Bonding with Bird and Human

[LiaraTivona]

Hi again,

I think I dreamed I asked this already because I don't see it...

Anway, so my fiance got Momo about two months ago, and I've had Tika for 6 years. Tika is currently with him while I travel for research. When I move down with him, we were going to slowly integrate them, then combine them into Momo's cage.

Then I heard that it takes about six months for bonding. Regardless of the specific time period, which fluctuate, we then had the idea to wait to integrate them until Momo bonds to my fiance so that when we do integrate them they don't forget all about us. But maybe that will happen regardless?

Then my fiance had the idea to keep them in separate cages in the same room as they are now, letting them play together only when we are involved, so that the whole flock is together or separate. This sounds nice for us, but part of the reason we brought in Momo was so that when we are both working, Tika is not stuck home alone.

I also want to work on training, so maybe I should at least wait until I have Tika target and recall trained (currently she's got step up and some unofficial recall and behavioral training) before integrating them too much.

Once again, I am at least glad they seem to like each other. Momo seems especially infatuated with TIka.

[Kim S]

I'm not really sure what youre question is. You seem to be doing all right?

[LiaraTivona]

Sorry, I go on tangents, my question is, should we keep them caged together all the time for space and companionship, or cage them separately when we are not home so they will not bond to each other to the point where they don't want to spend time with us when we are home?

[Kim S]

How do they get along outside the cage? Are they buddies? Then I would put them in the cage together for a day to see how they get allong inside a cage. If all goes well you can safely put them together. They will bond with eachother, just like you would bond with a new dog or bird. But if you keep spending time with them, and seperate time with each bird, they should stay as tame as ever. Especially during trainingsessions you should have only one bird out at a time.

Remember, they live in flocks of up to thousands in the wild. I'm pretty sure they know how to interact in a group