How Far In Advance To Introduce New Parrot's Cage

[Michael]

As you may know, I am thinking of getting a cape parrot and I am worrying about my Senegal parrot being territorial about my place. I am wondering if I should introduce her cage in which the new parrot will live in advance or just before getting the new parrot?

One reason not to introduce it far in advance is that my Senegal parrot may try to claim it as her area. On the other hand, I'm worried that she may try to claim it with the bird already in it. Perhaps I should introduce it before getting the new bird and keep Kili off of it and making it aversive so that she wouldn't want to go there when the new bird arrives.

Has anyone dealt with this issue? What did you do and what was the outcome?

[purringparrot]

Hi Michael,
I came across your post while researching cape parrot weights and your other posts about the breeders, etc. I can't stress how important it is to get your bird from a reputable breeder. We got our first cape from a breeder here is CA. He was our first and only lived to be a little over 2 years old. When he passed we had an necropsy done and found he had a bone marrow cancer. Since he was our first cape we were inexperienced on how he should be with his weight and activity level. When we got him he was so sweet, a felt a bit underweight but seemed to be a good bird. He got a clean bill of health from the vet that said all blood work was normal, etc. It is a long story about his illness but when I talked to the breeder she indicted that we were feeding him incorrectly or not doing something right. The fact was he was a runt and possible inbreed. The vets all said his cancer was something he was probably born with. When I saw his baby pics and asked the breeder why he was so much smaller then his sister she said it was because he hadn't been feed yet.
Anyway we did get another cape and he came from Jean Pattison. She is a great breeder, had no problem leaving him flighted, etc.
Jupiter is almost a year old, twice as large as our last cape and a very very busy bird. I tried to put him in as my avatar but it wouldn't take it no matter how tiny I made the photo. Jupiter lives at our cat and bird resort and loves our CAG who loves him too. As he has gotten older he has gotten territorial and like a sennie is afraid of nothing. I think if you are careful on how you intergrate them they should do fine and be good friends. Jupiter was also shipped out to us and didn't even notice. Jean lets the parents raise the chicks for a certain amount of time which is great. Jupiter knows he is a bird and not a human which is good for his mental health.
I would keep their areas separate and let them slowly get to know each other. Baby capes are very curious. You can see Jupiter on our webcam sometimes and how he has no problem invading other bird stand no matter what their size.

[Michael]

That's great to know. I think you will be pleased to know that I am in fact in contact with Jean Pattison and will most likely be getting my Cape from her. I am also talking to Eb Cravens in Hawaii but Jean is much closer.

I'd like to know everything you can tell me about Capes, how yours behaves, and how your experience with Jean went. She has a hen that is about ready to lay any day now so we're waiting anxiously. Is yours a male of female?

There is just so little info about them so I'm just doing my best to find out what I can. Luckily I have some experience with a Senegal and if the Cape ends up being the worst my Senegal can be at 4times the size/bite, I know I could still manage. However I've heard them called the gentle giant so that is good news.

[purringparrot]

Jean was great to work with. Even though she has a closed aviary we still needed Jupiter tested for PBFD and psitacosiss before coming to us since he would be in a boarding situation. We require that of all our guests and we wanted to make sure his was on file. We requested a male and he is DNA sexed. He is quite large at weighs about 350g. I think he is starting to fill out more. We got him when he was 4 months old and he was fully weaned. He is very gentle and loves head scratches but can also be quite the tough boy when in full play mode. He is very smart and active, loves his bath times and makes a huge mess with it. He has learned all of our guests birds calls and sounds exactly like them. No human speech yet that we could understand expect tonight when we tried giving him some bedtime mush he got very upset at the spoon and said what sound like "WHAT DO YOU WANT. I managed to upload some photos I took today. We did have to clip his wings a little once we got him because he kept bothering the other birds and staeling their toys, food or just wanted to play. I have heard that when they turn about 3 years old they can turn into little monsters about being territorial and then best thing to do is just ride it out because they will calm back down after a year but I think if you just watch the body language and have good boundaries it shouldn't be too bad. Jean was very easy to work with regarding the payment and said as long as she has full payment by the time he is ready to go then that is fine. She also said to always feel free to call with any questions even if it is years after we have our bird.
She weans them on nuts and pretty bird pellets and will send some extra along with yours. Jupiter took about a week to get onto our food from the pretty bird and now eats fresh mix, sprouts, homemade birdie breads, seed/nut mix and loves his harrisons pellets. We try to provide a good variety of things. I can't imagine having 2 capes though because they are so fun to watch and spend time with. They are the definetely the clowns of the poi family

