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Introducing a second bird

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Introducing a second bird

Postby joshhead » Mon Aug 22, 2016 4:21 pm

Hello good people. I have recently acquired a jenday conure. I am wondering what is the best way to make sure that he is friends with my quaker. My quaker is a hand tamed happy bird, and my jenday stepped up on to my finger one day, last week. Not since. That day, I put the jenday on the same playstand that the quaker was on, and they attacked each other almost immediately. I am quite certain that that was a mistake, and probably the reason he won't step up to my finger anymore. Is it too late for them to be friends? Did I make an epic mistake? Will I ever get my jenday to step up again? Thanks in advance.

Quaker- "Turkey" roughly 4 months old
Jenday- "Goose" roughly 15 months old

Sex of both- ?????
joshhead
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: quaker,jenday
Flight: No

Re: Introducing a second bird

Postby Wolf » Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:23 am

First question is how long have you had each one of these birds? There is a significant difference in the ages of these two birds which is going to work against you if not right now in just a few months as the Jenday will go through puberty and become an adult before the quaker. Adult birds do not generally have much to do with baby or juvenile birds.

While it is possible to get them to get along well enough to be out of their cages at the same time, the differences in these two species lifestyles is great enough that I would not count on any more than that in their relationship to each other.

Introductions of one parrot with another is a time consuming process and needs to be done slowly. They can not just be put together the way that dogs and cats often are. I begin introductions after quarantine is over ( about 30 days), by placing their cages near each other so that they can see and talk to each other. I do not start by letting them out at the same time, I let them out one at a time and observe their behaviors. During this initial period I do not allow either bird to land on the other birds cage so as to keep them from biting the others toes off. Parrots are territorial and protective of their cages. Usually after a week or two of this I will begin to let them out at the same time, if they are both fully flighted. This requires close supervision to prevent them from attacking each other, sometimes this requires two people to keep them apart enough so that they do not fight. Until I am sure that I can keep them from fighting I do not place them closer than one foot to each other and make certain that when they do get close to each other that I am right there within easy reach of both of them.

There is no guarantee that any bird will accept any other bird into its flock, or that they will ever get along. This is true even if you have two birds of the same species and opposite genders.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Introducing a second bird

Postby Pajarita » Tue Aug 23, 2016 10:49 am

Wolf is correct. And it seems that you did not quarantine so, if I were you, I would keep a very close watch on both of them because what appears to be a healthy bird could easily be an asymptomatic carrier of a disease and give it to the other one - but let's hope that is not the case with yours.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
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Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Introducing a second bird

Postby Wolf » Thu Aug 25, 2016 6:54 am

After reading through this topic a second time, it appears that I neglected to answer your questions concerning your jenday parrot and stepping up. I will attempt to correct this oversight now. I normally prefer to do this during the quarantine time as the bird is not around any other birds during this time that could serve as a distraction to the new bird. Although you do not appear to have quarantined your bird the method outlined should still work well enough. I can not say if it will work any quicker, due to seeing you work with your other bird or if it will be enough of a distraction to take a little longer, but it is still quite workable. Here is a link where I explained this process to another member with a Quaker parrot. viewtopic.php?f=11&t=15840

I hope that this will prove useful to you and your birds. Please feel free to ask if you need further assistance.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Introducing a second bird

Postby liz » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:36 am

While in quarantine and not in the same room the birds will communicate and learn something about the other before getting together. It is like people becoming friends by phone. It is not carved in stone but they will usually continue with their communication once they are in the same room.
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liz
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