Parrotlets not getting along; how long to wait to rehome?

[nerdybird]

Hello! It has been a while since I've posted.

Personal Update:My job was pretty nuts for a while- my co-worker quit, and my company hired a crazy person, but couldn't fire her b/c giant company- HR loops to jump through. She was lashing out at me and customers (I work at a two person coffee shop), moving everything around every yday, crying, having emotional breakdowns....it was quite stressful. And, I was having computer issues, so couldn't access my resumes to apply for other jobs. Now, she is finally fired, I got a promotion, and I'm probably getting another job soon anyway (because this company is the worst.)

The downside- lots of stress a couple months ago. Upside- I'm moving into a better apartment in 3 weeks. With a window! My current place has a window that looks at a brick wall. But my new place has a South-facing window, which will give my birds (and me) lots of sunshine. (I know they need real outdoor sunshine, but this is a big improvment!)

Parrotlet Problems!

I have had Zelda, my 3 year old, female parrotlet, for a year and a couple months. She bonded to me really fast; I think she was neglected (left in her cage for months) in her first home. 8ish months later I adopted a cockatiel; at first Zelda was very aggressive toward him, but she settled down after a few months, and they get along fine; they basically ignore each other. They have continued to improve, and can sit fairly close (but not too close) and preen themselves without incident.

Well, last spring I was thinking about getting another parrotlet; I think I read some stuff on this forum, both posted articles and members' opinions, about many types of birds doing better with another of their own kind. But, I also wanted another one; I just adore Zelda and everything I've read and seen of parrotlets. I figured it would be a win-win; I wanted another one, and it would be good for her too.

So at the end of July I aopted a 3 month old male parrotlet. As soon as I took him home, he wanted nothing to do with me, but adores Zelda and only wants to be near her. She hates him. She is VERY aggressive toward him. When I would first take him out, she would stick to me like glue; I tried to encourage her to spend more time on the hanging perches, b/c I thought maybe she saw me as her mate, and I've read that's unhealthy for birds.

They have progressed a little bit; Loki likes me a little more now, and Zelda will tolerate him. The first three months were awful, so much screeching from her. Again, Loki just wants to be near Zelda, it's kind of cute except I'm worried she will kill him.

A couple months ago, he landed on her cage, and I wasn't fast enough, and she bit his foot; it was just a tiny scratch, but he bit part of his own toe off!! My friend who works with birds thinks it might have been broken, and that's why he bit it off. He is older and wiser now, and will not land directly on the bars of her cage; and he is justly wary of her, although definitely still wants to be near her.


I feel like my bond with Zelda has deteriorated somewhat- likely due to me being so busy for a few weeks, and also my own encouragement for her to spend time away from my shoulder. I'm having trouble bonding with Loki, because as soon as Zelda sees me with him, she loses her mind, and then HE'S stressed out because she's screeching. Zelda seems visibly uncomfortable with Loki around.

Loki chirped a bit when I first got him, but hardly makes any noise now, except to flock-call to Zelda (who rarely calls back). He doesn't flock call to me, and when I get home and Zelda and Falcor make a lot of noise, he sits on his perch and doesn't make a sound. But otherwise he seems very healthy; he is very active, destroys lots of toys, preens, etc. I give him scratches in his cage.

If they are both relaxed, I can actually get them to sit next to each other on my finger; Loki loves it and will preen Zelda, but she never preens back, LOL. One time she did shuffle closer to him, and give a little beak grind; this gives me some hope, but I'm still unsure about them.

I have seen some improvement the last couple days, as I've tried to give Zelda more one on one time; but, the only way I can do that, is to cover Loki's cage. Same for spending any one on one time with him; I have to cover his cage so Zelda is unaware. I live in a small studio apartment; my only other option is to take them into the bathroom (which I have done in the past).

My concern is, am I making Zelda stressed out by having another bird around? She has always been a fairly uptight bird, but she seems visibly annoyed/ distressed because of him. I want to do what's best for both of them. I am willing to spend lots of time to make this work, but if I will need to rehome him, it seems like it would be better to do it sooner, while he's still quite young.

And, when I'm feeling positive, I think that when things settle down in my apartment/ their environment, that will probably help things too. I feel like things were actually better a month or two ago, but being so busy- oh, and I was sick for a while, and not spending as much time with them- has maybe made things worse. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed the last couple days and would like to hear what people think about this situation.

[Wolf]

The very first thing that comes to mind is the difference in their ages. you are trying to put an adult bird with a juvenile bird and this is not a great idea as the juvenile bird is looking at the adult bird as a parent and the adult bird wants nothing to do with the juvenile bird. If you are going to have a mate for your adult parrotlet then you need to have the other bird to be of the opposite sex and it should also be an adult. Now you have two birds and if you let them see each other and wait for your juvenile bird to grow up they may work out just fine as long as they are indeed of the opposite sex. I have an 11 year old female parrotlet and she lives with my 5 year old male parrotlet. It actually only took two weeks for them to get along well enough to live together in the same cage, but they are both adults. If you will just be patient for a while longer this will probably resolve itself in the spring after your juvenile bird goes through puberty and becomes an adult bird.

[nerdybird]

Thanks Wolf. I was wondering if you ever got her a mate, I remember you talking about getting another parrotlet. I actually don't want them to mate, or pair bond; I just want her not to stress out when I try to spend time with him! But that is a good point, that maybe the age is a problem.

Of course I would love it if they got along, and bonded to an extent; but I went in knowing that worse case scenario, they might not, and would possibly only "tolerate" each other; but I didn't think she would be so stressed out by his presence. Maybe I went too far in encouraging her to spend time near him.

[Wolf]

Yes, we did get her a mate. It took a while as first I had to locate an avian vet as she is so small that I did not want to chance me doing anthing wrong with her on getting her DNA sex tested. Her coloring was such that I could not be certain of her sex by her feather coloration, which is normally very accurate for a Celestial Parrotlet, but she is a hybrid Celestial/ Lucinda Parrotlet. They are happily living together he is a turquoise mutation, very pretty, and a retired breeder bird, so he is being very difficult to win over but that is fine as this if about them and not me. They may mate, but I will not be raising any baby parrotlets.