Wanting cage-mate for Green Cheek. Advice?

[Noah]

Okay, so I have a Green Cheek Conure (cinnamon variety) and he's about a year old. We wanted to get him a cage mate, but there are a few problems. We aren't entirely sure about his sex. There's a rumor that females have pink feet and males have black feet. He has pink feet. There's another one that says males have flat heads and females have round heads. He has a flat head. Of course, we'd need to get him DNA sexed to determine for sure. Another thing, though. We want a Sun Conure, but we don't know if sun conures get along well with green cheeks. My green cheek, Jasper, doesn't get along well with small animals like hamsters, but he LOVES other birds. We even got worried because he wanted to play with a fully grown Nanday Conure. The Nanday named Baby was abused by her previous owner, so my mom's boyfriend took her in. She's friendly, but we didn't know how she'd react so we took Jasper away from her. If we get another conure, we are getting a hand-raised baby from a nearby pet-store Woofmeow Family Pet Center. They're not like Petco or PetSmart, they actually raise their baby birds by hand and are very loving and caring.

So the main question is what kind of bird would go well with Jasper?


Side note: He didn't like the pocket mirror in his cage, but he loves cuddling with the "other bird" in the bathroom mirror. He didn't like the small mirror because it had a fancy green rim that he would chew on, which ended up breaking the mirror. I don't know if this makes a difference, but I like adding details so you guys can help me out better, considering i'm clearly a Novice when it comes to birds.

 

[Lwalker]

Personally, I would not mix birds as cage mates so I would suggest another green cheek. However; there is still no guarantee they will get along well enough to share a cage. You will need to start with two cages and see how it goes. As for sexing--both my males have pink feet and one has a flatter head and one a rounder head. I wouldn't trust anything but a DNA test.

Jasper looks like a real cutie!

 

[karen256]

I also wouldn't get anything but another GCC or another small conure as a potential cage-mate, and since breeding would be a possibility, you would need to have yours DNA tested. I've heard of that foot color myth in budgies (actually in budgies there's some truth to it but it isn't reliable at all) - it doesn't apply to GCC's and foot color depends on the color mutation.

Also, if you just want a friend for your GCC, which will be in a separate cage when you can't watch them, then you have lots more choices to consider. A bird of somewhat similar size and temperament is best to make it more likely they will get along and can't injure each other.

Of course, it's hard to predict exactly how well any two birds will get along! Birds of the same species are more likely to be friends, but can also fight or squabble, or see each other as competition for your attention. And birds that seem very different can become best friends; my GCC and my first budgie were wonderful friends even though they were species you would not necessarily expect to be friends.

 

[Mizzely]

My female had black feet

Think of it from your bird's point of view. What if your parents wanted you to have a new friend, so they let a complete stranger move into your room and you had to share a bed. That is what you are doing when you have a strange bird move in to a bird's space. Get a companion, but give them their own cage and if they get along and choose to share a room, then you can take away the other cage.

 

[gptb2020]

I would say you could try another bird, if your bird's personality is more relaxed. But, if your bird isn't like this, I'd get another GCC.

 

[Lwalker]

My female had black feet

Think of it from your bird's point of view. What if your parents wanted you to have a new friend, so they let a complete stranger move into your room and you had to share a bed. That is what you are doing when you have a strange bird move in to a bird's space. Get a companion, but give them their own cage and if they get along and choose to share a room, then you can take away the other cage.

I think the "choice" part is key. Once my two got along they went in and out of each others cages. Eventually, they started going in the one cage together at night. I still separated them for awhile to sleep and then finally let them stay together but it was their choice- nothing I imposed. Still have the empty cage in case things change.

 

[BrianB]

I've been thinking of this as well. My green cheek pineapple is almost 4 months old and fairly independent. My cinnamon green cheeks have a chick that is almost a week old. I'm planning on hand feeding and wonder if at some point it would be good to put the two young ones together. The little pineapple is friendly to everyone, so I don't think i'll have to deal with jealousy issues with a new bird.

 

[Karija]

I would never let a Nanday or Sun in with my GCCs... the size differential is just too much. Depending on the size of your GCC, the larger conures like Nandays/Suns are easily twice the weight and twice the beak. I've adopted GCCs that have had injuries from other birds and could imagine that happening.

Just to echo what a few others have said: be prepared that they may not get along and may always be caged separately. When one of my pair died, I adopted another GCC. It took about four months of careful work for them to be able to be out at the same time without attacking each other. It's seven months in and they get along pretty great outside of the cage, but aren't ready to share cage territory yet. I'm not sure if/when they'll get there. So make sure you have another cage set up and that you'll have the time to treat them both the attention they need if they do need to be handled separately.

 

[Monica]

Green cheeks can hybridize with sun conures... nandays... black caps... maroon bellieds... duskies... potentially any other conure species.

If the plan is to eventually house the two together, either be prepared for any breeding and be able to prevent it, or make sure the birds are of the same sex.


As mentioned though, if you get another bird, it needs it's own cage, food, toys, perches, etc. Also, a larger conure does have the potential to cause a lot of harm to a smaller parrot.