housing

[mstroup1]

I am considering getting another conure. I have a one year old Jenday and I have a friend who is looking for a home for her sun. Is it possible to house them in the same cage. Hers is 5 years old.

[Wolf]

This is a very good question and I wish that the answer were as simple and as easy to give.
Getting another bird, especially one that will get along with your current bird and even more importantly one that you are hoping to have share a cage with is much more complicated then just getting the birds and putting them together.
In getting the bird you must first consider the ages and the sexes of both birds. If they are both juveniles then they will probably get along, at least for a while, until one or both of them begin puberty and become adults at which time all bets are off and you may have to separate them. If they are close to the same age and are of the opposite sex then you have the best chance of them getting along as they will most likely bond and hopefully mate bond with each other. Most of the time the only conures that you can keep in the same cage are mates.
Also to begin with you will have to keep them separated and preferably in different rooms while the new bird goes through a quarantine period of at least 30 days to insure that it is disease frr and will not transmit a fatal disease to your current bird.

[liz]

only if they want to. during quarantine it is best to keep them in separate rooms. I suggest that the rooms be close enough to hear each other.
1 if they chatter back and forth that means they are curious and want to meet.
2 after quarantine put both cages in the same room and move them closer together every day.
3 when out together do they play, ignore each other or fight?
4 if they play together you are going in the right direction.
5 if one invites the other back to his cage to play "you are getting warm.
6 when they do this for more than a week you could think they want to be together but only do this when you are home.
7 keep the other cage for backup. you never know when one is going to have a bad day (we do) and need to be separated. or one could be injured and need some no play days.
8 a happy bird is one that is not forced to do anything. a happy bird makes the decisions on his life.