greg@uc780.umd.edu (04/25/91)
>Amid the discussions of what type of bird to start with, I'm curious >what experiences people have had with adding that dreaded second bird >to the household. > >I bought a baby hand raised Cockatiel two years ago, and it has bonded >quite well. Even though it absolutely refuses to learn anything new :-), >it has become quite protective of me, insists on lots of attention, and >it NOT at all a friend of my computer (which gets too much attention in >her eyes...) > >Clearly adding a second bird to the fray would be a fairly traumatic thing >to do, but it would also give the tiel additional distraction during the >day when I'm not home. (Not to mention I want to get a conure, of course >:-). > >What have people chosen to do in situations like this, or what results have >they had when adding additional birds later in life? Conures and cockatiels can be a troublesome mix. I own four 'tiels and two conures, and keeping them out of trouble can be a chore. The two species are not natural neighbors / friends, and we have learned that as a general rule conures and 'tiels should not be left alone together. Conures tend to be territorial, and people are territory too. If your 'tiel is as fiercely possessive as you indicate, it will take a lot of work and care to get them to accept the other's existence - but don't expect them to become friends, as you may be let down. One conure is fine around most of the 'tiels, while the other can be pretty aggressive towards them. Exercise care if you decide to do this, as it only takes a moment for a bird to do a great deal of damage to another bird when unsupervised. >Robert J. Granvin School of Statistics >rjg@umnstat.stat.umn.edu University of Minnesota Gregory Wright BITNET: GREG@UC780 Internet: greg@socrates.umd.edu "A bird in the hand is one less bird chewing on your antique chair."