[Michael]

These pictures and information are fantastic. Thank you so much. I am probably going with Jean Pattison. I want a large one like that too as I already have a Senegal on the small end. I was choosing between a grey and a cape and decided to probably go cape. How would you compare them? How does their size compare? In the picture the grey looks barely bigger and it looks poofed up which gives even more. How does the bite compare?

[SirHubi]

I'm not very experienced with parrots, but I read a lot about parrots. At the beginning Kili might be jealous, but if you put two cages next to each other then parrots should get used to each other. Kili might then realise that cape parrot is larger than her and she might not be aggressive towards the cape parrot. Kili might also start to respect your new parrot. Cape parrots are really nice parrots

[purringparrot]

Jupiter weighs in at about 350g and SodaPop (CAG) weighs in at 605g. He is a very large grey but not overweight. When they sit side by side Jupiter's head is larger then Pop's but he weighs 1/2 as much. Capes are very top heavy with a little base, they are all beak. I would imagine that a cape's bite would be much worse because of the size of the beak and he goes through wood toys like they are butter. Java and manzanita slow him down a bit but he still can destroy them easily. Pop takes much longer to get through his wood toys. The Pop's personality is similar to the other greys that come and stay with us, very refined, smart, and a little cheeky when he wants to be. Jupiter is the comic and that has a lot to say in human and bird and doesn't care how silly he make look at times as long as he is having a good time. He is much more high energy then Pop. They could easily be compared to any comedy duo with Pop being the straight serious comic and Jupiter being the goofy one. Noise level is the same, both can be loud if they want to be except Jupiter will go through his plethora of sounds for hours on end picking up new ones daily. His favorite sound right now is a smoker's cough and hack that he picked up from an electus that stays here.
Both loved to be cuddled and babied and love their head and neck scratches though when I stop Pop will accept that but Jupiter will demand more.
I just saw someone else's post and the senegals I have worked with in the past don't care how large another bird is but if you always give your sennie the first attention, greeting, etc the cape and Kili will understand the pecking order and it will help a lot with jealousy.

[JAM]

i would have to disagree with putting their cages next to eachother.
i would put the new cage at the other side of the room so that they can see eachother but not interact with eachother.
It is also important to have any new parrot in quarantine for aleast amonth, and get a vet check before they are out of quarantine.
Slowely introduce them, parrots of difference sizes could attack eachother, and possibly kill one of them.
It isnt worth the risk to put them right by eachother right away.
And Supervised Play times are very important.

Purringparrot made some very good points and facts

[Michael]

i would have to disagree with putting their cages next to eachother.

This is not the point of the question. I don't really care about the issue of cage placement. I am more concerned about Senegal Parrot flying onto the new cage. So I need to know if I have to get my current Senegal Parrot used to the site (and staying off of the new cage) prior to introducing the new bird or if on the other hand introducing the new cage to Senegal Parrot would make Senegal Parrot think it is also her territory.

purringparrot, thanks for all the info. This only reaffirms my belief that I should get a Cape right now rather than a Grey. Sounds like just the parrot for me. I'm glad a Cape is bigger in size for its weight cause I want as big of a parrot as possible since I already have a small one. I understand about the jealousy deal and I've seen videos of Senegal Parrots trying to bully macaws. So mostly I am worried about the Senegal Parrot attacking the Cape while it is young. However, I am worried that when the Cape gets older and realizes that it is bigger/stronger it might fight back. The Senegal being so hard headed might not back down and on the success record of dominance from the past not back down. But of course the Cape is physically bigger and stronger.