Introducing GCC to Cockatiel

[elitys]

My GCC, Poppy, finally met my boyfriend's tiel, Baby, today and she hated him! She was such a mean girl! Baby was being so sweet, had his heart wings out and was singing at her, but Poppy got all puffy-necked and tried to bite him.

We went to a neutral area in my house (the kitchen) and I set up her little tabletop plaything for her to sit on while Baby was in/on top of his travel cage. They had a while to just look at each other from across the counter top, but Poppy was overly interested in him and bobbing her head while Baby was calm. We took them over to the fireplace mantle (away from their perches) where they each got a sprig of millet to eat while they were a few feet away from each other. Baby approached Poppy at this point and started singing at her, but as soon as he got a few inches away, Poppy let him know she didn't like that one bit. Fluffed up her neck, opened her beak like a mad woman, and gave him a lunge.

I picked her up at that point as I didn't want it to escalate, but I wanted to try again to see if she would pursue him or if it was more of a warning. We let them try again, and once Baby approached her, she fluffed up and tried to bite him once more. As he backed up (still singing, the sweet thing), she seemed to follow, still in her aggressive stance. I didn't like that, so I removed her again.

I'm not expecting them to be best friends by any means, but I would like to feel a little better about their interactions. And since me and my boyfriend are moving in together, the birds will have to keep each other company (from their own cages of course) while we are away.

Does anyone have any advice for the next steps? I was thinking it might just need time. Once we move to our new place, they will spend a lot of time just being in the same room, and maybe they will start to get used to each other? Baby is very social with other birds whenever we take him to the store, but I haven't seen Poppy interact with other birds before as she was housed alone when I got her. She does seem to have aggressive reactions to her reflection when she's close enough to touch the mirror, so I haven't allowed that since I saw it. So, Poppy could just be bird aggressive and there might not be hope, but I want to give them the best chance possible.

At the very least, Baby likes singing at her, so hopefully he won't feel the need to contact call as much while we are away. Poppy is also usually entertained by toys and foraging where Baby shows little interest, so maybe their relationship will just be a "Baby watches Poppy play, they are both content" sort of thing. Oh well, I'm new to this, so if anyone has any advice on the matter, I'd greatly appreciate it!

 

[Gokha]

Hi!
I got my cockatiel (female),Walad, in December 2019. Later in March i was gifted a baby Indian ringneck, Zazu.In the beginning they were both scared of each other, I assumed it’ll pass when Zazu grows up and will be able to interact.
now Zazu is almost 4 months and he bosses around Walad, who is 3.5 years old. Zazu by default is a bigger bird and he feels dominating towards Walad.Zazu also fluffs up and goes towards her to bite and Walad just awkwardly tries to fly away somewhere else (she can’t properly fly). But this happens occasionally, only when Walad happens to fall on Zazu’s sight. Usually Zazu plays all around the room, whereas Walad prefers to stay with me on the Sofa.If Walad is sitting on my head or shoulder, Zazu might get jealous and fly on top of her so she would leave (this also happens rarely).
soI kinda gave up on the idea of them being friends one day Zazu doesn’t like Walad (like some people don’t like other people or the opposite) and after many “attacks” she is now scared of him and gets alert when he’s around. I’m okay with that because Zazu doesn’t really attack with an intent to hurt my girl. I can take them out of the cages together, sometimes they even nap close to each other (10 cm space). It just depends on Zazu’s mood when he feels like scaring and bullying her. Also I don’t leave them alone in the room for more than 2-3 minutes.
but overall no issues, they just chose not to be friends.

 

[Travis726]

My green cheek doesnt like my cockatiels. She (i think) is content ignoring them, but if they happen to get close to each other you have to break them up. I have only had my green cheek a month or so but am not crossing my fingers it will change..

edit: if you want a friend for your cockatiel... another cockatiel is your best bet.. I have two males and while they dont preen each other etc... THey are definitely friends (flock call when separated etc)

 

[Vittror]

My two lovebirds don't seem to like each other..
Well let me rephrase that: Whiskey doesn't seem to like Piep that much.

I haven't let them meet each other outside of their cages in a neutral room but when Piep is out of his cage (Whiskey inside his) and he accidentally lands on Whiskey's cage, Whiskey swells up, makes angry/irritated noises and lunges at Piep.
Piep seems to be confused and in the beginning he kept going over to Whiskey, it seemed to me he was really interested and wanted to make friends.

When it's the other way around and Whiskey is outside and he lands on Piep's cage, he also starts hissing and lunging so at this point I just try to keep them apart.

Piep seems to be much more focused on other birds - where he lived before they also had another lovebird living there (in another cage) so I think Piep is more used to other birds
Whereas Whiskey has always been the only bird in the house and is much more focused on me and other humans.

For my lovebirds I won't be putting them together soon, if even at all.
It doesn't seem like a good match between them two so I'd rather not risk it.

At the very least I would give the situation with your birds time, a lot of time.
Let them get used to each other when being in the same room inside their cages and such.
I'm not sure if it'd be a good idea to try to let them meet again though.

 

[Lady Jane]

Not a good mix of species. Cockatiels are usually laid back and gentle. GCC want to be the boss and may attack your cockatiel.

 

[elitys]

Not a good mix of species. Cockatiels are usually laid back and gentle. GCC want to be the boss and may attack your cockatiel.

Yeah, Baby is definitely sweeter to other birds than Poppy seems to be. She didn't try to attack him until he got close though. Im hoping she just wants her space and won't be openly aggressive.

 

[elitys]

edit: if you want a friend for your cockatiel... another cockatiel is your best bet.. I have two males and while they dont preen each other etc... THey are definitely friends (flock call when separated etc)

Neither of us are really panning to get another bird at the moment. These two are both of our individual birds, so if they don't get along, that's alright. We didn't get them to be friends with each other. It would just be nice is all.

 

[Sand]

i took my cat to the vet one day, a man came rushing in for an emergency visit, he had a cockatiel with NO BEAK. i felt dizzy, it was so bad looking. he told me his GCC (who'd been living in the same house as the cockatiel for several years) just decided he was going to bite his Cockatiel harder than he ever had, and he grabbed the Tiels beak and yanked it right off. i was horrified. I asked the nurse later if the cockatiel would live, she said, well the owner would have to feed him mashed food every day several times a day for the rest of it's life and NEVER allow his other birds near the Tiel and since it couldnt use it's beak to grasp & climb, he'd have to be like maybe in a hamster cage where he wouldnt have to climb. and he could no longer groom himself, etc etc etc. she said i find it unlikely the cockatiel would live because of all of that. I do love my GCC but my gosh they can bite something terrible

 

[BrianB]

I've had cockatiels and conure chicks together in a brooder while being handfed, but once they start weaning I keep separate them. They are just too different to get along well as adult birds.