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Aggressive behaviour?

StigC

Moving in
Joined
11/23/20
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5
Real Name
Stig
Hi there,

I have some questions regarding how our two birds are behaving with each other.


First some background story:
We have a 5 year old conure named Papaya. Papaya can not fly due to him plucking his wings (when very hormonal) and is generally a shy/scared bird, so he often rides our shoulders and stays either there or at his cage. We wanted to give Papaya some company and found a 5 month old conure in need of a new home. We were a bit worried about the age difference but decided to give it a go. His name is Spir.

This is the two of them:
parrots.png

Introducing them have been a bumpy ride, but mostly for the better.
From the very beginning they both seemed interested in each other and was keen to meet. But since we've started to let them meet outside their cages, it seems Papaya, the older bird, is not as interested in meeting as the little one, Spir. We figure the age difference is the main culprit, as they both do want to meet, but the fun often turns to fighting. Perhaps the youngest ones way of playing is just a little too wild for a shy five year old?

In this not-so-nice-video, you see the two of them have a go at each other. In this much nicer video, recorded about 20 minutes after the first video, they show nothing but love for one another.

We're assuming that they both do like each other, but the older one doesn't want to meet on the younger ones terms..

The way we have them meet now is: Have the young one out for some time, let him use up some energy and cool down. Then bring out the 'old' one. Sometimes the older one instantly moves away, sometimes they instantly start fighting. If both of them just had a bath however, or they are with us in the shower, they are cool sitting next to each other and are all relaxed.

Most of the day are spent together, where they have their cages in the same room close to each other- no problem at all.


So our questions is:
From looking at the first video, are they just playing or actually fighting? ( we always stop them as things just seem to get uglier)
Is the almost 5 years in difference too much? Perhabs it'll be alright in ~2 years time when Spir is an adult as well?
How would you try to make the introduction better/smoother?


Any questions let me know. And thank you for your time!

Kind regards,
StigC
 

cab124

Jogging around the block
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Craig
Wow!!! I have been considering getting a friend for my bird as well, but after seeing this, I don't think I am going to even try. Almost everything I do in life turns into a worst-case scenario, so my birds would surely injure each other.
 

Leih

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
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Leih Pearson
Conures can be little buttheads... I have a black capped conure and a lovebird and I have to be careful with them together. @webchirp is definitely a good person to ask. ;)
 

StigC

Moving in
Joined
11/23/20
Messages
5
Real Name
Stig
Bump/Update: They are definitely getting more and more friendly, but occational fights still occur.
They've started a morning preening ritual where they'll preen each other after breakfast <3 However, whenever the young one lands next to the old guy, a fight will still start.

Any tips would be helpful!
 
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