What made you get a second conure?

[PierreRenoir]

Hello everyone, thank you for being so welcoming on this board with my previous post, still new to this thing forum and to the whole bird owning thing in general, so need advice from more experienced owners.

Lately I have been thinking about my Green Cheek Pierre and whether he would benefit from a friend (another conure - I am thinking maroon-bellied, black cap, or a pineapple/turqouise or pineapple-turquoise). When I first got Pierre, he was very happy playing with other green cheeks his age in the flight cage. Then again, I believe some of them were probably his hatchmates, but I don't know for sure.

For those with multiple conures, what made you want to get a second conure? I am worried that it may negatively affect my bond with Pierre or that he may become upset or jealous. What was your experience? I'm reading a lot of mixed experiences online.

 

[BeanieofJustice]

Bump!

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

 

[faislaq]

We got our second (and third) green cheek as a companion for our first. While our first still preferred the company of humans, he had someone to preen him and to play with when we weren't home. They did have to be separated at night though, as our first would attack his cagemate after lights out.

The cagemate came from a home where we were told the kids would hit his cage and he was quite afraid of people. An added bonus of getting a companion for our first, was that the fearful bird became braver and bolder in their adventures together.

@webchirp @SandraK @Lwalker @Parakeet88

 

[Nobirby]

Our first, Jesse, was actually found in a parking lot by a lady who tried to find his "parents". No luck, so we adopted him. Vet believes he is a little over two and galf years old. Faith and Hope, who are now 8 months old, came to live with us the end of April. They all get along great. Sometimes the boys will get into a brief tussle, but nothing big. I expect they both want Hope for a mate. No, not yet!!!
They all preen each other. And have been sleeping together for months. They are out of their day cages most of the day, but only Jesse flies for now. Faith has a few short flights, so no more outside on my shoulder for that little stinker.
I would not hesitate to get another bird, if I were you. I would get a younger bird, just from my experience with Jesse. We did get another male that was older after we got Jesse. Jesse picked on him relentlessly, so we found an experienced conure owner to take him. Jesse has done great with younger birds. Good luck!!!

 

[camelotshadow]

Oh so cute all 3 cheekies cuddling.

When they are babies they play with clutchmates or those they are raised with.

When they are older it is sort of a gamble that your bird will bond with another bird or a bird you adopt will like your bird.

Sometimes they do & sometimes they don't. Sometimes they fight pretty bad & they will always need seperation.

Some birds are not quite aware they are birds & seek out human companionship above a bird.

I would think bringing in a young one of the same species could help them get along.

I tend to think all birds benefit from having another bird in the house even if they want nothing to do with it I think it still could afford them some comfort when you go to work etc. Still it could be a constant source of frustration if they think the other bird is going to steal you from them.

Penny & Rio almost totally ignore each other & seem almost unaware the other is a few feet away...Its strange but actually I am happy as its better then them being upset/ Penny knows Rio is there & she will talk to me or him not sure but when Rio is doing something bad & I am messing with his cage she says
"Step Up" So in some way she is either telling him to step up or is observing & commenting & thinks I want him to step up..Shes so smart!!!

Who knows what goes on in there heads. Birds in the wild have flocks & for some territories & are not wanting or accepting of outsiders even in there species.

 

[webchirp]

Every bird is different. Me, I just love them and some just need a place to be.

Maks is supposedly six months now and he doesn't get along with the others. I am his friend and he so far seems happy with that. So there were no bonds created or shifted with anyone bringing him home. Just expect the worst and hope for the best. Maui is not as interactive with me now that she has Zia but she follows Zia and then I get to snuggle them both or save them from the Maks bird.

 

[PierreRenoir]

Oh so cute all 3 cheekies cuddling.

Some birds are not quite aware they are birds & seek out human companionship above a bird.

I tend to think all birds benefit from having another bird in the house even if they want nothing to do with it I think it still could afford them some comfort when you go to work etc. Still it could be a constant source of frustration if they think the other bird is going to steal you from them.

For some reason, I feel this is the case with Pierre. He really loves mine and my bf's companionship, and I swear he walks around and mimics our behavior more than he even tends to fly. My concern is that he will think the new bird will be competing for my attention. Although I do love how close we are, I feel Pierre considers me a "mate" which I know is bad. The other day my boyfriend was leaving for work, and Pierre was on my shoulder. My bf leaned down to kiss me, and Pierre flew at his face and attacked him. Even after my bf left, he was irritated with me and was biting me on the lip and my finger I took this as a bad sign, like he was angry with me for showing my bf affection.

That's so cute about the "step up" thing! I don't want to deprive Pierre of the enjoyment of having another bird around, and I do work a standard 9-5 day right now. I hope at some point to work from home, but I don't know when that's going to happen. I also really enjoy taking care of him and spending time with him and would love to just have another bird in general.

 

[Leih]

I love the baby pic you have of Pierre! So cute! I have one conure, a black capped, and a lovebird, and two linnies. 4 birds and 3 cats is a full house for me, otherwise I'd love to get a second conure and a second lovebird. (Although my lovebird would likely not accept another lovebird, she's pretty fiesty.)

