Need Help With Companion

[Mr_Ducky]

I've got a bit of a tricky situation I'm hoping folks could help me with. I have a four year old pineapple green cheek I found on Craigslist about a year ago and another baby phased GCC I got for him to be a companion around six months ago.

The issue I'm having is that the pineapple was neglected for years before I got him and doesn't understand how to play. The GCC, on the other hand LOVES to play and rough house. The end result is that the pineapple gets stressed out when he's around her and tries to run away. The GCC, on the other hand, thinks it's great fun and chases him nonstop.

For the mental health of my pineapple, I'm trying to make sure he gets plenty of alone time in a separate cage and time away from the GCC. The hard part of the situation is that the GCC NEEDS to play and cuddle and can't handle being alone. If I separate them, she gets frantic trying to find a way to be near him. It's so bad that if my fiance takes her in the other room, she'll jump from her perch, ignoring normally loved treats, to try to be near the pineapple again.

I don't know what to do. I need to make sure both birds' needs are met. One solution is to get another conure, but I really don't want another personality in the house. And while I can handle the noise from two cheeky birds, I'm also afraid that adding a third will increase it exponentially.

Any thoughts?

 

[Donna turner]

No other bird at this point would be my advice. No way of knowing if it would get along with either bird and could make things worse. Are they kept in separate cages ? If not I would definitely get another cage. They could be company for one another without her being able to chase him. Need more info .

 

[sunnysmom]

@webchirp ?

 

[webchirp]

Perhaps setting their cages side by side. The baby needs to learn boundaries at this point. @Monica may be able to help. Little bit of training and a bit more gradual easement into having a friend will help them both bond. Anita's baby did something similar with Remi. She finally placed them in a double flight with a divider and when Remi needs a break, she puts the divider in.

 

[Monica]

It is possible to have them interact together, but it can take a long time, and it's already been several months, I realize.


Clicker training will be your best bet here. Monkey see, monkey do. Teach them behaviors such as target training, turn around, drop an item into a container, etc. It can sometimes be faster to train two birds, once one bird figures out how to do the behavior. Station training, especially for the little one, would probably come in handy. Basically, teach the young one to "stay put" and leave the older bird alone.


When possible, try to find things that they can do together, but separate. Eating together, but each with their own dish is an example. Foraging is another.



My first two conures never really got along, but I still saw one copy the other in some things. My second and third conures kind of got along, but were never mates. At best, they shared a cage and preened each other, but nothing more than that. I never saw them preen each other, but when they're missing pinnies, you know they're preening each other! Even though they got along okay, it still wasn't fantastic, so to speak, between them. They still squabbled and fought, especially over me! And yet again, I did see them copy each other.

 

[Mr_Ducky]

I really like the side-by-side cage idea. At the moment, the cages are stacked, so I'll rearrange them tonight.

I'll also try the clicker training. I worked with my pineapple a little while ago and he picked it up fast. Maybe the extra simulation will help ease the GCC's need for "surplus" attention.

They do have separate feeding and toy areas that they can access. When both birds are out, they have access to both cages and can play, eat, or forage separately.

One thing I should mention is that they do get along okay. They are joined at the hip (it seems almost literally sometimes) when the GCC isn't pestering the pineapple. They even cuddle together on a rope toy to sleep. They don't fight or do dominant posturing - the pineapple just can't handle the play.