clipped,

How is this going to help one bit? The bird has never been out of the cage. It will be pretty traumatic. Now you want to add tremendous stress and anxiety by taking the choice to fly away. Basically rendering it helpless and unhealthily dependent.

 

[jmfleish]

The best you can do is see how they interact while outside of their cages and just make sure that you are ready to break anything up that might happen with a towel or pillow. They may or may not be able to live in the same cage with each other but it will take time and they will have to figure it out. When/if they do, it will be very apparent to you.

Like Shawna said as well, two birds may also get along well outside of the cage but not be able to live with each other inside a cage. I have a pair of Amazons like that. They like each other (one likes the other one a bit more than the other way around but they are pretty good friends) but it wouldn't work to put them in the same cage together. I can tell this because when they are caged together, one of them cowers from the other.

Just take your time and let them dictate how things happen.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Why has the one Grey never been out of his cage? I think you should start there before you decide on any other moves. As everyone else has cautioned you should be very concerned about putting two birds together in a cage.