conure living with parakeet. advice needed.

[duke]

Hello everybody,

so i have been offered a baby green cheek conure by a breeder friend of mine, in a few months when they are ready.

I have always wanted one, but my problem is, I already have a Bourke's parakeet. my bourke doesn't have a cage (he always hated cages) he just roams and flys around the house, mainly hanging out in his little area that is set up for him, he is a very friendly bird he loves attention, being handled and played with...

so i was wondering if bringing a baby green cheek conure into this situation would be a good idea? will the conure bully or kill the Bourke?
will the conure be able to be out of a cage with the Bourke? (i dont want them to be caged very often). will bringing another bird in negativity affect my relationship with my Bourke?

also, i have had a decent amount of experience with birds, i grew up with Indian ring necks around, i have had cockatiels, budgies and grass parakeets, so training the conure shouldnt be a problem.

Any advise will be appreciated, Thank you

[marie83]

Unfortunately conures can bully other birds although there are a few that will tolerate other species so I think if your going to go for it you will need cages or to keep them in seperate rooms until you have time to supervise them together. Even if you caged the conure and let the bourke stay free you would still have to find a way to block the conure from being able to bite toes if the bourke should land on the cage.
It's more than possible to own two species and make it work if your willing to but you need to consider what may happen in the future too if your not able to supervise them as much etc so it really does depend on how much time you have/may have now and in the future and how much work your willing to put in, what space is available to you now and in the future (a seperate room for the conure may be practical now but what if you move for instance) etc

[pennyandrocky]

my is definatly a bully. he waits for my dog to fall asleep and tries to bite her, he lands on her back all the time.he chases anyone who's afraid of him,and tries to take food from everyone.the only one he doesn't bully is my because she won't put up with him and he knows it.

[liz]

When I moved to NC we lived in an apartment. The only pet we could have there was a ferret because the landlord thought it was always caged. It was not. Then we got a second one. Two years later a kitten found me. Then another kitten found me. Because they were kittens the ferrets had the upper hand. The kittens grew up with respect for the ferrets who were full grown and in charge. Then my son brought home a puppy. The cats smacked him and the ferrets romped on him. He believed that is the way of life. All got along.

If you have an adult smaller bird and give it access to nanny a baby, the baby will grow up with respect for the litter bird.

I don't think it would be a problem. First comes first. Your little one gets the first attention then the two of you give the baby attention.

[Grey_Moon]

I have to ask did you post this on Yahoo Answers too?

If so I'll give you the same answer (short version) as I did there;

I suppose you could. But I wouldn't given the potential for damage, death and behavioural problems. As others have said conures can be cheeky bullies and the stress it would put on your bourke isn't worth it. I know that some people have them together fine no problems, but you cannot use the best case scenario as a deciding factor. You have to prepare for the worst case scenario, see if you want/can deal with that and then hope things get better than that.

Looking at the worst case scenario---still going to say no. I've been on the end of that worst case and the heartbreak and stress caused to both me and the birds wasn't worth it.

[duke]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Yes, I have posted this question on a few sites, just trying to get as much advice on this situation i can before i make my decision. so im sorry if anyone gets annoyed if they keep coming across this question.

i still have a while to make my decision, so im going to be thinking about all the possible situations before i do.