It certainly sounds like Rhette has a great life as it is and enjoys hanging out with her people which makes me curious as to why you are considering a 2nd grey? I'm definitely not a person who thinks that a bird needs a boyfriend or girlfriend to be content; quite the contrary, if her life is complete and her flock needs are being met, I'd not want to upset the balance of her life. Is there a specific behavior she's exhibiting that leads you to believe she wants a boyfriend?

ChiaOwl
http://www.owly.net
http://www.ittybittybirdiebites.com

"Is there a specific behavior she's exhibiting that leads you to believe she wants a boyfriend?"

No, she seems very happy to me. I read an article sometime back that was titled something like "A single bird is a lonely bird". I want Rhette to get the most out of her time with us.

Thanks for sharing!

Marty Trujillo

http://birds.peachyga.com

I just added a second bird to my household, and my first bird (Phoebe) is MORE affectionate now. I have also heard that adding a second bird will make the first less affectionate, and I have no doubt that it can happen, but I know plenty of people with multiple birds that are very friendly.

My guess is that the real defining factor is how much positive interaction you have with your two birds. If you get one to make the other happy, and use that as an excuse to spend less time with both, yeah, you'll probably end up with two birds who like each other more than you. There is a lot of misunderstanding out there about parrot behavior, and things like this probably become self-fulfilling prophesies as often as not. But if you get a second bird and still spend lots of time with both of them - and that sounds like what you have in mind - my guess is that you'll have two friendly birds.

Some people say that if you cage them together you'll definitely lose them as friends... but I have two friends who each have a (non-breeding) pair of conures that are both very friendly... I will post a funny picture of one pair in a few minutes. I also know a couple of people with large macaws that are caged together and still friendly to people.

There are no guarantees of course, but my guess is that you'll be glad you got a second bird. I would be very hesitant to give them anything that resembles a nest (a small space with just one opening), but that's true for single birds as well.


Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

Were it me, I wouldn't rock the boat; the whole "if it ain't broke" thing comes to mind :).

Then again, I speak from my own experience, not yours. I have 14 parrots of which only 6 are full-time pets. But I sure miss the days of having only 1 that spent all of his time with me and shared in everything I did. That gave us a special bond that, since acquiring more birds (most needed homes and I took them in), I haven't had with any other bird since as I have to spread out my resources. When I had 2 birds is when I first started noticing that happening. OTOH, it is apparently only a problem for me and not for them :). They also keep each other company and don't depend on my companionship nearly as much. All this to simply say: YMMV :).

ChiaOwl
http://www.owly.net
http://www.ittybittybirdiebites.com

"She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person who keeps a parrot."
~Mark Twain~

I have two Congo African Greys and together, they share a large macaw sized cage. Their names are Annabelle and Dylan and they are one year old, DNA sexed male and female hatchmates. So far, they get along very well. They do have some minor squables, usually over a toy, a favorite food or me. They can be extremely jealous of any affection or attention the other receives, So I have to be careful to disperse my love and kisses abundantly, evenly and fairly!

I had wanted a CAG since the very first time I saw one in the early 70's! Last year, I decided the time was right and purchased a handfed, weaned grey baby from a very reputable breeder here in Georgia. I did not intend on having two CAGS, but that is a long, sad story that thankfully, had a happy ending, much more worthy of a journal entry!

Annabelle and Dylan preen and feed each other. They are very loving toward each other and are also very loving to me. They have totally different personalities. Annabelle is more refined and deliberate in any decision she makes. She is also, my sweet baby girl. She loves me best, never even thinking about giving her mom a nip! She will lovingly and carefully preen each individual long hair on my red-head. Annabelle will allow a gentle touch, a hug and a kiss on her head. Dylan, on the other hand, is a "devil may care" kinda soul! He's always leaping before he looks and will snatch out hunks of my hair at a time when he preens me and if he should discover an ear in the process, hidden under all my hair, he will take hold of it and claim it as his own, no matter how much I beg of him to set my ear free! As much as I want to, Dylan will not allow me to hug and kiss his little head. Sometimes, it hurts my feelings, but I try to respect his wishes and understand there may be a reason for his "untouchable" trait. Annabelle truly rules the roost and Dylan respects her position in the flock. If Dylan has a toy in his beak or foot, Annabelle may decide that it is the exact toy she was looking for and stomp over to Dylan and without any hesitation, snatch it from his grasp. Sometimes, Dylan will protest, but more often than not, he will defer to her and allow her to have her way. When he does protest and attempt to chase her down to retrieve the stolen toy, she will run to the side of the cage and deliberately toss it ouside the cage to the floor, as if to say, "now, since you had to act like a selfish moron, neither of us have a toy to play with!" Dylan is truly hen pecked!

Annabelle and Dylan both have large vocabularies, and at times, they talk in context and are great mimics. They sometimes put a new spin on phrases and create their own new phrase in the process. Dylan talks to Annabelle in "human" more than she does him.

I noticed the topic on "digging" and Dylan has done that since day one at our house. He digs in the corner of his cage when he wants attention or to be let out. They are both used to being uncovered and fed at 6:00 am in the mornings and if I am late by as much as 15 minutes, Dylan will begin to scratch and dig in the corner of his cage. If I don't come within a decent amount of time, which he determines, he will scream, "let me outa here!"

They are great birds and I am glad they have each other for companionship when I am not here at the house. They also have 4 other birds in the house to amuse them in my absence.

Kathy

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I'm not quite ready to go out and get a second bird, but if I see a bronzewing pionus up for adoption, I'd probably snap it up so Phoebe can have some company when I'm not around. Or a blue-headed pi, for that matter. She and Darwin don't get along, but cockatoos and pionus are about as different as two parrots could be... I'm hoping that she'd warm up to another laid-back pionus like herself.

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

Second bird? Don't you mean third? :o

Debbi
NZ

Yes, third bird. :-) I meant "second pionus" but sometimes what I think and what I type aren't quite the same thing. :-)

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

I've had Suki, a CAG, since he was 7 weeks old. When he was 2.5 I added a 10 year-old (who I renamed "Yoshi") to our family.

Like you, I was concerned about Suki becoming less affectionate with the addition of a second bird. Consequently, I decided to adopt a MALE that wouldn't compete for Suki's affection (I'm female!)

The two boys don't really get along... they merely tolerate each other. They do NOT share a cage and spend a lot of time outside of their cages. They are both very affectionate and loving with humans, but not with each other. If Suki could speak, he'd probably tell me he preferred being a single bird... and undoubtedly question why I brought Yoshi to live with us!!

In essence, I wouldn't add another bird for your bird's sake. I'm sure that she's perfectly happy being a lone bird, especially considering that she gets to go to work with your wife and receives a lot of attention fromt he entire family. I would only adopt a second one if YOU want another bird.

If you do decide to adopt another bird, I encourage you to explore getting an older one who needs a good home, rather than adopting a baby. There are SOOOO many birds out there in need of a loving family. Why not give him/her another chance at happiness?

Good luck with your decision.

Alexis

Hi - sorry, I just re-read your post and realized that you adopted a 5 year-old bird. Sorry... didn't mean to preach to the choir! :-) Alexis