Should I Get Another Green Cheek

[ShadoBaby]

HI! I've had my pineapple green cheek, Shado, for about a year now. I never had her sexed so I don't know the gender, but I believe Shados a girl. She's probably almost 2 years old. She's my baby, we get along great. She is my crazy monkey bird, and she loves to cuddle and hang upside down from my hair and roll over and flip on everything! She has a big personality and doesn't like other people very much, but she's interested in other birds. She recently spent some time around my sisters doves I babysat and she seemed very curious and friendly towards them. I am considering getting her a companion. I'm not usually home during the day and even though we hang out at night, I feel like she may be lonely during the day. She has a huge cage with toys, but all she really wants is to cuddle. I met a wonderful little baby cinnamon green cheek that I can take home in a couple months. I'm thinking a young green cheek might be easier for her to get along with. I'd keep them separate for a while and maybe house them together some day in the future if they get along well. Or at least house them together during the day time. My biggest fear is having Shado lose her affection for me. Is it selfish, perhaps. But I love our bond. Is it possible she will just become friendly with the new baby and keep her bond with me? I really appreciate the advice!

[Wolf]

Well, personally, I like to have two birds of any species, usually a male and female. Everyone likes to have a viable companion, someone to talk with and share with and for me that includes all of my animals, I am not interested in breeding any of them. It can make it more difficult when it comes to training, but that is a small price to pay for them to be happier, I think. Will it affect your bond with your bird? In all likelihood, yes, to some degree it will, but it will not destroy the bond and since they will be a bit more independent of you, this could easily work to your benefit as well as theirs.

Should you decide to get a second bird you need to consider what you are wanting from both of them, you should also consider things such as the ages and sexes of the birds. I really think that you need to consider if you in fact want the second bird, as I am of the opinion that you should want the second bird as much for yourself as for your current bird, others may or may not agree with me on this. Age and sex are also both important factors to consider and for this reason, I suggest that you have your current bird DNA sexed. With most birds that you are thinking of housing in the same space it is usually better if they are of opposing sexes as they are less likely to fight with each other. Age is also important as you have an adult bird and it will not normally want much to do with a juvenile bird that is not its own offspring. They could just ignore each other but if they are in a cage together then the adult bird may hurt the younger bird and you would not want either of them to be injured. The age may not be so important as long as you don't plan on housing them together in the same cage at least until the younger bird attains adulthood in a couple of years. This could allow you time to train and bond with the new and younger bird first. But if you are thinking of a companion for your current bird in less time than this you would be better off in finding an adult of the opposite sex that chooses you, perhaps a good place to look is at an avian rescue. And don't forget that if you choose to get a new bird regardless of age or sex or even species that it must be quarantined for at least 30 days to protect them both from diseases.

[Pajarita]

Yep, just what Wolf said. I would recommend you get your bird DNA'd and get another of the opposite gender and of the same age. It will be much easier on you and the birds this way, both in the short and long term. But, be careful about keeping them up at night because that will make them produce sexual hormones all the time which will make them super hormonal and make them want to breed all the time -which would, most definitely, exclude you from the picture. But, in any case, even single GCCs are not recommended to be kept at a human schedule because, once they become sexually mature and frustrated, they usually start screaming and biting all the time.