 

[Kokako]

Pierre definitely considers you his mate or love interest... I would try to keep things extra-strictly platonic for a while, preening above the shoulders only and ending a good cuddle before he settles deep enough into it to start feeling frisky XD And perhaps adjust the amount of protein and fat he is getting, make the treats smaller. My girlie-bird is sometimes set off (into loud *noises* and flaps) by eye contact if I happen to look at her having fun with a perch during the season! Try to refrain from physical affection with your bf in his view for a few weeks, for the sake of his relationship with both of you.


My second conure was company for my first, longtime companion and they were proceeding calmly towards pairing up when she passed from cancer. I got my third conure because I adored her even though I knew her personality would not mesh with my second bird’s at all - she is the terminator of preening and he ‘preens’ me by lovingly laying his open beak against my eyebrow once a month. Two cages, a habit of guarding against physical interaction, double preening/cleaning/feeding and such for me to deal with but they are flock and more constant companions for each other than I could ever be. She flies up to yell to him what the humans are doing upstairs, he models touching new or scary objects and polite behaviors like “make a cuter sound” and drinking from a syringe, and she wakes us all up and he tells her when it is time for bed. One cage might be nice but the gift of feeling more secure in a 24/7 flock, for both of them, is worth so, so much

 

[Kokako]

It really doesn’t matter that they would both rather get preening from me and that one finds the other infuriating, imo the plain fact is that we are really bad birds and flock members in some fundamental ways so it is better to let them rely on each other for the emotional security of constant companionship. We all know of birds whose ‘favorite’ is only home one hour a day or every other month for a visit, and little conures are much more likely to drag their buddy along onto the human if they do decide to enjoy close proximity to each other. That wonderful, wonderful image of the three conures in a puddle? For most of these guys, you would be that third conure and the puddle would just happen to be your shoulder. Or two fingers, three conures as above ;D I just wind up with one conure in my hair and one puddled in my hand!

 

[Kokako]

Too many posts! Just wanted to add that my second and third were both mature rehomes - my second took five months before he would let me touch him (age 7) but loved my first bird on sight; the third was all over me as soon as I got her out of the car and never stopped (age 3). She would have been all over him too if he could have kept up with her energy!

 

[Monica]

I actually never planned on getting my first conure.... but he needed a home and my family said yes. Heck, the person who had him didn't know what he was, and me, being inexperienced, and with the lack of information at the time, it took me several months having to shift through poor information to determine what species I even had!

I was starting to fall for another species of conure as I was learning about them when I was offered to adopt another species like the one I already had... except he's not the same species... rather a similar species that is easily mistaken for the species I already have! That's Charlie. My first conure, Noel, wasn't exactly friendly, cuddly, playful... nothing a conure is described as. Charlie was everything I heard conures were supposed to be, so I said yes! I guess, in the end, he's not typical either... but he was the opposite of Noel in health, likes, dislikes, personality.... in everything except coloration!

Three years after Noel's passing, I saw Jayde here up for rehoming. I very tentatively inquired about her and was excited when I got the yes. We had to ship her, via airplane, to me and she was the funniest, quirkiest little thing! Unfortunately, she had a short life. (ovarian cancer)

There was also Finn... someone I know who has birds, their uncle found him on Craigslist and when he didn't seem to be as cool or amazing as his nieces birds, Finn was neglected... so she took Finn away and more or less shoved him into my hands. Sadly, he was pretty sick and lived an even shorter life. (kidney failure)

And then there's Merlin. His human kind of grew up with birds when she was younger, she has a family, including large dogs, saw Merlin and bought him. She honestly did the best that she could for him, but she didn't know how to connect with him. We had spoken on and off about him before, about me possibly fostering him but when she finally made the decision to let him go, I was recommended. I made sure she was ready to let him go before taking him because it's such a huge decision. He's honestly a lot happier here than in his previous home as he doesn't have to worry about big dogs scaring him (I do have a big dog! But he's not allowed around the birds) or just being scared and nervous in general. He's quite the demanding little guy! And copies Charlie's scream. It's quite amusing hearing a mitred conure's scream coming from a green cheek! Between the two of them, it's quite fun listening to their vocalizations!!!!



From having more than one conure, or well, birds in general, I can say that they do in fact benefit from having other birds around, even if they don't get along. I saw this clearly with Noel and Charlie. They did not get along, but Noel did attempt to copy whatever Charlie was doing... even though Noel was older. I also think that Charlie helped Jayde in some way as well since she was very skittish and afraid when she came here. They had sort of a love/hate relationship. That is, they *could* get along, but they didn't *love* each other... and if I had one on each shoulder and one was preening my face, so was the other! But god forbid, if one of them passed that invisible barrier in the middle of my face that split who got to preen what side, the other bird would get upset! Not fun to have two birds beaking each other across your face... lol

I have also fostered a green cheek and while she was here, it really helped Merlin. Merlin is also a very skittish and shy bird. The other green cheek was not, so him being able to see another bird being okay with humans gave him more confidence to do the same. Due to the size difference between Charlie and Merlin (Charlie is easily about 4 1/2 times bigger!), I don't really allow them to interact. Charlie might not be able to do much damage, but I'd rather not take the chance with a bird who's head is basically the size of his beak!