Getting another bird.

[King_Kaitt]

Hi, I’ve been thinking about getting a lovebird(not for a few months as I want to know a lot more about them) but I have a 4 year old female cockatiel she’s very clingy to me and has always been the only bird in the house. They wouldn’t be housed in the same cage but would be in the same room, How would I go about introducing my girl to a new bird in her territory? Would there be anything I can start doing now to prepare her for suddenly not being able to have free roam of the house all day and having a new bird in her space?

 

[sunnysmom]

Have you considered getting another cockatiel? Even though smaller, lovies can actually be aggressive to cockatiels. (I know of a woman whose lovie almost bit her tiel's toe completely off.) I think if your tiel is used to having the run of the house, she may get stressed out and jealous if she can't do that anymore. (And I wouldn't have the 2 out unsupervised.) So, it may be easier for both of you to get another tiel. Just my thought.

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Caitlin

I think it would be wise to have a ¨prepare for the worst, hope for the best¨ sort of approach. Keep in mind that bringing home a lovebird may mean separate out of cage time for each bird, but best case scenario would be that they can share the room.
If your lovebird doesn´t like your ´Tiel, they may chase them around the room non-stop (literally! I have a lovie who does this with her mum, dad and siblings resulting in separate out of cage time).
Also worth noting, to protect your birds while one is out and the other in their cage by not allowing the other to sit on top of the cage.

Good luck with your decision